I drove the truck again today. I took one of our old neighbors, Mr. Tyner, for a drive down the road. Mr. Tyner has been retired for several years now and he has a 48 chevy 1/2 ton that he has restored along with two chevy cars I think a 48 delux and a 42 something. He has been a good source of local knowledge. He really liked the truck and said the body work looked really great.
Since I had the truck out I actually drove it down the road a mile or so to the local salvage yard to try to find a primary hood latch pin and spring. This is the same yard that I bought the truck 6 or 7 years ago. The salvage yard owner was impressed. He was actually going to give me the part that I needed but he didn't have one. He said if I can't find one then he would turn one in his lathe. Most of the local yard have crushed all of their stock within the last few years due to the increased scrap prices at the time. He actually only had one 48 1/2 ton withno hood and one 58 big bolt.
Oh Mikec4193, the truck drives like the mid 70's to early 80's trucks which is just the way I like them. It has enough rigidity that you can feel the road but enough cush that you don't feel beat after driving. I grew up driving a 78 chevy and mid 80's fords and I have always liked being able to feel the the terrain through the steering wheel and the pedals. I currently drive a 2002 dodge and when I first started driving it I had a hard time feeling the terrain. You will spin the tires more with the newer vehicles in soft terrain like a pasture field, just my experience.
