The Stovebolt Site Forums The Forum Gallery 1947 (2nd Series) - 1955 (1st Series) 1949 GMC 1-Ton FC253 Flat bed

This is my 1949 GMC FC253 1 Ton truck with dual rear wheels.
I used to see it at the back of a Christmas tree farm I passed by on my way to work, then one day there it was up at the end of the driveway with a for sale sign.
I stopped and took some pictures. My wife was supportive in my new endeavor and in August 2011 the deal was made.
The owner of the tree farm said his father had a truck just like it when he was growing up that they used to haul Christmas trees.
He bought it for nostalgic purposes and it seemed like the truck had seen some restoration, but it needed more than he wanted to deal with which is why it was for sale.
It ran and drove ok. He was honest in telling me the gas tank was rusty and kept clogging the fuel filter. He put in new fuel filter and drove it a few miles to my house.
This is my first old vehicle. I can turn a wrench and work on cars, but restoration was a new thing to me. This truck was a good fit. It was fully assembled and running, but rough enough that I could work on it and learn as I go.
I always wanted to restore an old vehicle, and started to really like the '47-53 body style, particularly the dually trucks. The plan was to fix it up to use as a weekend driver that did occasional truck work.
That was in 2011. We had been thinking about moving to a place with a decent chunk of land (10 or so acres ) so we could start a small farm. By 2013 we found a nice piece of property for sale near by that was ideal.
We moved in and realized having the 1 Ton flat bed was going to be ideal for farm life. We came to rely on it quite a bit, which made doing the restoration work a bit of a challenge at times, but it worked out well.
I was able to learn as I went along and attempted more and more challenging repairs.
The very first was replacing that old rusty fuel tank, as well as cleaning out the carb and fuel pump.
Fast forward 10 years there has been a lot of work done, including new leaf springs all around, new king pins, restored the fresh air heater, 12 volt conversion, rusted floor and body mount replacement, new modern wheels and tires.
I did a bunch of "Pandemic work" which included transmission rebuild, engine rebuild, steering box rebuild, more floor and body work, alternator conversion, new wiring harness and fresh POR15 paint on just about everything I could reach while it was all apart.
There were a bunch of tech articles and forum posts from this site that I used for inspiration and guidance since I have owned the truck.
Before the pandemic rebuild, I was using it for both cruise nights, and hauling farm supplies. 4H and other farm friends usually send us messages when they see me blasting down the highway with 70 bales of hay piled up in the back.
As of today, the freshly machined engine is going back together and waiting to get back into the truck along with all the other parts
August 2022 Update - Truck is back together and has been on the road for a while. Probably put about 2000 miles on it. Runs great! I also added a front disk brake conversion. Stops great, and much smoother than my old warped front drums!
Greg Fowler CT.

Very nice Greg. Thank you for sharing your story and photos. I especially appreciate the pictures showing your progress. Your truck is a great addition to our new Gallery and will be an inspiration to many.

John

Thanks John - I like that they added the Gallery section. More pictures and details coming soon!
Greg

Nice looking. Love the color.

Thanks olezippi!

Sharp looking truck! Love those wheels in white. Glad to see more CT people in the forums. 👍

Thanks Barnfind - Those white wheels were the originals , which I really liked the look of. I decided last year to get new rims and tires. The old rims had rust bulges in a few places, and the tires were pretty dry rotted. Since I've been driving it more and using it for actual farm work (lots of hay, feed, and bedding), I didn't want to be rolling on those old rims at 50mph with 3000lbs in the bed.

Yea i agree. I was gonna run my original rusty crusty splits with the tubes but i knew i would be puttin a lot of miles on it so i went with some steelies with radials and original hub caps.

Nice truck. My dad and I just got a 1952 GMC like your truck that we are getting ready to have restored. Any recommendations on upgrading the drive train. We are considering putting in a small black crate engine for reliability but wasn't sure if you had insight on what engine would work the best? Did you upgrade your transmission or re-gear and also the rear end. Any insight would be great.

Hey - Thanks! - I kept all the stock running gear. It has a 228 I6, SM420 4 Speed, and the Eaton HO72 rear end with the original gears. Everything was in decent shape. I rebuilt the engine and transmission this past summer. I wanted to keep it basically all original. I did convert to 12V with a modern alternator, and I did get a disk brake conversion kit for the front brakes that I have yet to install. I also got modern 19.5" wheels and tires.
I did think about doing a small block just so it would be easier to find parts, but the 6 is running really good, especially since the rebuild. I figured I would have a worse time dealing with fitment and clearance issues with an engine/trans swap. That was my first major rebuild, so I really don't have too much experience swapping engines, although it seems like they make it pretty easy now with the conversion brackets.
If you are starting off with a bad engine/trans it might be a good route for you to start with a new smallblock.

Thanks John! Where did you get the front disk brake conversion kit? We are wanting to do the same on our truck! On your wheels is there a website you used for those? we have old split rims with tube tires and looking to try and go tubeless if at all possible

Hey - I got the disk brake kit from this web site: https://www.tsmmfg.net/ Seems like a smaller shop out in Colorado. The kit is really nice, still waiting to install it. Will probably do it over the winter when I'm not driving it.
The wheels in the picture are the original wheels, but I did get Accuride 4 hole wheels from https://www.wheelsnowinc.com. The Accuride wheel is this model: 29015, found here https://www.accuridecorp.com/products/29015. They area gray powder coat and look nice. The shipped from Wisconsin via freight.
They didn't fit over my rear drums though. I have 14" drums, which seem to be a bit rare. I had to put in 1.5" wheel spacers.

Nice job on your truck! Did you keep the original bed frame? It looks like you now have a wooden bed. I'm searching for the metal frame with rounded front corners like your photo from 2011 shows.

Where did you get the Front Disk Brake conversion from ?...and 19.5" Wheels ?...can you share photos of both please.

Hi Johnny Rib- I did keep the flatbed. The sides are all gone though, I stripped those down a while go.
1950 FC253 - I posted the info about the wheels and brakes a few posts up:
I made some videos as I was installing the brakes. The vendor actually used them on their website: https://www.tsmmfg.net/chevy-gmc-8-lug-truck-complete-front-disc-brake-kit-1847-718421.html
You can see my original post with the disk brake install videos here: https://www.stovebolt.com/ubbthread...-brake-kit-installation.html#Post1433716

Sorry I missed that...

Good videos !...this looks like an upgrade that I want...I also would like to convert the rear to Disk

Thanks! There are a few places that make rear disk kits for the Eaton HO72 axle. TSM Mfg makes one that doesn't require any welding. They have a note that says: Fits 16" Single Wheels and larger. It will not fit 15" Single Wheels or Dual Wheels.
I"m not sure if that means it won't fit 15" dually wheels, or it doesn't fit dual wheel trucks at all. I haven't contacted them to verify because I'm not in the market for rear disks at this time. Another thing is the parking brake. If you want to keep the parking brake, you'll have to spring for the parking brake calipers. Not a huge deal, but they are bit more expensive. All these makers seem to use '76 Cadillac Eldorado rear disk calipers that have a built in mechanical lever to use as the park brake.
For my disk/drum set up I'm pretty sure I need a residual valve for the front. Due to the master cylinder being on the frame rail, it allows the fluid to drain back from the front calipers. I'm getting inconsistent pedal feel. Could be that I need to bleed them more, but most places recommend a 2lb valve when you have a low mounted master cylinder. They are inexpensive and easy to find. I have one, I just have to do some plumbing and get it installed.
If you're going to do disk/disk you'll need a disk/disk combination valve. I have a disk/drum combo valve. It's made to handle having drums. If you do the front disks now, and the rear disks later you'll have to both kinds of combination valve. If you do all wheel disks right now, it'll be pretty pricey to get both kits, but it'll save you in long run for both time and money.

Gallery rules, discussions should go in the Garage forums not here in the gallery. xgregx, you need to remove the https// from your video link so the video will be by link not directly in the gallery. Thanks

Removed the links - thanks!

No, thank you, it’s appreciated.