The Stovebolt Site Forums The Parking Lot Big Bolts Mystery hole in door of my 1946 1 1/2 ton

I am currently restoring a 1946 ton and a half truck that my Dad purchased new in the spring of 1947 and this truck has always been in our family...so there have been NO other owners, operators, etc. This is an important thing to keep in mind about this question...

As long as I can remember there has been a hole in the door on the drivers side. It is close to the very top of the door, just above the top of the glass and pretty much centered both front and rear and in the middle of the door skin at that point. It is a hole about 1 1/4 in diameter, cut cleanly with nothing else around it to give any clues as to what it's for or why or who might have cut it. It's open to the exterior and a finger inserted into it just goes into the hollow door frame It's always been a mystery to us, but not one we spent much time worrying about. I am 100% certain that it came from the dealer/factory that way..done either with a hole saw or a chassis punch. Could there have been a hole in the sheet metal before it was cut for the door skin and then, that flaw gotten past the inspection?? As I said, a mystery..!


Now, that I'm getting ready to repaint it, that hole will be fixed, but I'd sure like some of your guesses or actual info about what the reason might have been for it. I'm sure it came from the dealer that way, we did NO modifications at all to the truck with the exception of adding a hydraulic dump to the grain bed and this hole precedes that by many years.

There is NO prize for correct guesses, but any info would be appreciated.

There was an optional high mount extended mirror that mounts on the upper door frame. The rear leg mounts in a hole much like you describe, with the front leg mounted further forward on the curve of the upper door frame.

My 45 has such a mirror, shown here:

http://s1048.photobucket.com/user/s...476_988333481_n.jpg.html?sort=3&o=16

That sure could be it...your posted photo is too small for me to tell for sure, but it makes sense. Our truck had a rear-view mirror mounted on the upper hinge bracket. It was on a telescopic rod assembly, but even at the maximum extension, it was only barely adequate, barely sticking out past the edge of the grain bed. The mirror itself was only 5" and the single arm mount was not exactly steady...to say the least..! But since the roads we traveled over most of the time were nearly deserted, a mirror did not get much use anyway....and most people did not even try to pass a grain truck on those narrow dirt roads.

I have a nice pair of West Coast mirrors that will be mounted on this truck before I take to the streets. It will be a BIG change to actually be able to see who is behind me...[G]

I just added a shot of the truck to my new PhotoBucket account. Have a look and let me know that it's working correctly if you would. Also, how and where to I put in the info that you have at the bottom of your signature line? I tried to do that and got an "invalid format" message... Thanks in advance..!

You need to add a link between your "Photobucket" account,and "Stovebolt". Go to the "Submissions page,and there are step-by-step instructions on how to do it. Looking forward to the pic's! I had the same style single-post mirrors on my 2nd-Series '55 2-ton. Not much of a mirror,when it's only 5" square,and only about 1-1/2 inches sticks out beyond the box! I added "West-Coast mirrors,from a '70 Chevy C-50 moving van,and what a difference!! I LOVE to see what's back there,especially when backing! Beats hanging out the door,trying to steer,and controlling the gas and brake,from such an awkward position! Welcome to the "Bolt"!!

I have a 1940 Chevy WB 1-1/2 Ton truck my grandfather bought brand new. It has two 1" or so diameter holes above the window on the door. This was for the rear view mirror brackets. According to my Dad these mirrors jiggled around a lot and the driver's ran into them since they stuck out past the running board, so many of them were tossed. I had to look around for a while to find an original one to put back in place.

alkay3...Thanks for that info...as mentioned, there is only one hole in my truck door...and there never was anything mounted in it...at least from the time it came home from the dealers. But from the other replies on here, I think that info is accurate.

You are totally correct about the lack of stability of mirrors on some...or all?...of those trucks. We had a 5" round mirror on a telescoping metal tube...just one tube that was mounted on the door hinge...and when it was barely far enough out to allow just a tiny bit of vision past the grain bed, it was almost to fall out of the larger mounting tube...and any bump in the road would shake it so hard that it was really useless. I have a nice new set of West Coast mirrors that I'll mount on the truck after the paint job...They will look nice...and let me SEE what is going on..!!