The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Electrical Bay The Radio Bench What radio came in my truck

So I went to test fit a radio delete panel I picked up from a guy parting out a 51' 3100. The hole for the knobs are WAY to big, the center hole lines up perfectly but it looks like I had a different radio installed at some point. Can anyone shed some light as to what radio was in the truck/ what delete panel I should be looking for. Here are some pictures of the dash with the delete panel mocked up.

http://i138.photobucket.com/albums/q268/cotsi95/chevy%203100/3-1.jpg

http://i138.photobucket.com/albums/q268/cotsi95/chevy%203100/2-1.jpg

Thanks for your time,

Wade

You can see that the previous radio had a bezel that sat on the front. I believe that they sell a special patch panel to repair that area of the dash.

Ya I noticed that after I posted the pictures. The bigger holes just look to perfect to seem aftermarket to me but i've never seen a 52' take a different radio. I'll look into patch panels.

What is really confusing me is the the delete plate doesn't even line up with the edge of the holes. It seems that the delete plate holes are wider than the opening. I don't know of any of these trucks coming with a different dash cutout. Those two large holes with the precise notches at the bottom don't look like the work of a weekend handyman.

Do you know of any radio in that time period that uses a bezel like the outline left? There are some weird options on this truck. It has an electro-vac which ive heard is very very rare on a 3100 short bed. It also has a heater that doesn't look like the air flow or recirculating one, and now this.

it's been fiddled with for 60 years, no tellin when or why anything was changed, lots of trucks were sold without heaters and had any old thing added later by the owner - I'd say that bezel shadow looks like a car pattern, could be any make, and in the 2nd pic the bottom of that notch-in-the-hole looks [carefully] hand made to me ... and what's an "electro-vac", some kinda 6V vacuum? or do you mean hydro-vac?

Bill

The electro-vac is a electric vacuum pump for the wipers made by trico. Brad on here said they were a dealer option (50$) and usually only put on 3600's that were going to do heavy hauling up mts, hills since you wouldnt have any vacuum to run the wipers. I will probably end up just filling the dash holes and going with a hidden radio if I cant figure out what one this had in it. For the heater i'll try and get some more pictures tomorrow. It has this control panel on the left of the steering wheel under the dash, the bottom knob was gone and the middle one disintegrated when I touched it.

http://i138.photobucket.com/albums/q268/cotsi95/chevy%203100/heater.jpg

http://i138.photobucket.com/albums/q268/cotsi95/chevy%203100/2623c7f3.jpg

http://i138.photobucket.com/albums/q268/cotsi95/chevy%203100/f4e9502f.jpg

as you can see it doesnt have the warmer turn knob it has it on the panel on the left.

There was no electro-vac anything factory option for 1947-1955 Advance-Design trucks. There was a factory option dual-action fuel pump which allowed for continuous operation of the vacuum-operated windshield wipers.

The heater controls that you show were not a factory option for 47-55 Chevrolet trucks but they look very interesting.

anything that was "an option" would be put on any size truck the owner asked for it ... "dealer" options could be from any 3rd party, not always GM, and could be from other divisions of GM, like GMC or one of the car divisions .... and that heater control also looks like a car item, I suspect your truck was owned by a scrounge at one time, who preferred to come up with his own improvements from a wrecking yard, it's a pretty safe bet none of those 3 things were on the truck when new

Bill

Ya i know that the electro-vac wasn't a factory option, Like I said from what i was told it was just really rare to have on a 3100. Good to know on the heater controls i'll look into finding out what it is. It does have a heater control valve and fan that match up perfectly with the holes in the firewall.

Here is my original post and details on the Electro-Vac which would be a dealer installed accessory.

We all have seen the dual action fuel pumps but here are two other Chevrolet/GMC applications to make those wipers work better. First is my Windshield Washer Coordinator Group No. 8.798 PN 986984 this one is from 1954 and is for passenger cars I think it would work on a truck except for clearance issues. It allows the windshield washer bottle and wipers to run together. You "T" off the bottle and the vacuum cylinder attaches to the motor linkage on top.
http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2475288740102454676qzHoye
The next is a Trico set-up that is mentioned for trucks but only GMC specifically (Booster W/S wiper vacuum 23.3787 PN 2233295 1939-53 Parts Book Light Duty) although the Chevrolet Truck Parts Catalogue 1942-1956 mentions Trico as the service provider. I have owned two trucks with this set-up attached to the firewall both were Chevrolet and both were 2-tons.
http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2629558360102454676CIHAvy
Picture here shows where the unique VAC switch was mounted under the dash.
http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2145875240102454676VbBPfp
Here is the complete Trico (Electro-Vac) kit.
http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2663868800102454676yRTvVe
I don't own this but the owner was kind enough to sell me the large instruction sheet which I will try and scan for posting later. Anybody running one of these on their bolt? There are several detailed pictures of both items if you follow the links.

_________________________
1950 Chevrolet 3/4-Ton 3600

http://community.webshots.com/user/RugerWSM?vhost=community

Thank you Brad. Im planning on putting my back on the truck, I also found a guy on eBay that is making replica decals for them for 10$. I also have the copies of your instructions ready to ship out on monday.

-Wade

Trico also made a wiper vac pump that clamped to the generator. It has a wheel that runs off the fan belt. works real good.

This discussion is not about radios now so I am closing it.