Okay, I am sitting in my office on this Saturday morning, trying to make a game plan for my 1948 (that I thought to be a 1949).
First a short info about me and the truck. I am a farmer since I was born, my grandfather told me so when I was 4 or 5. I grew up in Germany and immigrated to Alberta, Canada in 1981, married a German girl in 1986 and we are still happily together, now with three sons that have their own families and we have three grandchildren, two boys & one girl.
My wife and I owned a processing company for 25 years and exported legumes (peas, beans, broad-beans etc.) and other seeds & food product's around the world, mostly Japan, Thailand, Malaysia and some to North Africa & Europe. We sold this business in 2021 and I am told that I am retired, but I refuse. I still farm a little, but slowly face this part in me out. It just gets to hard on my old bones.
We build a new farm site in 2010, with a house (this was designed by my wife), that was to be small, but with space for the boys when they come and room for this and that, that became a 4300 sq-ft home.
I build a 60'x80' steel frame workshop for me. Insulated, floor heat etc. that our oldest son now occupies for this car building & fixing shop. It has a lathe, end-mill, CNC plasma table, welding tables, powder coating ovens, TIG, MIG and stick welders etc. that my son uses for his work. So in 2021 we added a 60'x50' extension to the former. Spray-foamed, but not heated, with a 20'x30' wood=shop inside that has floor heat in it. This is now my area where I can go and do my stuff.
We call it the machine shop. My combine, field sprayer, tractors, skid-steer, Quad's and 1953 Chev pickup are in it now.
The 1953 I bought last fall
1953 CHEVY and he is now nearly done, so I am on to new deeds.
Here comes my 1948 1 ton now. I bought the truck in 2008 and he run at that time. we did some work to it in 2017
1948 (49) brake work.
The truck is outside, covered with snow and my plan is as follows:
1. clear space in my machine shop and start stripping the 48 down to the frame.
2. re-do the frame from ground up, cleaning all and re-paint all. Perhaps sand-blast & powder-coat axles & frame so it is good for many years.
3. The current engine is done, kaputt, but I got a shop rebuild 216 that I bought from a very rebuttable company that has rebuild V8 Ford & Chrysler pumping engines for us over the past 40 year with a CAd6,300 Work-order that the owner never picked-up and lost his deposit on. I bought the engine for CAD3,600 and he is still in his crate.
Other option would be a 236 (I think, but need to verify) Oldsmobile engine I have, but it needs a rebuild.
Re-build the transmission (four-on-the-floor), drive shaft etc.. Rebuild the axles, front & rear. Check the breaks over again.
4. Keep the body as is, but fix the interior up to be nice & usable with change-over from 6 volt to 12 volt.
5. re-do the box floor in oak, I have the tools to do so.
This truck will become my daily, local driver beside the 53.
This will be a slow process, because I still have lots 'on-the-go'.
More to follow,
Joerg
