The Stovebolt Site Forums Welcome! Welcome Centre Do It Yourself (DITY) Gallery 1941 Chevy 3/4-ton - "Restoring Family Farm Truck"

1941 Chevy 3/4-ton with 4spd

Currently, the truck is in ND and was where my Dad drove it around in the 70's -80s when he purchased it from another farmer.

:::Goal:::
Restore the family truck to bring back to its farm truck condition. Keep as much original while also learning and doing as much as possible myself (with the help of all of you! ).


:::History:::
Dad bought from original owner in '70's, was stored inside while he owned it. In the late 70's - early 80's the barn was torn down so they drove (yes, it was still running) the truck up near some grain bins where it was parked outside from then to early 2023. They towed it to the resting place inside. It stayed there until a couple of years ago.


:::Plan:::
I live out of state and I hope to go over there this coming spring and bring it home (from ND to ID).. Believe we still have the title for it, still looking for that. I would like to keep it looking rough like the farm truck it is but driveable. Yet to see what is truly salvageable. When it was brought to the barn, they towed it.

I believe it is a 216. The number on the plate inside the engine bay is: 21AL01 6380


:::My Experience:::
I am a sign maker by trade, in my 30's with a lot of free time on weekends. So this is all very new to me. About to be no free time anytime once I have this thing.

I have wanted to start this since first time I saw the truck 10+ years ago but never felt comfortable as my mechanic skills have all been acquired within the last 3-4years. I have experience (self taught) with EJ engines as I work on my car and bike but never had the nerve to dig into this truck

I always see it when I visit the place to help, and now I feel the time has come. I need something to keep me busy and it was mine if I wanted it so here we go.

Time will tell what I can keep and what is toast.

Welcome to Stovebolt! Your truck looks to have "great bones" as many will say here. You are starting off with what looks like a mostly very complete truck, which is way more than some of us did - lol! For a little bit of help learning more on your truck, check out the 1941 Chevrolet Truck Data PDF. Tons of information to help you learn about and work on your truck.

From info contained in that resource, your Vehicle Serial Number "21AL01 6380" decodes to provide the following info:

21 = Janesville, WI Assembly Plant

AL = 1941 3/4ton

01 = Built in January

6380 = the 5380th truck assembled on the Janesville Plant line

Others will chime in with their welcome notes soon. While you wait, give this helpful post a thorough read as it will make your Stovebolt experience the best it can be.

Once again, Welcome!

I have my own '41 in similar condition that I rescued from South Dakota. I am looking forward to following your progress.

Welcome to the Stovebolt

John

Welcome to the Stovebolt. I have another North Dakota truck. It was in worse shape than yours. With help from this forum, I was able to completely tear it apart and put it back together and make it run.

Don't be afraid to ask questions. There are different areas that cover certain parts.

Start a build journal so we can follow along.

Again Welcome!

I would like to do as much myself as possible so my plan is to read read read all winter.

Purchased so far: Parts Book, Service Manual, and Owners Manual.

As a sign maker I had to make some wall art as well you might say I am excited for this project.

Mom and Dad went on some of their first dates in this truck. Every year I hear " Man it would be cool to take a ride in that truck again."
I plan to make that happen.

I appreciate the warm welcome, I am excited for what next year brings.

Welcome to the 'bolt. I had a 39 in similar condition as that. Except, mine had water where there was supposed to be oil and occasionally vicyversy.. If / when you tear it down, take lots of pictures. Bag and tag all the parts, bolts, nuts ect for what they go to.
It would be fun to see if it will run. Then see if it will stop before driving off. ect ect.

Welcome to the ‘Bolt! Nice start on your project and I love that it’s part of your family history. It looks like you do have the talent to restore your truck with a little help from our ‘Bolters. What you don’t know, you’ll learn along the way like many of us on this forum.

Good luck with your build, and I’ll be following!

Great project with family ties. Good luck and remember we are here to help.

Thinking about appropriate trailer.

Am I reading correctly that the widest overall point of this trucks fenders is 72 9/16ths in width?

With the exception of the front bumper (see your posted pics above) that is the widest measurement of the truck. The bumper as shown in your pictures above looks to extend about 1" to 1-1/4" or so beyond the fenders on either side, so think maybe 75" overall width + a little fudge factor when deciding on a trailer to haul it home. Below is a car hauler trailer selection guide I found on line that may help you decide what you need.

NOTE: As you need to ask for help or info on your truck from here on, please post your questions in the best on-topic technical forums in The Shop Area as that's where you will get the best replies and help.

will do!

Looks like you have a great project. I would suggest taking lots of pictures as you disassemble. My pictures are from 20+ years ago, but have been very helpful as I start putting my truck back together. One thing I didn't do that I should have was to label zip lock baggies to store small parts. I just threw my nuts and bolts in a few plastic bins and now I have to search for what fits and where. Looking back labeling would be saving me time and assurance that I'm using the correct parts.

Well things really changed. I decided instead of transporting the old truck I'd move to it. There was other reasons but it all fell in line and around May I moved out to ND. Been working on getting the family farm live able as it was vacant for a few years but now after settling in to the place and new job I have been gaining more time to work on the truck.

I have paused work on the body and turned to getting an engine ready for it with the cold and my barn is not heated.

I did get the old seat frame out and floor boards up, cleaned it out a bit. Got a set of rims from a new friend on vcca.org which I got sand blasted and tires mounted so its up on new rubber rolling around since the early 80s.

Turning focus to a new engine as after bore scoping the current one cylinder 4 had a stuck valve all this time and looks like a cave with things growing from the ceiling and floor, pure rust tried a bunch of ideas and couldn't get the thing to even budge.

The engine I managed to find local northern ND was from an older duely dump bed box truck. Right before I came someone showed up and grabbed the entire body so getting the engine was as simple as removing 4 bolts and cutting the PTO shaft. Came with a 4spd on the floor which has a PTO off the side. My plan is still to use my own 4 spd original to my truck though.

From some research the engine has a 1948 235 block, 1952 216 head. When put together it was bored .040 oversize rod and main bearing journals ground to .030 undersize. (someone wiser than I informed me that is what that tag indicates.)

The engine had one of the old glass dome fuel pumps which I thought was impressive to not be cracked or broken. Lines where full of fuel, block was full of coolant, and oil looked clean. Last time the engine ran was mid 90s I was told and the truck had sat in a field since then.

My goal is to have this running and driving this next spring/summer. Lots to do. Glad to be back and should have regular updates on progress for anyone interested. I appreciate any help as new to these older engines.

I'm glad your engine still has its original fuel pump. Brand new ones are junk straight from China and frequently don't even work right out of the box. This is true with a lot of modern replacement parts so repairing originals is often the best course of action.

Your existing one can be rebuilt or you can do it yourself. I had Then And Now Automotive do mine for about $100. The kit to do it yourself is $60.

Then and Now Automotive

781-335-8860

Just a word of caution as you begin your restoration process. NEVER throw away any part regardless of how badly damaged, rusted, broken, or deteriorated until you have the replacement installed and verified to be functioning properly.

👍 I have not thrown away any old parts and will not until I know my truck is road worthy. Then, I plan to sort which ones I can rebuild or clean up and keep as spares.

Got a bit ahead of myself and bought 2 engines one I posted in the engine section, seems its been really gone through (my ignorance got the best of me and I didn't really realize what I was looking at with the builders tag and what not). Seems after a tear down it might not be the wise way to go.

My next stage is to get the original engine out and tear it down and see how bad it really is. In my novice head a locked up engine from rust was a goner but maybe it could be saved.

Did get some rims sandblasted and tires on it though. Winter and no heat in the barn makes it a hit and miss when I get out there and work on it at the moment but I get pretty motivated most weekends even with the negative temps we have been getting.

Everything will be saved. I have always wanted the space to begin "collecting" now with the new place its already started. I got 2 engines this last summer. The one with the builders tag looks promising for useful stuff but maybe an expensive option to get the truck running.

Then I got this one number matching 216 looks from a passenger car with side mounts and no front mount on timing cover. This was sold as a running engine but I would like to convert back to 6v. Plan currently is to get the engine in the truck out and see if it is useable. This will be my back up.

This is quite the project. I'm sure you'll get a lot of help around here. Thanks for doing a DITY for us *all* to learn a few things.

Find it - Fix it - Drive it. You're in stage two with a little more of finding stuff.

Welcome aboard. Your truck looks pretty solid, with a few war wounds to massage out. Congrats on the move back to the family farm (I think). I love that you are restoring a truck your dad drove. Good luck in all your efforts.

Pulled the engine from the truck today and learned some things. The block casting code is 52. The head code is for 41 to 48 so maybe original head but the block was replaced at some point.

Everything actually looked way better than I expected, if I would have tried turning it over from the flywheel I bet it would have gone. Once I put a prybar on it out of the truck it got past the rough spot and easily spun over by hand. The rod bearings look really good. There is one decent patch of rust in the one bore but from what I was imagining it to be this is much better condition. I bet this would have ran once I got that to pop loose of the rust spot.

Are you planning to keep everything original? How is the body metal on the truck?

I plan to keep it as is. I need to straighten a few things and replace some of the support boards for the bed but otherwise when it comes to the body the metal is in decent shape. Everything is still solid with just some surface rust.

The engine looks good inside ,how are the rings I had a seized up 235 and after I got it freed up I found the rings were all gummed up but other than a little rust on one cylinder like yours it looks good .

Rings look ok my plan is to get new ones.

Any advise on how this oil pump comes out. From the inside it appears like threaded bolts but the outside is perfectly round and does not appear to have a seam.

The oil pump should have a bolt holding it in from the inside. It looks like yours may be broken off or missing, although I can see the jam nut in your first photo. Those outside bolts are supposed to be rounded off so the oil pump bracket isn't disturbed after being aligned at the factory.

Found it, there was a bolt there. Thanks for the tip.

Got the crank and cam out. Main bearings and cam bearings actually look pretty good.
Thinking I will need a new cam, looks oddly worn.

Taking the block and head to the machine shop Friday.

The cam doesn't look too bad. The lobes are ground on a taper so the lifters rotate. It could be reground if necessary. Did you keep the lifters marked for position. If not, you'll need to get them reground as well. If they're reinstalled in a different position, they'll have excessive wear.

I did mark the the lifters and pushrods for position.