The Stovebolt Site Forums Welcome! Welcome Centre Do It Yourself (DITY) Gallery 1940 Chevy 1/2 ton - Bruce Graham

Finally getting around to posting in the Gallery !
My truck is a 1940 KC that has been " rodded ", with a 327 Chevy small block bored .060 over, roller rockers, cam, edelbrock intake and carb, ceramic coated headers, balanced, with hypereutetic pistons, etc., etc. Trans. is a TH 350 with a shift kit, and rear-end is from a '56 chev car - 3.42 gears and posi. Front end is a Mustang 2, with 9" Granada disc brakes, and a power rack. Rear brakes are drum. Wheels are Torquer 2 style - 17", with 275 rubber all around.
History: I purchased the truck in 2004 after looking for a number of years. It started its life on a Dairy Farm near San Francisco. Fellow I purchased it from bought it from the farmer in 1960, slid in a camper, and took the family camping thru Wyoming, Utah, and Colorado in the " stock " truck. He dropped in a 327 HiPo motor from a '66 Chevelle, added the 350 trans, and rear-end in the mid seventies, retired to Oregon in '94, and had the stock front end swapped out for the Mustang 2 setup. When I bought the truck it was in pretty sad shape. Motor was burning oil and knocking, filler in fenders was cracking, interior was shot. I thought I would just pretty it up with a new paint job and mechanical stuff...HA HA HA ! Spoke to a friend who owns a body shop. He convinced me that throwing a coat of paint over the problems was a waste of money - that I had something pretty unique, and should do it right. So, I tore her down to the bare frame, stripped the body to bare metal. Luckily, body was in decent shape with only a bit of rust on the cab corners front and rear. Front fenders were OK / rear fenders were beat to heck !. Had 1" filler everywhere, and bad rust. I ended up finding a set that were a little better and having body guy fix them. Motor was stripped and rebuilt, trans and rear-end got a going thru, sent cab & body parts out for painting. Box was shot - totally beat up, tail gate bent and rusted. Found a local sheetmetal shop that reproduced the bed sides and front panel, and bought a tailgate. Had an Upholstery Shop redo the existing seats and interior, put her all back together, and a mere 3.5 years later, and much more $$$ than I had ever imagined, we are back on the road.
It was worth every cent, and hour spent. We love the truck, hit as many shows as we can in the summer, have met some great people along the way.......
You can check out some pics at: http://community.webshots.com/user/britcon

She's a beaut' for sure! I love that shade of blue, too. Thanks for posting!

Mr. Bruce,
Your tuck is inspiring and you really don't see too many 40's running around. Great jog on the build and I like the history as well.

Bread

one super sharp show truck .

....and it looks even better in person. I got to tell Bruce how nice back in June 2010. (say hello to Tammy for Victoria and I)

Thanks guys....the credit goes to " Husker " who lit a fire under my butt to get the pics / story posted *g*
Alvin......everytime I see one of those cooking shows from down your way I think we have got to get back there one of these days *G*

Awesome truck Bruce, inspires us all.

Hey Bruce, nice article on your truck, and like Alvin says, it looks even better in person. You didn't mention the chick-magnet aspect of the truck. Just kidding Tammy!

*L*....Tammy chases away anyone who gets within 5', especially the good looking ladies ! She assures me its only to keep those darn purses from scratching the paint...

it is definitely a sweeet ride. That's the only way to go, in the weeds asphalt scrape'in
rumbl'in hot rod. I never tire of drooling over your truck every time we see it.

nice to see it in the gallery, got to get off my butt and set up a web shot gallery for my trucks too.

cheers!

Mike

Fabulous looking truck Bruce , and my favorite year too

Thanks for sharing.

I just purchased a all original 1940 1/2 SB. Truck. It is going to be a tuff choice on the rebuild. Do I leave it original? Or install a small v8, front end..etc. your truck is gorgeous.

Very nice! Love the front end--

Thanks again for all the kind comments !

Keep on truckin !