The Stovebolt Site Forums Welcome! Welcome Centre Do It Yourself (DITY) Gallery 1946 Chevy 1/2Ton in Utah - "Here We Go"

You already know my opinion, John but I'll add it to the mix. Trucks with cargo beds with a finish that looks more at home on a formal dining room table look ridiculous.

You left your truck's body in its original beat-up condition for a reason. A shiny glossy bed - that never appeared on a truck even when new - will look even more incongruous on your truck.

The satin looks a whole lot better on your truck than the gloss. Since the truck's bed was originally painted black - probably flat - I'd try to recreate that look. The satin varnish with wood peaking through looks sort of close to paint that's been rubbed off over the years.

I'd put a coat of flat varnish on it, though.

Thanks for your input Otto. I was looking at Kevin's (klhansen) truck bed (photo attached) and that gave me second thoughts about mine. After my test fitting, the shiny was too much for me. I'm in the process lightly sanding and adding one or two coats of satin.

Yep! Sanding and adding one or two coats of satin. Thanks for your input Paul! I'm liking the softer finish.

My vote is for the satin finish. One trick I use finishing wood is to apply two or more coats of gloss polyurethane then a topcoat of satin. If you were to apply three or more coats of satin, it starts to get cloudy detracting from the woods natural beauty.

I already have the 4-5 coats of gloss, so only need to get that last coat of satin. Got the two outside boards on each side completed today and will start on the three middle boards in the morning.

I'm liking the new look of the boards with the satin finish. Now I'll get the three middle boards sanded and finished.

Yesterday I stopped by a friend's farm and picked up some pumpkins for my front porch. I snapped a pic of their old GMC which they still use.

OK - I believe I'm done with the coatings on the bed boards. I'm liking the not so shiny finish. Thanks for everyone's input.

Much better.

Looks much better and goes with the character of your truck. Great job!

I had the gas tank refurbished ($450) - cleaned and resealed. I got it installed today. Now I can look at connecting the fuel line from the tank to the fuel pump. I see some fuel filters before the fuel pump and others place it up top before the carburetor. I guess I'll research some posts to find out reasons behind their decisions.

All of my vehicles are stock and have the filters in the stock locations. They're all either incorporated into the fuel pump or they're the AC glass cover style located between the fuel pump and the carburetor.

All I own and have ever owned are antique cars and I've never had a fuel line clog that would have been mitigated by an auxiliary fuel filter placed before the fuel pump.

(all mechanical fuel pumps)

You have a brand new fuel tank and will be running fresh gas for the rest of your life. The standard fuel filter will work just fine.

Consider that you're using the same gasoline in your truck that you use in your modern daily driver. Have you ever experienced a fuel line clog due to contaminants in the fuel? Probably not.

The built in filter in the mechanical pump will be sufficient. If you're still nervous, install one of the AC filters with the replaceable element at the carburetor.

Installed the temp sensor and oil pressure line through the firewall. I'm heading into unknown territory with the wiring. Not sure where to start, so it looks like I got some reading to do. I do not see a fuse box with this harness??

Is it a reproduction of the original harness? If so, there is none.

I believe it's an original type replacement harness I bought 20+ years ago from Patrick's. No real instructions, but a paper listing the numbered wires and what they go to. I was thinking about searching for a harness that has a fuse block. No decision yet.

Just looked at some wiring harnesses and I think I'll stay with what I have. Those harnesses are a little pricey these days! 😮

You might be able to add a fuse block if you want to. Talk to a local auto electric guy and see what’s involved.
On the other side of things, (Otto, where are you?) if there wasn’t a fuse box originally, unless you’re adding electrical complications, you probably don’t need one now.

The original wiring only had a one fuse. It was on the light switch. When I rewired Sparky fuses were added because more stuff was added.

should be able to add a fuse block. Pigtail from the switch. ACC / HOT to block.
1958 was optional. 1959-. Drivers side. under the dash.

Not really adding anything extra. I'm changing to 12v and this harness was for a 12v conversion with alternator, so it should work. Just need to figure out where to begin. I'm researching right now. I wish there was a Step-by-Step guide for my year truck to make things easier. I know it should be basic wiring and I hope to be able to work through this. Fingers crossed.

Is your original wiring still intact or installed? Use it as a map.

Jim Carter sells a diagram.

Gone 20 years ago. Starting from scratch.

John - Not sure if it will help, but here's a link to an original 1946 Truck Wiring Diagram found at the oldcarmanualproject.com.

It is for the original 6 volt with generator setup, but should be a good basis for your install, with changes for the alternator when you get to that point.

Thanks Dan! Diagrams are always helpful.

The first thing you should do with that schematic, is to spend some time with colored sharpies and make it easy to follow. Geez, didn’t they use color back then? Oh thats right, we didn’t get color until 1957. Up until then the world was black and white.

I originally cut my bed boards to widths I found online, but I felt the outside boards were not wide enough. When I drilled the holes to fit the angle strips, the holes broke through the sides. I know you can't see them when installed, but I would know and it was bugging me. I went to my cabinet maker and he still had the wood strips he cut when making my bed wood. I decided to glue and staple to widen my bed boards and I'll sand and stain before adding a few coats of varnish. You still won't see them, but I'll be OK with this modification.

Original widths: [7 1/8] [5 1/2] [5 1/2] [9 1/8] [5 1/2] [5 1/2] [7 1/8]

I adjusted my widths on the outside boards to: [7 1/2]

Did you be sure you had them spaced far enough apart for the bolts to fit between the boards?

When I replaced my bed boards, I still had usable old ones to use as patterns and didn’t have to rely on someone else’s information.

Yes. I put tape on the edge and assembled with the bed strips with bolts. The boards barely covered the holes in the angle strips. Maybe it could be a combination of all board widths? Maybe if I added 1/8" to all boards, they would fit better? Or, maybe there are better measurements out there somewhere and I should have search harder?

My old boards were trash. I did find a couple of sites that had this measurement for the boards, so I went with it. I guess I could have took some time to measure it myself.

Are you running the bed strip bolts thru the wood?

Not through, but in between the boards.

Measuring the spacing of the bolt holes thru the cross-sills should get you real close, assuming they're still visible and not rotted away. I didn't have that luxury, but went with new cross-sills and a wood kit. Your plan of adding to the outer boards sounds like a good approach.

It just looks that way I guess here.

That picture is the outside boards only. I added 3/8" wood strips to widen the two boards so the holes would not be at the edges.

I took a trip down to Price, Utah yesterday to attend a funeral. On the way back I decided to take a small detour through Helper, Utah looking for a place to eat. Just headed down Main Street and saw this museum start-up. It wasn't open yet, but I took some pictures. Phillips 66 station on one side of the street and Sinclair on the other.

John - That's a really cool find! Maybe you could post this info along with location details in the Rocky Mountain Bolters Side Lot forum (hint, hint) - LOL!

Would be a great place for Stovebolters to go visit IMHO.

Lots of irons in the fire. Jumping to wiring, I've seen the wires for the front right headlights go under the radiator and then above the radiator hose and some under. My new radiator did not come with the same wiring clips that were on my old radiator. I think it would look better to have the wires under up top, but under the radiator hose. I'll try to figure how to add a support clip that might attach to the hose clamp or something like that.

I'll do that!

You could solder a couple 1/2" copper pipe straps onto the radiator to mimic the originals.