Stovebolt.com Forums Project Journals Project Journals 1927 Chevrolet Capitol 1-ton -- Full frame-off resto

Hmmmmmm..... It starts about like this here ...

A few weeks ago, Ms. Peggy was checking on the Swap Meet ads and noticed our old friend, ODSS founding brother and purveyor of interesting antique iron (Phil, AKA TrknGMC) had listed his '27 Capitol project ... without a price!! (gasp! Shriek!!). Now Peggy and I had always thought an early Stovebolt (um, technically a pre Stovebolt as a 4 cylinder) would be really cool, fun and interesting. But we never pursued it.

Looking back through our history, it seemed the old trucks (with only two minor exceptions) always found us, not vice versa. Starting with the '39 half ton, the '49 2-ton and then the flagship of Stovebolt.com, the '49 1-ton, these orphaned trucks just seemed to find their way to our doorstep.

Who were we to turn them away??

So there it was, newly listed right here on Stovebolt. It caught Margaret's attention as being a gross violation of our Swap Meet rule about putting a price on stuff (who likes window shopping at stuff you don't know what it might takes to bring home???), so she immediately fires an e-rocket at Phil and lights him up. Because its *her* and not *me* he responds with a price...

I'm at work, mind you, trying to navigate the highways and byways of scenic and historic Southern Maryland (in an "antique" truck -- at least by Maryland MVA standards ...) and utterly unable to be a part of any of this. Just minding my own business and happy with the fleet as it is. None the less, There I am, risking life and limb getting an excavator off the trailer, when I'm told (in no uncertain terms) that we just bought a truck.

What????

Note: At this point, Peggy *may* wish to chime in and want to correct the facts as I have laid them out thus far. And that's fine. But tere here is *MY* version. If you don't like how I'm telling this here story, you can do your own Journal post

Ahem, where were we? Ah yes ... What???

So she tells me about it .... most of the hard work is done, just needs to be completed, yadda yadda yadda.

So skip to the chase -- Yes, we indeed consummated the deal and agreed to a pickup up day with the retiring resto guy who had the project until now (and forced the same due to his retirement). It worked out to coincide with the annual ODSS Wrenchfest (only an hour further West!).ODSS brothers Sweet and Hambone went with me to collect the project and figure out how to get it all back to Maryland.

Which is our starting point for this Journal:
-- Inventorying what we have
-- developing a plan

But in the meantime, I just look at a bunch of parts and wonder to myself,

"Self .... What in THE heck have you gotten yourself into now??"

Love the story, and love Peggy’s new project. LOL . Looks like you have the fun part of the restoration with all the hard work done. LOL AGAIN!

Seriously, good luck with your new project, and we’ll all be following!

Sure ... piece of cake ...

All I have to do is put it back together ... Once I figure out what "it" all is ...

Just need to buy that “rare as hens teeth” Factory Assembly Manual! LOL again!

This part is true. The "gasp" and "Shriek" was because I was watching the Swap Meet area while the Moderator (Gdads51 / Dan) was on a Leave of Absence. I only noticed: 1. 1927 truck (hmmm) and 2. NO PRICE listed. -- big no no in the SM Guidelines. It wasn't until after I clicked in that I noticed it was Phil Pierce. Well, hello there.


A little more "inside HQ" ... we had been talking for several months about adding an "Early Trucks" segment in the Parking Lot. Several folks who have the earlier trucks had suggested it. Set that on the pile of "things to get to some day, some where, some how, with some help.

So, me thinks: now with an "Early Truck" ourselves, we can noodle this through a little better. The "some help" turned out to be a thing (truck) rather than a person(s). Delighted to see that the people are showing up (mostly in PMs and emails) and I believe we'll be seeing the Early Trucks forum by next month!

It's also been interesting to now be spotting some of these earlier trucks as part of our HQ routine. When doing another segment in the Stovebolt Annual Reunion - 2012 - that we pulled up Bill "KC Caveman" Alderson's 1926 Chevy 1-ton Flatbed.


I want to add that when I went over to see the truck (Calvin) in the garage, our Mennonite neighbors strolled by. Since I was looking at the cab, I commented that it reminded me of their carriage. The young girl popped her head in and the Mom looked from the backside ... "It sure does." And everyone got a chuckle.

Amazing how stuff just magically grows! I now find myself the owner of, not one, but three Model A's. My original project, the roadster, a coupe and a Tudor. All the while my Burb keeps crying, "Will ya paint me for cripes sake!!!"

John and Peggy,

Welcome to the wonderful, wacky world of the Chevy four cylinder era!

I downloaded your photo of parts and circled the ones I can identify (see my attached pic):

1. Red box is around a rocker arm shaft clamp

2. Green box is around a front spring bumper housing

3. Blue box is around a brake and clutch pedal stop plate. It mounds in between the pedals on the shaft that sticks out of the left side of the transmission.

4. The orange arrows point to clutch adjustment bolts

Ever Onward! Dean

Thanks Dean! I'll post more pics like that!

I think (that always is trouble ...) that the engine is ready to go back in the frame. I am pretty certainly that I can reunite the transmission with the engine because I removed the one from the parts engine and took pictures!). Hopefully, the engine rebuilder aligned the clutch for me

But what will I need to do that? i.e., engine mounts? I have the bracket (inverted U) that mounts the front of the engine, but is there a rubber part I need?

And I see where the bell housing horns attach, but again, are there rubber parts needed?

Is lifting the engine via that oh so conveniently placed hole in the middle of the block or or am I going to damage it that way?


Whacky? I'll say .....

What does that hole look like? If it's threaded into the top of the cylinder head, you should be safe with threading an eyebolt in there. You'd be surprised how much weight a 1/4" bolt can hold. Put a jam nut on there so the engine doesn't unthread itself when you lift it.

Kevin ... Perhaps I misstated ... Its not a hole *in* the block. It's about a 2 inch square hole *through* the block, beneath the water jacket and between cylinders 2 and 3. It allows the spark advance linkage to pass through from the distributor to the base of the steering column.

See the photo below -- I took a chance and lifted the parts engine this way.