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I've been kicking around posting my project on here for some time now. I guess it is now or never since I have a little spare time on my hands. I must have stumbled on this site a few years ago after I bought a '48 Chevy truck and needed some help fixing a few things. It has really helped me out on a few things that left me scratching my head. But that is a different (future) project for a different time but maybe I can give a little back or at least spark some ideas or convos about some of the things I plan on doing.

To prime the pump and kick things off, I am about 2+years into the build of a '49 Chevy panel truck that I purchased off of craigslist. I estimate that I have about another 2 years or so of work left but I have taken some pictures (but never as many as I thought at the time) along the way so I plan on posting periodically (weekly?) to bring this post up-to-date with where the project currently stands.

This will be my third frame off restoration, but the first of this era of vehicle. I did a '67 Camaro protouring in 2005-2009 and an '81 Camaro Z28 with an LS swap after that one. I have tinkered with my '48 Chevy truck but it is pretty much a stock truck so I have resisted vs digging into it other than routine stuff. So this one will be slightly different than the others that I have done, especially since repro parts are rare. I have also had to purchase some new tools and equipment and then learn how to use them. That slows things down quite a bit but I have 2 years of backlog to post.

I have always liked the Chevy AD trucks and since I did not want to cut into my solid '48, I set out keeping an eye out for one a little more far gone. I really wanted to build more of a street rod out of it so cutting up a solid one was a no-go. After searching craigslist for a while with an open mind on my next project (rat rod, COE or others were considered), I ran across what was listed as a '52 Chevy panel truck. (Later it would be decoded and found to be a '49 ….but it is more likely a '48, '49, 51, etc). This truck had been purchased by a young man with the intent of turning it into a gift for his dad. He was going to turn it into a canopy truck that his dad used to drive as a young man to sell fruit and he planned to give it to him as a bday gift. So he (unfortunately) had cut the sides out of it. Below are some pics of how it was delivered to me.