The Stovebolt Site Forums The Side Lot North Eastern 'Bolters "Welcome" is getting worked on ...

As a Native New Englander myself, I'm pleased to finally have enough interest from back home to standup a side lot forum for New England 'Bolters! We'll be tweaking this forum for a bit, and we'll be adding content to it shortly, but for now, if you're in New England, please introduce yourself, post where the cruise-ins are and generally get this forum underway! It's a good diversion from the black flies ...

John

Greetings from north central Mass. Name is Richard Patrick, I am attempting to get a 1946 (actually '47,1st) Suburban back on the road. Been at it for a few years, long story. It is still in my home town in Iowa. I go back every Summer to work on her.
Anyway, as far as cruises go. There is a come one, come all cruise every Friday evening at Kimball Farm in Lancaster, Mass. No fee, just drive in, park and walk around look at cars and chat. The ice cream is legendary.

Hello all, I'm a AD bolter with a couple 49s. One complete and 1 in rebuild mode. Still trying to get the engine to start but I think it is time to think about another engine or rebuild the 50/51 in the truck. Welcome

Hello from Southern Maine. Me and my 51 chevy 3100 reside in a little town on the New Hampshire border called Newfield. Even though I do get a few thumbs up as I drive around my truck isn't too remarkable. There are alot of old trucks around here. A few towns away in Waterboro there is a restaurant called Blast From The Past that hosts a gathering of antique motor vehicles of all kinds on Friday nights.---Jack

May 2024 :: Just wanted to add the image of Jack's '51 so it doesn't get lost. It *is* in his signature line - a Photobucket link. Just in case. - Peggy M

Well, speaking of the Blast from the Past, here is a post about another possible meeting point ...

Peg

I know we don't have all the country covered, and looking at the map we pulled for New England ... feel free to chime in if you are nearby. I know we have some folks from NY and NJ. Not sure how many are north. Maybe a few FishBolts out to the East

Peg

Hello from upstate NY. I am so glad to see a spot like this finally. My Panel is not road worthy yet, but I can't wait to bring her out and cruise with some other local bolters.


May 2024 (wow 10 years ). Added Josh's image in this post. His 1949 Chevy 1-Ton Deluxe Panel is in the Legacy Gallery ~ Peggy M

Hello from Western Massachusetts, me and my 51 4400 not ready for the road in anyway. Hopefully by fall I can get her running, stopping, and ready for some driving.

Cruise nights around here theres one at the
Ludlow Elks Tuesday nights.
Moose club in chicopee I think Wednesday nights
Janines frosty in ware I think friday nights not sure on that one

Jon

Eastern pa. here. Would love to have something close enough to drive to without trailering. The old girl runs like new, but 45 mph is hard to do on major highways!


May 2024 :: added Jim's truck image to the post. Also, Jim has joined many of the ODSS group in some of their events. The "old girl" makes that trip from PA to MD and VA smoothly. It's a beautiful addition to the group pictures! ~ Peggy M

woohooo, we got a section! Southeastern CT here.

I know it is difficult (and perhaps controversial) to change a region's name.

How about "The Shire"

I like the Shire Larry! I will check with John. I think the Northeast will make a lot more sense.

Our original intent (which we haven't gotten to) was to divide the country into six area, or something like that. Under each area would be the groups. Like we'd have Mid-Atlantic (maybe) and the ODSS would be a sub-forum under there. Or it could even be the whole East Coast with ODSS, New England, Mid-Atlantic, etc. as subs.

See ... too much to noodle thru just yet.

It is yet something we haven'g gotten to. And somewhere there is a pin the map deal around here ... that we'll get to.

Tim, far be it from controversial ... just hoped to figure the most sensible set-up.

Peg

Hi all- Grant here in CT. Currently relocating to Scotland with my 50 1/2 ton Chevy. Brining enough parts with me to build a 3/4 or 1 ton GMC- maybe one of each. Nice to have a forum for New England.

Hey everyone - Tom here from the Northeast corner of Mass (Newburyport area). Finished up my 56 3100 just under two years ago, now I am onto a different (non-truck) Chevy project. If I can help a local 'bolter in any way - give me a shout!

Update May 2024 :: Added Tom's '56 to this post. It is in his signature line but just in case .... :: Peggy M

I was hoping to see a side lot for the New England Bolters.
I knew it would only be a matter of time.
This is good!

We just expanded this forum to include the Maritime provinces and Quebec -- Please join me in throwing open the border and welcoming our brother/sister 'Bolters from further DownEast!

Bienvenue, mes amis!

Hello from southwest Massachusetts. My '46 6400 grain truck is still working for a living on my tiny little farm. BeRT (the Big Red Truck) hauls in loads of natural fertilizer and hauls out produce to the local farmers' market every Friday. The truck draws in a lot of people and gets conversations started, leading to an occasional sale or two.

Now we just have to find a good picture / map that will work. Our brains are tired for tonight, tho. Suggestions welcome.

Peg

Mark Dufresne here and I grew up in Western Mass out in the hilltowns, I have been living in southern Maine for over 20 years now. I have two 46 trucks I am working on a 3/4 ton and a 1/2 ton I just picked up.

The closest we got was a fairly good map from a travel agency - but it didn't have Newfoundland.

We'll keep looking and pondering. Lot of water up there. Maybe we can make it all a water theme park look. (Oh, sorry, except for Vermont (as best I can tell)

Peg

Well, how about that. I may have found a map that will work. Will need to crop it.

Added to the pile.

without with St Pierre et Miquelon island

I think if the Island guys want to have a get together with the mainland folks, someone needs to bring a boat.

I didn't realize Nova Scotia is really out there. It will be good when we can get that pin the map thing figured out and going.

Now who can come up with a Northeast Bolters Fight song?

Hi Mark! And welcome to Stovebolt!

My family is up in Mid-Coastal Maine (Kennebec and Lincoln Counties), so Stovebolt has a natural affinity for the Pine Tree State!

Stay tuned and help us get this forum active!

John

Hey John what towns do they live in?

I was just up in the county for the weekend and it was a nasty hurricane up there. Tons of water and wind downed trees. Despite the bad weather in between the rain I went for a ride and came upon a pickup on the side of the road with a pile of 41 to 46 parts piled in it. They were hauling out a 46 dual wheeled log truck. Not in bad shape either. I was worried the guy was a scrapper so I pulled in behind him and asked what he was doing. Scored a nice set of extra front fenders for cheap money and a lead on a few other parts. I love Northern Maine!

Northern Maine is great..I travel through there a lot.

I'm Mapleleaf, I've been on this forum for years. I've got a 55 Belair, a 55 3200, putting together a 49 3600 and I have a 51 3100 to work on somewhere down the road.

I've met a couple guys from the NE area. Good bunch as to be expected.

If you guys travel up to NS feel free to drop in. NS is waaay out there but is not an island as many believe. You can drive here or take a ferry now from Portland ME.

May 2024. Wanted to include Randy's Tunabolt. as explained here:


It's nice I could move Randy's "shout out" from General Truck to North East Bolter forum.

X2

South NY here, 59 Apache 3200. I am confident enough in drive-ability to take her to car shows this year. Though I could probably do around 50 miles or so away without a problem it would be nice to have something close by. I know of at least one other bolter in my area.

Hi,
I'm in northern CT. I have a 38 Chevy that I have partially apart, and hope to get back on the road before summer is over. Hope to cross paths with some fellow NE Stovebolters.

May 2024 :: Added the photo of Hoff's '38 and made a hot link to his Gallery Forum post in his signature line. ~ Peggy M

Peggy. Glad to see my old home town on that map you found. Pointe Claire, just a bit west of Montreal. Now I am about 2500 miles west of there. A BC Bolter.

Sedgewick!! We found you then. Awesome

Yes, Mapleleaf has been with us a long time and had been a good friend. We did a fun feature story that is about one (?) of those trucks listed. (I see we ended with 2007 ... "to be continued"). The story of Randy really starts with Part 2 and Ecum Secum.

Peg

It is nice to have something close. And it's possible once a venue is found and the local Bolters are located.

I know for the ODSS, after a while the "tag along event" (the Leonardtown car show), didn't matter any more. The "event" was actually the Homecoming itself. These guys wanted to see each other and catch up, wrench all day and night - fixing one another's ride and anyone else who stopped by, eat enough, and take a nice cruise as a group.

It would be great for the Great North East to have pockets of gatherings and then one "coming together" of several of the groups once a year! Sometimes going farther than an hour's drive, with everyone's busy schedule, it's just too hard to make that happen.

We are anxious to see this "corner" develop. Just as the BC Bolters, Southern and ODSS ... we think this may be the next big expansion!

Peg

Hello to all from southern NJ, Camden County. Just 20 minutes across the river from Philadelphia. About a year and a half ago I bought a low mileage, great shape 1954 3100. I am just the third owner. The first had it for nearly 50 years. It came out of storage where it had been forgotten for a couple of years and needed some help to wake up again. I sold my 55 second that was still a bit farm fresh for this beauty. So glad I did.

Just don't know how many others are really close by.

Mike
Mike

Newbie just starting my restore checking in, Rochester NY! Would love to participate but truck won't be on the road this year.

Ran into Amtrakjoe at Newtown, pa. car show on the 20th. Just heard him talking about Stovebolt and went over and introduced myself. Lets get some more Eastern Pa. and New Jersey on board.

Hello to all, from Brooklyn, New York. I recently acquired a '65-'66 Chevy C10 Fleetside, 250 I6 with 2 speed automatic aluminum Powerglide. I am new to trucks in general, having recently swapped my Harley Softail Deluxe for her. I am leaving the city in August 2014 to retire (drop out) to the northeastern woods of Maine. Swapping the Harley for the truck was next on my to-do list after buying the land. The truck seems to be in fine, stock, condition, and mostly restored. But I have many plans for her, including a custom dash instrument cluster, re-doing all of the wiring, bumping up the alternator, replacing all lights with LED's, sway bars, and whatever else can be done with limited funds and mostly my own two hands. She also needs a mod of the rear end to improve highway mileage. At the moment she is in the shop for a tranny rebuild. (Regrettably, this is the second week she is there -they just can't seem to get something right. See my post "Haunted Powerglide?" in the driveline forum.) This truck will be my only vehicle up there, so she has to be in top shape. But I am very happy to have this truck. If anyone else on this forum is from Brooklyn, it would be great to hear from you.

Hi, as a new member I thought I'd introduce myself.

My name is David and I've lived in Vermont all my life.

I have been a GM guy as far as truck go ever since my first truck at 18 - a 1979 Chevy 4WD Shorty Stepside with a 350/4sp that I bought with only 11,000 miles on it. Since then I have had several (all 4WD) Chevy or GMC trucks or vans (Astro and Safari). I'm sad to say that I am not so impressed with the latest GM offerings, however - I bought a new 2014 GMC 1500 and sold it after a year, replaced with a Ram with the 5.7 Hemi and I love it...

I've always had an interest in performance and/or old cars, but have never had the budget to do much with it. The only real classic I've ever owned was a 1972 MG Midget that I drove for a few years in "needs restoration" mode. I started work on it but didn't have the time and ended up giving it away to a friend.

My personal preference would be a mid-late 60's muscle car, but my wife has always wanted a "rounded" pickup. I have no trouble making that concession as I like them too, and it kills two birds with one stone by making Her happy.

For the last year or so we've been perusing the options and at this point I am most interested in the 47.2-54.1 (I've seen it said that the cross grill & 1-pc windshield started in '54 but I've seen plenty of '54s with the 4 slat grill and split window, so I'm assuming that was a mid-year change) AD series. I like the GMC better than the Chevy for two main reasons - 1) I prefer the grill and front running lights, and 2) GMC only makes trucks, so if you want a truck you should have a GMC. They're the Truck People!

Anyways, so far we are still just looking, but am getting a bit more serious now. I need to sell my Mercedes CLS 550 to free up cash and garage space before we can do too much...

The most likely scenario is to buy a fairly stock driver, and do projects over the winter. I'd eventually want IFS, 4-Link rear, 4 wheel discs and a V8. I won't go too crazy with power, I mostly like the sound of a V8, and the extra grunt is nice, but this is to be a Sunday afternoon driver, not a hot rod or street racer. I also don't have any intentions of going all out with a frame-off restoration - just fixing what's broke and get it running and driving a little more modern.

This forum looks like a great resource. I've learned a lot already and expect to become part of The Bolt as I continue my GM journey.

Hi all,
John from Stow, MA here. Newbie to the forum. Love all the info!!!! I go into instant sponge mode whenever I'm reading about someone's build. Also really appreciate plugging my issues into the search bar to see if other had the same issues, and how they worked them out. I just recently picked up a '54 3100 5 window. My son named her Clyde the Glide. I informed him (in a joking way) she's a lady and you'll treat her with respect. To which he said, ya, well she still looks like a Clyde. She's a project. Too many owners did too many modifications to her in the past. I'm attempting to make her presentable again. Somewhere along the line a previous owner dropped a Camaro front clip in and lowered her all around stance. I'm looking to bring her back up close to factory ride height. He/she took a lot of shortcuts and fuglied their way through a partial build. I'm fumbling along best I can, identifying and correcting issues as I find them. Previous owner said she has a SBC 350 wTH350. It's a SB, but I haven't run the numbers yet, so we'll see. Anyway, like I'm sure is the case with most of you, family, work and life in general doesn't allow me as much quality time as I'd like with my 61 yr old mistress ;o)
Sl'inte, John

Hello John,
Bring your truck on over to Kimball Farm in Lancaster. We have a cruise-in every Friday evening. We normally have a DJ, however this Friday we have a band. No charge, just drive your old truck or hot rod or whatcha got and wear a smile.
Officially 5-9, but some show up as early as noon!

Patrick

Thanks Patrick,
I brought my son over last Friday night. The weather wasn't great, so there wasn't a huge turnout. But it was fun and the ice cream was great :o) I heard there's also a show down in Foxboro by Bass Pro Shops every other Thursday. Is that still going on?
Thanks,
John