Why, Well I have had my 49 pickup for 40 yrs and am always looking for extra parts and for the next project. Well in 1980 I was talking trucks and a friend mentioned he knew of a old truck that may be for sale ,So away I went and here sat the 49 Panel, just a shell ,now firewall,no frame no fenders, it was sitting on a jeep frame,as they looked to be in process to mate the two up. I bought it for the doors and hauled the complete mess home.I just could not seperate the thing,it was missing everything, except the body lines were there and it was straight. Here in Mich we do not see these things,and this was a 1/2 ton,and we had 4 children at the time, but no money so I stored it in the barn and kept looking for parts. We were driving the 49 pickup with a seat in the back, back then you could,.Well a few years went by and I got wind off another 1/2 ton panel that was gutted but had a good frame and some other pieces,so I hauled it home, took of the good parts including a great set of running boards, once again RARE in Michigan. Pulled the body off the frame and pulled the body out behind the barn for the little pigs to sleep in, worked well for that as it was ROUGH.So life happens and kids grow up and I find more time and get the 49 together with a 292 and auto trans that I traded a load of firewood for , power steering and brakes, rear end from a 84 caprice,highway gears.This has been a great truck,20 mpg, and gets run 10,000 or so a year, lots of room and gets looks where ever it goes.
So now page 2.After a long conversation with a young fellow that thought he wanted the old pig pen panel," he had not seen it " for a RAT ROD,,I told him no, it was way to far gone, BUT after thinking about it and seeing some of the things being built,I went out and chased the pigs out and looked it over and thought " well Maybe". Now my family thinks the old man has lost it, but on Thanksgiving when all the family was there to help,I pulled it up with the tractor and we all picked it up and put the body,or what was left, up on stands in the shop.With a rat rod anything goes,so , now it has doors that work and floors and is ready to sit on a frame. I think it will be great, no worries of hitting deer, or a little salt on the road, I can drive this thing year around if I want, It will be great, old truck in the winter, then I can keep the other one a little cleaner.Panels are great, as stated in other postings,every thing is inside and dry.I collect Garden Tractors and go to shows so the tractors fit inside and you can pull a trailer, then the truck acts as a camper too, I would not want to be without one. Dennis M
