The Stovebolt Site Forums The Forum Gallery 1936-1940 Trucks 1939 1 1/2 ton Chevy

This is my 1939 1 1/2 ton chevy. It was a project my grandfather was never able to get to, and in july I decided to see if I could get it on the road for a parade and car show in september. The old 216 ran well, and after rebuilding the master cylinder, it stopped just fine. I had to put in a new wiring harness with the help of some of the great folks on this forum, and replaced the old generator cutout setup with a 6V alternator. That was probably the biggest hurdle. Lucky for me, my grandfather collected A LOT of parts for these old trucks and I was able to find a good winshield and seat for inside. I build a bed with the help of my father out of rough cut hemlock and sealed it with oil and kerosene. After about a dozen cans of rustoleum spray paint and some hammered beige for the dash, it was looking a heck of a lot better to my wife who did not like the rusty old truck rattling up our driveway a month before. She even went so far as to order a decal for me to put on the doors! I was able to finish the truck to a point good enough to drive just in time for the parade and decided to enter it in the local car show. Surprisingly my driveway "restoration" and rattle can paint job took first place in the truck catagory!
Now it sits as a lawn decoration at the behest of my wife while I work on getting it stickered for the first time in probably 50 years and put it back to work.

Neat story and your driveway restoration looks awesome. I'm sure your Grandfather would be proud. Thanks for sharing your story and pics.

John

Wondering what type of key would have been original to this truck? Just bought a truck with no key. Hoping the owner may have one but not know what it is? Did you start yours with original key or have to swap the ignition?

What did you do for rims and tires? Having trouble finding tires at a reasonable price. Wondering if you swapped the rims and tires to get away from split rim. Thanks.

I had a key already, i believe its just a typical GM key, you could probably buy an old GM key blank off ebay or one of the parts sites and have a locksmith fit it to your ignition, as for tires I just pulled them off a '46 two ton I have because the ones on this truck were different sizes, they are still split rim. If the rims are in good shape you shouldn't have to worry about them. I hope this helps

If the RH door locking handle and the ignition switch are original to your truck, they will use the same key. The door handle will have the code stamped into it's base. This code will be an 8XXX or 9XXX number. Most lock shops can convert this number into a key for your truck.
If you cannot find a shop to do it, or if they want an outrageous $ to do it, I will make a key for you free of charge.
The problem is that you will not know if the two locks match until you have spent the money. You will have a door key though.

Mike