The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk 1954 3100 built in South Africa

Howdy Folks

I'm living in Zimbabwe and recently picked up a 3100 1954 Chev Truck. I can't decode the VIN though - it is - 54 3100 SA F 7742

Interesting facts on this truck - The windscreen is not the wraparound but rather split down the middle like the 1953 chev, and the cargo sides are angled and not straight up and down -also like the 1953 3100. It seems the trucks built in Port Elizabeth South Africa were a mix between '53 and '54 models? Is this possible?

Does this make sense to anyone?

Question 2- I am desperate for a comprehensive work shop manual for this car. Something I can use to restore everything from the inner workings of doors to the correct torque adjustments, gaskets etc.

Thank you for your help from the place time forgot.

Rob
Zimbabwe

Post some pictures of it. I'd like to see this setup.

Thanks for the pictures fletch. I would presume, that since your truck has the '47-'53 style cab, that it also has, the '47-'53 style dash. What does the ID(VIN) plate, in the driver door jamb, look like.

Fletch, you mean your President-for life Mugabe hasn't confiscated your truck yet??? That tyrant has driven your nation into the Stone Age! I'm surprised you're there at all!

I'd read that to mean its a '54 1/2-ton (3100) built in South Africa (SA) in June. Its probably the 6741st to roll off that line in '54. I'm just guessing based on what I know of US and Canadian VINs.

Is it right-hand drive? I think I read once that right hand drive never went to the curved windshield.

Hey Fletch, welcome. You've found the right place. Post those pictures for all to see.

According to the reprint 1947-1954 CHEVROLET TRUCK FACTORY ASSEMBLY MANUAL right hand drive trucks did not change cabs in 1954.

Fletch, a copy of this manual will be extremely helpful.

A side note: even though it is called 1947-1954, the drawings are all 1954.

i won't make a political statement, rather, just say welcome. i had a question about the old film "hatari", starring john wayne, and an old right hand drive a.d. truck that got plenty beat up, but kept on going and going and going----.

best of luck with your truck.

and. to give you a concept of how small the world is, from lebanon indiana, u.s..
"PAMWE CHEATE".

have a good day.

Hi Everybody,

Apologies for the delay in replying.The phone systems work very sporadically.

Patrick66 - I am one of the last 200 white farmers left in the country. My district had 59 intensive highly successful commercial farms in it. There are three of us left with our back up against the hills. The truck came to me when my cousins were thrown off their ranch - they had occupied the place since 1896.

I don't have an url - does this mean I can't post any pictures to you folks?

OldSub - I think you are right about the VIN. I'll post a picture of it as soon as I can work out how to. The car is right hand drive. I have a problem getting a manual for the car. The import duties and customs regulations are incredibly stupid in this country. It is illegal to own anyt foreign currency. You cannot buy it from a bank and all the Currency Exchange Bureau's were closed down by Government. Does any one know if this manual is available on CD?

Koolkar. It is a small world. Pamwe Chete is very familiar to me. My father was a Selous Scout. Does this mean anything to you? He asks if you had anything to do with the Unit?

Thank you so much everybody for the replies.

Regards

Rob

Email the pictures to me and I'll post them for you.

Do you travel outside the country much? I have contacts in Botswana, Burkina Faso, Ghana and sometimes South Africa. We might be able to arrange for you to pick something up in one of those countries if that would help.

I don't know the rules, and we'd certainly want to operate within the law to protect the interests of all involved.

my best to your father. tell him i spent some quality time last summer with a gentleman named louis awerbuck, and will see him in a few months, and can communicate with him by e-mail.

louis now lives in the states in arizona. he was, as was your father, a selous scout.

yes my friend, the world is small.

contact me by private message, or better yet, at [email protected]

But I didn't say I'd do it fast...

[img]http://www.oldsub.com/images/2005/03/fletch/1954chev_2.jpg[/img]
'54 Grill, flat windshield.


[img]http://www.oldsub.com/images/2005/03/fletch/P1010350_2.JPG[/img]
Slanted bed tops.

[img]http://www.oldsub.com/images/2005/03/fletch/P1010351_2.JPG[/img]
Right-hand drive AND hand brake!

[img]http://www.oldsub.com/images/2005/03/fletch/P1010353_2.JPG[/img]
South African VIN plate.

That's cool! Rob, you've got a neat old Chevy there! Best of luck in staying with your farm! According to what I've seen in the news lately, Mugabe has come to the conclusion his land grab may have not been such a great idea economically after all! But, that doesn't mean the land will be returned anytime soon to their rightful owners until he's deposed or otherwise gone!

Neat truck! The grill of a '54 with a 2-piece windshield. Were they using up parts? I thought the '54 and '55.1 had the 1-piece windshield.

Wally,
Read cletis' post above. 54 right hand drive trucks used the earlier style cab.

Fascinating!

And what is the deal with the huge boat in the background?

In Rob's other thread about this truck in the Engine and Driveline forum, Oldsub brought up the question of whether or not a US resto pack for the '54 trucks would apply to this SA-built truck, considering the differences in the cab and bed, and possibly in the mechanicals. This also reiterates one of Rob's original questions, whether the mix of '53 and '54 parts makes sense.

It has been determined that '54 right-drive trucks used the earlier split-windshield cab. What about the bed and/or mechanical parts? Could the remote assembly plants (SA and/or Australia) have used '53 parts, or at least used up leftover '53 parts early in the '54 model year until '54 parts became available, both for body (except cab) and/or mechanical parts?

Anybody know of any other '54 right-drive trucks to look at for comparison?

'Bolters are everywhere!

Welcome Fletch.

-W

Hi To All

Sorry for another delay in getting onto the site. telephone services went down again. A weekly occurence as the place dissolves.

To answer the boat question, it is a Hagg Fast Pursuit boat. Found it beached in Mozambique, in the Port of Beira, and ex-police boat. Was in excellent condition structurally and bought it for nothing. Some one had been using it as a shanty room through the civil war. The irony being that one of the poorest people in the world, in a country where diesel was like gold, this guy had been living on the boat that had it's tanks full of fuel. Over a thousand litres of the stuff!!He never thought to check! Who would I guess until we used a crane to lift the hull and realised just how heavy it was. Was going to have it as a deep sea fishing boat until I realised I'd probably die before I could finish the thing. It's for sale now...

Enough about boats though.

I have stripped this truck down and I now I have a chassis and nothing else left. The paint is stripped and I'm now making a list of what needs repair. Amazingly the motor needs nothing more than a set of standard rings and a complete set of seals and gaskets! The bore on the cylinders matches with the various specs I've dredged up. Almost as if this engine never did any work. Needs a very light honing and that's all. Quite remarkable, as I can't see any evidence of resleeving.

I have question if any one knows, do the front axles have a curve to them or has my front been bent in what seems a perfectly symmetrical way? It curves to the front of the vehicle. I've taken a straight edge and measured the curve from all perspectives, it is a perfect curve. Which seems to be unlikely that damage can be so regular. Any one know?

Regarding the cab of this truck - Is it therefore correct to say, it has '54 grill on a '53 cab? So the interior of the cab - layout, guages etc are all '53?

I been looking at that grill, thinking it may look kinda pretty in chrome...

Thanks for the input, I'm going to band-aid my knuckles and catch some sleep.

I have a motorhome acquired for parts that came with 50 gallons each of gasoline and propane. Not big money but a nice surpise.

I think its correct to call it a '54.

However the guages look like '53 in the pictures, and when ordering stuff you may want to call it a '53.

You've got a challenging (in more ways than one) situation. Your truck is in fact a 1954 but various parts are not the same as what we are accustomed to on US and Canadian 1954 trucks.

If you are ordering from African sources will they understand '54 parts the same as we do in the US or based on what was manufactured in South Africa? Your challenge is knowing what to order based on how the vendor will understand what you are looking for.

Can you get an LMC Truck catalog mailed to you? LMC doesn't have the most competitive prices, but they do have excellent illustrations and are very helpful when trying to figure out what you need to order.

With the illustrations of various parts to help understand what could be different between '53 and '54 you might have better success working out what you need to look for...

If someone hasn't already said this...the front clip is definately '54. The cab is the earlier style, with the exception of the steering wheel and horn button, which are '54. The bed is the earlier model. I'm guessing the frame is the earlier style, too. What engine was in it? 216 or 235?

From what I've heard, I'll go with the idea that it is a '54, but for practical purposes, a lot of those parts are '53 by American standards.

The '54 style grille looks great in chrome - check the Gallery, there are several examples there.

I bet it's kind of awkward, trying to drive it, & shift with your left hand.

The engine it came with is a 235 -GMCpanel.

Regarding the awkward shift - I guess it comes down to what you're used to. I've always driven cars which shift with the left hand, so I have never noticed anything awkward about it.

OldSub - Thanks - I'll look into getting that catalog.

Question - what's the best place to order new rings from? Everything I order will have to be ordered from the States, nothing is available in Africa. I'll also have to have it delivered into a neighbouring country and then smuggle it into Zimbabwe. Customs officials are corrupt and usually impound anything coming into the country - from there I would have to "negotiate" the goods to be freed. So everyone is a smuggler. In a place when the Government is the biggest criminal of all, it tends to force the citizens to play their game.

That's true everywhere.

As for parts - click on 'Links' at the top of the page here at the 'Bolt. Then click on Parts. The Parts section is arranged in a way that states what year parts that company starts selling parts for... Also check out the links to Truck Sites under 'Links' above.

My parts vendors page(55+ linked) - most of these have been added here on the 'bolt as well now:

http://woogeroo.home.mindspring.com/autolinks/trucks/ctgparts.html

More places like the stovebolt page to find information online(scroll down to chevy resource pages):

http://woogeroo.home.mindspring.com/autolinks/trucks.html

A list of where/how to find used pre-1973 GM truck parts.

http://woogeroo.home.mindspring.com/6066trucks/tips/usedparts.html

Good luck...

-W

Fletch, a good parts book to get is the catalog from www.chevsofthe40s.com. This catalog has a lot of good pictures and some of the truck break down pictures. It might help you in figureing out what you need for your truck. Lots of luck on your good looking truck.
Jamo

Its not that hard to get use to.I had a rt hand drive VW bug and single cab truck when I was a teenager.I plan on getting a 39 Chevrolet Convertible in the future so I will have to get use to it again.

In the "never should have sold it" category, my dad had a BMW Isetta. Three person bench seat, the whole front end was the door, and the steering wheel pivoted out when you opened the door.

It was left hand drive, but had a gear shift on the left wall, so you shifted left-handed.

The advantage to the setup was that you could shut the door by pulling on the steering wheel.

And thanks for the boat info.

Sounds like stories I've heard of post-WWII surplus. Big bombers and cargo planes were supposedly bought at auction for the gas in their tanks, then scrapped because heck, who needs a brand new B-17?

Stories...

I sat in Beira, Mozambique, just before the civil war ended. Picture total devastation, bullet pocked walls and shells of buildings. A place where the populace had eaten every cat and dog in the city. And a vehicle drove past me. Impossible to tell what type. It had no body, just a chassis and motor. The driver was sitting on a plastic school chair and perched on the radiator was a street urchin with a 5 gallon drum of water. And as the vehicle spluttered along at walking pace, the kid constantly topped up the water in the radiator.

There are other such stories, like the bus driven by mine victims. One guy steering and changing gear with no legs, whilst an armless man sat alongside him and used the pedals. Three policeman were travelling on the bus...