The Stovebolt Site Forums Welcome! Welcome Centre Just got my 1st project, a 1955 Chevy Dumptruck

I registered on here a while back, but now I have a project. It's a 1955 Chevy dumptruck that I picked up for $400. The previous owner was using it to drag a horse arena but it now has electrical issues and won't crank over. He said it does run good though. It looks to have a later model straight six. He said Pepboys told him the starter was from a 1971 model. The shifter feels sloppy, so I may have to tear into it, but being a SM420 it shouldn't be to hard to get rebuilt. The dump bed even works according to the previous owner. He was an older gentleman that is moving and didn't want to take the truck with him to his other ranch. He was a nice guy and I have no reason to believe he was trying to decieve me.

How do I tell if it's a 3100, 4100, 5100, etc? It only has a single speed rearend, but it has 20" dually wheels on it. He said it was a one ton, but it seems to big to only be one ton?

I'll take some pics tommorrow and post them up.

Hi Jon....Welcome!
If you can get some more info,pictures will be a great help.
Someone will be able to identify your 'bolt!
If it's an original Az truck,rust shouldn't be too much of an issue.
I look forward to the
Jock

Welcome to STovebolt. THE place where knowledge is in abundance by a lot of guys who have been there and done that! Enjoy your stay....just make it a long one!

Here is a pic. More to come.

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y121/jonschwenn/55ChevyDumptruck012.jpg

Welcome to the Bolt.

The 5 lugs in front, and larger front fenders make it a 1.5 ton or bigger. What does the G.V.W. on the ID tag say?

Hi, Jon. I would guess it's a 1.5ton. It has 10 lug wheels. One tons had 8 lugs. The fronts just left off 5 studs. It has a short wheelbase (137"?). Check the GVWR. It should be on the kick panel by driver's door & should show about 14k pounds. More than that & it's probably a 2ton.
By the way, nice truck. I wish I still had my '51 1.5ton.
Scott

I could barely make out the VIN, but I'll check in the morning for the GVWR. The cab is solid. Just surface rust. Looks like it's time to buy some tools. Big air compressor, sandblasting kit, and welder should get me started.

Here is another pic. http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y121/jonschwenn/55ChevyDumptruck001.jpg Photobucket is acting up and I'm having trouble uploading them. I'm trying to get an engine pic posted so I can figure out what motor it has.

Engine Pic

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y121/jonschwenn/55ChevyDumptruck007.jpg

Angled front view

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y121/jonschwenn/55ChevyDumptruck002.jpg

Took the shifter out and there is one slot on either side of the shifter that is "hogged out". Looks like I need a welder/machinist or just a new shifter. I'll take some pics of the shifter later today.

Oh yeah:

IT RUNS!!!! Drove it around the property in Reverse and granny low. Just a mis-wired ignition switch. The bed goes up and down just great. The motor has a sort of clanky/grindy sound to it that I hope is just the water pump. But for $400 who can complain if I have to rebuild the engine.

Glad to hear it runs. You should be able to find lots of these trannys laying around. Then just swap out the shifter plate. We'll keep our fingers crossed on the noise being the pump.
Scott

I ordered a new shifter today from Novak. Hopefully that fixes the shifting gears issue.

What is the shifter plate?

jon6.0 a little purple power on that engine and it'll look brand new! Nice catch on the dump. Man, I could use one of those about once a week!!

Purple Power???

yeah, we use it a lot around here. Its a grrreat degreaser/cleaner. Just don't get it on your hands as it will take all the oil out of your skin and you'll grow some new!!
Or you could use Simple Greeen, its a little more friendly.

I call it the shifter plate. Don't know correct term. I mean the whole top piece that unbolts. It houses the shifter & the shift fork inside. I did this on an SM465 which is basically the same tranny. The rod on the spring that keeps the shifter in the 1-2 side was wallowed out & would stick, not allowing the shifter to push over to the 3-4 side. It had over 300k on it though. The synchros were still good. If your grinding going into gears but can still shift OK, than it might be the synchros (assuming clutch is good). Someone will correct me if I'm wrong.
Scott

Hmmm. I'll start off replacing the shifter and drilling and tapping it for cap screws. If that doesn't work I'll know what to tear into next. Although I'm starting to think the grinding sound coming from the motor is actually just being ampified through the bellhousing from the clutch/transmission.