The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk Home made accessories- Charming or scrap iron?

Hi Folks-
Posted some photos of the '52 last week. As you can see the lumber yard who originally owned the truck made a spare bracket, drop-hitch bumper and headache rack that are still on it. Do these add to or detract from the overall truck? I'm not going for a total nuts-on resto, but a good 10-footer that captures the working heritage of this pickup. Any thoughts?

Thanks!
Mike Burgess
Albert, KS

Thanks Tim- Takes me forever to post photos!
Caveman, but not Luddite.

You'll probably get a different opinion from every one you
talk to about what to do with your '52. In the end it's gonna
be how you want to personalize it. There's a whole slew of
guys that would dust of the 'patina' and just upgrade the
mechanical aspects of the truck. Then at the other end of
the spectrum there are guys like me that try to keep them as
stock as is practical and still use them as a driver.
If it's value you're pondering, it's certainly going to be
worth a lot more in it's original appearance without all the
Jerry rigging that some farmer did. The seem to bring a bit
more if they have been properly modified with the typical 350,
auto trans late rear end and independent front, put an
emphasis on the 'properly modified'.

Stick around here for a while, you never know what you might
pick up and you can drop off some of what you've learned
over the years.

Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

I love that stuff. Of course the spare tire carrier would put the spare out from the truck a ways and might look funny, but the head ache rack is sweet. When I see that stuff, which is seldom, it always looks so crude. Your head ache rack and hitch have style that matches the truck. Every thing there tells a story. Why erase the trucks history?

I'd keep them.

I'd keep them - they're great. Would have to see how the spare ended up mounting on that rack, though. I fabbed a side mount for my '46 and I don't think it sticks out that far - I like the look, too. Hard to say without your spare in place.

Thanks for the input guys. I'll try to get a shot with spare on but haven't mounted the running boards yet. Easier to get underneath without them. Geez, shadetreeing is hard on an old guy! I do kind of think that the spare will stick out like a sore willy, but proof's in the pudding.

Best-
Mike

PS- The guy that had the truck for 50 years name is Bufford Peevyhouse--Classic!-- "Bufford Lumber Company on the doors?

Agree with all and Twotone: That kind of stuff "blends in" right now with all the same patina. But if the truck gets fixed up and painted, those accessories are priceless and will look really special. They are not the usual globbed up stuff, they look art deco nice. Just right.

Well, I hate to disagree with everybody. Really, I do. As a trucker by trade, though, I have long held some pretty firm opinions about a truck's equipment.

That stuff - although it looks strong and functional - does not look right on the truck. The bumper is recessed too far under the tailgate to protect it in case a texting idiot rams your truck from behind. It fails, therefore, in one essential function of a rear bumper. The line of the headache rack does not match that of the cab, and its gussets look more decorative than strong: A solid hit on that rack would pull the side rails of the box. These are mostly aesthetic opinions, as such events are unlikely to happen. But, if they did ...

I took this
http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk293/hotshoe36/Our%20trucks/DSC00862.jpg
awful farmer-built bumper off my truck at my earliest opportunity. I replaced it with something my brother and I made up by modifying and adapting a bumper I got from a local auto-wrecker. We added a hitch reciever, and made very strong mounting gussets. Cameron's welding talent and my (supervised) fabricating has made us an immensely strong, versatile bumper. It occurs to me now that I don't even have a decent pic of it yet. This is a problem, as my brother has since passed and will not be helping me with the next evolution of this bumper, which will be the final one.

I'll be along with a pic of our work later today, I hope. Here's a pic of some temporary bedsides I cobbled up, though, with an integral headboard.
http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/...%20steer%20Olson%20house_zps85qinyjw.jpg
There were two tons of timbers in the box for that pic, which explains why she's squatting a bit. But maybe you can see how the line of the headboard was made to match the line of the cab.

Mike, remember, you asked.

Hi Hotshoe-
Yes, I did. I need to hear all sides. I'm not hurt or offended whatsoever by anyone's input. It's all valuable. I didn't build this stuff, I just bought a 63 year old truck!

Thanks!
Mike

Texters? Hey, that's what insurance is for.

I'm diggin on the head rack if that were on my 52 it would stay>

I also think that headache rack is really cool, and so is the hitch. I'd leave them if they were mine. As far as the spare tire rack-as others have said, wait till you get the tire mounted on it and see what it looks like.

I wish the previous owner of my suburban had left the modifications on the truck. It is a little bit different than your situation...it was a California forestry service truck originally. It had been modified to have a second gas tank. Although the plumbing is still there, the second gas tank was removed by a previous owner, and the body work was done to get rid of the second filler door on the other side.

I would roll with that just the way it is.


I did a little fixin on my 50 4 years ago. Put new shiny replacement parts onit

Since then I've repaired the original Hood Emblem

Picked up an old Barden bumper similar to what was on my truck when I was a kid.
Installed some old Tarp hooks

I still have the original hub caps,
One of these days ill reinstall all the original bits I have.


Good luck
Make your rig safe and sound and enjoy

The headache rack and hitch add to the character of a working truck. If the spare tire rack works, let it ride. Nice looking pickup. thanks for sharing the pics.

It seems the majority of folks here prefer working trucks to trailer queens. I'm good with that.

Yes to that. These trucks were built to be that, working trucks. The home built accessories help define the individual trucks personality!.

Make it mechanical O.K., jump in and go enjoy. Paint is over rated, everybody loves seeing an old car or truck running down the road.

I made the same bumper for my 2004 gmc. It has a lot of uses, and has been called the 'butt hole bumper', Mercedes marauder, and cougar crusher.
I still intend on threading fittings in it to use as an air tank.
Your headache rack looks cool.
Brad

Here's some w/ spare on. Sorta looks like Fido's arse to me...........

photobucket
photobucket

Love the head rack! Looks kind of like an iron bed headboard.
My vote is to leave it all as is, a classic patina salute to its history.
;-)
John

You'll be bumping into that spare every time you turn around.

I guess the guy made the spare holder like that to clear the fender without a cutout.

I wrote this a few years back. Mostly did it for Panels and Burbs but use the idea to fit your truck. It got published in Custom Classic Trucks Mag. Click on the first article.

http://www.hotrod.com/search/?q=wind%20up%20spare

I'm lovin the headache rack. Looks like it might have been an old headboard off a bed at some time in it's life. I've seen that done before.

I kept the ones that were safe and useful and ditched the ones that weren't.

bartamos, I've been thinking about doing exactly that for a while now.

Still hate 'em all. I love these, though.
Here's what I did for my bumper, so far:
http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk293/hotshoe36/Our%20trucks/Old%20Yeller%20017_zpstnfgzqkv.jpg
And here's some stuff I did on the other end:
http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk293/hotshoe36/Our%20trucks/Old%20Yeller%20022_zpszshhqkzd.jpg
http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk293/hotshoe36/Our%20trucks/Old%20Yeller%20020_zps3imnoi4r.jpg
Not finished on any of it. I just wanted my truck working, and it is. I am well pleased with my bumper, although it will one day evolve into something not much different from DADS Barden. I like how it follows around and matches the fenders.