The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk What is this?... (53 half-ton)

... and is it important enough to replace or can I just throw it away and forget it?

PICTURE

Not sure...but I have one on my panel as well....My guess is an inner fender to reduce water and mud from splashing on the starter and distributor. But then again that's just my opinion....Roy

Don't know, but something was bolted to it.

It doesn't look like anything original.

Harvester

It's original... the holes are from where I cut off the rivets that were holding it to three brackets. The photo shows it in its original location.

Yes, I had those on my truck as well. Cut them off when I was working on the frame.

As mentioned, just splash aprons.

Kinda small and worthless I thought, but I quess something is better then nothing.

They're just splash aprons. None of my trucks have them any more! They usually collect road and engine grime more than they deflect it,
Scott

Hey Scott, like the picture, ya better hope your wife doesn't find out your out messin' round with those younger chics!
Now Woody, you know me by now, these are, as noted above by ALL OF THE OTHER REPLIES, splash guards and I’m sure that GM wouldn’t have wasted sheet metal on all of their Advance Design trucks if they didn’t have to. There was an inch or more of red clay on everything under my truck when I got it and there wasn’t any on either side of my engine, just an inch or so of grease. Whether you keep them or not all depends on whether you consider what your doing as a restoration or just a fix to get your truck back on the road.
For my money at this stage of your work they are easy enough to get to, they are easy enough to fabricate also. The pans are only 24ga. (.025”) and all the bends are straight and this is light enough material you can bend them up on the edge of the bench. The would have been painted with your under hood black just like the inner skirt. They don’t have to be riveted back in position, they can be screw to the brackets with 10-32 screws. So with a very small effort you can put her back to “as it came from the factory.” I haven’t found that they get in the way of anything that I have done so far and yes, they may collect mud but that was what they were put there for and everything else on the under side collects mud also.
Took a couple of pics of mine if you care to see them in place. http://image69.webshots.com/469/0/0/55/2745000550098611668NYcCey_fs.jpg
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

I have to agree with Denny. GM put those things there for a purpose - to keep muck off critical components. However, Ol' Red's days of hauling loads in the rain on dirt roads are long over, she's seen the last of dirty work and might only get caught in the rain by surprise.

So, the splash pans are going... but I didn't just cut the brackets, I drilled out the rivets holding the brackets to the frame. I've got my hands full as it is, no sense making more work for myself.

I like those young chic's, that's why I married her, LOL.
Good to read ya Denny! I may have to go to Nissan school so I can pay you a visit someday.
Scott

"I fingered someone would have it nailed by now"
I beg your pardon???

You just had to bring that up!? I never would have know he typed that if you didn't repeat it!

Well instead of eating breakfast I went back and edited the reply for those of you that found the term "nailed it" disturbing. To me and my crowd it has always meant the following:
tr.v. nailed, nail·ing, nails
1.
a.To perform successfully or have noteworthy success in: nailed the dive; nailed the exam.
2.Slang
a.To strike or bring down: nail a bird in flight; nail a running back.
b.To perform successfully or have noteworthy success in: nailed the dive; nailed the exam.
3.Baseball To put out (a base runner).

Phrasal Verb(s):
nail down
1.To discover or establish conclusively: nailed down the story by checking all the facts.
2.To win: nailed down another victory in the golf tournament.
3.To specify or fix: We were finally able to nail down a meeting time.


Meaning that the others had "nailed it", i.e., the answer to the original queston of "What is this......"

Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

Denny, it wasn't the nailed it part that was a little weird. It was the misspelled "figured" part of it.