|
|
Ross Hebert's1940 Chevrolet 1/2-Ton |
From
Ross,
I bought this 1/2-ton in September 1999. For a long time my 10 year old son and I have admired old trucks of all kinds going down the road. When we saw this one advertised in the paper we just had to go see it. My son was with me.
When we pulled into the driveway and saw it we knew we had to buy it. As the owner talked about it I became even more interested. Using the tec spec page I figured out it was #5256 off the line at the Janesville, WI factory, in January 1939.
It was originally bought
in Sheridan, WY. I've been told the dealership is still in business. The owner
passed away in 1963. The truck was stored for 25 years in a barn. Then a guy
from Texas was in Wyoming looking for work. He made a trade with the widow.
He painted her house and she gave him the truck. Since then it's passed through
4 other owners. 
I was told the engine is original with the truck but I don't yet know how to match the engine number to the VIN. Anyways, it runs great! It's a real head turner...especially with the older crowd. I'm not much of a mechanic but I have reconnected the stop lamp, and added a right side stop/tail lamp.
I'm almost done rebuilding the rear brakes and replacing the park brake cable. I've also replaced the rubber around the windshield and vent cowling, reconnected the vacuum line so the windshield wiper would work, and did some rust removal and painting in the cab. My son gets under there and pretends he's a master mechanic (or something!). We've both enjoyed it, especially when we get a chance to go somewhere in it.
Maybe sometime in the future we'll do a ground up restoration, but for now we want to make it safe and keep it running. It's been fun. Thanks for keeping up this web site. It's been very informative and helpful. When it's driveable again I'll take it out to the beach for some better pictures.
Ross and Kyle Hebert
Gulf Breeze, FL
[an error occurred while processing this directive]