1946 GMC 1/2-ton Shortbed"Attempt Back-in-the-day Restore"
Hi. I thought I would share my current project in the hopes that it will help another builder down the road. When time allows, I will dig through older photos and start documenting it here. That being said I will also intersperse some lessons learned, perhaps some wisdom and a little humor.
Background: when I stumbled on this site perhaps back in 2006 I was green to GM trucks. Why I chose this path is up for debate - but I took this path nonetheless and rolled up my sleeves and got to it, as they say. Rebuilding old trucks in my world is a luxury. Do I need old trucks? Not really. However, there is something that grabs my attention and stirs a little excitement when I see an antique truck. My motivation comes from this…wanting to own an old truck and investing some time and limited cash flow into an interesting hobby.
I acquired a 1959 GMC and sold it. Acquired a 1950 Suburban project in pieces and still have it, and a one ton dump bed frame. I needed a cab for the one ton and drove to Maryland and ended up bringing home not only a 1946 cab but front fenders, a frame, running gear, steering assembly, lower grille valance, the GM ID tag, and hood. These parts were disassembled but the cab and torque tube rear axle was on the frame. The 228 was toast. The one ton project was set aside, and for the past 15 plus years I have been scavenging the parts I need to rebuild this 1946 short bed half ton.
I don’t have any pictures of it then, but I did carry the frame through the 42” shop door on its side. The cab came though the six foot patio door. I haven’t figured out how to get it out of the room when it’s done. But, I have been studying the non-load bearing wall and thinking about a good place to cut a big hole in it.
That’s enough for now here are some early reassembly pictures. I will edit and add posts when I’m inspired and have the time to write. I am somewhat OCD and writing for me is not so much about writing…it’s really about re-writing and that absorbs time to clarify a thought or clean up rough grammatical errors.. one finger typing on my tiny phone is a challenge. I have this natural inclination to insert unnecessary commas’ and write incomplete sentences.
Pictures show the wire wheeled frame and new springs ready with new shackles. I used POR 15 on the frame and a braided wire wheel to clean the frame. I don’t have a sandblaster. Wire wheeling and using anything I can to get into the nooks worked. POR15 can be temperamental but it works if you are anal and OCD enough to clean the metal and follow their process to the T.
I should add that new brass bushings were also installed and they were not hard to remove. A simple puller was made with all thread and bolts. There may be a tech tip here on this site showing how to do this.
Last, my intent is to rebuild this truck as if it was off the assembly line back in the day. I am keeping to original specs and parts. My skills are limited and this approach seemed reasonable.
