The Stovebolt Site Forums Welcome! Welcome Centre Do It Yourself (DITY) Gallery 1953 GMC 1/2-ton Long Bed - "New to truck resto"

1953 GMC 1/2-ton Long Bed

Hi all, I'm about to go pick up my 1953 GMC this morning at 10am. It's about 5 mins from my house.

The way I came to own this piece of history is a story of its own. I wasn't looking for another project. I am in the middle of a '78 Malibu restoration project that has taken a large part of my savings, but that's a whole other story.

I was on FB market place searching for Malibu parts and this truck showed up. I was like "that's cool" and kept scrolling -- but kept coming back to it. Hey! It was right in my town. So I messaged the guy. I told him about my '78 project. He replied he and his wife raced '78 Malibu's. I ask if they ran the two white "Double Vision" cars, and it was him.

I had never seen them race but had heard about them since the late 80s early 90s. They are living local legends. It's a sad story but he has ALS and is selling off his stuff to make sure his wife is cared for. I got to spend a few hours with him, listened to some stories. He took me up to a trailer. Inside was both "Double Vision" cars! He has so many old cars and trucks -- it's a treasure.

Anyhow, the truck belonged to his brother who used it to haul wood. He ended up with, did a valve job on it, and parked it. It's sat since 1987 in the same spot. A tree grew up over the tailgate and the root was in front of the rear tire. I took me and a buddy two hours to dig it out.

I have no idea about these old truck. All I know is it's a '53 straight 6 with three on the tree. My plan is to keep it as is and drive it all rusty.

The stuff I do not know is what truck it is: 1/2, 3/4 or 1 ton. I'd like to, down the road, swap in my old 327, but I want to keep the three on the tree. Just to use it as a driver -- no hot rodding.

Anyone know if this is possible? And where I can get parts to rebuild the three speed column set up? Just a few questions for now. I know I'll have more.

Welcome aboard to the Stovebolt! Glad to have you here. Thats a good looking truck to start on as a project and what a story on finding it, history is nice. Browse the various forums and kind of get the lay of the land. Post your questions about the three speed setup in the "Drivelines" forum.

If it still has the ID plate (picture below) and the cab is original to the rest of the truck the serial number will tell you 1/2 ton, 3/4 , etc.

10x22xxxxx is 1/2 ton
15222xxxxx is 3/4 ton
25x22xxxxx is 1 ton

I use my mostly stock '52 3/4 ton for work around my place as well as trips to town and occasionally further. It is scheduled to go to Austin (90 miles) in a couple of weeks to deliver some excess furniture from our house to a nephew who is just setting up housekeeping.

For more specific GMC information, I suggest visiting OldGMCtrucks.

Looks like a half ton with the 6 bolt rims but never seen a half ton long box .

They made them long box. GMC is 102 model. Chevy is 3102.

A Chevy 3102 would be a flat face cowl in 1/2 ton wheelbase. 3604 would be the 3/4 ton pickup with the longer box.

That GMC looks like a 1/2 ton long bed. Appears to have 6-lug wheels.

Kevin is right. I should know better than to try to be an expert on Chevy trucks.

expert: noun. ex is used to be and spurt is a drip under pressure

Looks like a 3/4 ton to me. Can’t be certain but, from the pic I can almost count 8 lugs. I’m without a desk top so I can’t get a real clear view of the wheels.

Nice score. Welcome to the Stovebolt.

John

Wouldn't a 3/4 ton have a 4 speed transmission? Or could you get them both ways?

Both ways. 3 speed was standard on 3/4 ton, but a lot were sold with the optional 4 speed SM420.

With the 3 speed there were 2 transmissions offered. (I'm still looking for the difference)
Below serial number 150-22 19366 was transmission part number 591840.
Serial number 150-22 19366 and above used transmission part number 591875.

The photo OP posted is a 6 bolt wheel
GMC made somewhat rare long box 1/2 tons that were 8ft boxes
The internet is full of instances where people get one and want to cut it shorter (and have)
I’m very curious if this rare 1/2 ton uses the 3/4 ton frame or if it is a definitive long 1/2 ton style frame
Getting underneath it would be the most interesting thing to me.
I have a couple 3/4 tons in my collection one started life with a 3speed and was converted to sm420 on the floor and the other appears to have always been a floor shifter model.
I do not own any 1/2 tons to compare the frames
-s

Blowing up the photo reveals that it has 6 lugs. The ones on the top half of the wheel are easily visible and equally spaced. Continuing the equal spacing on the lower half of the rim makes it impossible for there to be 8 lugs. The other things that look like they might be lugs are probably dirt or the hubcap bulges.

I'd bet your life (but not mine) that the 100 series long frame is not the same as the 150 series.

The '53 Master Parts Book does not give part numbers for frames. Instead it says "FRAME ASSEMBLIES MUST BE ORDERED N.P.N. (no part number) GIVING FULL INFORMATION. SPECIFY MODEL AND CHASSIS SERIAL NUMBER."


This is the DRAWING (not photograph) of the 100 series (1/2 ton) and 150 series (3/4 ton) frames from the MPB. They are quite different.

I think you're right Bill, The Chevy FAM shows 1/2 ton frames as 48" wide at the rear and 3/4 ton and larger as 38" wide. I'll bet that GMC's were the same (probably shared the same frame rails,) with the 100 series long bed, with longer wheelbase being lengthened forward of the front of the rear spring mounts. A unique frame most likely.

Thanks everyone! I don't spend a lot of time online, I also don't own a cell phone, so I'll try and answer everyone best I can. The ID plate is gone. I had to have a sheriff come out and verify that, so I could get a new Wv-VIN plate and the title swapped into my name. The title had no VIN/ID on it either, just a title #.

It is indeed a 6 lug, I honestly don't know anything about these old trucks. The oldest vehicle I've owned up til now was a 70 chevelle 


RE: 2ManyTrucks.I can get some photos underneath. What exactly should I look for and take photos of ?

I get it home, rear wheels locked up and would not hold air, we tried dawn dish soap on the ramps to slide it off, no go, too heavy. called in some back up, the four of us got it back to where we got a jack and an 6x6 block of wood under it, pulled the trailer away. Sadly as we were lowering the jack, it slip and crushed the oil pan. so I'm searching for one of those. But it's home now. The owner has the starter, he must have used it on something else. I pick that up tomorrow. I hope to throw a battery in it and with some luck least get it kicked over. if not started.

It would be cool to know for certain that it’s a wide frame at the rear and definitely 1/2 ton style just longer
So at the rear axle about measure the frame rails outside to outside and take a good photo of the rear axle and frame square on from the back.
Thanks!
-s

Joe, a big welcome!!! As you probably can see from the responses above you can learn what ever you need. Just ask in the appropriate forum.

Thank you! I'll be the first to admit, I am the worst when it comes to online sites/forums. I don't own a cell phone and don't get on site much. I will however do my best to make sure I stay in the proper places.

I was finally able to get a few more photos and get them uploaded.

Joe, don't worry ... take a look at Where do I start? post in the Welcome Centre. It'll give you a good idea of what happens where around here. More than likely, you find yourself in the Shops Area of our Virtual Garage. And there are plenty of the crew who will direct you (or your post) to the right place.
Glad you've found the DITY Gallery. You can cover a lot of ground here and Bolters will wander in to your bay with plenty of help!
And now, you are past moderation so you'll have access to even more *deals* -- Private Messages for one.

thanks for the photos, it looks like it is indeed a 1/2 ton frame design.
-s

Wow, that poor thing has been down in the mud for a while.
Definitely needs a bath!

Good luck on your restoration. Be sure to fire off any questions you have here on Stovebolt. There's lots of experience here.

Welcome to the 'bolt.. nice save!

So, I'm curious: just what is your truck? (I'd like to fix the title!)

Thank you! I chose this area (DITY Gallery) because it was the first one I saw..lol...


It's a 1953 GMC 1/2ton long bed with a 248 engine. I was able to get a new WV-Vin plate for it.

Thank you! It's not in too bad of shape for a 70+ year old truck, the usual rust. Today I pulled the plugs filled with Mystery oil, installed a new oil pan (smashed mine getting it off the trailer. Picked up a new 6 volt battery. The starter was removed years ago, The owner gave it to me, however the bolts and nuts are missing. so now i'm trying to track those down.

Thank you!

Thanks for the info. I've learned a lot just from lurking around here. Really appreciate all the advice!

Thanks Joe. Your title has now been updated and I added a signature line with the link.

A '53 half ton (model 102) would have come from the factory with a 228 engine. 248 engines were used in model 30x and larger trucks. No telling what has happened in the 71 years since it rolled off the assembly line though. You can verify the 228/248 question by looking at the engine serial number as shown below. The first 3 numeric characters are the engine size.

The upper starter "bolt" is a stud that threads into the bellhousing while the lower is a bolt.

Thanks! Yeah the stud is there but not the nut and the bolt is missing all together. I'm trying to find the bolt and nut size, so I can mount the starter. The numbers on the flat spot by the distributor is 248. The guy I bought it off of, says it's the original engine. He could be wrong though.

I replied to your other post asking about starter bolt sizes. The stud should be 1/2-20 (National Fine) and the bolt should be 1/2-13 (National Coarse).
(And Dan chimed in with some additional dimensional info on them.) Look HERE

Thank you all for the info! much appreciated

Hi All, Just a quick update. I've had the engine soaking in mystery oil since the first week. Installed new brakes, drums and hubs all the way around. New brake lines should e here this week. I need new exhaust, wheels and tires. Then I can work on getting it fired up. I have a question. The truck came with two 16" wheels and two 15" wheels. The 16's have 6.00x16 tires. The 15s have so much dry rot I can't tell what they are. I've searched the internet and keep turning up several different answers.

My question is what rim size originally came on the truck? Was is 16x4.50 or 15"s ? Also Would a 7 inch wide wheel work on this truck without causing too much of an issue when parking (no power steering), And if so, what back spacing? I'd love to use the rims I have, however I'd like them all to be the same size. Anyone here selling their old wheels? Maybe they swapped out for a more modern look?

Thank you!

GMC Master Parts Book shows 2 different wheels used on '53 model 10x (1/2 ton) GMC trucks.

Kelsey-Hayes 6 stud 16 x 4.50K using 6.00 or 6.50 6 ply tires

Kelsey-Hayes 15 x 5.50F using 6.70 or 7.00 tires. These wheels use a lock ring.

Below is from 1939-53 GMC Master Parts Book

The advantage of using 16" rims is that you can get larger diameter tires to enable driving faster at lower rpm.

Thank you! Now If I can find two 16x4.50 wheels, I'd be set.

You might want to look for 16x5 or 16x6. They'll be easier to locate, I think.

I had a new set of rims made by Wheelsmith. Mine are 16x6 but if I did it again I would order 16x5 to more closely resemble the originals.

The truck had horrible 15" rims on it it with super wide tires that made it impossible to steer and uncomfortable to drive. The new 16" rims with large diameter tires makes driving and steering a whole lot easier.

JoeCole, Put an ad up in Truck Parts Wanted section of our Swap Meet forum. Fellow Bolters will either offer to help out personally or at least post other source info to help you find what you need!

Those are the standard wheels and are still pretty plentiful all over. Looking forward to seeing more on your truck!

Thank you for the reply! I actually just found the Wheelsmith site last night on FB. 16 inch sounds like the way to go. Do you think a 16x7 will fit? And, if so, what tire I should go with. Reason I ask about a 7" is, they seem to be more commonly offered vs 5 and 6'. I called one of the vintage car & truck parts companies yesterday, was ready to buy a new set of wheels, but they offered no help or advice on sizing, and made it clear, they would not allow me to return the wheels.