I just acquired a 1951 GMC 350-24. It was a one owner truck, owned and operated by a late friend of my fathers that owned a concrete/sand and gravel business, and employed my father at 15 years old in 1969/70. The truck was used as a dump truck, however the bed is now missing, and the truck has sat in a yard for 50 years. This will be my build thread, I will post pictures, and ask waaayyy too many questions I’m sure… When cleaning out the truck I found the original title! The truck is patina’d nicely and will stay that way, however all of the inner workings will be gone through to whatever extent needed in order to put this special beast back on the road. I will likely build an old looking flat bed for it, and make it adaptable for a tow boom or something as well. The wheels look like RH5’s however they are 3 piece split ring wheels. I need tires! 8.25-20 if anyone close to West Phoenix area has some! I found out last night that the truck has a 302 in it, original manual trans, and a PTO drive! The engine turns over nicely, and will need a starter and accessory overhaul to test fire… Let the fun begin!
Your front rims are 3-piece, not Firestone RH-5's.
The back rims look like RH-5's...post a better picture of them so we can confirm.
If you're just going to use the truck on the farm and not on the road then used tires are fine, however it you plan on putting it on the road you really should buy new rubber.
Nice truck! If you get really enthused, you can add disc brake front spindles/hubs with that bolt pattern to your existing axle and keep tires inside fenders. D-80 rear disc brake axle, too!
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.
As far as moving your post, it is something for to think about. The Project Journals is:
" The restoblogs! Ongoing projects (restorations, modifications, outright street machines, as well as smaller scale component projects (steering, engines, etc.) -- all in near real time! Blow-by-blow, step-by-step description, commentary and discussion by the project persons themselves ... and you are there! "
It may depend on how much you want to journal your work, including pictures.
You might want to check out a few and see some of the details. HandyAndy is the Moderator for that forum. He made have some insight about this also.
Welcome to the site! Hope the Stovebolt Collective can be of service.
Peggy M Make your words sweet & tender today, for tomorrow you may have to eat them. Share knowledge and communicate it effectively. ~ Elihu
Welcome to the Stovebolt and the Project Journal forum! Your '1951 GMC 350-24 build' will be of great interest to our forum participants. I'm really looking forward to watching your rebuild. Be sure to ask your questions in the appropriate forum(s). There's a wealth of knowledge here on the SB. I recommend that you check into the Welcome Center and introduced yourself, an excellent first step.
I'll send you a PM with some additional Project Journal information for your review. You can just click on the flashing red envelope in the upper righthand corner to open it. Stovebolters love pictures..........
Ed, please tell me more… I’m interested in at least knowing what parts to keep an eye out for to do the conversion with if it’s not a nightmare and isn’t “hard” to do… I’m fairly capable compared to most…
Thanks all! After the thanksgiving holiday I may try to do some minor stuff to see “where” I’m at with the truck and what needs to be rebuilt, what needs replaced, what’s usable, missing, etc…
Yesterday I removed the valve cover, oiled all components on the head with some ATF to revive the ol’ girl… chiseled some antique oil/ grease build up off of it, and started getting it ready to test fire…
Removed and rebuilt the carburetor today! It’s a Holley AA-1 1-1/16 inch marked on the side Holley list 660-1
This thing was black inside from eating the oil from the oil bath air cleaner, but otherwise in PRISTINE condition! I used new gaskets, shot carb cleaner through all of the ports, gave it a general cleaning and reassembled. Pretty simple carburetor to work on. I will reinstall and move on to distributor refurb and starter install soon… Maybe a test start video within a week? We shall see!
