The Stovebolt Site Forums Welcome! Welcome Centre The "Steel Slug" 1950 Chevy

Hello, My name is Greg and my truck and I are from Minnesota. My truck is an all original 1950 Chevy 3100 5 window that I like to call the Steel Slug because its just so slow. The Slug has spent its life in Mn and atleast the last 22 years outside but is still pretty rust free, aside from the floor. It has about 56,000 miles and less than 10 of those are from the last 20 years but she still runs great. I'm planning on doing a restoration so I have alot of questions so I get it right or atleast close to right. But here is some back story first....

In 1989 my father bought this truck for my grand father and it sat untouched until around 1997. Thats when it started getting traded around the family and still nothing happened to it except for my cousin swapped out the speedo so I don't have the exact original mileage anymore, pulled the original seat, and changed the grill. Finally on August 13th it became mine.

This truck is pretty unique I think. Its the deluxe 5 window cab, 2wd, common green truck and it still has the 216ci in it. But the wierd part is that it has the sm420 4 speed in it. All the info I have found on these trucks says that the 4 speed was only on the 3/4 and larger trucks, not the half ton, and novak says its an uncommon tranny on 2wd trucks. This leads me to believe that maybe it was orded this way and could me a little more unique than all the 3 on the tree ones out there. What say you experts?

Please help me with this question if anything!!!!! Because I want to do a true restoration. Its my opinion that there are far too many modified AD trucks out there and I want to be the one time capsule at the local car shows that everyone compares the other ones to.

That being said... Bring on the pics!
[IMG]http://i901.photobucket.com/albums/ac218/Root2812/1950%20Chevy/untitled.jpg[/IMG]
You can see here the truck looks solid for being a MN truck with only a little running board damage.

[IMG]http://i901.photobucket.com/albums/ac218/Root2812/1950%20Chevy/IMG_0705.jpg[/IMG]
Needs a head light, no biggie.

[IMG]http://i901.photobucket.com/albums/ac218/Root2812/1950%20Chevy/IMG_0722.jpg[/IMG]
Even the box is in nice shape

Now the bad..
[IMG]http://i901.photobucket.com/albums/ac218/Root2812/1950%20Chevy/IMG_0716.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i901.photobucket.com/albums/ac218/Root2812/1950%20Chevy/IMG_0715.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i901.photobucket.com/albums/ac218/Root2812/1950%20Chevy/IMG_0717.jpg[/IMG]

The vent around infront of the windshield leaked letting water in and rusted out the front half of the floor.

All in all I'm happy for the $1500 I paid and she drives great... Slow but great, hence the name Steel Slug.

I am torn between a true restoration, green and all, or a 95% resotoration. I'd like to go red, the 1950 red though, and regear the torque tube with a kit from Patrick's or similar so I can drive to the shows.

Thanks for reading and thanks in advance for the help!

-Greg

A few more pics for good measure
[IMG]http://i901.photobucket.com/albums/ac218/Root2812/1950%20Chevy/IMG_0707.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i901.photobucket.com/albums/ac218/Root2812/1950%20Chevy/IMG_0706.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i901.photobucket.com/albums/ac218/Root2812/1950%20Chevy/IMG_0720.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i901.photobucket.com/albums/ac218/Root2812/1950%20Chevy/IMG_0709.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i901.photobucket.com/albums/ac218/Root2812/1950%20Chevy/IMG_0711.jpg[/IMG]

Welcome to the Bolt! You'll find all the help and advice you'll need here, no matter how you decide to do your truck.

What part of Minnesota are you from?

Hi Greg, welcome. Glad you finally acquired the truck, just hang on to it and get her on the road. I also have a half ton, ('53) 4 speed truck. It was an option on the half tons and standard on the bigger trucks. You won't be needing the first gear except it's handy for loading onto a trailer.
I also got the Patrick's set-up, had the local machine shop guy install it and I am very happy with it.
Sounds like you have a good plan, hopefully it will work out for you.

Leo

Very nice truck, Greg! Welcome to the 'Bolt. Think you'll like it here. Lots of great info, knowledgeable people and fun.

Thanks for the welcome. I was born around Grand Rapids, and my dad still lives up there. Thats where the truck is now. I was living near Duluth until I went to Louisiana for grad school and now I am job hunting around the twin cities. So I'm kinda from all over but I hope to settle soon.

Hi Leo, thanks for the welcome. To get the truck on the road I need to clean the fuel system since the gas turned to sludge and it need new tires. Atleast then I can drive it. Is your 53 running the 216ci? With the Patrick's gears what kind of highway speed are you able to achieve at resonable revs? I'm hoping to beable to break 55mph for longer drives on the back roads.

Thanks
Greg

Greg, I swapped out the engine for a 261 out of a Canadian Pontiac. I can get her up to about 70 mph, cruises good at 60, but I need to plan ahead to get her stopped. Overall, I'm quite pleased with it, only been on the road since the middle of July.

When you put in the Patricks kit did i throw your speedo off and how did you recalibrate it?

Hi Root, when I ordered the patricks kit I also ordered their speedo converter. It mounts to the output of the speedo drive on the transmission and the cable attaches to it. It seems to work well. Patricks says that the conversion is good for 65 MPH. I have driven my 49 at 60 with no problem.

Hippy, Thank you! Thats exactly what I wanted to hear!

Hi Greg,welcome from a fellow 50 owner.
The 'bolt is the place to be for help and advice.
From your pics it looks like you've got some work to do,but not as bad as some folks here started with....
The beauty is most,if not all of the repair panels you'll need are readily available.

Good luck!