The Stovebolt Site Forums The Parking Lot Big Bolts just bought a 46/47 1.5 ton flatbed

Hey All

I have been reading quite a lot of the posts on the forum, very nice!

I just purchased what I think is a 1946/47 1.5 ton flatbed.

My first question was where on the cab can I find the VIN. The number listed on the pink slip doesnt make any sense when compared to your VIN decyphering info.

Can somebody post a picture with the location of the VIN?
the VIN listed on my docs is DEA275016
Body Type==PK
unladen weight== 5790

Second question was: did this cab come with semaphore turn signals? There is a nice round hole to the left of the back window (nope, not a bullet hole).

My first tasks are to replace the broken glass and the window seals and channel. Second was to convert it to 12 volt. I ordered the stuff to do this from Jim Carter (yay).

Oh, I think it has the original engine in it, and it has a 2 spd rear axle.

thanks in advance

jay

The Id plate for 41 thru early 47 was located on the side of the passenger side cowl under the hood next to the windlace. Your truck may have been titled by the engine number which would be located above the starter just to the rear of the distributor. semaphore signals could have been used. I would think there would be more than one hole for mounting though. Check the rules for posting pictures we like pictures.

thanks for the info, I will try to post some pictures in a few days.
The engine runs, and has a new carb.
All the wheel bearings were replaced, and brakes redone, It was also rewired, I saw a modern fuse box under the dash.
No rust, other than surface rust, and I just looked at the grille, no dents, which I find amazing for a truck that old.
The brake pedal goes to the floor, so my first job will be fixing the brake hydraulics. It has a vacuum assist on the passenger side frame, Im assuming these can be rebuilt. The kind sales person at Jim Carter said they can do that for me.

Im torn, part of me wants to keep the original engine, but part of me wants to put in a 261. I actually want to use it to haul hay, and to do that I have to drive on the freeway into the central valley of california.

With the standard 2 spd rear end, if I put in a 261, can I get a few more rpm out of it and go 55-ish?

Hello Jay Brown,

Congrats on your truck. First there is a great tech tip on rebuilding the hydrovac which I am in the beginning stages. The 1.5 - 2.0 are great trucks and I would hope you could get a little more speed from a larger engine.

Good luck on your project and I have some tech data I could share with you.

Ken

Jay,

I think both engines (216 & 261) are rated at about 4000 rpm max, so there won't be any gain in speed, but you would gain HP...

Mike B

I just read thru
http://www.gmheritagecenter.com/gm-heritage-archive/docs/Chevrolet-Trucks/1946-Chevrolet-Truck.pdf

If I read this correctly, there wasnt a 2 spd rear end option for a 1.5 ton truck. It was only for the 5000 and 6000 series. Is that true?

There is definitely 2 shifters in the cab, so when I receive the truck tomorrow I will be scouring the truck for proper serial numbers. engine, trans, rear end, cowl etc.

It also showed the hydrovac was avalable on the 1.5 ton as an option.

Im kind of excited actually to figure out what exactly I have.

congratulations on the truck! waiting for the arrival is like waiting for a baby to be born, very exciting! Keep us updated, we'll pass around cigars.

Yes, Having a 2 spd rear axle definitely points it in the direction of being a 2 ton. When you find the ID plate, check it out for a gvw rating. If it's 16000lb.s it's a 2 ton. 14000lb., it's a 1 1/2 ton.

pix are here.
https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/118219121658359708127/albums/5753246742418548177

According to your docs, my first guess is:

6==Oakland
PW== 2 ton 160in wheel base
I==September 46

dont know what the 4400 means.

you made a score there Jay, that's a very nice looking truck, great color too - and yes, the 2 speed rear could have been 'special ordered' for it .... as far as holding 55mph for any length of time, don't count on it no matter what engine [even a small block], the problem is the rear gear ratios, and the 2 speed high won't really help, I believe it was about 6.17, the same as the regular 1.5T [the low ratio was 8 something] - the 1.5T 46 I had was pretty well maxed out at 50 unless it was downhill, with a "whole lotta shakin goin on"

Bill

I have been studying all the gallery pictures for what mirrors I should use. There arent any on my truck. I did include in my pictures the holes where there possibly were mirrors.

So what were the stock mirrors for 1946, are they available, or should I be using something else? I do want to use the truck to occasionally haul hay. So if I have to error on the side of usability I will do that.

I saw some pictures with small round mirrors , some larger rectangular ones on single stalks, and some larger rectangular ones (west coast??).

Depends on what you want. The west coast mirrors give the best visibility, but would not be original. More than likely, it came with small round mirrors on a single post. A good compromise would be to put the larger rectangular ones on the single post. (That's what mine has.) But those do tend to vibrate.

By the way, I LOVE that truck!!

Thats a great looking truck. Congrats on the find!

Also, that is a single speed rearend, so the ratio is 6.14 I think.

As far as changing engines, if you want to add a 261, than add one. Just be sure to keep the old 216 stored away somewhere just in case.

As Mike B mentioned above about the 4K rpm max rating, I doubt I would ever run a 216 at that, or if I did I wouldn't for very long. I believe 2500-3000K is a much more comfortable number and it won't sound like shes going to explode on you!

Jeff

If you look in the Art Deco 1945 gallery, You'll see my 45 1.5 ton. Pretty much identical to yours. It has two of the three types of mirrors your truck likely came with. Usualy two of the same kind, but for some reason mine ended up with one of each!

Interesting. That indeed does NOT look like a 2 speed rear end, yet there does appear to be the extra shift knob and lever in the cab picture. Could the rear axle have been replaced with a single speed, but the shifter simply left in the cab? I have the mechanical shift 2 speed in mine, 5.64 high, 8.22 low. It changed the next model year (Yours) to 6.03 and 7.99, if I recall correctly? Mine will do 60 at 3100 rpm with that gearing and 7.50x20 tires. It has the then optional 235 in it, and seems comfortable at that RPM, but NO higher.

I also believe, that if that title number is indeed the engine number, and I believe it is, that the DEA engine was the 235 Loadmaster engine, NOT a 216.

The hole in the rear of the cab does look like a semaphore hole in others I've seen. I don't think the holes in the door posts were for mirrors, at least not original ones, as those either were mounted to the upper hinge, or to the door itself.

thanks for the mirror picture reference.
I like the passenger side mirror (lower), are these available anywhere?

I will try and take better pictures of the rear end and transmission tomorrow, but the truck does go in and out of gear via the rear end lever. push it in neutral and you go nowhere. push it forward or backward and you move. So its hooked up to somethin' (wink).

I took the windshield out today to replace the glass and seal. I had a door apart too. I noticed some spots of light tan colored paint within the windshield seal channel and some areas within the door. Is this the primer color, or the Oakland only hollywood tan color?

I just have to get home from work early enough to take pictures in daylight.

And I took the front panel off where the windshield wipers go. A mouse nest!

The other shifter is probably a PTO lever unless you have an auxillary transmission.

I didn't think the 2 speeds were actuated by a floor shifter even in the Art Deco years.

Jeff

Oh yes, Art Decos have the manual shift axle using a floor shifter, just to the left of the transmission shifter, has about a 2 foot throw. Forward is high, alllll the way back to the seat is low. Pretty health tug too!

This shift arrangement was used from 1939 to 1947. The 1st series ADs introduced the Pneumatic shift axle.

PTO was usualy cable actuated. I look forward to better pictures.

The hinge mount posts and mirrors are available at most of the suppliers here, like Jim Carter, and the Filling Station.

WOW! --- What a sweetheart! Great find...and welcome. Keep the pix a comin'.

I added more pix to the same link above.
It looks like some sort of secondary transmission or PTO.
Can somebody help identify it?
But definitely nothing going back to the rear end from this shifter.

Additionally, there looks like secondary steel riveted to the frame and some additional springs. Is the extra steel original?

any info on how my truck is setup is most helpful.

I did notice it has th larger tires, (picture included).

OHO! You lucky SOB, someone has installed an auxillary transmission where your carrier bearing would normaly be. Then ran the shifter for that up in the area where the axle shifter would have been. Somewhere on that casing the gear ratios should be stamped.

The extra steel and springs your seeing are factory, perfectly normal for this truck.

hopefully I will have an overdrive transmission.
If I have that, and have the 235 engine and the taller tires, I can take it onto the freeway and go 55.

I will post pictures later today of the transmission after I clean it up

My aux trans is a Watson 46 which I think is an overdrive

It just keeps getting better. THis Watson unit, if I remember right, is a 3 speed unit, giving you an underdrive, a direct drive, and an overdrive. I believe you have what amounts to a 12 speed Big Bolt there.

cool!
thanks Drydock.

I have never driven a truck with two transmissions.
Do I put the watson in underdrive, then shift 1-4, then shift the watson into 1;1 and shift 1-4, etc.
or do I just leave it in overdrive and drive it?

I have the brake lines off the car, so I cant experiment at the moment. Although the emergency brakes seem to work, I dont want to chance it, there are pretty big hills in my neighborhood.

Depends on the loading. Empty, open flat road, overdrive. Moderate load, moderate hills, direct. Heavy load, steep hills, underdrive. Split shift between the two boxs to get the right gear for the situation, to get the most out of those 90 galloping horses. When you get it out on the road, you'll have a lot of fun experimenting.