When I had the 1951 farm truck, Mr. Puhallo had no desire or reason to get the deluxe cab, so all the trim was painted. At some point in my adolescent life, I saw a deluxe cab and loved the look of the chrome grill and window trim. So, while I was working away at what was really a cosmetic overhaul of the ‘50 half ton, I started searching for chrome trim to make it a deluxe cab.
My thoughts were to use the truck as a delivery vehicle for the high end furniture I was building. The body of the truck was still in remarkable condition for a 70 year old truck, and after polishing the oxidation out, the paint still had good shine. The inside of the bed was a whole other story, and had all kinds of battle scars from 70 years of work.
I ground out probably 3/8” putty from the top of the top rails of the bed, got some metal damage sorta squared away, and shot new paint into the box.
The old wood in the bed just had to be replaced, and so did the black wear strips between the planks. I milled out some white oak, sanded and stained it, then laid 15 coats of Epifanes varnish on both top and bottom of the planks before replacing them in the bed. I found a stainless grill, stainless window trim, and replaced the wear strips in the bed with stainless.
After that short list of “improvements,” I bolted the box back on and drove the truck for a number of years. I have the 4-speed granny low transmission, and it’s geared so low that you need to shift into second about half way through the intersection, but 2nd isn’t geared low enough to really get going off the line. Top speed is all of 45 mph. I started looking around for more replacement parts.
I found a 292 cu.in. engine from a 1967 pickup, and eventually located a Muncie M21 with a new clutch and all associated bolts and bits for reassembly. In one of my stops to talk to neighbors, I was given a Mustang ll IFS with disc brakes and a power rack. Now, the wheels are turning and what I thought was going to be a restoration, has turned into what I think of as a ‘50 style hot rod with some upgrades.
As I thought back to my early experience with engine replacement, I decided that removal of the front clip was going to make that job a lot easier. Imagine my surprise when I started finding rust and rot (gasp) when I pulled the fenders away from the cab. What I had thought was a rust-free truck, was not terrible, but not what I wanted to be putting back together.
I have some experience rebuilding and restoring antique woodworking machinery, and my shop is fully outfitted with mostly mid-50’s English machinery, with a couple of early 20th century machines. How hard can it be to restore a ‘50 Chev truck? So, I started pulling apart every piece of the truck that would separate from the frame. As it came apart, I bagged and tagged every bolt and kept all assemblies and their associated bolts together. It’s surprising how much room a dis-assembled truck takes up. I progressed as far as getting the front axle and suspension removed, and was ready to start in on the removal of the rear end when a vacation to the tropics interrupted work.
Unfortunately, on that vacation to the tropics I had a scuba accident, and spent the next two months in various hospitals re-learning how to walk. That work is ongoing, but happily to me, I’m once again upright, and even though walking is super slow and often painful, I’m able to walk.
I think that in the next few months, I’m going to be able to get back to my truck and continue the restoration.
