The Stovebolt Page	Featured Projects '51 Chevy Panel
By Leila Smith

    The Restoration Series is comprised of trucks undergoing restorations, rebuilds or efforts inbetween. Please note: these trucks may not be 100 percent accurate -- please contact the truck owners to verify items of interest.

01 April 01

From Leila:

     This is our "1951" panel truck. It's a 1/2-ton with the original 216 engine. The truck was originally from South Dakota, where it was used as a service truck for a plumbing company. When the truck was retired, a man bought it to use as a daily driver. When he passed away, his grandson decided he would go get the truck and bring it back home to Maryland. He kept it for a couple years and decided to sell it. A man not far from him bought it. He planned to restore it to original.

     That was in 1993. He stripped it and primered the outside. He collected a lot of spare parts from other panels and bought a lot of new parts.

     As you see in the photo, we bought it in April 2000. When we trailered it home, the inside of the panel was full of parts, and we took another pickup truck for the rest of the parts.

     Bill always says, "It's like going on a treasure hunt to find the part needed."

     By May 2000, we went to our first show. Bill did a lot of mechanical work on it but she was still "a diamond in the rough." We drove it all summer.

     In August 2000, we started the interior restoration. With the help of a lot of friends, we were back at the show by September 2000. In December 2000, the exterior was painted along with new glass replacement. The truck came back home in January 2001. It's now a "diamond" and sure looks different than the truck we brought home last April.

     We look forward to going out to the shows this year as it doesn't look anything like last year.