The Stovebolt Site Forums Welcome! Welcome Centre Do It Yourself (DITY) Gallery 1938 Chevrolet 1.5 Ton Truck - "I've got a BIG Bolt" finally

I am new to this site and first post. I Live in Appling, Georgia. I retired in 2017 as industrial maintenance mechanic for 34 years at a local newsprint paper mill.

I have a 1938 Chevrolet 1.5 ton truck. Purchased truck in Dickinson, North Dakota in March 2022. Truck engine was swapped out to a 235 with the high oil pressure system.

I found the truck online. The seller loaded and hauled it to Georgia for an extra fee. Got lucky on that.

One shot here is Dakota 38 last night in North Dakota and first day in Georgia.

Looking forward to be a participant on this site.

Thanks.

Edit by Peggy M. September 3, 2024. Story moved from Welcome Center to here in DITY. Lots of "welcome" from the gang, and then "Dakota38" really gets into the story with a whole lot of pictures. And we do like those pictures.

Wow, what a beaut. Welcome to Stovebolt. Glad you were able to post some pictures. Those are some great shots. Look forward to see you around our virtual garage. I bet the Southern Bolters will be happy to see you around. Alvin's probably got a cold Pepsi for you.

Glad to be here. I have been looking at this site for some time. Great advice here. Decided to officially join.

Beautiful truck... drive it often!!

Love the '38! My 38 is from North Dakota also. Join us in Townsend, TN the end of the month.

Sorry I will not be able to make Townsend . Thanks.

Drive Dakota 38 about once a month 10 to 15 miles, had a few issues of running Hot when first got Dakota 38. Solved that. Runs Great now. THANKS

Welcome to Stovebolt. That is one nice ride. As a Southern Bolter, be sure to check out the Southern Bolter Side Lot, as Peggy mentioned. We're here to help with anything you need.

You may also want to roll over to the Big Bolts in the Parking Lot area. You'll see TUTS 59 -- check with him (has a Big Bolt AND is a So Bolter). He may live near you -- he's in Brunswick GA. I'm sure you'll hear from him in here, too.

Welcome! That's a dandy Big Bolt you have there! Love it!

Welcome to the Bolt! That is one fantastic looking truck you have there! Great find!

Dakota 38, Welcome to the BOLT. You got a gorgeous Truck there. As Alvin said you're a Southern Bolter as well. I'm located in Brunswick just east of you.

Nice!!!

Thanks Been looking at the stovebolt web site for a few years . We are closer to Spartanburg than Brunswick we are about 30 miles outside of Augusta GA would like to meetup with all of you one day

My mistake, I was thinking Appling County.

Worked as and HVAC installer for 9 years. Them went to work as and Industrial Maintenance mechanic at local Newsprint paper Mill. Started collecting Gas and oil memorabilia about 20 years ago mostly Sinclair. As for the Truck plan on leaving it as original as possible to let people see how them old Workhorses form this country Thur hard timers

Thanks for the warm welcome

My question is, did it look like this when you bought it? That Truck is pristine.

Yea looked pretty much like it is right now. Dakota has a few rust bubbles under the paint. Had an electric fan on first drive ran hott. Replace radiator and install a six blade fan no more running hot. Had one cracked pushrod one bend on from to long of bolts on bracket that holds coil . Got all that straightened out . Bed was 8 feet wide . I cut 6 inches off each side as it looks now . If you are ever up this way stop by take a look . I may need to start moving over to the BIG BOLTS etc. I have pictures of all that THANKS

I noticed your gauges are the same as my '37 pickup. It also looks like you have split seat bottom. Do you raise the driver side seat to put gas in it? I thought the 37 was the only year for split seat but big truck may be different.

Had sister lived in Augusta/Harlem for years..... If near Spartanburg, let me know. Hot dog and a cold Pepsi on me....maybe BBQ!

You have a good eye Alvin. Never thought about it. Looked at a 1936 big bolt in Montana had split seat. 36 Thur 40 big bolt’s was what I have been looking for. Had my heart set on a 1937 . Your family still live down this way. Love that 37 of yours . Sure is Great to look at pics. Will stop in for that Pepsi and hotdog if up that way

I have couple nieces there. Sister died, then years later, brother in law. The nieces work for an attorney.

Hot dogs waiting!!!

This story began with my post "On the hunt for a BIG Bolt." Here's a little of that story (with pictures. )

I started looking in 2018 on eBay. I found a 1937 in Horse Shoe, NC (unfortunately missed the bid on it.). I quickly went back to looking, found the same truck on an old post in Virginia. I was told it was sold to someone in North Carolina. I figured at this point it was gone.

Back to looking again. Fortunately, my wife and I had a trip planned out west. How was that for timing!

I met with the seller and offered $4,000. The seller wanted $5,000; plus $1,600 shipping. Unfortunately, the seller and myself could not reach a deal.

Completed the wonderful trip out west, and back to the hunt.

I found a 1937 in New Hampshire on Craigslist. Great looking truck without bed. I reached out to seller to look at the truck, as I wanted to see it before making the purchase. I think the seller thought I was not serious. The opportunity for me to see the truck did not work out as Covid hit.

The truck was advertised on Stovebolt.

Much to my surprise, the truck in NC popped back up again on eBay in Texas. Unfortunately, that did not work out: “out of my price range."

Back to looking again. Finally, a 1938 in North Dakota and a “sealed deal.” The owner transported truck to Georgia.

This was the advertisement.

This is my first drive running hot. I replaced the radiator and installed six blade fan, problem of running hot resolved. While waiting on radiator to be shipped, I decided to change the valve cover gasket and push rod gasket. This is what found.

I replaced push rods and adjusted valves.

The bed on the truck was 8 ft wide. I was not happy with the way it looked hanging 6 inches over duals. I decided to cut bed down.

Here we are now, Dakota 38.

You are tenacious to say the least. What a great looking Big Bolt! Thanks for starting your DITY story.

Amazing what we find when we go digging into these old engines sometimes ...

So .... How hard is it to drive when its tipped up on its nose to cut the grass??

Beautiful truck!

John

That must have been very tedious cutting that back and rejoining it. You have allot of patience. Well done!

Yea that was a surprise on the pushrod’s. Haven’t tried the Grass cut to much Horsepower LOL. Thanks

Thanks. Phak1

Took more time to get the nerve up to cut down than actual doing it. Wasn’t to bad to cut down. Couple of Diamond tip skill saw blades and saw all metal blades. Skill saw cut thru 1/8 deck plate and thru most of 4 inch channel. NOISY. Then welded it back up.

Nice work!!

Why is the lawn mower blade on the pulley?

Nice truck.

-Woog

Otto
The lawn mower blade was for checking clearance for fan and radiator. Had to use what was handy as the old Farmers did back in the day. Still had to use a 3/4 inch spacer to clear the harmonica balancer . About 1/4 inch clearance between fan blade and radiator. Six blade fan solved over heating problem. I Trashed the electric fan. Ol’roy looks good riding around Atlanta.

Woog Thanks it fun to drive and see the response it gets.

Thanks, Dakota. I drove it to work today and people are always passing me and tooting horns and giving me thumbs up. Truckers really like it. It seems weird to me since the truck is pretty beat up but then I remember that it's also 74 years old. From that perspective, it doesn't look too bad.

Where's Appling, Ga? Ya, I know I can look it up but I'm lazy.

Otto: You can find where anyone is located with a map (it's a link; not just an underline ). See the image below.