The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk stupid previous owners

Maybe the title of this post should be stupider previous owner!?

The guy who had my truck before me was either a complete nincompoop or he was ripped off by his mechanic. Here are some examples of this:

1) 55.1 1.2 ton floating kingpin bushings installed upside down so the bushing grease groove was not aligned with the zerks. Kingpins were grossly worn as the result.

2) Front wheel bearings were not tightend and were in fact very loose. The special nut washers then contacted the spindle shaft ends right behind the threaded portion and scored them so badly that only about 50% of the metal was left.

3) Rear springs were worn so terribly that the pins ahd been ate through more than 50%. Where the individual leaves rubbed together the longer leaf had been rubbed until only about 50% of the thickness remained.

Scary stuff. The guy is very lucky to be alive and not crippled.

mine was in good shape, the stupid thing he did was sell it to me and a good price at that

Where would I start with the things done to my truck before I owned it.

1. The guy I bought it from was a liar. He told me all the things he did to it but I don't think he did any of them...someone before him did them and not very well to boot.

2. I replaced all the spring pins due to 30 to 40% wear.

3. All the wiring was mickey moused

4. The rear drums had been turned at least 2 too many times.

5. The king pins look like they were installed with a sledge hammer.

6. He put a 12 volt battery in it and fried the gauges

50GMC, I share your sentiment. It is sad to see the abuse and neglect of such fine machinery.

Rich

The PO of my 46 really liked body putty, I spent most of last summer removing and repairing the bed, I can't wait to see what the front fenders and the cab have hidden.

Ed

One of the problems with our 50-year-old treasures is that most also went through that stage where they were 15- to 35-year-old beaters where taking care of them was never a priority.

The repairs that most offend me are the ones where something is either cut off or now welded that should never have been. Stuff that can be fixed with a wrench doesn't bother me much.

OldSub
Very good points
Rich

I think everyone has differing degrees of mechanical ability. The previous owners were probably doing the best they could...not out to screw the next guy in line.

When you buy an old truck, it's sort of understood its a pig in a poke. You didn't buy it for the warranty, you bought it because you love working on old stuff, and if it hacked up, you will redo it, this time to your expectations.

We all have BFH's...some know when to use them, and many don't. Maybe all these atrocities were committed before there was a Stovebolt site. Pry out the hunks of Bondo...replace the rounded bolts.. swap the garden hose for heater hose and be happy you have the old girl! Merry Christmas.


Stuart

I think you're right Stuart. Given the different types of people out there, what one views as a "hack job" another will see it as "it gets me where I need to go."

It's kinda like the Million Dollar Question: should I restore her, ressurect her or rod her?

Someone years from now will be posting: "Why'd the PO do THAT to my truck??" And the cycle will continue LOL

Guess I was a lucky one then. The previous two owners of my truck were senior gentlemen so the truck wasn't beat to pieces. In fact the first owner had put a camper shell on the truck two weeks after he took delivery and found out I was the first one to remove it probably 13-15 years later. The bed wood was like it was in 1959 save for a few surface scratches. Really the only thing wrong with the truck was the engine was wore slap out with 80,000 miles but I knew that going in. That engine is on its second rebuild and still going strong in the truck.

Lot of good sense here made, I can handle the extra bondo, the stripped screws, most mechanical things in passing. But I am glad I ended up with my truck instead of my son. Main reason PO really screwed up the front brakes they worked but would have quickly failed.

I hope when I become the PO my son can smile and say I hate Dad's color but everything was done right.

popcorn The Truth is Out There (But thats why we buy them, to fix them)Ben

The guy who owned mine only wanted a truck with absolute minimum maintenance and I do respect that. However there are certain things that are mandatory unless it is never driven.

I'm the opposite of that guy and probably a fool to many of you guys who are frugal. Just last night I was thinking about the fact that I've already spent $6000 on my 261 and I haven't even touched the head yet except to check the fit of my manifolds. The old 235 had seen some use in its time but if I only needed a truck for rare occasions it would have lasted for years with maybe $50 per year for points, plugs, and so forth. A spindle or rear spring would have snapped long before the engine gave up.

I didn't know diddly-squat about floating bushings. However I am not blind and it was very obvious that the bushing grease groove was not in the center, so I researched to find out why. I also forgot to mention previously that the bearing was upside down so it never saw any grease either. I planned to rebuild or replace every screw, nut, washer and rubber part on the whole truck anyway, but some things are just plain old stupid.

Now for the front wheel bearings; I know my life depends on them front wheels staying on the truck, so if I didn't know how to replace them I would definately have taken steps to find out.

If a rear spring or pin snaps it would make for a "fun" ride but at least you would have some ability to steer away to avoid a head-on collison.

I'm not angry at the previous owner and we still enjoy frequent communications and he loves updates on the progress. I thought this would be an intersting subject to see what scary things others have found.

Lets see.Bought my 55 on Ebay.Advertised as,350 engine with Edlebrock heads,a lie-Holley 4 bbl carb.,a lie-front disc brakes,a lie.Custom interior= 2 old mopar bucket seats falling apart.It had Chevy heads,and Edlebrock carb.Plain old drum brakes on the front.Filed a complaint with Ebay,did not do any good.The guy pleaded ignorance,said he thought it had all that stuff.I wound up making the best of a bad deal.I now have a very nice 55 streetrod,but way too much money in it due to the previous owner lying about things.

Sometimes, people just get in and drive. And that's all!!

dale937,

When you inspected the truck before you bought it didn't you see all the discrepancies?


Stuart

Remember that before the truck was your truck, it was his (or her) truck.

Lots of these old trucks were "engineered" literally in a field somewhere by guys who probably weren't ASE or Mr. Goodwrench Certified mechanics with a full selection of Snapon or Mac tools. They had some bailin' wire, a pair of fencing pliers, and a ball peen hammer.

Most repairs were probably originally intended to be a temporary fix, but since it seemed to work, they forgot about it.

Also consider who might have owned a 1950 pickup truck over the last 40 or so years.. probably not the social elite, or the well to do.. more than likely the flat broke people who didn't drive an old heap because they thought it was cool, but because thats all they could afford.

Combine that with the fact that most folks buying one of those trucks new were buying them not as a collectors item or a treasured piece of American history, but as a functional, no frills pickup truck. If they wanted a bumper to haul a trailer, they didn't order one from J.C. Whittney or the local pro-street shop.. they whipped out a piece of metal stock and got to welding.. the tape measure must have been out of reach in some cases, so they eyeballed it.

Trucks back then weren't fashion statements, they were used to push, pull, or haul stuff around.. alot of times by folks who were lucky to have some meat in the soup for dinner, let alone pay money to have their truck towed into town and repaired by a professional mechanic.

Both my '46 trucks have typical hillbilly repairs and/or modifications.. most done before I got 'em.. many done AFTER

To me, the hillbilly stuff justs adds to the charm of the trucks.. granted, if I find a part that was installed incorrectly and is not safe, i'll replace it.. but the home made spare tire holders made from old drums welded to both sides of my 1/2 ton are staying right where they are!

Fumblin,

Well said...now what about that meat in the soup?


Stuart

I'm blessed to have a freezer full of beef that had a pulse and was walking around my lawn not more than 4 weeks ago.

That'll teach him to get thru the fence!

on my 51 3600 some SOB cut 6x9 speaker holes in my doors also where the steering column passes thru the firewall someone gouged out the hole and moved over the steering box friggin genius

Stuart I bought the truck out of Colorado,I live in Ohio.Sent Emails back and forth with the owner,talked with him on the phone.He seemed like an honest guy.I got the winning bid and had it shipped to Ohio.I know it was a dumb mistake to buy without looking at it first.I made the best out of a bad deal,another lesson learned,and late in life. Dale

My PO on my 66 C-10 said that he had "restored" it. After my parents bought it for my 16th birthday, me and my dad started really digging around on it and found that the "restoration" involved grinding out the body rust, covering the holes with chicken wire and bondo, and a fresh coat of paint. Now that the bondo is flaking off, dad and I are going to restore it right. Some of the hillbilly engineering was done done by either of the PO's or me and dad. But it gets the job done like Fumblin46 said, and we use it like Chevorlet meant it to be used, on a farm, loaded to the max. Also, its almost like a fine wine, the truck just gets better with time.

We bought a '74 Chevy Nova project that someone else had begun. The Holley 4-bbl carb had been pirated from I don't know where, and had no choke. We put a new Edelbrock carb on so we could get it started on cold mornings.

When we pulled the old Holley, we found the PO had lost the linkage between the primaries and secondaries. He had replaced the linkage with:

KITE STRING!

It's amazing how much better that 350 ran with a good carb and secondaries that open all the way....

Well on the 59...you can see some of the hick engineering by following my link in my signature. It started life as a Dallas Power and Light truck and in 66 went to previous owner. He used it as a tool truck for earth moving and it got some very rough use before it retired (IRWIPI) in around 75-76. Let's say he (or his goons) were 'practical'.

1. Distributor timing was set with a piece of wire (see the link in my sig).

2. It had a seat from some piece of construction equipment nailed in with 16 penny nails. (NICE)

3. You couldn't hardly move the steering wheel because on the last set of king pins, they spun the bushing and didn't even check it. I would have looked through the zerk hole, and then just drilled a new one and forgot about it. It took a 30 ton shop press and an alang-india size torch to get the king pin out.

4. No air cleaner or oil cap on an engine that had been bored .060 and crank .020. Engine was locked solid - and donated.

5. Since the truck had been pushed about by big cats, every box mount was bustificated, so 2 1/4 by 2" struts welded the box to the welded on rear bumper (which was beat to poo). When I cut those struts, the box almost fell off!

That's what comes to mind right off.

The jeep I got from him had a huge hole under the spare tire carrier filled with a 1x4 and bondo :p . It also had a number of holes punched in the frame from various tow hooks. And a bazillion holes drilled into it for all kinds of stuff. Most of the body was welded back together with big stick welds. Tow bar was also very 'practical'. But made out of like 1/4 " steel so you could pull a duece and a half with it.

My 72 truck had no motor, an unsealed TH350, drier hose half did for the A/C heat system, and all the AC bits removed other than an evaporator which is probably poo now that its been in the weather for years. Cab corners had a big pile of bondo in them (I have reduced the bondo quite a bit there and welded up a number of holes in cab). Previous restorer said he pulled out 6 layers of carpet! :p :p :p Truck is 3 different colors as well. That's what I am foolin with now.

Oh well, can't complain, every vehicle ended up being free. I was given the 59 and the heep, and the 72 truck came with enough parts sold on ebay that it was actually -17.50!

And as for names - Big Red, the heep, and the 72.

The PO of my Stovebolt babied this thing to a point that he did not drive it. Now don't get me wrong she is not a pristine trailer queen. But she is a nice looking driver. She had not been driven more than 2 miles in about 10 years. the PO
is a local business owner that used it as his business advertisment. She still needs a few things replaced and fixed, but thats what happens when it sits and is not driven. I have made her my daily driver (i don't go far to work) and will do my best to keep her in good shape for the next(my children) guy.

cliff59

Trailer Hitch welded to the bumper:

http://woogeroo.home.mindspring.com/Matraca/img09142003/13.html

it's still like that, and in my way... I've been plotting on how best to take it off.

-W

Hey,Woogeroo What a good looking Bolt. I think that 65 is a beautiful Classic. I guess the PO thought that He wanted one of those COOL hitch covers that say I love Chevy?

cliff59

Friend of mine bought a harley from a guy that put a tack weld on every single bolt and fasener on the whole bike

PO put a 12 foot grain box on back first load it set down on the tires so they jacked it up in the field and started adding leaves until body was off the tires. at least you can tell which ones they added different ends on the leaves

Hey Woogeroo, my hitch is three 2" by 3/8" steel bars welded to the top of the frame, come around the lisense plate and is then bolted to the bumber with a 1/2" bolt. Needless to say, its going to be fun to take it off and it has no problem pulling a 18' by 7' trailer with a Ford( yes, I said the F-word) 8N and a two blade pottom plow on it. Its kind of understandable since the first PO was a farmer and meant for the hitch to last.

yo GMCKUSTOM - I understand where that cat came from. While I know what locktite is, I had thought about that after 2 different hogs. The 45 degree V twins shake themselves apart. That's one reason to get a 'metric' cruiser (japanese bike). My bikes always had to have a wrench put to them. Worse even than my 76 bonneville.

Arnswine,I don't know what you do to your bikes;the only problems I had with my ol' 80 FLH was direct results of "improving on the factory's wiring,by eliminating about 3 miles of it,and all the little breakers and relays. As soon as it was out of warranty,I went through and changed everything I could over to allen heads and nylocks,and what I couldn't replace got a drop of loctite. I never had anything loosen up on it except the rear axle nut.(still haven't figured out why THAT happened,probably an angry ex.) I do carry a lot of tools,and spend time on every trip working on other peoples rides.Heck-I don't know-maybe I'm just lucky.or maybe I ride an HD at a reasonable RPM-the FLH's geared for about 3,100 at 75 MPH.
The PO of my '62 one ton built a steel pipe front wall for the stock racks on it,and it isn't even remotely good looking. And he welded it to the flatbed. And he welded the bed to the frame,and welded a patchwork of 1/8th inch diamond-plate over what was left of the wood flooring,and welded about a hundred pounds of receiver hitch to the frame too. I can't [censored] too much though,because that ugly rack sure is a handy place to attach a load to,that hitch has pulled 14X70 mobiles,so I KNOW it won't break. Besides,as was previously stated,it gives my truck character,makes it all the more different from the rest.
I guess on my '57 GMC,the worst things were the PO installed a sun-roof,but the absolute worst was cutting out the entire center of the dash to fit some huge old stereo,and making some quarter windows of sheet metal to convert the big window opening to a crawl through for a camper.(and not very nicely done,either)
I really do like the sun roof though,it doesn't leak and adds a lot to the ventilation in the warm weather.
Speed

On my 1963 Chevy C-10 it had a rubber brake hose
and you could press the bake pedal to the floor with one finger.

well ill have to say, that i was and am one that others will gripe about. when a kid, i was just stupid and didnt have anyone to teach me not to drill holes in the dash for radios and switches for stupid add ons. and now, my newer cars and trucks are more for work and transportation then anything else. so i dont mind a scratch on them. but i would freak at a scratch on the old [censored] paint of my flatbed. it to me, isnt just for transportation to me,.......go figure

I'm with Joker and the others who were blessed (burdened?) with having been passed to them a very well kept truck from a detailed and caring PO. The PO on my '49 1-ton was the original owner and Mr. Dady was very good and careful with this truck as he was with all things -- child of the Depression. His little touches abound the truck, though, as his son points out to me -- the little eyelit he istalled in the back of the cab to hang his suit from (nicely done and I could remove it, but I don't want to).

The only funny thing was that at some point, he overflowed the gas filler pipe and the cheap gas bubbled off the paint. He went to the shed and grabbed what he thought was the right color red spray paint (toi touch it back up). Only he didn't grab the red, he grabbed the DayGlo Orange! Sprayed it on, sterpped back, admired it and proved to his son that he was colorblind!

We fixed that paint for the movie shoot, but it was always a cool story to tell at the cruise-in when somebody would ask if I was going to fix the paint.

Sometimes, I look at the truck and hope Mr. Dady is happy with how I'm caring for his truck.


John

Hey John...
Maybe you should have had Peg get you a sticker from Hoo-Ya saying "It Is Red"

"It Is Painted" - Shooper

They let me out for a couple of days so I could watch Joker's team whip USC