The Stovebolt Site Forums Welcome! Welcome Centre Do It Yourself (DITY) Gallery 1953 Chevy - "I needed another one."

I’ve owned a few ‘Bolts and decided I needed another. This popped up and I had to snag it.

I’ve never seen zero rot on an AD truck, but this one has it. Amazingly solid. Original drive train, great brakes, time to have some summer fun!

A neat thing is under the hood is written “ocean.” That seems to translate to Ocean Green which looks like what’s under the hood (and leftover) on the exterior.

Can’t wait to dig deeper in it. This one is still Texas titled to its engine serial number, interestingly.

Nice find, beautiful truck. Love the patina.

Excellent find! Love the "Smash Hit Grille" - Looking forward to hearing and seeing more on your new to you truck.

I see yours has the rare OSB bed option like mine!

Thanks guys! Ha! Yes, that’s actually coming out tomorrow so I can see the wood in there. It’s still there!

I’ve got a new set of wheels and tires coming this week. My wheels are cracked (three of the four) and tires? Well, to say they are a bit “old” is an understatement. These are the original wheels it looks like. Were they black from the factory originally? Seems with all the over-restored trucks, body color reigns supreme but what was standard?

Wheels were painted body color when new.

When I had new wheels made for my truck by Wheelsmith, I had them powder coated black because it goes with any color and my truck is not its original blue anymore.

I know cat looking for that particular grill guard. He'd probably pay a pretty good penny for it. I don't know him personally. He is a friend of a friend.

I'd keep the Mad Max cow catcher because nobody else has one like it.

Jetlag - Here's the "skinny" (below) on what wheel finish originally was for your '53. Yes they were "body color" with the designated stripe color matched from the list.

I saw one of those grill guards driving through Fredericksburg Tx last week.

I really like the patina on this truck.

Got it, thanks for the reference Dan. Anyone have a color pic of the Anvil Grey and Thistle Grey (bumper and grille, respectively) for reference? The smash & hit guard is pretty cool. Somewhat stylish.

Removed the plywood cover off the bed floor. This bed isn’t too bad and matches the rest of the truck. Just need some bolts to hold down the strips. A pleasant surprise!

It does look good. It appears to be a replacement bed of pressure treated pine.

Down here in Texas that "cow catcher" is called a "deer catcher". So far I've only side swiped one. Luckily we both walked away uninjured. 😀

Heya Dave, good to see you on here again. Super cool little truck you've picked up!

I'm looking for a moderately priced cow catcher for my 51 rusto-mod.
Very nice find. Definitely keep it patina'd.

Thanks, Eric. Long time no talk! We’re up in Ft. Worth area now. Yeah, my 49 I did came out pretty good, but I miss having an AD truck so this fills the void. Not sure what I’m going to do with it, but I just replaced the tires/wheels and installed new fasteners in the bed. Next up is a carb tune/rebuild. They’re pretty simple and fun!

Here’s the new tires/wheels. I went with smoothy 16x6 Wheel Vintiques and 7.50/16 radials that have the bias ply look. Happy with it!

Those look great. Are the tires Diamondbacks?

Thanks, Otto. I got them from Coker. STA Transport Highway series. I love the look. Taller than I expected, but they look “trucky”!

Those tires definitely fill the wheel wells nicely! Thanks for sharing the info.

They're the correct diameter. Prolly 32 inches or so. They'll make highway travel a lot easier.

What is the size designation of the tires you purchased? I am trying to decide on tires for my '50 3600 and tire diameter and tire width are important factors in making the decision. Yours look good visually and like the idea that they are ~32 inches tall.

He said they're 7.50x16 which is a bias ply size. That size is still available for light trucks and from the hobby tire places like Diamondback and Coker.

That size the correct , original size. Metric sizes are approximations of the original size.

Sometimes they're called R700 or R750. Yokohama used to call theirs R70.

Adjusted the timing, new carburetor, and it’s purring pretty good. Since I can’t leave well enough alone, it’s time for an upgrade I think.

I’ve got a 58 rear axle and a 90s Camaro T5 with an S10 tail housing (mechanical Speedo) along with the correct 9” 26 spline clutch disk. Just a few more parts and I’ll start into a 5spd swap. Good times!

Cheers
Dave

T-5 is in! Tomorrow I’ll mount up the 58 rear and measure up the driveshaft.

Done! Love it! Shifter is a mock up handle for now. Replaced the brake master too while I was down there working on things.

I like your stock looking shifter. The knob on top will probably need to be a bit bigger for real comfort though. 😁

Ha! Right, Paul. That’s just a mock up shifter. I just made the final one, complete with shifter ball!

Added some bed side wood and finished up the floors. Replaced the bottom rotted sections, blended in nicely. A few smaller detail items.