The Stovebolt Site Forums Welcome! Welcome Centre Hi from Scotland!!

Hi all,

ever since I was a wee boy when i built a model of a 1951 Chevy pickup i have wanted a real one. Now i am looking for one to buy. Obviously the biggest problem is that i live in Scotland and not America!! However there are a few about, or i could ship one from the US but that would add £2000 odd onto the price.

Anyway I guess i'm just looking for some advice...what to look for, what to avoid..ect.. what engine is best..that kinda stuff.

hope to chat to you soon..

TTFN

Alex

Bubblemaker, welcome to the Stovebolt Page. Consider yourself in good hands now and you also join other bolters from you county. Watch for them, I know Jockbolter will chime in when he see's you and there are others that may be able to lead you in the right direction.
Generally, depending on your mechanical skills, its always nice to get one that already runs and stops. The better the metal, the higher the price but will be a savings in the long run.
Once found, arm yourself with a Shop Manual, and an Assembly Manual. Some are available on line but nothing like having your own and they are not expensive.
Even if you find the right truck, and the price is right, it may still be advantageous to buy one here and ship it. CONDITION is EVERYTHING.

Check out the Tech Tips, Gallery, and learn to do a search here. You will find hours and hours of good advice and reasoning.

Post questions about a particular thing in the most correct garage forums for the greatest results.
Good luck and we are here to help. No stupid questions here.

Alex
Welcome to the Stovebolt group.
Alvin gives good advice.
If you do find a truck over here that you may be interested in.
Post about it and there is a good chance somebody on here, will go look at it and give you a straight up evaluation.

Don

Yes to all the above! Good luck finding one and keep us posted. One thing not mentioned was to be ready for the waves, smiles and thumbs up greetings and try to control the wide smile on your face as you drive it down the road.
Sparky

Hi Alex,welcome.
Nice to see another 'Jock' here at last,I was getting lonely!
I see Alvin's already given you the heads up i'd chime in.
Where abouts in our fair wee country are you based?

There are many UK based 47-53 Chevys and GMCs now in the UK and they do come up for sale now and again.
The biggest limiting factor of course is your budget.
What do you want from the truck,do you want to stay stock or modified?

Thankfully there's good suppliers of parts based here now too,in fact there's a vendor based near Edinburgh,big Trevor at Hot Rod Hell who specialises in 'goodies' for these trucks.
I should also add the nice folks here at Stovebolt.com have been utterly invaluable for advice and friendship and in fact many have gone above and beyond to help me during my build.

Sparky's hit the nail on the head too,I hope you're not shy as the interest these old trucks generate here is incredible.
Get used to being stared at...

If there's any questions you have that I can perhaps answer,shoot me a PM and we can chat.

Good luck.

Thanks for the replies peeps.

I'm from East Kilbride..you?

I'm looking at a 49 chevy on fleabay just now!! i'm thinking stock (ish) would be nice, and probably a 'cheaper' option to start with!!

I'd love a super shiney truck, but the one i'm looking at is ratty as hell and i actually quite like it!!!

basically i'd like it to be solid, good engine/brakes, and worry about the body work at a later date!!

I'm in Dundonald near Troon,not a million miles away.

It sounds ike you have a plan,it's easy to get carried away (and into debt)
Make a plan and stick to it.

Stock(ish) is fine,priorities like you say are getting it stopping and steering correctly,fortunately the 'ratty' look's in vogue at the moment,just as well too as mine looks a little rough round the edges,driving it all through the winter on our lovely salted roads hasn't helped.
The guy that brought mine in from sunny California destroyed the original patina,but it wasn't fashionable back then.

As you'll learn there are many things you can do to improve the driving experience,a front disc brake conversion in my opinion would be fairly high on the list,in saying that a properly set up and maintained original system is fine.
One thing I would definitely suggest would be a dual circuit master cylinder conversion,anyone who's experienced brake failure will agree!
Given the age of the truck an MOT is not required but I know many of my friends with pre 1960 vehicles still get one done as peace of mind,it doesn't hurt to get it checked out by a supposedly impartial tester.

Keeping the stock drivetrain/rear end gear ratios won't get you anywhere quick but at least you'll look good getting there....
There are alternative ratios available for longer legs on the motorway too,although you would most likely need to convert the drive shaft to an open type.
Assuming the rear end is still stock on the '49,if it's a 3100 1/2 ton it will have a torque tube set-up,(i.e. a fully enclosed prop-shaft.
If it's the 3600 3/4ton model part of it is open.

The sky's the limit with these old trucks,there are so many options open to you,I hope you find your dream truck!

Like I said previously,anything I can do to help,just give me a shout.

Here's mine before mother nature got to work on the spray can paint job.... Satin black '50.

That looks awesome...love the steering wheel!! You're only down the road!! Might need to pop down and have a closer look!!
What kind of fuel consumption do you get? And what's with the ones that have about 5 foot pedals??

I've just had a good look at your flikr photos... Don't suppose you fancy restoring one for me??

Thanks...Bubblemaker.
On a good day I can sneak about 20mpg,but it's hard to keep your foot out it sometimes.
It's usually less than that.
Future plans are to hopefully improve that with a 5 speed manual and three pedals again.

Re: The pedals,the clutch/brake assembly is mounted to the chassis and the pedal arms come through the floor,only the throttle pedal is mounted to the bulkhead/firewall.
In most modern vehicles the hang from under the dash hence the term 'pendulum type'.
They take a little getting used to but work fine.

The term 'restoration' can cover a multitude of things,it all very much depends on the staring condition of said vehicle,I got lucky and scored a California truck,The main body repairs have been to the lower cab corners (even then I didn't have to use the full panels),the bottom of the door hinge pillars (cowl section) and a small amount on the floor/toeboard area on the passenger side at the battery opening,not bad considering it's age,an equivalant British motor would have disappeared with rust 40 years earlier.

Well basically the one i'm looking at is apparently solid, just needs a good blast and paint of the chassis.moh..and it needs the engine putting in! And probably a brake conversion to discs, then a good dereust and paint of the bodywork, after hammering out all the dents! Then a nice retrim of the cab...plus anything else that it needs!! Not too much really!!