The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk New member. Look what I found in the barn

Greetings from Vermont!

This truck (1934 or 1935?) has been sitting in my parents barn for 30 years. Hasnt been started since 1977.

I dont know a whole lot about it aside from what my dad told me this week. He found it in someone elses barn and bought it for $300 in 1969. He drove it infrequently for a while and stored it in their barn in 1977 where it has been sitting until now.

I have some friends who are great with metal, I'm a decent woodworker, and I have a mechanic who knows his way around old engines.

Does it look like its in decent enough shape to try to restore? Or will it become a neverending moneypit that lands me in the poorhouse with half a completed truck.

It has a manual dump body on the back that I also know nothing about

I'll be perusing these forums like mad for the next week trying to answer a lot of my own question. Thanks for the great info resource!

http://freesites.pshift.net/~vtdefender/chevy1.jpg

http://freesites.pshift.net/~vtdefender/chevy4.jpg

http://freesites.pshift.net/~vtdefender/chevy8.jpg

http://freesites.pshift.net/~vtdefender/chevy94.jpg

No way in the world that truck is restorable, just too far gone,,I will take it off your hands for the $300 your Dad paid for it. When should I come get it? Welcome to the site!

Frank,
Nice truck....git 'er runnin and drive it!

I have to agree with 64fleetside but I think I can make a buck at the scrapyard for $400. We're kidding; nice find. Looks like you have a nice project there. Can you show pictures of the 'business end' of the truck (the bed)? Thanks.

Nah, it really is too far gone to even consider restoring. Since I've already dug a pit to put my hard earned cash into I'll come up and pick up your find before you have a chance to regret it.

This is the sort of thing that most of us dream about but only read about. I would venture that if you changed the gas and installed a hot battery it would start. Those are great photos of the engine compartment and you'll notice that the spark plug wires are the "original" type with the 90 degree plugs and no insulators. We would all appreciate it if you could post more pictures of both sides of the engine, the interior, and the rear end views.

Great find, good luck, and welcome to the 'Bolt.

Don

Thanks guys! So there's hope

I had a tough time getting photos of the back because its wedged in the barn in the corner. I'm going to have to remove a couple of the loft supports to get it out of there. THe loft was built around it.

Here's a couple photos that I did get of the rear:

http://freesites.pshift.net/~vtdefender/dump%20body.jpg

http://freesites.pshift.net/~vtdefender/dump%20mechanism.jpg

And here's one of the motorola

http://freesites.pshift.net/~vtdefender/chevy93.jpg

Aside from the seat (easy) the inside of the cab is in really good shape. Windows and hardware are intact.

http://freesites.pshift.net/~vtdefender/chevy91.jpg

Thanks for the welcome! It would be incredible if it started. Hopefully I'll have some time next weekend to get back in there and play with it.

Here's a shot of the other side of the engine.

It's going to be a while before I can drag it out of there so I cant get rear end shots of it yet.

http://freesites.pshift.net/~vtdefender/chevy6.jpg

Just one more comment -- Since you obviously have a digital camera take a gazillion photos of everything on the truck before cleaning it up or disassembly. You'll pat yourself on the back later and will insure the preservation of some of the originality.

Don

Welcome FrankBT, How come I can never find a diamond like that, and with a period radio no less, I'm VERY jealous, and I'll up the offer to $800.00. Seriously that is a GREAT find, I think you better go and buy a lottery ticket while your luck is hot.

I definitely will. Here are the rest of the shots I took:

http://freesites.pshift.net/~vtdefender/chevy5.jpg

http://freesites.pshift.net/~vtdefender/chevy7.jpg

http://freesites.pshift.net/~vtdefender/chevy92.jpg

http://freesites.pshift.net/~vtdefender/chevy95.jpg

http://freesites.pshift.net/~vtdefender/chevy96.jpg

http://freesites.pshift.net/~vtdefender/chevy97.jpg

http://freesites.pshift.net/~vtdefender/front%20leaf.jpg

http://freesites.pshift.net/~vtdefender/front%20wheel.jpg

No way man. A couple trips to vegas (trade shows) taught me to quit while I'm ahead

Where in the Great Green Mountain state do you live? I'll be up there in a couple of weeks for a bit of vacation time and would be happy to come up and take it off your hands! I'll give you $900 and beat these cheap skates that are trying to take advantage of you! :rolleyes: Do you think I'd be able to drive it back to Colorado?

Seriously though, where do you live? I'll be in VT (Woodstock area) on vacation and if it's not too far away (is anything that far away in VT?) and not too much trouble for you, I think it'd be fun to stop by to see the ol' girl and meet another bolter. My kids are into restoring these and I think they'd get a kick out of it too.

Nice looking project you have there. Send some of those pictures along with your story to Peg and have them added to the Gallery (visit the Gallery link for information on how to submit them).

As mentioned, this is a great place to come for advice, an occasional ribbing, great pictures of other projects, and a tremendous wealth of knowledge. I'd be totally lost on my project without the information and knowledge I've gained here. Welcome.

These guys are right it's a huge money pit, get out while you can. Down2sea is soooooo right take all the pictures you can,your memory if it's like mine can't be trusted. Nice find Frank BT, I've got a '36 1.5 ton I found in a barn. Welcome to the Bolt.

Hey, I'm in Stowe. The truck is about 20 minutes North.

Woodstock is probably an hour and a half south of here.

Whip me an email through the board and I'll give you my contact info

Throw some gas in it and start her up. I bet she wouldn't even hesitate.

As soon as the barn doors opened and I saw that truck for the first, well, the only way I'd take that truck is if someone pays me!

Just Kiddin!

Nice find on a beauty.

well! what year is it? 34',35'?

I was hoping somebody would tell me. The registration says 1935 but my dad says he thinks its a '34.

I dont really know how to tell.

I didnt get the serial number (like an idiot) and I dont know enough about the difference in features between the two to tell.

Can anyone tell from the pictures?

Guess you got your answer, Everyone is envious including me.

All you other guys blew my chance at FrankBT's truck, hope you are happy,

I was going to try to talk you up to $375

I'll even throw in a Toyota, gets 30+mpg

nice of dad to hang on to it for you.

Yes it was. He told me that he had forgotten about it

Quote

Yes it was. He told me that he had forgotten about it

That's why you should take pictures, you might forget that you are restoring it.

Restoring what now? :confused:

$375.00!! it's wayyyy older now, and has to be worth much less.

Absolutely well worth restoring!! That's a very nice project, congrats.

John

SWEET... don't pay any attention to those other guys... that truck is worth at least $50.00 delivered!!!

welcome to the 'bolt!!

Frank:
I was wondering how in the ____ it was backed into the barn! What ever you do be careful when you pull those supports out, unless you have a mind to do a chop job...

Stowe???!!! Why, that's just a hop, skip and jump from Waterford, NY, where I am. I'll be glad to take it off your hands, just to protect your privacy from all the other bolters who want to steal that find, I mean junkpile, from you. Yeah, I'm sure your dad can use that space for a more worthy project. Did you know Yugo's are the next hot collectible??? And guess who can trade you a low mileage (aren't they ALL low mileage?) Yugo for that junker of yours?

Call me.

Wow, what a great truck. I wonder if that motor is a 216 or a 207. That looks like mechanical brakes in the rear, doesn't it? Man, what a find you have!

OK guys, enough shucking and jiving. Keep it about the truck or it's going to the Greasy Spoon.

By the way, welcome to the Stovebolt pages, Frank.

Frank, Great find....That truck is in very good
condition considering its age...also, no doubt it
was built to be a work truck...Welcome to the Bolt.
Bill B

before you even try starting it oil it up put oil in the cylinders i learned the hard way and froze a loose engine by cranking it dry

The BT has to stand for “Bind a Torture”, right Frank?? Your gotta be just taunting us cus you gotta know that’s a restorers dream. To find a 75 year old truck that is as complete as that appears to be, is akin to finding the lost ark or a hens tooth or a needle in the hay stack. Any one of us would give a right arm to find one in that condition. Thanks for sharing the pictures, I’ve added them to my reference library.

It really is a nice find but like our moderator says, lets stick to the subject. I don’t mean to be the one to put a damper on the party but there are some facts one has to face, so I’m going to insert a little real world in here.
Ya really need to do some soul searching and decide whether you’re serious about, and have a true love for these old trucks before you tear into one. Restoring any vehicle no matter what the condition is simply a lot of work. If you don’t have the passion required to follow through on a restoration of this sort then you would be better off putting it up on the block for sale. The truck will be worth a lot more as it is, intact, rather than ending up as a basket case a few years down the road. In my lifetime I have literally seen hundreds of projects that started out with good intentions, with the belief that all one needed to do was change the oil, fill it up with gas and wash off the bird crap. The thought that this would turn them into daily drivers almost always failed to meet the expectations and a lot of damage, patch work and temporary fixes turned it into a not so original rust bucket. These really good, restorable vehicles usually ended up being sold in pieces down the road for a fraction of there original worth before they were (I hesitate to apply the slang for what a meat cutter does at this point, so I’ll just say) modified.

To answer your question about it being a money pit, assuming that the motor and running gear is still intact, and that is nothing blown or busted, if you simply want to start it up and drive it to the lumber yard twice a year and let it further deteriorate, then you probably won’t have to sink much into it at all.
On the other hand, if your going to restore it, lets look at some estimates. A valve job will run $300-$500, complete motor overhaul $2,000 - $3,000, trans rebuild $200 - $500, rear end $300 - $800, brakes a few hundred more. To restore the body, frame and bed/box $3,000 - $10,000 depending on who does the work and whether you want it for a driver or best of show award winner. The sheet metal looks to be in real good shape, the undercarriage and frame are going to take some serious filling and possible replacement. The interior will run another $400 - $1,000 for mats, upholstery, gas tank and gauge restoration and $500 - $600 for the radio. New window glass roughly $600 - $1000. That should get her looking pretty good after two to five years of diligent steady work.
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

Great find. Even if it takes 10 years restore it's still worth it. I need to look in more barns

Thats exactly the kind of information I was looking for Denny. Thanks!

I really dont want to end up butchering the old girl.

I have a couple of friends up here who do complete restorations on military vehicles and truly do it right. I'm going to enlist their help in evaluating what needs to be done and how to do it the correct way.

Your estimates are extremely helpful!

I'm a bit late getting in on the thread. Great find!!!! I wish Sweetie had been in that good of shape when I pulled her from the barn.

A WORD OF CAUTION!! Don't try to start it if there was ANY gas left in the tank when it was parked. If there was any gas left in the tank you need to pull & clean the tank before putting fresh gas in it. You'll probably need to clean the fuel lines & maybe rebuild the fuel pump as well. The old gas will be varnish by now. The fresh gas will disolve some of the varnish which can stick your intake valves shut after you shut it off. The next time you try to start the truck you run the risk of bending pushrods or, in some cases, breaking rocker arms. I know you're in a hurry to hear it run but you can do a lot of harm by getting into too much of a hurry.

BTW, welcome to the 'bolt and ditto keeping a photo record of your restoration. Photograph even the small stuff you do. You only get one chance to get it the first time.

Welcome to the bolt ! Great find ...an super truck !....ill up the anty too $1000 ....lol

Are you going to keep the old time manual dump bed?