The Stovebolt Site Forums Project Journals Completed Journals 1952 GMC Panel Truck - "Army Ambulance"

Good afternoon Bolters,

It has been quite a while since my last posts. I must apologize if anyone noticed. Was a rough summer and fall for me and family. With 20 weeks in a neck brace and another 6 weeks of therapy, I wasn't in a position to post. Then we had 2 grand daughter's weddings on opposite sides of the county. Only got in a couple of weeks at the cabin in the mountains. Dealing with a year old cough that wouldn't quit. After many Mayo doctor visits and tests it was determined that I had a Flu virus and some high powered antibiotics knocked it out of me. Oh, and I hate to admit it, but while still in the neck brace I was pulling the GMC forward in my shop and got excited when it moved too fast toward my welding table..... Neuropathic feet couldn't find the brake pedal fast enough. Son Clayton watched in horror as I hit the vise on the welding table and dinged the grill surround and hood and GMC emblem. It took us months to even start the repair. Don't think he's really forgiven me yet, but getting used to some of my annoying health issues. Golden Years getting a little tarnished?!
I hadn't taken finished pictures of the car yet so had to wait til he could help repair and paint. Also power steering pump developed a leak while sitting in the shop. One of the only things I didn't replace when I built the engine. Wouldn't you know it!? A job I really dreaded. Turns out it wasn't near as bad as I thought. Pump is mounted to an aluminum bracket bolted to the head. Comes out as one piece. Any way, just a lot of little things kept getting in the way.

Thought I'd post a few more pics.

First 2 show the covers I found to hide the coil packs. Simple brackets and formed sheet found on eBay. Haven't painted them yet but will follow the theme of the intake manifold cover.

Next I saw the running boards of a friends AD pickup and liked them. Chrome covered hard rubber strips like from the 60's 70's for parking lot dings. 3M self sticking. Know what I mean? Not sure of the proper name. They do save the paint and seem to be quite durable. We'll see about the longevity.

Shot of the rims painted accent color in single stage. Period hubcaps and beauty rings.

I used everything serviceable that was on the card. Headlight buckets and trim rings original with upgraded headlights. Clearance light bracket original but no lenses. Converted to 2 element sockets with amber bulbs and painted trim. New clear glass.

No one has yet to figure out my vanity plate. (Our blue burb)

Then the finished product pics. Drove up to a local reservoir to get a little background.

Been enjoying driving our Burb! About 585 miles around the valley here. Has an occasional intermittent misfire or stumble that my tuner needs to address. Otherwise I'd take it out on the road for a real trip. It's really fun to get thumbs ups from other drivers isn't it?

That's probably it for this build. Got to get working on the 64 GMC 1/2 ton for the grandson. He'll be a Senior next year and I'd really like to have it ready for then. Not going to be a nice one to begin with. Comfortable interior, Shortened bed, slightly lowered, V/8 auto trans, no paint or extensive body work. All that can come later.

Been a pleasure and honor to be here with you all. Thanks for your kind words and help along the way. Couldn't have done it without support and help from this great forum! Wish you all well and happy, safe stovebolt motoring!

Richard