The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk Things you found in your Stovebolt when you bought it ?

This thread was originally started after I read this post over at the 1960 - 1966 truck message board with our good pals and fellow Chevy/GMC truck addicts at 67-72chevytrucks.com :

The Rewards of Owning an Old Truck...

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/showthread.php?t=159899


------

01/17/2009:

I thought this line of thought could have some interesting tales. It turns out, I was right... there are over 260 posts about the strange things people have found in their Stovebolts!

---- original post ----

The question to be answered here in this thread is this...

When you bought/took ownership of/found/stole your Stovebolt(which for the purposes of this site, is defined as a pre-1973 Chevrolet/GMC Truck/Panel/Suburban)...

What did you find in it? Cash? Dead bugs? Tools? Strange parts to unusual things? Human skulls?

When you start to catalog the stuff in your truck... we mean all areas of the truck; stuff in the cab, under the seat(in the seat), in the glove box, the frame rails, in the seat, the headliner and of course whatever was in the bed that came along with you.


Remember, this is an all ages site... so use "discretion" as Ms. Peggy would say.


So here we go, I will start it off with my old truck:


----------- What I found in my 'bolt when I bought it ----------

The contents of my '65 c10 lwb stepside in April 2003:

In the glove box: I found a small can of wd-40(even had a straw still, with plenty left in it), some bulbs for the 'auto parts store trailer lights' that were on the truck when I got first acquired it, a 20 gauge shotgun shell(still live), a few of the glass bulb fuses for the original fuse block on the firewall(I should have checked in there before I bought it, maybe I would have realized it had electrical demons - ha ha ha), some doodads that go to the trailer lights hookup in the back and the bill of sale from when the guy I bought the truck from, bought it from some other guy.

I found the spring thing that locks the stock jack in under the driver side bench seat rattling around on the floor.

It had a 8 track am/fm radio in it(which worked but has since been removed) with an Elvis greatest hits in it and a marie osmond tape and some other band in the glove box.

It even came with a cute plastic sign, stuck on the dash that says: thank you for not smoking.

I left that sign on there.

The spare wheel and tire was in the bed, along with a bunch of leaves.

-W

I found this, window sticker , the original sales tax paid reciept from Little Rock Nov 1963(back then when you bought a new car you hadda go to Little Rock to pay the taxes!),one R44T plug, almost every reg paper from about '73 or so, ice scraper from a long gone bread company. Teamsters member button from 68 in the def duct. Brian

'46 2 ton: Lots of mouse poop.. so much that when I lifted the bench seat out, you couldn't tell a gas tank was in there.. and when the tank was lifted out, the spot where the tank went was 3/4 full.

Am empty can of brake fluid, a 4 way, three or four assorted wrenches, and a pair of vice grips were all behind the seat.

In the bed was the back end of an old Lincolin, some rather large and heavy chunks of sidewalk, a sign for a hotel, assorted childrens clothes, and assorted glass jars.

1950 3100 1/2 ton: Three jacks, two handles, a few old lead pencils, a crunched Sprite can, and lots of mouse poop. Not nearly as much as the '46 had, tho.

For floor mats, the previous owner used a large rubber welcome mat with a jewlery stores name on it.. originally it was probably 6 foot by 4 foot, but they cut it to fit. It was all dry rotted. Underneath that were old newspapers from 1963.. guess they were using the newspaper for insulation/sound deadning material.

As luck would have it, the biggest readable section of the paper (the Denver Post, Sunday November 17th 1963) was the car and truck section of the classifieds.

Lots of cheap 'bolts listed.. too bad nobody is answering the phone anymore!

How about a 1961 Corvair Pickup.. 3 speed, radio, heater.. just $788 at Johnny Haas Mercury 9200 W. Colfax.

They made a Corvair Pickup?

The PO let his son use my 49 for his lawn business durng the summer. I found some porno mags under the seat! LOL Glovebox was full of little radio, wiper and assorted electrical parts (bulbs, fuses and such)

When I removed the fuel tank in my 1966 C-30, I found a letter written in 1973 by a previous owner wedged between one of the straps and the tank. It looked like a suicide note, because it started with "TO WHO IT MIGHT CONCERN". It went on to say that his wife left him, and rambled on until it was illegible. The guy must have been drunk while writing it. http://www.stovebolt.com/gallery/ducor_doug_1966_01.htm

i found the owner's manual with the original bill of sale from 1959. assorted tools, 4-way lug wrench, metal oil can (unopened), a roll of toilet paper under the seat, an old cigarette tin (they used to come in tins?!?) shot gun shells. there is a gun rack mounted over the back window still.

In Da Maus: straw in the doors, screwdriver in the glove box for working the busted ignition, scrap of paper behind the seat with a phone number, some nuts and bolts that don't fit anything, 75 cents, a tiny plastic hand and arm in Simpson yellow; and a ton of dust and dirt.

Deer antlers (reportedly a roadside souvenir)under the seat of the '53.

Paul Anka 8-track in the glovebox of the '75.

Vintage stainless speculum behind seat of '55 stepside.

46 Chev 1/2 ton, found a few shotgun shells and lots of old beer caps.
BobT

Misc. screws, bolts,

Old Pepsi bottle

Lots of Mouse turds

Lots of Mouse nests

1. Turkey Baster

Out of my 66 3/4 ton, a womens leg garter, about $2.00 in change, a set of brake shoes for the front, some registration papers and a handful of insurance papers. ( also some major wire surgery had been done ).

Either the previous owner was an OB/GYN, or he landed those neat "grill tongs" from the local auction!

I found a four way lug nut wrench, the original jack under the seats and bulbs in the glove box on the 55.1.

Chris

Who said it was a "he"?

Fumblin46 did.

My 51 3/4 ton had a pair of old pliers under the seat. Since I found them they have become the most useful thing in my tool box. They represent what I love about these old trucks: simple, rugged dependability.

The vast majority of old truck owners are "hes", combined with the fact I was making a bit of a joke at the expence of a stereotypical ignorant redneck who would mistake a tool used to examine a womans pelvic region with a cooking utencil.

The previous owner of my '50 was a "She", so there are some out there.

46, I was joking too. The culprit had no idea what it was, and thought maybe it could have been used to fill large balloons with water.

Unfortunately, in my 63 Beast, there were no nudie mags or rat [censored].... only sand on the floor of the cab. The guy I bought my truck from was an older gent, smoked a bit, and took the truck virtually everywhere it could go. It only took a few years to remove the smell. He had fuses, extra wrenches, a fan belt, and a knife which he left in the glove. Nice guy and really loved teh truck b/c it looked like he lived in there.

Found rust in the doors and tailgate, and a LOT of bondo in the front fenders---does that count? :confused:

scale receipts from the co-op grain elevator for loads of corn, wheat, and milo that my grandfather hauled into town and about a 5 gallon bucket full of grain dust in the cab corners.

old wooden handled screwdrivers (still in the glove box), a carpenter pencil (from the co-op), bailing wire, some sort of lock that the ingition ket fit into (and locked)...childhood memories.

Found a paper one way tag form Shattuck Oklahoma to Dallas Texas in my 53 5 window.

A hunk of coal, directions to a place where coal needed delivered, a reciept from a coal company, a butter knife, mouse poop and nests, fuses, NOS brake pads, about 40 glass lenses for cab lights, 2 arrow turn signals, misc. reflectors, a pencil, and a NOS turn signal switch. Not too bad, eh?

'49 GMC 3/4 ton... under the seat was a small tin box that had the original "Owners and Drivers Manual", a mechanical pencil and misc maint bills dating back to '88, and lastly a lug wrench.

Mike

In my 64, I found a can of glass cleaner, some tape, a few old recipts, and some fuses. In my 53, I found a battery under the floor :rolleyes: . In my 52 parts truck, I found a hubcap, a whole bunch of brake cylinder rubber seals, and a signal light switch under the seat.

1958 Chevy APache 3100 short stepside
1> lots of misc. screws (probably door screws)
2> paid receipt for vehicle tax
3> booklet for jehova's witness
4> & last but not 'least tons of work due to rust

I bought one of mine about 5 miles from home...in the country. My 8 year old daughter was with me. As we crossed a set of railroad tracks, the headliner fell and there were about 10 million Grandaddy Long Legs that fell into the cab. May have been more.

Thruwurkin

Lets see. A small can of musket powder,used profalactic, about 30 22 gune shells un spent and 5 shot gun shells, a gun rack, an old RC can with mickey mantle on it, and a 1 gallon milk jug full of beer tabs. All in my 1950 gmc that a got for free from a guy just for hauling it off his land.

I found the ignition key under all of the crap on the floor. That was a good find,
Scott

thruwurkin, were the daddy long legs alive?

I would have soiled my unmentionables, making them truely unmentionable.

In the '54:
1 Hubcap for a 47 AD Chevy
2 15" rims w/tires
4 16" stock rims w/smooth bias plys in the bed
(2 GMC, 2 Chevy)

And best of all, a mid 70s automatic transmission and tilt steering (installed), as the p.o. was an elderly farmer who lost a leg due to diabetes, and could no longer drive a stick! We drove the truck home, and drove the 235 until it started smokin' about two years later.

In the '63:
10 years worth of rotten household garbage, as it had been doing time as a dumpster.

In my 54 6100 I found a metal first aid kit with all the old registration papers and insurance receipts, A huge double ended socket that fits the lug nuts both front and back, a set of emergency reflectors that unfold from a flat metal container into a triangle to set out on the road and an oil spout that you use to push down into a can of oil, do you remember those? Some treadured memories triggered from a distant past. Redcoat

Rusty Rod

There wasn't a dead one in the bunch. My Daughter loved it and I almost did what you were talking about.

Thruwurkin

One large adjustable wrench for changing sprinkler heads, misc farm receipts, and a set of three kerosene-fired road hazard lamps in the metal case. 30 yrs later and they lit with the first match.

i found the plant build paper under a spring of the seat back the buld paper and a crack pipe i think in the head liner when i pulled it out

Mouse/rats turds and a nest or three, rust
and some beer caps, and a rubber mat

Lots of papers from the near orignal owner. Insurance papers, loan documents, license renewal forms, a whole pile of cotter pins, some type of cast iron water pumps that dented the pavement at the scrap yard when I dropped em off...and yes...the mouse condo in the headliner.

Lots of wasp and hornets nests.

my 48 had the original jack and handle along with the hand crank for starting the truck. I've never tried to use the crank to start it. only to turn the engine during repairs/timing.

Guy called in to Click 'n' Clack, he found $3200 in small bills in an old Caddy he'd paid $1200 for. And I thought I'd done well when I found 75 cents in my truck...

Christian