The Stovebolt Site Forums Welcome! Welcome Centre 1942-1946 GMC has no door lock

My 1942-1946 GMC 1/2 ton pickup truck does not have a passenger side door lock, no place for a key on either side. Could this be a war period truck? Previous owner said it is a 1943.

Welcome Jon, nice truck. The sheet metal looks to be in good shape. I don't have the answer to your question, but I'm sure someone will come along and enlighten us both.

FYI: I believe your truck may be a 3/4 ton based on the extra side support on the bed. Mongo is a GMC expert, I bet he knows for sure.

John

Welcome Jon and I'll 2nd J Lucas' "nice truck" comment! From what I know about 1941-46 GMC pickups, yours looks like a "long bed" version of the 1/2 ton. Zooming in on the rear axle hub, that is definitely a 1/2 ton rear axle. We can help you figure out more on your truck if you can provide pictures of the trucks make/model serial number plate(s). If the original it's still present, it should be located on the right hand side of the cowl (passenger side under where the hood overlaps the cowl). Should look similar to the 1st sample pic below. Yours may also have a model and serial number stamped into the right frame rail above the front spring as described in this great GMC resource page.

After a bit of further web snooping and looking closer at your pictures, it looks like your truck is sporting a "Government" issued/assigned serial number ID plate as well. That's the additional plate circled in my zoomed in screen grab of your picture, followed by the screenshots from some other known originally government owned trucks.

I can't answer on your passenger door lock question, but perhaps some of our GMC gurus will chime in and offer more info.

Looking forward to seeing more pictures of your truck to help figure out what you have.

That is a cab model and serial number. All the trucks had them, even government trucks. I think thru 54.

Thanks for providing more/better information Jim! So the "cabs" had their own number separate from the overall truck serial#??? Just asking as I don't know and would appreciate the schooling.

More info Dan. See upper right picture from 1953 GMC Master Parts Book. Cab serial number apparently discontinued in May 1949.

It appears my truck is a 1941 from online research. Maybe the passenger door handle was replaced with a driver's door handle. There's a lock inside the driver's door but not inside the passenger door.

Photos of Model number.

More good schooling and a reminder to me to pay closer attention to my own listed resource. That cab# detail was also shown in my page from "oldgmctrucks", but I overlooked it - duh.

Jon Marttinen - Your pictures support the "1941" model year, based on the serial# "9068" and the "CC102" model info matches a 1941 1/2 ton Long Bed. These are both seen in this Truck Model/Serial Number info page. Further checking of the frame rail for the stamped "Chassis Serial Number" should show if your cab matches the chassis.

Everything for the 1941 photos match my truck except the door lock, which my truck does not have, either in the handle or the door.

Jon - With this moderated post approved your next and subsequent posts will be as a full fledged 'Bolter! No more waiting for approval! Congrats!

You previously mentioned "There's a lock inside the driver's door but not inside the passenger door.". Can you post pictures of both door innards so we can see what you do. It is possible someone replaced the keyed passenger door locking handle with a non-locking one. More to decipher when we can see some more pics.

Edit: Perhaps it's time to move this thread over to the Welcome Centre now that we established some good identification info on your truck. Sound good to you Jon???

Passenger door locked with the key, drivers side with the thumb twist. My guess is someone borrowed the key lock or it broke and was replaced with the non key handle. Today, reproductions are available for non-keyed handles only. I &I reproductions make them for cars, but not trucks. They probably were never worried about locking the truck in those days. I don’t remember locking anything before college in the 70s and I had a 57 Chevy car that didn’t even need a key for the ignition unless I locked it with the key. I certainly could be wrong, but I thought all of the early, early GMC pick ups were long beds 1/2 and 2/3 tons same with early Chevy 3/4 was long beds. Somebody will probably chime in on this.

The door handle probably was replaced. How do I move this thread over to the welcome center, or would you do that?

Driver's door.

More truck photos.

Jon M - I've moved your thread over to the "Welcome Centre" as requested. Our Admin Miss Peggy will probably come in later and tweak your title a little bit to better fit that forum.

Before you continue further postings in this thread, please take a look at this Welcome Centre introduction to the site. It will help you start asking specific questions in the right forums for the best conversation and help. It's okay to post general pictures and info about the truck in the WC, but using the Shop Area Forums is the way to go from there on details and specifics.

Jon, your door handles do not match so clearly the passenger door handle has been replaced. It would have originally had a key hole for a lock cylinder. I had the same problem with my '42 Chevy and I found a proper handle (probably Ebay) with a key and replaced mine. That vintage of truck had the lock on the passenger side rather than driver side as a safety feature, requiring you to exit on the curb side.

Kent

Thank you. Will take a look.

My 42 half ton Chevy that I sold 39 years ago also had the lock in the handle. Looks like a pretty solid truck. Love that tail gate with the GMC on it!!

Hi John, welcome. What’s the back story on your truck? I couldn’t help but notice the AD 5 window cab sitting beside it in the field. Local find, family connection, field sleuthing?

Family connection in Wyoming.

The 5 window is currently getting worked on also. The owner, my wife's cousin, got motivated when I showed interest in the gmc. We're keeping each other motivated.

Thanks for the tip on finding a door handle on ebay. I searched and found a passenger door locking handle with a key for my truck also, which matched the driver's door handle.

I purchased a 2003 Chevy S10 Extended Cab at an auction with a very rusty body but mechanically in great condition with low miles as a donor vehicle to use the chassis for my 1941 GMC truck.

Welcome to The Bolt! It's great to have you here. Your idea for an S10 chassis swap sounds like a truly interesting and unique build, and one that I'm sure many of our members would love to follow.
I'd highly suggest starting a project thread in our DITY Gallery forum. Think of it as a build journal where you can document your progress.

We 'Bolters absolutely love seeing the journey, so please include your successes, failures, pitfalls, and most importantly, lots and lots of pictures!

As a moderator of the Project Journal forums, I frequently look for new and engaging contributions, often starting my search right there in the DITY forum, among others. We (the Stovebolt Staff) are always on the lookout for unique builds like your S10 swap, interesting storytelling, and frequent updates from our members.

Who knows, with a solid journal, you might just become our newest featured contributor to the Project Journal forum!

We're really looking forward to seeing what you create. Don't hesitate to reach out if you have any questions about getting started.

Happy wrenching!

Thanks for the suggestion. I started a project thread in the DITY Gallery forum.