Originally Posted by Rich'sToys
I don't think anyone here ever said that he shouldn't build his truck the way he wants. In fact we preach the exact opposite of that here.

The way I read the question was that he had located a truck that was ALREADY RESTORED and was thinking about modifying it. And the majority of the responses were of the opinion that this particular vehicle should not be carved up, but rather he should locate a lesser truck and build THAT one the way he wants it.

That's true, I just read a lot of posts (including the one below) talking about how important it is to preserve the truck in stock restored condition. However, if no one is willing to put up the money to buy it and preserve it in the condition, I see no problem with tastefully modifying it to preserve the character and some of the original look but make it more drive-able. That was my thought, I hope that's clearer.

Originally Posted by 46Sparky
Got to pondering the numbers and a wild guess as to what would seem to be a reasonable estimate as to how many of this model might still be around as an "original or restored" example. I know; some might wonder don't I have anything better to do...well frankly at the time, no.

As I recall reading, there were about 64,000 of the '37 half ton models built. Of that number I'd guess (at best this is a s.w.a.g.) fewer than 10% are still around in any form, "original", restored, modified, or parked as parts vehicles. So my guess would be about 6,400 survive in any form. If, and it would at best another s.w.a.g., based on anecdotal experiences, and observations, there are maybe fewer than 1,000 of these models left in "original/restored" form. So keeping one such as the OP described and posted the picture of would seem a "good investment" in preserving history.

All this and a saw buck won't buy a small coffee and stale donut, but it did pass some time while "waitin on a woman".

drive ohwell

1946 GMC Pickup - S-10 Frame, 455 Buick, TH400, original patina.

My 46 GMC on Photobucket