The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk Picked up a new toy this week, a 19 and 54

As some of you may know, I’ve been pretty much focusing all of my effort on the first examples of the AD’s up till now, especially the 3600 series. After four years of intensive study, I still have a lot to learn about them. God knows I don’t need any more projects, but I just couldn’t pass on this one. I’ve been watching the for sale sign in “her big old“ one-piece windshield all summer just waiting to see if the price would drop to a realistic figure, it finally hit the sweet spot this week.
So it looks like I’ll be researching the last of the breed over the next few months while I finish up what I’ve got going on my ’50, 3604. OK you ’54-‘55 guys, I’m gonna be needing your help, and you can be sure I’m gonna be spending a whole bunch of time over at your house Timothy L.

I’m really partial to the way the 3/4-ton pick-um-up trucks stand up nice and proud over the low-riders at the car shows. This new one is a low mileage bare bones farm truck, still has the single taillight, single drivers mirror, single sun visor, economy heater, no radio, no lighter, etc. Nothing extra has been added to it over the years and I haven’t seen any evidence of anything being altered but I’m still looking it over. Better yet I have papers that show the provenance. She was bought new in Nebraska in ’54 and served on the farm till the late 80’s when the son inherited it and brought it back here to the Chicago suburbs. She stayed with him till June of this year when a fella in the next town over from me bought it. His intention was to restore it but with winter coming on other classic cars in the stable and limited storage space he made the decision not to do the restoration and now it’s in my barn for the winter.

Our plans are to bring her back (factory stock of course) in Sea Foam Green for my wife to drive. She learned to drive back in the early 60’s down on the dirt roads at her grandpa’s NC tobacco farm. The drivers-training vehicle of choice was none other than his old AD farm work truck. Well here are a few pics of her, the truck that is: http://www.pbase.com/dennygraham/1954_3604_chevy_truck
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

I wish I had those gauges for mine! Nice find!

ditto, very nice find. I haven't seen a flashlight like that in a while.

Wow, good score Denny. It doesn't look like the typical farm truck, that ol' girl has been treated with a lot of love over the years to be in that nice of condition. I'm sure she's going to be treated well in her new home as well. Keep us posted on the progress.

Nice score Denny.
It's gonna look nice in Seafoam Green!

Don't see why you'd have questions. It looks like all you need to do is start driving it.

VERY nice Denny!!! It's obviously been taken care of. I LOVE that bed floor. It's almost perfect. Great find my man.

Welcome to the club, Denny.

I look forward to increasing my 54/55 knowledge from reading about your experiences and research.

Ocean Green would most likely be the name for the 1954 color: 1954 Exterior-Colors Pinwheel

That looks like it has been sitting in a time capsule. Great find.

Nice rig Denny !!!

(*) that's clean. I don't get it though. What do you have to restore??? Lucky guy lol Good luck with the "resto", if you can even call it that with a truck that clean.

are you going to bag it ...just kidding...nice looking truck

I'm very happy You got the truck ,Denny
Now I gatta reason to come over.

Pete

Nice truck. I've driven by her when she was for sale and I'm glad it's still staying local.

Denny,
We all know that truck will be in very good hands. Keep us informed as you get to know her.

Kent

Denny, I don't know what you want to fix. Looks to me like nothing needs fixing on this one. You were fortunate to find this one.

Restore? (*), what do you mean restore? Drive that thing!!! What a nice find.

We have a '54 3600 that's almost finished. I've turned almost every single screw and bolt on it at some point, so I'd be happy to help answer any questions, if I can.

I wish I were as far along with my projects as you are with yours David.
You must mean the flash light in the glove box Vern, I haven’t even taken everything out of the box yet, been to busy with other things, like getting the title and plates going.
Waldo, ya can’t see all of the dings dents and problems in the pictures and she’s got her share. But not having to fight the rust monster is a welcome asset.
Oh you can rest assured Bruce that over the last four years I’ve already spent weeks going thru Tim’s site. Tim’s work is right up there next to Keith Hardy’s contribution to the hobby.
Yeah, once we saw the Sea Foam Green my wife and I both gave it a thumbs up. For some reason I don’t like it on the early AD’s but it just seems to fit the ’54-’55 remake.
You obviously don’t know me jf, road worthy to me is complete rework of the running gear to the point that you could trust it enough to drive it coast to coast. Road worthy is still a ways down the path.
Yep Richard, the bed floor is still solid, a little bit of cupping on some of the boards but solid. It definitely has 55 years worth of wear and tear on her, but that I expect. That’s where the challenge enters the picture, putting her back to the way she was when delivered.
Oh no teach’, I’m very much the student on this project. Look at what I’ve learned already, I obviously haven’t had a chance to research the colors for ’54. When I saw a truck that a Brit restorer did, he called it Sea Foam Green. And after looking at your chart I see there was no such color, unless he meant Ocean Green or Seacrest Green, I need to check out the colors at the color library. In fact I’m not sure if it is now, Mariner Blue or Transport Blue. My ’50 was and is going to be again Mariner Blue when it’s finished.
Again Charlie, the photos don’t show all. But it sure is an excellent starting point.
Fred I think I did bag it, at least that’s what I told my “big old wife” on the phone right after he handed me the title, “honey, I just bagged another 3600”.
Officer Kramer, stop on by sometime, I’m at the airport and in the phone book.
Now don’t you worry Kent, I’ll be as big of a pain in the ars on this one as I was with the ’50, 3600.
See below Ken.
Chicklin, I’ve been known to axe a lot of questions so you can count on me pickin’ a few brains. Why weren’t you at the Truck Nationals Last week??? Pete and I live 600miles away and we made it to the reunion.

Well Thanks for the comments guys, looking forward to learning all about the five four Chevy details.

After driving it and looking it over a bit today, here are some obvious items that need attention: 1) Clutch chatters, probably oil soaked from rear seal leakage, 2) Steers all over the road, need to check toe in, steering gear adjustment, tie rod ends, king pins, wheel bearings, 3) whine in the SM420 input bearing, trans will need to be rebuilt in the not to distant future, 4) oil leaking from every possible gasket. 5) replace 8v battery with 6v and adjust regulator, clean and add grounds to all components, 6) as always, rebuild Rochester ‘B’ and hope for the best, 7) exhaust packing leaking, 8) have radiator cleaned and checked, 9) check out round heater core, probably bad since it is bypassed, 10) driver door was opened to far and put bend in outer side cowl, 11) dent in left front fender, dent in left rear lower fender, 12) replace seat covers, headliners, door panels, floor mat and starter, shifter and emergency rubber boots, 13) replace front window rubber and wiper blades, 14) free up seat adjusters, 15)find rear bumper, 16) find correct hubcaps.
That’s just for starters from a quick walk around and test ride, so you see, it taint as simple as just driving it.
Oops, past my bedtime, gotta get to sleep, that’s when I solve most of my problems.
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

Wow!

That is great original way cool!!

That truck is quite the museum piece, very nice. It must have been tough waiting for the price to be right. We all have stories about the one that got away! I look forward to seeing more of her in the coming months.

Fred

If that truck was a farm truck for 30 years in Nebraska it must have hauled feathers around inside a pillow farm warehouse. If those are the original bed boards that thing has been garage kept it's entire life. Great find, my friend and a great start for a complete restoration.

Thank you for saving it from the hands of a rodder.

Great looking truck!!
I'll admit, if it were mine, I'd fix the important stuff and drive it the way it is. But....it's not mine (although I wish it were!) I appreciate your desire to have everything perfect, and I know you will accomplish that.
Good luck with your new truck. We will look forward to following your progress.

Denny, the Stovebolt Gods were smiling on you with that one. Its all been said so just get busy on that "to do" list. It shouldn't take YOU over a week or two to get it all done.
Then you can take me and Pete for a ride!

....then you have to decide which one to drive to Alaska. Oh, I know, I can drive one of them!!!!

Hey Woody, I had to do something to catch up to you, Alvin and my buddy Pete. Mine old gal is still six months away.
Well Chip, I was gonna have it done this week but I lost my list this evening. Rather Jim Carters web page lost my list. I spent at least a couple of hours on their site after supper and had a BIG old list of items, enough to make the UPS guy complain, then I got called into the house by my daughter. I went back out to the confuser about a half hour later and the cart was empty. They must have a timer on their cart page and it timed out. I'm to tired to start it all over again and I really had a head of steam up and was ready to spend next months allowance on the new one. Tomorrow I probably won't be so generous with my coin.

I had a chance today to give it a real good going over and I did find one and only one bad spot on the whole body. I'm gonna have to replace the bottom of the driver side cab corner. The passenger side is solid as a rock as is all the rest of the sheet metal. The drain must have been plugged on the driver side. I spent the day adjusting and lubricating the cab, i.e., doors, door latches, glove box, key locks, seat adjusters, fuel gauge connections, electrical grounds and making a list of what I need to make it pretty enough for my "big old wife" to ride in it. I weren't happy with the way the seat adjusters were working so I decided to pull them out and I have them soaking in the gunk tank. This is about when the "mission creep" started to set in! So while I'm at it, I figured I'd do the full clean up of the cab. Gonna order some paint, (bet it's not gonna be the right shade), new upholstery, floor mats, head liner, door panels, arm rests, sun visors, all that rubber and felt stuff, shocks, and on, and on!
Night all!
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

Pearl Beige standard interior color and Pulsar Gray deluxe color (white letters on the dash).

I am waiting to see how anal you are going to be with this one, Denny. What color(s) upholstery will you have (to match the interior)?

It's easy to see that you are enjoying yourself. And, there is no need to say "keep at it". Good luck and keep reporting back.

Thanks,

The upholstery is the standard brown seat and door panel and the headliner and single sun visor is gray. I'm sure all of it is original. I'm going to try to contact the original owners son who had it up till June of this year (2010). It appears that it was in his care from 1988 till this summer. His dad had it on the farm in Nebraska from 1954 till 1988. It was purchased from Neilson Chevrolet Co., Kearny, NE on Apr. 26, 1954. http://www.pbase.com/dennygraham/image/128900807/original , http://www.pbase.com/dennygraham/image/128900776/large
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

I don't know what you might have paid for that truck but the contents and history makes it worth it.

Looks great, but just remember it is original once.

I paid about what an average AD ¾-ton rated at a 7 or 8 would bring out here in the Midwest Vern, no more, no less.

I’m assuming that you mean by “original once” that it is only original if untouched and remains with the dirt, grease, surface rust from scratches, dents and tears left intact, rubber gaskets, hoses, grommets, bumpers dried out and cracking, felt seals and window run worn out, oil still leaking from dried out gaskets and seals, brakes untouched and left alone, chattering clutch and noisy front transmission bearing left as is, taint much I can do about the original rubber tires, they have already been changed.

No Ron, I’m not going to leave it “original” , I’m going to restore it to it’s “original condition” as delivered as close as possible. No better no worse.

Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

Denny I think the colour you are going for is the same as our truck ,although they gave it a different name here.Knowing and finding more about the history of your truck is certainly interesting as we found this summer when we took our truck through the town it came from and talked to someone who knew the original owner.

NO, i sometimes want to go back to original with my truck but it would be very expensive to do that. yes i agree that it should be cleaned up and brought to factory original. i would like to have and original mid 30s Chrysler product but know i would not leave it alone. even when i buy a new vehicle i add no original parts. Enjoy your great find. ron

Looks close Murry, and that’s one good looking truck ya got there. Hope to get mama’s looking that good in a few years. Do you know if the Canadian GM paint codes were the same as the US produced trucks?

Yeah, original can mean a lot of things Ron. There are some people that believe in leaving antiques or classic vehicles exactly as they are 50, 60, 70 years after they were produced. I’m one of those that likes things to look like I just brought it home from the store and have it operate like I just brought it home from the store. Then there are a lot of people that want the old vehicles to operate like a modern vehicle with independent power steering, dual disk power brakes, air conditioning, power window and door locks, full surround sound, bark-a-lounger leather bucket seats, plush carpet, fully upholstered paneling, sound and heat insulated cab, fuel injected SBC w/R700 trans, Ford 9” and cruse control. Each to his own, I just want my trucks to look and feel exactly as they were when they were newly put to the test.
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

Yeah, when i started on mine 24 years ago it seem the way to go was to do a resto-mod but that is turning to restoration or drive them the way they are. i am thinking somewhat seriously about a mid 30's Chrysler product and leave it alone. i would have someone regularly slap me up side the head when i talk about changing anything. i have a 1960 mga that i have had for 42 years and it is mostly original except for the battery and fuel pump. there are things one can do to it like mgb trans, cruise, a/c but not much else.

The Canadian paint codes and names are completely different from the USA paint codes. The colors might be the same or similar, but that cannot be confirmed by way of the paint codes.

As others have stated: Good Score Denny. My first AD back in '89 was a 55.1 3600. Not nearly as nice and solid as yours. Congrats!
Have fun, safely. I look forward to the good, thorough documentation of the restoration as you have done with your 50.

Well thanks Frank, but keep in mind that they always look like a real peach in the pictures. This one is a very nice candidate for a restoration project, but it is still, a restoration project so there is a lot of work to do before I conceder it completely road worthy and reliable.
I learned a lot about documenting my work on the '50 so I'll probably take twice as many pix of this one. I've always had a sweet spot for this model because it was only produced for 1 1/2 years, so that sort of makes it special. I gotta surf Tim's site and see how many of them they made before the new cab style was released. From 55.2 on up I've always thought of them as the modern truck design so the 55.1 was the end of an era in my mind.
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

Denny Graham.

I have not seen production numbers for 1955-1st series Chevrolet trucks, but here are production numbers for other Advance-Design years.

Thanks Tim, your reference material never ceases to amaze me, thanks.
Just under 300,000 of these and I’ll bet there weren’t many more than 100,000 of the 2nd series made before they made the transition. Makes you wonder how many of them have survived.
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL