1949 Chevy 3800 Ranchmaster

Owned by Sam Johnson "Yelostn78" Bolter # 17967 Gardner, Kansas Talking about this truck in the DITY Gallery

More truck pictures on Smug Mug

From Sam :

Here is another 1949 Chev that I have wanted for awhile. It is a 3800 that I actually found on eBay.

This classic truck was located in Kansas about 139 miles from the house. I placed a bid, laughing to myself that it would go for at least four times my bid. The auction was supposed to end on a Sunday afternoon. I was at my parents' in a different rural part of Kansas where I had no cell signal or Internet.

Well, around the time the auction was ending, I was joking around that we had added another truck to the garage. I was sure I had been out bid. The truck looked good, was in running shape, and it was currently owned by the second owner. It also only had 74,000 on the clock.

So then the phone rings and my Mom tells me it is for me. It is my brother who had been watching the auction. He called to tell me that I won the truck.

I had him sign in and he read the email from the owner's daughter telling me to call her Father to set up a delivery and payment info. I called her Father (Don) and he said cash was fine. This was his first eBay auction and he did not even own a computer.

Don told me that he bought the truck in '74 from the original owner who was a local farmer, and that he (Don) used the truck to haul small loads of dirt for his grave digging business. He said that he only put 5,000 miles on the truck since he bought it (which the titled verified) and that other than a few dents and missing boards, it was pretty much as he bought it.

I drove out the next day to check it out, and make payment.

The truck was in good shape. The headliner was starting to fall in, and the door pads had fallen apart. The rubber floor mat was gone and the exhaust had fallen apart. Other than that, the truck ran very well (albeit loud). The hydraulic dump bed worked very well. The brakes needed a little attention but were not bad. It drove very well and just needed a good wash and wax, and some minor freshening up . . . and an exhaust system.

The truck has a four speed (with PTO) with cabled hand brake, a 216 with high capacity radiator, fresh air heater, three cab top lights, 7.00 x 18 wheels (dually rear) and It is my mental image of a farm/ranch truck.

I plan to keep it mostly original. I will clean and repaint the interior the original color -- wax the outside and tend to a few dents, new seals and rubber. I'll put in a fresh wiring harness, overhaul the brake system and get new wood for the bed fencing. I need to re-build the seat.

The original owners manual is in the glove box and the truck has one option listed other than the hydraulic bed on the inside of the front cover. The truck has a commercial red grain seat cover. Which I will replace with the same material. The option was added at no charge according to the booklet.

Enjoy the pics.

Sam has a nice collection of 1949 Chevy trucks: a 1949 Chevy 3800 Ranchmaster, a 1949 Chevy 3600, and a 1949 Chevy 3100 3-Window.

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