I've just gotten started on a restoration of my 1946.1 farm truck, so finding this forum has been a great help so far. Good to have the ability to contact others who have so much experience and advice.
Now..a few words about my truck.. In the spring of 1947, I recall my Dad returning to our farm home in Western KS., driving a shiny red with black fenders, 1 1/2 ton grain truck. It was fitted with a combination grain bed / stock rack and, because of the limited production during the War, it had been a long wait until his name came up on the list and the truck was available. It was purchased from the Pembleton Motor Co. in Hill City, KS and had a grain box from the Giant Mfg. Co. of Council Bluffs, IA. I was 8 years old then and rode in the truck many times until I was old enough to drive it....and then made many, many trips to the local elevator with a load of wheat..in those days, having 175 bushels or so, was a big load. A far cry from a semi now that can haul about 10 times that much.
So for about the next 30 or so years, the Chevy...which was a '46 in appearance, but had been built in '47 and titled as such, was used for hauling cattle to market and grain to the elevator. In about 1975, it had been replaced by a Kenworth....(!) semi and my Dad gave me the Chevy... We brought it to Topeka and used it for several projects, helping friend move, etc. After a few years of this, Life Happened and we put the truck in storage...where it has been until about 3 weeks ago...!! I'd always had the desire to someday get it out and running again...and NOW....is the time...!!
Even though it has been in covered and dark conditions for the past 30 or so years, as you all know, it was not ready to come to life again without some care. I decided that I'd have the shop that has done our maintenance of our cars the "opportunity" to restore the mechanics of this truck. I knew that it should have new belts, hoses, battery, fluids, etc., so with that in mind, I called a local wrecker company to pull it from the storage and haul it to the shop.
The first...and Very serious problem I faced...was finding the ignition key for it...!! Yes...somehow over the last 30 years, I'd lost track of it. We have a key locker and I looked in it several times, hoping that it would magically appear...but...no luck.!! I assumed that in the mid 40's, the ignition, door (right side only is keyed) and the glove box all were keyed the same...so I removed the lock from the glove box and headed to the local locksmith. They were able to 'pick' the lock and make a new key for the glove box...and I thought we were home free at that point.. Guess what? No such luck.. We did figure at that point that the ignition and door lock were the same, but different from the glove box.. The next barrier was the "Clutch Head" screws that held the door panel on....I tried several likely sources here in Topeka, and only a few of them even knew what I was talking about. Most of them wanted to direct me to the section of the store that had actual Clutches...not even close to what I needed. It was at that point that I called Jim Carter's in KC, found out that they stocked these rare tools and a few days later, made the trip there...lucky to live only about 75 miles from this great source of vintage truck parts...returned to Topeka, removed the door panel, unclipped the lock, back to the locksmith, this time there was a code on the lock, so just a few minutes later I had a new key in my hand. Will this one work? Back to the shop, tried it with all of my fingers crossed...and...YEA...success..! A major hurdle overcome...and a huge sigh of relief..!
The guys in the shop are working on this as they have time between other repair jobs, so I really have no idea how long it might take to get to the point where the truck is in condition to run. I have the title to it, am working on getting insurance and an "Antique" tag, but not there yet..
I was very surprised yesterday when I got a call from the shop and, since they know that we go to KC about once a week for a grandkid visit, they asked if I would again make a stop at Jim Carter's and pick up a new fuel pump and carb rebuild kit....and....oh YES...they said that they already had it running...!! So far just for a few minutes, but great progress up to this point....I am thrilled...! There is still plenty of work left..brakes, seat covers, etc. but the basic truck is in wonderful condition. There is no rust on the body, all of the parts are there, the tires hold air...the engine is a newer 235 engine, so no worries about the less reliable original engine, which died after about 25 years of service...not bad for one of those, I understand.
After the mechanicals are finished, it's off to the paint shop, new seat covers and a few other details, such as West Coast Mirrors...on the farm we rarely had the need to see behind us...but I want it to be totally safe now...seat belts are also on the "To-do" list...
That pretty much brings things up to date now. I know I've run on quite a bit, but I've read other narratives that are a LOT longer....so that's MY excuse for being long winded...!
I'll be posting a few questions on the Big Bolt section in a few days...if you think some of those might be about obtaining tires for this truck, you are totally correct..!
Thanks again to those whose posts have already come in helpful and for your patience reading all of this...
-30-
[Grins]
