Paul Reznicek's 1948 Chevy 6400 Farm Truck

01 January 2007
# 1764

From Paul :

           Hey guys, it's been a while, but I'm back in the Gallery with another one, a 1948 Chevy 6400 Farm Truck.

           I couldn't stand being without an Old Bolt anymore, so back in September, the Rezman went shopping. I had been trying to buy a AD COE that's sitting about a mile and half from my house but, I hadn't heard anything back from the owner. I took a vacation day and just went driving, crisscrossing the countryside west of Oklahoma City. I found this '48 6400 about 45 miles from the house in a town called Orkarche, Oklahoma. One of many AD trucks I saw that day. I'm still amazed at how many of these old jewels that are still out there. Chevrolets, Fords, Dodges, Internationals ..... they're out there.

           The owner of this one had retired it after the previous wheat season, and recently bought a newer model truck to replace it.

           While we were discussing price, I hesitated for a moment, and the owner said he also had a parts truck (1949 Chevy 4400) with some good stuff left on it. and that he would throw it in too, if I wanted it. How could I refuse?

           So home they came. All my wife could do is shake her head.

           The truck runs and drives and has brakes (two pumps). The two speed works good. The dump bed with steel floor works good. The vacuum wiper motor even works. The wiring, however, is a mess. The mice took that over along time ago. It has headlights and park lights, and one rear running light and that's about it. (Incidentally, I should mention that the park lights stay on with the headlights.)

           The interior is not too bad but it does need a new seat. Body wise, it needs one cab corner replaced, and it has a fist sized dent in the back of the cab. The rest is just scratches and dings you'd expect from a 60 year old farm truck. It just needs some TLC ... minor bodywork, paint, repairing some wiring issues, the interior needs cleaned up and some new upholstery, some carb work.

           The parts truck has a few goodies on it and if there's anything that I don't use, I'll list it on the Swap Meet. The tires held air but were pretty bad, so I got a very good deal on a set of six matching, almost new 9.00 X 20.00 tires with flaps and tubes put on it. So with the expense of tires out of the way, I can concentrate more on the truck itself.

           My son says that I should get all the wiring and mechanicals that it needs done and leave the paint and body in it's original patina.

           So far, I haven't done a whole lot with it other than clean it up and work it around the place. It's done a great job and sure comes in handy. It has been doing a good job working around my place and it doesn't need much to make it streetable ... (read legal) ... rear running lights, brake lights, turn signals (those wiring issues that I mentioned), insurance!). It's only $$$ -- right? The first thing I'm going to tackle will be the wiring.

           Oh! I should add that after I got these trucks home, the farmer with the COE called me and said he would go ahead and sell it to me. Talk about irony!. Being that I can only do one money pit at a time, The COE is not mine.....YET. The farmer said it's not going anywhere so just call him when I'm ready. So watch this space. The wife just shakes her head.

Paul Reznicek
"rezman"
Bolter # 12067
Oklahoma City

           Be sure to check out Paul's pair of '49's that he's got in the Gallery (but he no longer owns) -- a 1949 Model 4400 1.5-Ton Chevy and a 1949 Model 6400 Chevy 2-Ton ~~ Editor