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Dusty Harrington's1951 Chevy 1-Ton Panel |
September 8, 00
<<<== This picture is directly from the It Ran When I Parked It 2 Photo Contest !
From Captain Dusty
Here is a '51 1-ton panel truck (3800 I think), long body in serious trouble. No way to convey the seriousness of the problems with photos, but we'll try.
This project is worked on between fishing trips on
my charter boat (main business) and locksmith jobs (second business) on an island
off the west coast of Florida.
After the horror show of dragging it out and moving it to the shop, the frame was cut off at the firewall and replaced with a '78 Nova subframe. The rear end from the Nova was utilized as well as the 250 c.u. engine. The door posts were rusted out completely and not worth fixing so they were replaced having a donor truck's posts cut out from the back of the doors into the roof, down to the cowl and to the running board including the hinges and surrounding areas. The center of the cowl was left attached to the dashboard and shipped along with each side piece. The driver's side piece suffered serious damage at the hands of UPS but was made to work out of necessity.
At this point in time, the engine is in and fired for the first time Friday, the 30 of June. A new exhaust system is in place as well as brake lines, fuel lines (fuel tank is being cleaned and sealed).
The truck will, hopefully, be drivable in a few weeks.
The worst of the structural work has been roughed in and will be progressed
soon. This truck is in Florida where the environment is really hard on old metal.
It actually runs but stopping it has become a bit of a problem soon to be rectified
by the addition of power booster and master cylinder from an El Camino. Also
a fuel tank would be a welcome addition (if I can find one) as the present setup
bears a striking resemblance to a Molotov cocktail. Locating the proper offset
front wheels will aid in the operation as I might need to actually turn the
front wheels someday.
The donor truck was sent in pieces from Kennet, Missouri by Don Whitfield who went above and beyond to help this project (a Stovebolter, by the way -- Editor).
More pics will follow to show progress.
Dusty
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