The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk vent windows

I know that there are no stupid questions, only questions that have not been asked, so, here's mine. I have a "50 chevy 1/2 ton that has vent windows, and my question is this, is it possible to remove the vent windows and re-install with full windows?

strummer, If you have a '50 model truck, with vent windows. Either it's actually a '51 & up model, or someone switched doors, in the past. The vent window doors didn't come out until 1951. Does your truck have a cowl vent, on the driver side, between the door, & hood. Do you have pull down, or push button door handles. Anythings possible, but it would be alot easier to find non-vent doors.

Ihave 51 doors that I've taken the vent windows out, Made new front window track, installed s-10 power window regulators, work great!! will have to do a little engering & install the right reg. in left door, left reg in right door.

Wouldn't it have been easier to just find '47-'50 doors rather than hack up a pair of the only rare and valuable doors in the entire AD line?

Spanky, sorry it took me so long to respond ... In answer to your question, no it doesn't have the cowl vent on the drivers side and the door handles are push button ... So what year does that indicate?

It was my understanding that all the 50's had the "ventless" windows and the "pull down" refridgerator door style handle.. a 50 with window vents and a push button door handle would suggest to me that somebody scored some later doors and put them on...

...that was, untill you mentioned that you don't have a cowl vent on the drivers side.. i'd guess that the truck is actually a '51 or later.

How are you determining the year of your truck?
From the Mfg Plate Serial Number (located in the drivers side door jam) or from the date on the title?

Here's an excerpt from the stovebolt TechTips section:
".. some states titled vehicles by the year they were sold, and not the model year. Since production usually started in September of the year preceding the model year, you may see a title for what you would call a '39 truck, but it says '38 on the title. This can happen easily since it was sold in the last part of '38, but was really a '39 truck. Some states called this a '38 then, since it was sold in '38. I've seen this happen up into the early '50's. You may also see one that was a slow mover and got sold a year after it was made, and titled as such."

See if you can get the serial number off your Mfg plate.. if the plate is still there, and the number is still readable, that will be your best bet as to determining the actual year of the truck.

Prior to 1952 the door handles were pull down, 52 was the first year with vent windows and push button handles.

If you don't have a cowl vent on the drivers side your cab is newer than 1950.

Ok, now maybe we can get down to figuring out what year this baby is .... the Mfg plate was still there, but had been painted over. After getting it cleaned off so I can read it, the serial number is: 6KPJ 9805. So, can anybody tell me the difinitive year? (at least of the cab ...)

Use the Search link and look for VIN cruncher. That will decode it for you.

The VIN Cruncher can be found here.

Your serial number belongs to a 3100 1/2 ton truck made in Oakland, CA in October of 1952.

If the title you have says 1950, that's strange indeed.

Next thing i'd be checking is to see if the VIN number on the title matches either your Serial number, or the number stamped on the engine just to the bottom left of the distributor.

Some areas used the Serial number for the title number, other areas used the number stamped on the engine.

It could be that somewhere in the past a guy had a '50 truck with a good motor and title, and had a good body with a shot motor and no title, and just did the ole "switch-a-roo".

The Serial number confirms the cab is a '52, and the fact you have "push button" door handles and vent windows in the doors jives with the fellow that said earlier that those features were found starting in 1952.

Thanks all of you for the input ... I've checked the serial number against the vin number on the title ... no match there. I'll check tomorrow and see if I can read the number stamped on the engine and see if there is a match there. If not, I'm not sure what to do. At least the licence number matches!

I think you're right Fumblin, it's got to be the ole "swith-a-roo"! But, I do enjoy a good mystery! I'll let you all know what I find out.

Your average John Q. Law isn't going to go hunting for a VIN number on an old truck like that during a routine traffic stop.. so long as the truck looks like what the registration says it is.. and not alot of folks know the difference between a '50 and a '52.

Now if, god forbid, you were ever in an accident, they may try and check the VIN against the registration, but if it's covered in muck, they may just take a peek and say to heck with it.

The problem you may have is if you ever try to title the truck in another state, or sell it to somebody who does.. alot of states require you to take your vehicle to a highway patrol office and have 'em check the vin number against the title before they'll issue a new title in that state.

If the numbers don't match, you may try and contact the person you bought it from.. maybe they just handed you the wrong title. Thats been known to happen!

Hmmmm, come to think of it .... there were a couple of other AD's sittin' along the driveway to the guys house .... Maybe I'll try to get ahold of him, if I can still find his number, and see if that's a possibility. Good idea Fumblin, thanks! But, if all else fails, I'm happy with what I got!

I found this info posted on another board. Hope it helps:
-----------------------------------------
#2, RE: One piece window kit
Posted by coilover on Jun-10-05 at 08:58 PM
In response to message #0

You are hearing from one of the worlds worst record keepers but I'll pass it on just as I have it. Labeled "Vent Window Eliminater Kit" I have two #'s--Hagan (Carson City, Nv) 775-885-1969 and Hardy 817-228-8824. Hope this helps and if you end up using one from either source let the rest of us know how satisfactory it is.

well, after checking the serial number found on MFg card on the cab door frame, this is a 1952 3100 built in Oakland, CA. Acording to my pink, no numbers match up and it says it's a 1950. Sooo....Can't seem to get ahold of the guy who sold it to me, I don't think he has a phone. Lives out in the woods ... interesting fellow, but that's another story. Any suggestions where to take this from here? Or should I just play dumb?

Michael

Cheer up, your mirrors and wipers should be there tomorrow or the next day..Everything will settle in just fine..Steve

Get rid of the tags and registration, then get a len title on it. Just say a guy left it at your place five years ago and he owes you X amount of money and you haven't heard from him and you don't know how to get in touch with him.

Try to find someone that does len titles and they will do all of the paper work for you.

PS. They will have to look at the vin #.

If your sure the numbers on the pink dosen't match the numbers on the engine, you have a few different options, and i'd tackle them in this order:

#1: Post the VIN from the pink (or if your not comfortable doing that, eMail it to me) so we can determine if the number on your pink slip is an engine number or a mfg tag serial number.

If your number is NEITHER, i've heard of some areas DMV assigning a unique number back in the day.. maybe thats what happened in your case, and the year was determined by the year this new number was assigned.

If thats the case, then there would probably be a seperate number stamped on your truck somewhere.

#1a: If the number on your title ends up being a valid engine serial or mfg tag serial for a '52 (and absolutely isnt the number on your engine) then proceed to step 2.

#2: Go back to the dude you bought this truck froms house and tell him whats up. He very well could have given you the wrong title. If the guy has vanished like the proverbial fart in the wind, proceed to step #3

#3: AD_Pickups suggestion sounds solid, except i'd think you'd at the very least need to know the guys NAME that left the truck in your yard "5 years ago". I'm sure the DMV is going to need the VIN on the truck, and if it's been reported stolen, you may end up on the wrong end of a reciving stolen property charge.

Putting a lien on property usually requires the applicant (you) signing a legal document saying that what you're saying is the truth. The truth is you didn't have that in your yard for 5 years, and you have no idea the origins of the truck. I can't imagine a lien can be put on property without some sort of notification being sent to the last registered owner of the vehicle.. if this guy pipes up and says, "Hey! That truck was stolen out of my yard 2 years ago!" you could end up with some charges filed against you. (fraud, theft by deception, stuff like that)

I'd call your local DMV and see what they say you should do in this situation.. if you decide to commit a crime for the sake of getting a title, make sure the juice is worth the squeeze.

I called the following #Hagan (Carson City, Nv) 775-885-1969 for the vent window eliminator. The kit is about $100 for both doors and you can check it out on their website: www.haganauto.com

If anyone has used this kit or does order this kit please let us know how your experience was. I am really thinking about doing this.

Hmmm, rethinking removing my vent windows in the 54. I was driving my 40 F#$% (did not want to say the F word on here) The vent windows have been removed. Noticed all kinds of small bugs on my t-shirt. May be wise to keep them, to deflect bugs.

RT1

RT1 ...

Sounds like you did remove your vent windows. Did you use a kit? Was it complicated to do?

I bought it that way, sorry. however i just replaced the drivers window. It looks like they just added the two rails, and with the power windows it mounts solid in the middle of the door. So they are just guides, maybe if you went to the junk yard you could cut some out of different doors.