The Stovebolt Site Forums Welcome! Welcome Centre New Girl, Less New Truck

Hello,
My name is Rae, from metro Detroit, and just bought a 1937 Chevy pickup on Thursday. It runs....and stops....and that's about the end of it. Saw it at a bar last year and mentioned interest (understatement), this year the guy let me know he was ready to sell. I'm totally unprepared for a project truck - just bought my first house in the fall and I haven't even run electricity to my garage yet. But, you know, dream truck.

I need to replace all the wiring(the cloth is toast), want to put disc brakes in the front, drain the sediment out of the gas tank, rehookup the proper fuel line, do something about the generator that doesn't function well, get rid of the clamp holding the exhaust manifold and header (?) together, change everything to 12v from the current 6v system, rebuild leaky carb, probably replace a lot of misc gaskets, redo the whole interior, etc etc etc. I intend in leaving the outside as-is (it's ratty in a way I am attracted to), maybe put a matte clear coat on or something.

So, dems da plans. Trying not to get too overwhelmed. Small girl, big plans, small garage, big truck *grins*

Are there groups of people who get together and work on old cars together or does this tend to be an independent sort of hobby? My friend restored an old 60s Avanti with an "Avanti gang" who rent out a shop, is that normal?

Anyway, I have some experience with fabrication (brackets or spacers or adapters will be no problem), but not much mechanic-type experience. I'm a metalworker apprentice (big 3).

Rae,

Welcome to Stovebolt.com

Post your location in Michigan and maybe other members are located near you.

Here are some MI clubs.
Here is the Google search that found that list.

Check with the VCCA Chapter near you - they might have leads on smaller groups.

The ATCA does not have MI chapters, but the ATHS has a few MI chapter. These are big truck people, but they may know of other groups.

Go slowly and have fun. Maybe get it running smoothly and safely (brakes, front end, fuel system, electrical wiring) and then decide on the bigger changes?

Good luck. Post photos of your progress - no matter what you decide to do with the truck.

Truck
Truck2

Hi Rae....welcome to the Bolt !
Sounds like a great project. This site is a wonderful source of information and discussion - chances are whatever problem you might have, someone has solved it along the way. Enjoy the journey.

Hi Rae,
Welcome to the stovebolt@! Lots of great folks here and I'm sure you will get all the help you need. Tim has some great suggestions.

We do LOVE pictures, so please post a few. Let us know if you need help.

Enjoy!

welcome, you link is not linking

Welcome Rae, sounds like quite the project you have there. Hopefully it's not too rusty. Good luck with it and enjoy it.

Leo

Try this...

another

Welcome to the Stovebolt, Rae. This is the best site on the world wide web for old chevy truck lovers. You will find many folks who have a 37 like you. In fact, looking at your pictures brings back a lot of memories!!!

Be sure to ask questions in the best/most appropriate forum for great results. Like Tim says, there are probably bolters around your area that maybe you can get together with. Watch the events section here for events that may be coming up in your area. Watch guys who post and you can see where they're from. Check the Bolt daily. Even though you may consider yourself a novice I assure you that with the help of the bolters here you can do most anything.
Good luck. We're here to help.

I'd give a big hunk of Fred's money to own that pickup...

Welcome to the Bolt, Rae! Nice ride! Best of luck on your new project, keep the rest of us posted on problems (We are here to help) and progress (We like to cheer also)!!!!

Wow nice truck. But it would be worth its weight in gold, if it had a correct restoration, even with the brake mods just don't ruin any of the rare original parts doing any mods, modify other replacement parts and keep the old originals if you ever decide to sell it then it can be returned to factory stock. And really a paint job of original quality will increase the value. Since I'm sure that is not the original paint on it now. Any place there is not properly treated rust there is a slow decay back to dust.

I know where truckolet is coming from but do it your way, welcome.

Welcome to the "Bolt". Your '37 is awesome.

Great find

John

Welcome to the 'bolt.

sweet truck.

If you ever come back online, send me a private message, I know of a lady in Detroit that knows lots and lots of old car folks.

-W

Cool truck. I'd paint the fenders & running boards black or dark green & go cruising.

There are tons of "your way" junkers forsale that no one seems to want. Its inevitable that someday it will be forsale, or some valuable part is desired by someone trying to restore one. Please don't ruin good rare parts.

The '37 is the coolest ever! I'd kill to have it. Welcome to the bolt, Rae. Maybe we'll see you down at the Stovebolt reunion in September.

I wonder what happened to Rea? Be nice to see if the truck is being driven? I know within the first month of having mine, I had lots of questions....

Your links work, why are folkd having trouble with the ones I posted? Should I not use Twitter to link?

For some reason it says " private messaging disabled". I will keep trying.

I'm not sure I'll be ready to venture too far from home by September, maybe another year though! I have a LOT of issues to work through before I'll feel confident in it, and I don't have a ton of time/money to devote to it, so it will be a slow but steady pace.

I fell off the planet while I've been hunting around for elusive parts (was hoping more "drop-in" parts would be available but I guess I don't have the right sort of car for that).

I also drown in forums, trying to answer "what 12v battery should I buy to convert to 12v system?" or "what is a good replacement wiring harness for a beginner?". There is so much information and so much conflicting opinions it's been a bit overwhelming to wade through.

Rae, your links don't work because you left the default 'http' and added another: 'http:http:' isn't functional - your private messaging should be working now that you've enough posts to be past moderation .... and asking questions in the various specific forums works when searching/reading gets too confusing

Bill

Yer a newbie, you need so many posts or something before PMs kick in.

We had some issues with a lot of computer created spammers last year and this year, so our forum admin put that in place.

You should be good to go now.

-W

Remember the old saying "If it works don't fix it." It will save you THOUSANDS of dollars in parts you don't need. If you were building a hot rod that would be one thing, but if you just want to drive it fix what needs to be fixed and leave the rest alone. I'm not saying ignore problems, but you don't need to upgrade every last part to 2013. When you have more money you can always upgrade it later but trust me it's a lot of fun driving an original

That being said there are some upgrades that are well worth your effort. You mentioned converting to 12 volt, that I would definitey go ahead and do. Converting the front to disc brakes really isn't necessary as it won't go fast enough to need racecar-like stopping power. But if it makes you feel safer by all means do it. I would add seat belts too and worry about the interior last. One more upgrade that is definitely worth your time is adding in reverse lights, my 63 doesn't have them and I sure wish it did.

All in all it seems like you have everything prioritized very well and have a good vision for your project. Most importantly no matter how discouraged you don't give up! Keeps us posted and good luck!

Hi Rae,

In your post, you mention "I intend on leaving the outside as-is (it's ratty in a way I am attracted to), maybe put a matte clear coat on or something." The pictures you posted did not work for me, I am curious what the finish on your truck looks like as I have been contemplating doing something similar for my 48 Chevy 1 ton. I am interested in what your finish looks like (is it similar to mine) and what you come up with instead of a complete repaint..

Thanks,
josé[

welcome to the bolt Rae. that is one cool truck looks like its in pretty good shape too.

John

Jose,

Here is a secondary attempt at posting pictures.

Let me know if they work this time, properly! Truck
Truck2

The pictures worked. Cool old truck! Welcome to the Bolt!

welcome this site is good source for answers. A lot of talent on here

Welcome to the Stovebolt. That looks like a nice truck that you have. The best thing is that they are very simple to work on and a lot of fun too! Enjoy !