So the journey begins. This is my 70+ year old Father-in-laws project that never went anywhere. He bought this 1955 in Texas back in the late 1980's when my current wife was very young. He used it around the property, drove to the store, etc. He never registered it in his home state of Louisiana.
He and his teenage daughter (now my wife) took on a different project, a 1969 Mustang coupe and the '55 took a back seat while they restored the pony ... indefinitely ...
He did meticulously disassemble, labeled, and covered all the parts to the '55. They have been under covered storage since the 1990's. The only thing not covered and stored in a shop was the frame and bed.
Last fall hurricane Ida's eye wall passed over his house and put a whipping on the oak trees. One particular water oak found a resting place on the '55's bed. To our amazement the frame is still straight as an arrow,. The bed is total loss obviously.
That did however convince him to sell the '55 in pieces, but I offered a different plan. We suggested turning this into a 3-generational project, as my 12 year old is very much an old car nut like us. He's grown to love classic cars almost as much as baseball and fishing.
Dad's an old soul and loves to stay busy, so this will be a great 3-generational project for us to take on. He's excited, I'm excited, and FIL is really happy to see it get wrenched on. So this is the beginning.
The frame is now stripped down and strapped to my trailer headed for sand blasting, likely next week.
My son has accepted the fact that it will be years before she is on the road and complete, but he is very excited.
Last edited by Peggy M; 03/13/202510:53 PM. Reason: Changed title
The passenger side is not repairable, and you may be correct, there is a chance to salvage the front panel and driver's side, but the tailgate was beat up pretty good prior to the tree. My son has already claimed the tailgate as a souvenir for later, wants to make a bench out of it.
Welcome to Stovebolt! Your 1955.1 project will be of great interest to our forum participants. I'm really looking forward to watching you and your grandson bring it back to life. Be sure to ask your questions in the appropriate forum(s). There's a wealth of knowledge here on the SB just for the asking.
Family trucks are awesome (I have my Grandfather's '51 3100 myself) as is having everyone involved in the project!
Look forward to seeing your progress and your questions in the various forums.
Again, WELCOME to the best old Chevy/GMC Truck website (really a community)!
~ Dan 1951 Chevy 3 window 3100 Follow this story in the DITY Gallery "My Grandpa Carl's Truck and How it Became Mine" 1966 Chevelle (Wife's Hot Rod) | 2013 Chevy Silverado (Current daily driver) US Army MSG Retired (1977-1998) | Com Fac Maint Lead Tech Retired (1998-2021)
Roam about The Shops area for your questions -- discussed and answered.
Welcome!
~ Peggy M 1949 Chevrolet 3804 "Charlie" - The Stovebolt Flagship In the Gallery "We make a living by what we get; we make a life by what we give." -- Winston Churchill
Thanks all, I'll say again, I'm so glad I found this place. We like to consider this a marathon, but marathons have a set ending, I'm not sure this process ever has an ending. I've had classic vehicles before - 1970 Chevy C10, 1st year Jeep CJ, 36 Chevy coupe.
I've had to sell the others at some point and regret selling each. My hope is this one stays in the family as long as I'm on earth.
Besides the Forums, we have a lot of really good Tech Tips.
Here is a "tip" that's actually one of our FAQs: How do I keep my restoration going?
Glad to see you are out of moderation.
Last edited by Phak1; 03/13/20251:33 PM.
~ Peggy M 1949 Chevrolet 3804 "Charlie" - The Stovebolt Flagship In the Gallery "We make a living by what we get; we make a life by what we give." -- Winston Churchill
Neat project. Looks like it had the two tone interior which meant deluxe trim.(Chrome vent window frames and chrome around windshield) as well as an under-bed spare tire carrier originally.
Keen eye there Greg. Yes, the vent and front window have chrome trim. The cab is in phenomenal shape, the windows are fairly clear with no cracks, the seals are all there, ZERO rust on the doors or floor. Bench seat frame is 100 intact, but cushion is long gone. The window crank's, door handles, and even the carboard ceiling are all still installed. The cab is sitting on a stand in the corner of the shop under a thick blanket, has not seen sunshine in 3 decades and it's going to stay there for a while longer while I work on the chassis, suspension, and drivetrain. My head is spinning...
Continuing the dismantle process. After closer inspection we were able to salvage the driver's side bed panel, the front panel and the cross sills. He's getting good with a grinder.
When you buy a new bedside, Someone has tooled up to stamp them with the embossed area around the fenders. The reproduction 54 55.1 versions made in the past were flat without the embossed areas. What color was your truck originally?
Perfect, that's what I need thanks Greg. As far as color, I'm not certain. I have not researched it and have not sanded on the cab, fenders or hood yet. The wire wheeling and sanding we've done on the bed panels suggests a yellow, but I'm not convinced that's accurate.
The attached pic of the plate in the door jam makes me think it was blue.
Yes, that blue indicates the two tone blue interior with the dash top being a darker blue. I would have thought the exterior would also be some sort of blue. Sometimes on the underside of the hood you will find written in grease pencil a name that indicates exterior color. Mine says "transport" for transport blue.
The top cowl vent may have the original paint visible when you open it.
Taking a closer look at the ID plate, that color paint is also on top of the plate indicating a repaint at some time.
Last edited by Phak1; 11/09/20223:36 AM.
Phil Moderator, The Engine Shop, Interiors and Project Journals
1952 Chevrolet 3100, Three on the Tree, 4:11 torque tube Updated to: ‘59 235 w/hydraulic lifters, 12v w/alternator, HEI, PCV and Power front Disc Brakes Project Journals Stovebolt Gallery Forum
You can’t always go with bed colors or anything other than the cab. In my case the bed was changed out at some point. The cab will be your most accurate color.
Phil Moderator, The Engine Shop, Interiors and Project Journals
1952 Chevrolet 3100, Three on the Tree, 4:11 torque tube Updated to: ‘59 235 w/hydraulic lifters, 12v w/alternator, HEI, PCV and Power front Disc Brakes Project Journals Stovebolt Gallery Forum
"They don't make them like they used to"... 15 spot welds drilled out along with a little cutting wheel action and the mangled stake pocket was removed. I just envision a young guy on an assembly line, cigarette hanging from his lip, tacking this thing down to never be removed.
This rear one was beat up pretty band and I decided to swap it out. Now that it's been removed, and I see the amount of rust under it, I've convinced myself to remove the front one... gently... and get busy on the rust removal there and spot weld it back down.
I may simply acid-wash and spray an encapsulate inside the bed rail "tube".
Should get frame back end of next week and will spray it ASAP.
Our work continues on the truck, but there has not been much to show visually. Did build an acid bath. I have some worries about the inside the old bed rail, so I decided to make a DIY bath to soak it in for a couple days. Once complete, I'll drench the inside the "tube" with a primer or rust converter.
Spent way too many hours on hammer and dolly on the rest of the panel to admit.
I put a hold on the frame sand blasting due to the weather. Crossing my fingers, the warmer dry weather holds true for the end of this coming week.
Was able to get it blasted on Wednesday and picked it up on Thursday. Pressured washed it all down, then pre-treated by spraying and wiping it down with a phosphoric acid/isopropanol solution.
Sprayed it with Eastwood encapsulator platinum, went to church, went to a local car show, B.S.ed with friends, got home and hung some Christmas lights, then sprayed it with its's 1st coat Eastwood chassis black extreme.
I sooooo much rather the finesse of spraying body panels than frames. There are 10,000 little angles, holes, corners, hard spots, etc... constantly switching hands and spray patters on the gun. There are at least 15 runs I will have to address down the road, but I'm not stressing over it because there will be plenty of work done on the frame in time.
I was also reminded of why people make or buy spray booths, as an out of nowhere drizzle hit while I was spraying the black, 0% chance of rain and sunny they said....
OH! how I wish I could be spraying paint outside (or even in my tent) in December. We just got thru a few days of single digit temperatures and are expecting snow this evening. Color me envious, even with the drizzle.
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.
I hear ya Kevin, and I'm certainly not complaining, not sure how you guys deal with it year in and year out. I love visiting cold weather and snow, but I'm not a big fan of the rare times it visits us. I'll take 2 months of 95 degrees and 100% humidity in exchange.
Once I get the 2nd coat of black on this frame it will be set aside while I plan out and get the parts for the suspension, will likely be a while. Will work slowly on all the body panels one by one as time allows.
After countless hours on the DA, hammer and dolly, phosphoric acid and muratic acid treatments, we reluctantly sprayed it today with rust encapsulater. It was not the route I wanted to go, but I was losing the battle on some of the rust spots and the goal is to avoid rust down the road.
I will hit the panel with 180 then 320 and prime with a PPG black epoxy primer to seal it up for good. The plan it to skim coat with Rage Ultra to fill the pits and other dings and use the black epoxy as the signal to go light on the block sanding.
Ron - - Dusty53 1954 Chevy 3604 In the Gallery Forum "You can't dance with the Devil and then wonder why you're still in Hell." "They will forget what you've said, and they will forget what you have done but they will never forget the way you made them feel."
Still on that one bed panel. The abuse these beds take over 70 working years is significant. Got the first coat of epoxy on it and first skim coat of Rage Ultra, then a second coat of epoxy to lock in the body work.
Also got the chasis on wheels using the old bump stops. Much better
Did have a question. Are you planning on fixing the broken weld where the top edge roll meets the stake pocket in picture #3? Can see a clear gap between the old weld and the rolled edge.
If left unattended, could allow that top of bedside to flex and bend/crack creating more work later.
Keep us posted on your continued progress.
~ Dan 1951 Chevy 3 window 3100 Follow this story in the DITY Gallery "My Grandpa Carl's Truck and How it Became Mine" 1966 Chevelle (Wife's Hot Rod) | 2013 Chevy Silverado (Current daily driver) US Army MSG Retired (1977-1998) | Com Fac Maint Lead Tech Retired (1998-2021)
Good eye on that gap, there was an old repair in that spot and the weld snapped really easily, and yes, absolutely plan to weld it. I'm trying to convince myself to learn tig welding and this panel may become my playground. In addition to that gap there are about 6 holes that need filling and I'll likely seal up the stake pockets and rolled edges to give the whole bed a cleaner, subtle look.
This is all taking longer than it should, but with my son working along side me, wrenching, sanding, hammering, and painting, I'm ok with this taking as long as it needs to.
Couple examples, there are a couple runs in the primer we need to sand out, but he learned his lesson about pausing the spray gun. We had to do two rounds of filler skim coat because there were a couple low spots and the edges were not feathered good enough. Reworks take time... and he has rolled his eyes at me more than once..lol
This is all taking longer than it should, but with my son working along side me, wrenching, sanding, hammering, and painting, I'm ok with this taking as long as it needs to.
Reworks take time... and he has rolled his eyes at me more than once..lol
Kudo's to you for being able to enjoy the time with your son. Eye rolls and all - LOL!
~ Dan 1951 Chevy 3 window 3100 Follow this story in the DITY Gallery "My Grandpa Carl's Truck and How it Became Mine" 1966 Chevelle (Wife's Hot Rod) | 2013 Chevy Silverado (Current daily driver) US Army MSG Retired (1977-1998) | Com Fac Maint Lead Tech Retired (1998-2021)
Last fall hurricane Ida's eye wall passed over his house and put a whipping on the oak trees. One particular water oak found a resting place on the '55's bed. To our amazement the frame is still straight as an arrow,. The bed is total loss obviously.
Are you planning on fixing the broken weld where the top edge roll meets the stake pocket in picture #3? Can see a clear gap between the old weld and the rolled edge.