The Stovebolt Site Forums Welcome! Welcome Centre Greetings from Iowa

Greetings group,

New member here from Iowa. I think I joined this site eons ago in college when I was wanting to find and build a '71-'72 GMC, but aspirations towards that project took a back seat to school. I couldn't remember my name and password, so I rejoined.

Fast forward 15 years or so, and here I am again. I'm a fire fighter by trade, but enjoy tinkering in my free time. I'm currently working to restore an old fire truck (a 1948 American LaFrance aerial ladder truck), but I've found inspiration for a new project. My grandpa, uncle, and dad ran a service station from the late 1930's to the early 1960's. At one point, they had a late 40's Chevrolet 1/2 ton pickup in use as a service vehicle, painted up with our family name, the gas station's (Sinclair) logo, street address, etc. My uncle and cousin have recently uncovered a film negative of the truck, and I REALLY want to build one someday.

That's me in a nutshell. So... now the hunt begins for a '47-'50 3100. I'll probably be posting in the "Trucks Wanted" section soon, as well as scoping out the rest of the site. I think you folks do a great job here, and I'm looking forward to learning more and participating.

Thanks for letting me join (again)!!

Damon

Glad your back. Just no place like the Bolt for us truck guys.
I guess you already have found the forum with the firetrucks. I know they would welcome you there!
Posting in the Trucks wanted ads is the right thing to do and be sure to check out the Ebay/Craiglist Forum. We have a couple guys here that are great about posting links to things they think we'd be interested in.
Good luck..... and YOU are also now one of the "folks that do a great job Here". See around the garage.

Hi Damon, welcome back, to quote an old song "you can check out any time you like,but you can never leave!"
Good luck on your search,hopefully you can find something in the Swap Meet section.
Jock.

Thanks for the welcome!

I'm working on getting a better film scan made of my grandpa's Sinclair service station pick-up so I can show you folks what I'm looking to do someday.

I hope it's ok to show you the other truck on here, since it's not exactly a 'bolt. Here's a shot of my project fire truck, taken the summer before I bought it here.

It is now in MUCH worse shape. The engine (V-12 gasoline) burned up, the ladder was crimped by a front-end loader bucket, and the cab was crushed by a roll-back container truck. Kind of a long story, but I'll tell it here if anyone wants to hear it. Here's a shot of what it looked like just before I bought it here.

Thanks again for the welcome!

Damon

Nice, how cool it that fire truck!! You'll want to check out the fire truck guys. There is a place just for you guys and you will be more than welcome. The story behind it would be great.

Too bad about the firetruck. Hope you get it back in shape.

Welcome to the Bolt!

I finally got the picture of my grandpa's service station truck uploaded, you can see it here. My grandpa, uncle, and dad ran a Sinclair station for about 25 years.

I'd appreciate any input on what year you folks believe this truck to be. I think it's 47-50 since it doesn't have the wing windows (started in 1951), but I can't narrow it down any farther than that. Thanks for your help! I'm looking forward to finding a pick-up like this so I can paint it up and drive it around in memory of my grandpa and dad (both have passed away). My uncle will be 78 this year, so I'm really hoping to find a truck soon. I know he'd get a big kick out of seeing it.

Damon

That will be awesome. We can't begin to think of all the memories it will bring back to your uncle. Good luck. Truck is deifinitely Pre 51 with the driver side vent and full side glass. I had a 50 once and it had the driver side vent and full side window.
I think you can also tell by the handle that pulls the driver vent open. Seem's I read somewhere that the handle on one was flat and on another year make it was different?

If I had to guess I'd say a 50 but some one better at the year model than me will chip in.
Here is a link with a lot of characteristics to help decide what year it was. Enjoy...thanks to Tlederman for posting this link some time ago. Thanks Tim.

http://1954advance-design.com/AdvanceDesignTrucks/AdvanceDesignTrucks.html#1948

If you have a shot of the other side, the fuel tank would be behind the seat on the 49,50. the 47,48 would have the filler behind the cab. Hope you find 1 to work on but like Alvin said a pre 51 would have the look... welcome to the work shop.

Welcome!!! I've always wanted to restore an old fire truck! Could you send a picture or two? 47 to 50 trucks are still fairly easy to find. Keep us posted!

Welcome back: What a differance on the before and after pics of that fire truck!! So when you restore a pickup it's going to look exactly like your grandfathers,how cool.I'm originally from Waterloo,keep warm up there.