Well, we made it halfway home! The truck was running "OK" made it up to 43 MPH on the old gravel highway here in Montana. No traffic to deal with. The issue I ran into was my 12v battery just running out of juice. We were also losing daylight, without any lights or signals to speak of it was time to call it a night.
But I've since had a chance to dig into it, and it seems like quite a find indeed. I'm still trying to scrape years of crud off the engine to see what I've got. I'm certain it isn't the original motor. I'll include some pics and maybe someone can point me in the right direction.
We found a registration in the sun visor dated 1974. No other paperwork to speak of. Was a mechanical HI/LO original equipment in 47? My 61' bus was vacuum operated I believe, mounted to the rear and operated by a cable on the shifter. There's a ton of "aftermarket" options that were added over years. It has a lift bed and huge cable winch. The lift cylinder is missing, but the PTO hydraulic pump is still in place. It'll take a few posts to get all the pics in. But I'll do my best.
Can't wait to start really getting into it. I have a few other projects to get to but I'm hoping for a teardown this summer.
OK- - - -first the engine- - - -you've got a 1954 or early 55 powerplant, either a 235 or maybe a 261 cubic inch. The 4-bolt valve cover and the high mount water pump pretty much narrow it down to those possibilities. Late 55 and up engines had the water pump a couple of inches lower on the block to accommodate the lower hood and radiator of the newer design bodywork. Try finding a stamped engine number on a machined pad just behind the distributor, and a block casting number down low near the fuel pump, and one of the number crunchers on the site will tell you just about everything you ever wanted to know about it, probably including the Jockey shorts size of the guy who cast the block!
The reverse lockout lever on the shifter identifies the transmission as the early non-synchronized "crash box". There will be a little bit of a learning curve to your shifting technique, particularly when downshifting. Have fun! Jerry
"It is better to be silent and be thought a fool than to speak and eliminate all doubt!" - Abraham Lincoln Cringe and wail in fear, Eloi- - - - -we Morlocks are on the hunt! There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self. - Ernest Hemingway Love your enemies and drive 'em nuts!
That looks like an old oilfield rig. Is there a set of pivot points for gin poles at the back of the frame or the bed? Jerry
"It is better to be silent and be thought a fool than to speak and eliminate all doubt!" - Abraham Lincoln Cringe and wail in fear, Eloi- - - - -we Morlocks are on the hunt! There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self. - Ernest Hemingway Love your enemies and drive 'em nuts!
That looks like an old oilfield rig. Is there a set of pivot points for gin poles at the back of the frame or the bed? Jerry
I don't think oilfield, Jerry. There are a couple rollers on the back of the long overhang on the bed. More like a rollback wrecker. There's more pics showing the bed on his post in the Welcome Center that show the bed.
Kevin 1951 Chevy 3100 work truck Follow this saga in Project Journal Photos 1929 Ford pickup restored from the ground up. | 1929 Ford Special Coupe (First car) Busting rust since the mid-60's If you're smart enough to take it apart, you darn well better be smart enough to put it back together.
That second gearshift looks more like one for an auxiliary transmission. Does it have two transmissions?
I think it has a mechanical hi/lo..? It looks like 2 transmissions underneath. There's a short drive shaft from the trans into the unit in question, then it goes to the rear axle. The PTO is driven from the drivers side of the trans. I'll try and get some pics of the equipment underneath. There's a lot going on!
Originally Posted by Hotrod Lincoln
That looks like an old oilfield rig. Is there a set of pivot points for gin poles at the back of the frame or the bed? Jerry
Not sure what a gin pole is. There are "were" 2 pivot points at some point. The entire bed frame/structure is made of dimensional lumber. Then was wrapped in steel at some point in its life. It's probably extremely heavy! The winch is probably what broke the back window, that's some serious tubing the hay frame is made of and it looks like someone retracted the winch instead of releasing it. Tore the pipe and left the weld behind!
I did manage to get one stamped number uncovered, hasn't helped though.. S 0218 Located just behind the distributor.
Originally Posted by EdPruss
The shift levers are labeled:winch, PTO, bed. Probably newer went very fast with all that rigging in the front?
Ed
I labeled the handles Ed, while I was trying to make out what they were for. I believe the PTO has two positions and the direction the lever is in would determine if you were powering the winch or the hydraulic pump.
The second transmission is a 3 speed Brownie. It gives you a lower gear, a direct gear, and an overdrive. Very desirable setup. I have one in my '53 dump truck.
Yep, a rear roller and pivot points definitely says "oilfield". Pieces of drill stem were stored on the overhead rack, and a long set of A-frames (gin poles) and a winch were used to pull a section of drill pipe off the rack, stand it up, and screw the pieces together as the hole got deeper. There are lots of them sitting around any area where oil drilling goes on- - - -usually beat up and worn out a lot worse that this one, though! Jerry
"It is better to be silent and be thought a fool than to speak and eliminate all doubt!" - Abraham Lincoln Cringe and wail in fear, Eloi- - - - -we Morlocks are on the hunt! There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self. - Ernest Hemingway Love your enemies and drive 'em nuts!
Preservative! Now that's a good term for it Ed. The whole underside is very well "preserved" indeed!
Thanks for all the info, I'll come back with some proper pics as soon as I get it over to the car wash. The next item I want to tackle is figuring out the motor castings. For all intents and purposes I think I'm going to stick with the "near original" drive train components. I'm hoping that as well equipped as she is that someone took the time to find a 261 to put in there.
It might take more than the car wash to clean it up. I use a strong putty knife and then some mineral spirits or gasoline in the winter with a heavy parts washing brush.
Ed
'37 GMC T-18 w/ DD 4-53T, RTO-610, 6231 aux., '95 GMC running gear, full disc brakes, power steering, 22.5 wheels and tires. '47 GMC 1 ton w/ 302, NP-540, 4wd, full width Blazer front axle. '54 GMC 630 w/ 503 gasser, 5 speed, ex fire truck, shortened WB 4', install 8' bed. '55 GMC 370 w/270, 420 4 speed, grain, dump bed truck from ND. Works OK.
Dan Beluscak Think you gave it away when you said back window knocked out !! Gin poles are heavy pipe attached at the edge of the bed.They extend out behind and are attched at the top with an "A' shaped heavy steel fork that goes into the pipe. Then your cable goes thru a snatch block hanging on that "A" shaped bracket. The "gin Poles are then chained to the headache rack about cab roof high. When you go over like a river levee the gin poles can upset and throw stuff thru the back glass of the cab !! That is why you chain them down. All oilfield guys learn this ! A snatch block (pully) is made so you can easily take the cable out of it.
Dan Does that truck have a "tail " roller on the bed ?? About a 6 inch pipe across the bed that rools real easy. If so your in the winch truck game too !! LOL
