The Stovebolt Site Forums Welcome! Welcome Centre Do It Yourself (DITY) Gallery 1951 GMC 100 "First Attempt - What's a Gal to Do?"

My first post was in the Welcome Centre and I was encouraged to start a DITY Gallery thread. So here I go.

1951 GMC 100

My husband (Russell) found this truck on Facebook Marketplace and we recently brought it home. I had been looking around for information and parts when I came across the Stovebolt site.

We are the third owners. The truck first belonged to the Father of the guy we bought it from. His comment: "This truck was passed down to me when my Dad died. I tried to hold on to it in hopes of restoring it one day. Unfortunately, that's not going to happen. So, I need to sell it." It last ran in 1989.

Russell was the one to talk to this guy and here's what I understand about what happened. After the guy's Dad passed away, the sister took the truck, probably thinking $$$$. The Will said the guy was to get it. He had to take his sister to court to get the truck from her. When he got the truck, she wouldn't give him the missing running board. I think she may have vandalized the truck. 🫣😯🫤 Almost all the glass had been broken. The vent windows were spared, but the gauges weren't so lucky.

Hubby told me it took the guy over an hour to un-bury the truck in the storage unit.

We were so excited that the motor turned over! YES!!!! However, I almost ran over my husband when I pressed the starter pedal.

I've never done a restoration before so this will be interesting. My husband is a mechanic. He only works on stuff here. My 38 year old son also does mechanic work. We also have a neighbor that knows a bit about old vehicles. I'm just the go for girl. The neighbor showed us where the brake fluid goes and a few other things. I think we need to get a manual for the truck.

This is not going to be a ground up, all original restoration. Hubby isn't as into that as me, but I'm pushing to keep it as original as possible.

Finding the correct gauges is not easy. Reconditioned gauges are expensive and they say battery instead of ampers and speedometer say 90. We've started posting in the Swap Meet with high hopes.

The guys discovered that the master cylinder was bad. Got that. Need to install it soon. I have ordered glass, seals and handles. The floors, in the front corners are holey! They're going to have to wait a bit. The bed of the truck has a metal plate bolted over the wood. Husband looked under the bed and said all the wood is there and doesn't look bad.

Great thing happened today. I found a "wrecking yard" that has a lot of these old trucks. Hubby just found a pair of rear fenders for $200. He might have the gauges we need also. We'll be going back to look for more parts soon.

I also linked in and posted in the Whole Wild West section letting them know we are Stovebolters now. If you are in Washington state and want the information, PM me.

I'm posting pictures of the truck as is and will post as we go. She's going to be a flat black beauty!

Welcome to the forum! That 51's body is in fantastic shape! What a score!!

The floor has a few rusted through in the front corners.
I've found replacement parts on LMC, but hubby thinks it can be fixed by cutting and patching.
I would prefer new, but I'm the go for and find this girl.😆😆

I think we got a "steal" of a deal on this truck.
We paid $3000.
Did we do good?

That's what I paid for my 51 3100, and I assure you, it didn't look good as what you got. So yea, you did good.

For $3000, you did great. I'd get it running, driving and stopping, install some correct tires and wheels use it as-is.

Was Kerns Welding your dad's company?

What's the name and location of the junkyard with the AD trucks?

I paid $1200.00 for my 1954 3100, 43 years ago. Other than the kick panel floor it was rust-free. You did good.

Never hear of Kerns.
The place we got the fenders is in Auburn, WA
I'll have to find it again.

I asked because Kerns Welding is stenciled on the tailgate.

It must be from the previous owner.
We haven't done anything to the truck other than cleaning.

Right. I see that I misread your story. I thought that your dad was the prior owner but it was the guy with the crazy ex wife's dad.

The passenger side rear fender looks pretty good.
What prompted you to get replacement fenders?

Nice truck ,welcome I see at the bottom of the shifter has the add on light switch that is a nice piece to preserve.

What does that switch do and why is it on the shifter?

It does look really nice, but the back bottom part is folded in and has a tear there.
I guess someone might try fixing it.
But at $100 for one that's not folded and torn, I think is better than what a body person would charge.
😁

Good eye!
I didn't even notice that. I'm going to have to check it out and look it up. 🧐🧐

Otto it is a back up light switch ,when you put it in reverse .There may be remnants of the rear light by the bumper .Older trucks never came with reverse lights until I am guessing 1967.

That's interesting.🤔🤔 I love this Stovebolt site. I'm learning so much here. I was a VW person a lot of the time. My dad started me on the VWs by getting me a 64 bug as my first car. I always said it was a great year. It just happened to be the same age as me!🤣🤣🤣

Here's where it's bad.

R&S -- You are truly among family here. I was air cooled long before I started Stovebolt.com. If my dad was less of a driver, I would have been born in the pass seat of a 356 Cabriolet. I've owned about 12 Type 1's (2 cabrio's), 2 Type 2's and a Type 4. Miss Peggy and I currently own a Golf Alltrack

Nice truck, etc, etc.

But tweeter pipes ROCK.

Generally not accepted to hijack threads ... But I don't get many air-cooled brothers/sisters through here.


John

Looks like swapping fenders is a good option, easy too.
If the ones you are getting are any good at all you got a heck of a deal. Depending on the color and appearance of the paint those replacement fenders may add even more character.

I've had old bug, 2000 new beetle, 2 cabriolet, diesel jetta, and a golf vr6. My dad had around 3 different bugs, 3 or four rabbits, at least one was diesel, and the diesel truck.
Unfortunately I don't have pictures on here.

The fenders he got have a few dings, nothing too bad. They will be sanded down and painted flat black.
We thought it was funny that the rear fenders have the same blue as the front. It looks like someone before us replaced most of the front clip. The cab is mostly red on the firewall.

That wasn't a backup switch. It's a piece of rubbery material from it looks like the bottom of the shifter.
I wish it was a light. That would have been sweet.

Backup lights were not available on SM-420 transmissions until somewhere around 1967. '67 was the last year for civilian SM-420s, with military models available into the early '80s.

The '67 model backup lights used an actuator (made from an alloy of unobtanium and hen's teeth) that bolted to the shift lever and a switch that bolted to the top cover, all hidden under a large rubber boot.

Novak does a $100 mod to the top cover that drills and taps the tunnel that the reverse shift rod slides in so a switch can be threaded into the cover that the shift rod activates. I talked with the tech at Novak that does the work and have included his instructions below. They charge $19 for the switch if you want to do the work yourself.

I plan to just mount a manually activated switch in the under-dash ABS plastic channel where my Vintage Air A/C controls and alternator idiot light are mounted.

The hubby found some rims he likes. He's getting his way on a lot of things.

He picked up some stuff off offer up. Gauges were in with the things. Wrong ones for our truck but the glass is good. 😆😆

He also got our speedometer out for me. I took ours apart to see if I could clean it up. Maybe I'll sell the newer ones to help with fixing up mine. 🤔

Attaching pictures.

Don't throw those fenders away. If all they have wrong with them is that tear on the bottom rear, they're fixable. Someone may want a project and take them off your hands and fix them up. I've seen (and have fixed) worse ones.

Sounds like a plan.
Any funds we can get is always a plus.

Progress!
Found the front GMC Emblem nearby, at an amazing price!
My husband took the wood and strips out of the bed.
Started doing a little hand sanding.
I'll post more pictures soon.

Thank you so much for all the information on where to find things.
It's making this project come along.

Very nice.

Another update.
The guys decided to clean up the front core support. Oh my goodness! It was full of yuk!! We found another person parting out another truck. The guys brought home almost a whole front clip. More removed parts for swap meet! They also brought home the badges for the hood and nose. The husband got busy with some primer too.

Roll on

Y'all are Getting it done.

Thanks. We've got front fenders that are in better condition and a few other parts.
They got it to run but the carb needs some work. It wouldn't idle down.
It's nice to know the motor is good. No ticking! 😄😂

We received our new fuel pump today. Got it on and tried starting the truck. The engine wasn't idling down.
Somehow a non automotive screw got down into the carb and had been keeping it from idling down.
I wish I could post a video.
Sitting in the house, I heard something going on in the garage.
I walk out there and the truck is running at an idle.
So excited!
The bad news is the gas tank is rotted through.
Time to search for parts again.

Although this may seem like bad news, it may be a blessing in disguise. Better to find out now then on the road, when a piece of that rust settles in your carburetor causing a breakdown and a tow back home. The good news is a new tank is readily available and not too expensive, around two hundred.

Very true. They were using a container of gas when they got it started. Then they decided to check the lines and be sure they weren't clogged with old gas.
That's when they discovered the petcock was clogged.
Then it was time to check the tank.
They unbolted it and there was a hole.
End of the night.

Until you get a little further along with the project, a gas tank for an outboard boat motor makes a good substitute for the correct tank. One upside is that a plastic tank doesn't rust! Most boat tank fuel lines also include a squeeze bulb that comes in handy for priming a carburetor if it runs dry between work sessions.
Jerry

Very good ideas. My husband is going back to the guy he got the front clip parts from.
He has a good tank.
He had a lot of stuff.
It was his parts truck for his project.
We got extremely lucky.

What a cool old GMC truck👍

Looking forward to yalls progress👍

I got my 62 a year ago and now its my daily driver. Lots of work and more yet to do, but enjoying it makes it all worth it 👍

Thank you.
I like your as well.
There is a lot more to do on ours!
My husband and my son, are having a good time learning about how the old thing works.
My son worked for the Chevrolet dealership for a while.
He's looking at trading his 70 something Ford camper special for a 54 Ford truck.
It will be interesting to see these trucks when they're all done!