Owned by Scott "50jimmy" Bolter # 1031 Ozawkie, Kansas

1949 GMC 1/2-Ton

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From Scott :

This is my 1949 GMC. I have owned this old truck and been working on it for about 10 years - about as long as I have been a regular on the 'Bolt. I always thought it was a 1950, but title says it's a 1949 GMC..

I'm 50 years old now and when I was 14 years old, Dad came blasting into the yard in a 1948 Chevy half-ton with five windows. It was all kinda colors and loud due to no tailpipe past the back of the cab. It was the holy grail ... a five window cab.

Dad taught me how to overhaul the brakes on it and introduced me to the joys of sanding. We deliberated a long time on whether it was going to be boring green or some thing else. We settled on orange and one afternoon, I came home from school and found that Dad had transformed its color to 1969 Camaro Orange or Hugger Orange as I later found out the proper name for the color.

We lived 30 miles out in the boonies and I would get up half an hour early on those mornings when I was allowed to drive it into school. It would run about 45 minutes before it sounded like the clatter splatter system would self destruct -- so I had to leave early. In a day when most of the other boys at my school were being given new or nearly new Ford and Chevy pickups with big v-8 by their Dads, I got the nod for the coolness factor. I even drag raced a friend of mine in a new Blazer and won the race -- tho it was only for a few blocks. I won because I wound it up and started out in third gear!

That original Chevy got pushed aside and did farm duty for several more years along with our 1951 GMC that we used to chase cattle, build fence, pull fuel tanks and such. Eventually it was sold and we lost track of it.

I have always had an old pickup project of some sort around as therapy in later years, instead of having to keep one running so I didn't have to walk. This Jimmy is not the original Chevy that Dad brought home, but just a look-alike cousin.

This GMC truck was a complete pile of junk when I bought it from the local junk car hoarder. There was no glass. The bed was full of junk. The cab was full of mice mess. It had no tires. The original 228 engine had a cracked block that had been repaired a number of times by brazing, JB Weld, bath tub caulk, epoxy, among other methods. Hard to believe, but I was not able to bring it back to life! So the truck got a 350 engine I built up myself, except for the over-boring. I also added an auto transmission for it.

Working on this old GMC has been good therapy over these years, and has followed me through three house moves. I did all the things for the Jimmy I would have like to have done for the Chevy IF I had had the money, time and skills back then. The '51 has a v8, auto tranny, different rear end, disc brake, power steering, power brakes and such.

It's somewhat of a reincarnation of my first pickup. I'm not one to draw attention to myself, so I probably won't paint this one orange ... but I'm thinking of a black with some orange highlight.

It is finally tagged and legal. It only lacks a temp gauge and a fuel gauge before it gets its first run down the highway under its own power in at least 30 years.

Scott

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