The Stovebolt Site Forums Welcome! Welcome Centre Do It Yourself (DITY) Gallery 1956 Chevy 3100- Son and Father Project

I just bought a '56 and couldn't be happier. It has been sitting in that spot since 1981. It actually is in my parents' neighbors yard. Their neighbor has several junked cars and he is notorious for not selling anything. I actually tried to buy a '77 Trans Am for him many years ago with no luck. My dad was able to convince him to sell the truck to me. It is mostly original and complete. It has been sitting in the same spot since 1980 and surprisingly has very little rust damage. It has a '57 hood for some reason and the steering wheel isn't original. Wheels and tires are ordered and on the way. I ordered Wheel Vintiques series 12 primed smoothies. Next step is getting it home...

Wheels and tires came in today:

Welcome and congratulations on buying your Stovebolt. It looks surprising solid. It looks like your engine may be an earlier engine due to the valve cover that is on it. When you get her home, post the block and head casting numbers and the stamped numbers behind the distributor and we will be able to tell you what you have.

I was very surprised at how solid it actually is. Once I get it cleaned up a bit and get it home I'll post pics of the numbers on here. Thanks.

Something decent to start with. You may want to check the engine number just behind the distributor to see if it is a full pressure engine. The 56 had perimeter valve cover screws and looks like yours has center of the cover studs. Could be any earlier engine but if it's good run it but maybe a bit more gently than a full pressure unit. If you post the engine number there are ones here that are whizzes at deciphering them.

welcome to the 'bolt. It looks like you will have a lot of fun getting it back on the road!

Keeping the dream alive is half the fun Stovebolt is the rest come to a good place enjoy the dream from downunder

Thanks for the welcome folks, I appreciate it. It's my first try at restoring/working on an antique truck. I'm pretty handy and have lots of time on my hands so I'm excited to get going on it. I went and took a few more pics of it today. The odometer is showing 7,240 miles. Must have been some hard miles, lol.

Looks like a solid truck to start with. Good grab. You probably already know this, but that odometer is on it’s second trip around.
I had one of those when I was a kid. I bought it when my parent weren’t looking. I remember my Dad’s words like yesterday. “What the hell is THAT?” I hadn’t driven it 4 miles before the transmission seized up hard. Because I was just 16 when I bought it, the sale was quite illegal. The guy should have made sure a parent was co-signing the bill of sale. I ended up having to go to court to get my money back. Between dad and I, we got first gear to work, and I drove it back to the guy I bought it off and parked it behind his car. I didn’t dare shift it on the way back because we had tried that before and had a heck of a time getting the trani unstuck again. The original owner wasn’t too happy to have it back, and was super rude. I’m sure he was super unhappy too, because as he was yelling at my dad, I hopped back into the cab and shifted the transmission for him.

Nice truck ,not too many around to be found that have been sitting for that long .I am going to guess the engine is a 235 with a older valve cover just got that vibe.

The side mount provision you can see on the side of the engine were used from 1952-54 only on passenger cars. Though they were not used to mount the engine in trucks, the mounting bosses were still there on 1952-55 first series trucks.
It also has the early high mount water pump.
Not that I matters, but it is not the original engine.
Btw, the hood is a 1957-58 design.

correct me if I'm wrong, but it looks like a '57 hood with the humps

Thanks for that info man, I know very little history on the truck. Once I get it home I’ll get the numbers off the engine and find out exactly what year it is.
I noticed the hood isn’t the right year. If I ever do an actual restoration on it I’ll get the right hood.

That looks like a great project truck. Congratulations on your acquisition. You will have so much fun on your journey!

Lot's of potential. I really like all the Task Force trucks, great that you're committed to saving it.

John

Got the truck home finally. My dad and I had to tear down a barbed wire fence and cut down a tree to get it out, but I was smiling the whole time. My dad was almost as excited as I was. He has had two 56's and a 57 in his time and he loves these trucks as much as I do. Enough with the talk, here are some pics.....

So I got the engine serial number. If I researched it correctly it's a '52 216 engine. I'm not sure how this engine came to be inside it, but I'm trying to find that out. I can turn it by hand which is awesome. Under the valve cover looks good as well. I pulled the dip stick and it is full of beautiful brown oil, not black.

Congrats on getting her home! There is a tech tip on bringing a dead engine back to life you may find helpful. I encourage you to listen to the part about not using any part of the gas system on your first start. You’ll need to go thru each component and that you can do at a later date. Get the engine started or at least attempt to, so you can evaluate if it needs rebuild or replacement. Good luck!
https://www.stovebolt.com/techtips/engines/Dead%20Engine%20Start/index.html

You are right, sir. The engine block numbers show that it's a '52 216 (if I'm reading them right).

Phak1. Thanks man, I've been reading that tech tip, it's pretty helpful. Once I get the coolant system back together I'm gonna try and start it.

You have a good plan in my humble opinion. Same thing I did. Get it on the road ASAP and enjoy driving it while you make other repairs/changes. This is a great group and don't hesitate to use the various forums for help. this is a great and knowledgeable group of truck lovers and I would have really struggled with my restoration if it had not been for the guidance I found here.

Got her in the garage. Big thanks to my wife for volunteering to move her car out of the garage so I would have the room. Once my shop is finished it will go in there and she can have the garage back. I found a steering wheel at an estate sale yesterday for it. I got it for $10 and I still can't stop smiling, lol. New ones are almost $300. It has some cracks but I'm going to try and restore it and use it. If not, it will make a great shop wall decoration.

Guessing motor is 43-45, Flint 216, Very strange. Could be a car motor. What is VIN on title?
Our VIN/series/serno page shows BK for 1942 and 44-45. GM heritage does not show BK for 42 and no info for war years 43-45.
Evidence of AC used to designate Flint factory.
Haven't seen a person put a 216 in a TF. Recommend replacing with newer motor.

Yeah I'm not sure what's up with that engine. I've been kinda half heartedly looking around for a '56 235 but haven't found much. It's on my list but honestly not a big priority right now-unless I can't get the one in there to start.

LOL, no thanks. I want it as close to stock as I can get it.

LOL, they had V8's in 56. Stock.
What is the VIN on title? On A pillar? Frame stamp? If any starts with a "V", it was a V8.

I guess I should have said I wanted to keep it as stock as I can as it left the factory, lol. It originally came with a 235. After talking with the guy I bought it from, at one point the guy he got it from took the original engine out of it and put some kind of V8 in it. Sometime before it was parked in 1980 the V8 was removed and this 216 was put in it. I'm still trying to get the contact info of the guy who parked it at my parent's neighbors house 40 years ago so I can try and find out more about it's history.

Been busy the past week. I read through the starting a dead engine Tech Tip and got my truck ready to do just that. I completely flushed the cooling system. Installed a battery and new positive cable. Pulled the spark plugs and cleaned them up. I put some Marvel Mystery Oil in each cylinder and put the plugs back in. I loved this part because I got to use an old oil can that I had just picked up at an estate sale, so that was cool (pic down below). I replaced the coil, points and condenser. I took the carb apart and cleaned it out real well. I took the valve cover off and put some 10W-30 on top of everything. The oil pan was full and the oil was cleaner than I thought it would be.
Since I have no keys, I had to hot wire it to start, and I put a switch in the hot wire from the starter to the coil. The fuel system got completely bypassed and I don't have a small gas tank and hoses to feed the carb, so I just filled the carb with gas and let it go as long as it would. This was my first attempt at anything like this so I was a bit nervous. I had a fire extinguisher ready just in case, lol. It fired up pretty well, but didn't run too long; I have no idea how much gas a carb uses when it's working but I'm sure that's why it wouldn't run any longer than it did.
I found out what I wanted to know though. It sounded GREAT. For a truck that has been sitting since 1980 it started and ran WAY better than I thought it would. No knocks, taps or anything like that. I was hoping I wouldn't have to rebuild the engine to get it going and it looks like I don't. Next step is replacing the fuel lines, rebuilding the fuel pump, cleaning the tank and reinstalling it. Here is a link to the video of it starting up: First Engine Start

That is a runner. if that was the first start in 20+ years sounds like you are in good shape. And you have proved to many guys that hopefully will read your post that taking the time and doing the steps to start a engine that has been sitting are well worth it. too many just try and fire it right up with gas and get frustrated. You follow the basic steps and got rewarded with the awesome sound of straight 6. enjoy that 56 its my favorite year.

I think i'm in pretty good shape with that engine myself man. I am still surprised it fired up like it did. Those engines must have been built really well. I'm glad I found those Tech Tips. Guys like me need to lean on the knowledge of people who have been there before.

Dang, it's been May since I last posted. A lot has happened, but not necessarily on the truck. I got my shop built, set up and truck moved in.

I started cleaning the inside of the cab a bit, trying to get the surface rust cleaned up. I don't want to strip it down to bare metal and have to paint it right now. I'm just using scotch-brite pads and CLR. It's working ok.

I picked up a new gas tank a few days ago and started running the new fuel lines today. I wanted to use the original tank but while cleaning it up I found a lot more pin-holes than I originally saw so I decided to go ahead and get a new tank. I found that the fuel pump in the older 216 engine is located differently than on the 235 that is supposed to be in the truck. The fuel lines were pre-bent for the 235, obviously. I think I'm going to just have to use some fuel hose line to get it to marry-up correctly.

So that's about it, not a lot of progress but not at a stand-still either.

Oh, I also FINALLY found a 1956 Oklahoma truck tag. My wife and I go looking for antiques fairly regularly and we always take the time to go through old license plates. I had no luck finding hardly anything from '56. On a whim last week I did a search on craigslist and found a local guy selling plates. He had several '56 plates so I met up with him and picked up a truck tag. Before I bought it I called our Tax Commission and checked to see if the number was able to be registered and it is good to go. The guy I bought it from gave me the info of a guy who restores them, so I'm going to send it off and have it restored and looking brand new.

Thanks, I was pretty happy when I found that guy. I had been looking for one for about a year and a half.

Here is a pic of a display this guy has in house, OK 1915-1950. Some are restored, some are original. Very cool state history.

A really good score would be a PAIR of plates usable to register the vehicle. Not sure that YOM plate registration is available in all states though.
But license plates on the wall of the man-cave are a good thing too.

I saw a matching pair of '56 California plates at an antique shop last year. $220.........

Yeah, for stupid amounts of money. An unrestored farm truck is not worth more than three grand to me. Especially one thats incomplete, not running or driving.

That's actually not that bad, but there were a lot more vehicles registered in California than Alaska in '56. A pair of '51 Alaska plates would go for at LEAST twice that price. And--- HENS TEETH.