Hello, I’m new here so I thought would introduce myself. My name is Don Emch and I am from New Waterford, OH. I recently acquired a ‘51 3600 and am starting a restoration. The truck has lived its life as a water feature for the last several years. I am shooting for an original restoration, however, the water works business has not been very kind to the rear section of the frame. Because of this, I am replacing the original chassis, with another original chassis. Gotta do what ya gotta do, I guess. I’m planning on a nice useable original style truck, but not a show winner since I’m bringing two trucks into one. Anyway, here’s a photo of the truck doing duty in the water works business. Don
Last edited by Peggy M; 05/08/202411:37 PM. Reason: added more info to the title
Nice truck Don! Hope your restoration goes well Do not throw out or sell any parts until you are 100% done. There are many small parts for a 3/4 ton that are unique to that model size and not reproduced.
For instance the brake drums at all four corners are not obtainable as reproduction. This topic came up lately on the forum and seems to surface every few years. -s
Very nice truck, should be fun to restore! My rule for parts: never ever throw any parts away! And our place shows it 🤣
~Charley 1954 Chevy 3100 with 235 “Bud” Follow along in the DITY 1963 Chevy half ton stepside short box 230 1954 GMC 3 ton 302 And several more Chevy camper and work trucks 1979 1987 1996
Looks like a good "project" truck. If you have any extra 3/4 ton parts when you're done, there will probably be somebody on Stovebolt who wants them. How did you get it out of the pond?
Yes, welcome to our "virtual garage" as we like to think of it. Helps to give new folks an idea of what's here.
The bulk of the activity is in THE SHOPS. Got the major parts covered from Engines, Electrical to "Name that Part" ... Well. A lot of areas and probably where you'll get most of your questions answered.
Also, as mentioned, we have an effective Swap Meet set up. Browse down there. Everything is covered ... looking for and getting rid of.
Since you are in Ohio, I believe the Great Lakes Bolters may chime in here and have you grab a coffee with them. I'll let them "woo" you. They may have donuts!
Thank you all for the very nice welcome! I will definitely check out the Great Lakes Bolters. I’d love to get together with some folks some time.
As for my project, it’s actually in pretty decent shape, body wise… and aside from the rotted out frame from the fountain that was in the bed. I went ahead and picked up another complete, running chassis and am in the process of restoring that right now in my shop. Once I get that finished, I’ll move on to the actual truck, pull the body off, and start the body work. But, I first need to get the truck off the pond! The property owner where the truck is, is my brother. He bought the house a few years ago with the truck on it. I have finally talked him into letting go of it. We were able to locate the title, which is awesome. The problem is that I told him I would not damage his pond or his yard to get it off. I assumed that we would get a good freeze over the winter and I would pull it off the ice and not damage the frozen yard. That didn’t work this winter though as we just did not get cold enough, long enough. So, over the next couple weeks I am devising a plan to get it out before the grass starts to get nice. Hopefully I don’t drop it in the water! Haha! Don
A friend years ago made a trailer from highway guardrail material (the stuff that's bent in a W shape. If you could find 4 lengths of that, it would support the truck as you roll it off the pond. Or temporarily fill the pond where the wheels will roll (assuming they still turn) with gravel (crushed rock would be best) to form a causeway. You'll need hip boots. Then some 2x10's on the lawn in a "crossing the swamp" fashion (leapfrogging the 2x10's under the wheels) would protect the grass.
Looks like a nice project.
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.
The guardrail would be a good idea. I see lots of it out there on the side of the road. Stopping with my torches might bring some unwanted attention tho… 😂
I’ve sketched up some ideas with 2x10’s to bridge across. A minimum of 12’ would be required. Ive even thought about building the beams so that wheel dollys could slide on them. I have a feeling those brakes will be stuck to the drums. I’ve thought about just renting a SkyTrak, but the weight would be really rough on the yard.
The replacement chassis I picked up seemed to run ok. I’ve really been enjoying learning about the engine and going through and repairing/rebuilding the accessories. The manual is fantastic. The years of gunk and junk on the engine was impressive. I have the engine close to being freshened up. I’m now starting on the other areas of the chassis.
Also, good to know about the drums. I didn’t realize there weren’t any new available right now.
As for WingWright, I’ve been building and restoring old airplanes for many years. I started when I was a teenager and after building my first set of wood wings, my dad started calling me the WingWright. I think he was spinning it off of the old wheelwrights that made buggy wheels. Anyway, it kind of stuck.
Yeah, don't "borrow" guardrail sections from the side of the road.
That engine looks nice. Good job on that.
It's probably time to post over in the appropriate tech forums. This one is mainly for introductions.
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 is going to be an interesting retrieval form the pond location.
Love to see some pics of how you get it done, if you would like to share.
FWIW, I see a gravel drive/parking pad area towards the rear of the pond that may prove the best extraction pathway with the least amount of lawn damage.
Looking forward to seeing and hearing more on your truck and the rescue.
Dan
~ 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)
Don, I like the truck. We are here to help......and along with the great lake bolters consider coming to the Stovebolt Roundup at Mongos huge garage in K.C. Missouri first part of Sept.
Not sure about todays world but just a few short years ago I could get a crane here in S.C. for 125 bucks and hour to live roofing stuff. With the big straps it may be a way to consider depending on "who you know". Just a thought. keep us posted.....and pics.
In case you missed it, Don has a very interesting post here where he is figuring out how to get the '51 out of the pond. Had a lot of input from the Stovebolt Collective.
Quote
I am planning to rescue my recently acquired ‘51 3/4 ton within the next couple of weeks. It has been mounted on pylons on a water feature pond for several years. I am still developing a plan to get it off of its mount.
We never got a response on how the truck was rescued from the pond.
We NEED to know!
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.
