I bought mine about a year ago. The first thing Dad let me drive when I got my license was a '47 Chevy truck. Within 6 months Dad sold it and got an old SW for me to haul the other 9 kids around in. I always wanted that truck back. In the 30+ years since then, I have restored or rodded a half dozen or so vehicles, but never a stovebolt. After ten years of forced exile from the motorhead scene (divorce related financial problems) I finally decided I could afford a stovebolt. I started looking, and when I found this panel it just started talking to me.
My panel is a '47 ton dually. From fellow stovebolters I have learned that the dually conversion is called an S.E.O. order or Special Equipment Option. From a guy whom I have never seen in these forums, but who saw my ad in the swap meet, I learned that my ton dually panel was a fueling truck at an airport down south. That guy has another one just like it, and the modifications on his all match mine. The original color is bright orange because Gulf Oil owned it.
When I got it there was a Chevy smallblock, a 4 speed and a 1988 Dana 73 dually axle in it. It has a lot of cobbled up problems, but it is solid and it runs. My plan is to clean it up and modernize it. I want the original stovebolt look with all the driveability, power and luxury of my late model Suburban. I'm still debating about the color though. I don't think my wife will ever ride in it if I keep it orange.
So far I have just been fixing safety items and show stoppers, but I can't wait to really dig into it. It sure gets the looks when I drive it around town.
