Alan G's

1957 Chevy 1/2-Ton Stepside


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16 February 2007 Update
# 1756

From Alan :

           Well, my waiting is over. In January, the transport truck delivered my '57 Chev LWB to me. I have been waiting almost a month for it to come to me in Florida from South Dakota.

           I live in a deed-restricted subdivision and wouldn't you know, five minutes after the truck pulled up to unload my '57, the neighbor came out and asked, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" in a rather unpleasant tone. I told her it is going inside my garage and she doesn't have to look at it. The President of the Home Owners Association got two complaint calls within the first five minutes, before I got the truck unloaded. He came over and said his Father-in-law restores old trucks at his shop and then he asked if he could help me unload it into my garage! He told the two neighbors not to worry -- it was going inside and they would not see it. (The truck looks a lot like Tow-Mader from Cars without the buck teeth!)

           The truck was on a carrier and had to be pushed backward off the transport. It doesn't run and the rear end locks up going forward. I got in the truck to steer it and the seat had been chewed to pieces by rats or squirrels and there was what looked like a rats nest in the glove box. Looks like they had a field day in there. I probably just destroyed the birthplace of hundreds of field rats.

           The trucker gave it a push down the ramps. It took off about 10 miles per hour into my driveway going backwards and I had to turn it 90 degrees into the garage. In it went and uh oh, no brakes. I had figured that may happen so I checked the transmission first, and stuck it into gear to stop it before crashing through the garage wall.

           So it is in the garage for now. I bought it from pictures on the internet. Boy, it looked better in the pictures, but it still is in solid shape. I think my estimated for completing her just doubled! Maybe even more than that! Bottom line -- I have my truck, I am happy and I will have a blast restoring it.

           I don't plan on living here in this subdivision too much longer. I am looking for a couple acres where I can have a garage to do my resto work and not bother anyone. I guess we all can have unfriendly (to say the least) neighbors where ever we are. I grew up in the country and am going to move back. My wife agrees we need to move back to where the neighbors won't gripe about what we do. I can imagine what would happen here if I fire up the compressor and start cutting off rusty parts with an air chisel.

           I started to strip out what was left of the rotted seat and firewall insulation. I think this truck has been setting for about 30 years. The tag expired in 1970. I found a couple cans of beer behind the seat and they had the old pull tab tops. So it has been many years since it has seen the road. I can hardly wait to see what the cylinder walls look like. But hey, it's a '57 and it can be fixed!!! I know a lot about cars and trucks, but the oldest I have ever worked on was early to mid 1960's.

           Thanks for the encouragement and welcome from everyone in the forums.

           Here are more pictures in my Photobucket album.

Alan G
"Alan's 57"
Bolter # 13152
Lakeland, Florida

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27 December 2006
# 1756

From Alan :

           Here are a couple pictures of the 1957 Chevy 1/2-ton Stepside I just bought. It is on its way from SD to my home in Florida.

           I have been wanting to restore a truck or car for about 20 years. I sold my boat last year. So now I can afford to do it. My wife thinks I am nuts but is O.K. with it.

           So I have my project for the next couple of years. Maybe I can get a few tips from some of you who have been doing this for a while. I worked as a collision repair tech back in the late '70s and '80s so I may need a few refresher tips here and there.

           This is a great web site. I found it while looking for parts sources for the '57. I will update pictures as I make progress on it.

Alan G
"Alan's 57"
Bolter # 13152
Lakeland, Florida


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