The Stovebolt Site Forums Project Journals Archived Journals 1940 Chev 1/2 ton “Franken/Restomod”

Hello all;

Thanks for checking in this week, sorry to disappoint but this will be a short update. At least regarding the truck build.
I did work on the truck and I was hoping to complete the bed install, however I did not get much time in, so the bed install was not completed.
A couple of interesting things happened which limited my shop time.
The first, was that I had committed to working the SoCal "road show" with the shop owner where I am building the truck.
SoCal, at least the Canadian version of it, operates a travelling set-up and attends swap meets and car shows. The show attended was the Calgary World of Wheels ( WOW ) event.
Since the owner is generously allowing me to use the shop, this was a way for me to partially pay him back for his generosity.
My wife and I drove down to Calgary Friday afternoon and after visiting family for a couple hours we worked the show for a few hours. Saturday was 9-9, and then rinse and repeat for Sunday. Sunday had the extra fun added in of tearing down the set-up, loading up and then travelling back home. Though the Sunday show hours were actually only 10-6, by the time we had tore down, loaded up and drove home it was past 11:30 when we crawled into bed.
Here it is a week later and my legs and back are still aching from the standing around! I have attached some pictures of what I considered the highlights of the show. There were about 200 cars on display, some very nice builds for sure. There was a good turnout from all brands and years, though the early Chev trucks ( pre-1960 )were not represented at all. A little disappointing, but hey it gives me fuel to complete my truck and get it out there. I only wish I was into the car show scene, I mean I love to go and see, but I have no real desire to show...
The second thing to happen was the shop had a fire. It was pretty bad, though no one was hurt the entire shop came close to burning down. What happened? A 1970's vintage Mopar was in the shop to get the floor repaired . The underbody had been coated in the usual undercoating stuff which smoldered and then caught fire. The really interesting part was that the car was up on a hoist, so when the car was discovered on fire - think 6' flames!!! the car had to be lowered to the ground before any kind of fire-fighting could be done. The fire dept. was called in and opened the ceiling up to verify the fire had not made it into the attic space, so the shop was saved, however the car is considered a total loss.
PSA moment... Do you have insurance for your build? I had actually just put insurance on my truck to cover it from fire and theft the week prior. I discovered it is really quite economical and considering the hours I have invested I figured it would be a shame if it was lost. I do not have it insured for the estimated completed value, I will once it is complete. For now I have it insured for what I have into it parts wise.

That is it for now, take care and in the words of Don Cherry; "keep your stick on the ice!"
Steve