Howdy folks,
Figured I'd break down and start one of these. I bought my first truck a 1940 1/2 ton Chevrolet last December (2022). It was it pretty rough shape but it has a title. The frame has been cut on to make room for a V8 presumably. It came with a 1940 216 with an automatic transmission mated to it of all things. The engine and trans had been pulled some time in the past but thankfully had been stored inside. 6
I posted that I was looking for some replacement cross members on a Facebook group for 39-40 trucks and a guy from down around Kaufman Texas responded that he had a 1939 GMC 1/2T that he would sell along with a bunch of parts that I was missing. No title though. He had a seat that had been stored inside in great shape, all interior metal that had been primed and stored inside the last 25 or so years. Hood was also stored inside and is virtually rust free. The truck itself was in really rough shape and had been sitting in a field outside Canton TX for the last 25-30 years. Thankfully the windows were rolled up. The 228 was locked up like ft knox. The frame was in great condition though. So I winched it up and headed to his house for the rest of the parts he had stored in his shop. We hauled everything back to NW Arkansas and pulled in the driveway around 1am.
Third and final truck is a 46 Chevy 1/2T that I picked up from a guy about 45 minutes south of me. Also no title. The cab is virtually rust free and I plan to use it for replacement sheet metal. It came with a 235 that was in rough shape so I hauled it and the crash box to the junkyard. It didn't have a bed.
Currently, I have stripped down the 39GMC down to the frame and have had the frame powdercoated. I did not have a good set of front springs so I purchased new leaf springs from general spring. I have a good set of rear springs that I am needing to clean up and paint black. I took my front axle over to Guthrie OK this last spring and had sid from sids dropped axles straighten and replaced the kingpin bushings. I have found the all three rear closed drive lines are trash and I have ordered a custom rear axle from Dutchman axles out of idaho along with a new third member. Should be here sometime in Oct. Whew buddy was that big money. I decided that I wanted to move away from the babbitt bearings and tracked down a nice running 261 in Wisconsin that I will be going to pick up mid October. It will be mounted to an SM420. I also picked up a Bellhousing that has been modified to hold my pedal assembly that should mount to the 261 and sm420. I also purchased a zenith 228 carb for the old 261 that should be the ticket. It is off a 270 GMC. Thanks Carbking for the lead on the zenith.
Parts needed:
- 1939-1940 Gmc lower splash pan
This is a lot of info but I had to catch everyone up to speed on my project so far.
