The Stovebolt Site Forums The Parking Lot Big Bolts 1937 GMC COE F-33HD...3B?....Spanky?

Spanky, the hub covers were for the deluxe trucks. deluxe trucks had :full chrome headlamps, chrome spring type front bumper, and chrome hub covers front and rear. two chrome windshield wipers, chrome windshield frame, chrome telescopic mirrors, sun glare shield, arm rests, door locks and keys, full interior trim and heavier floor mats.....at a extra cost.(all from the brochure)

My truck is not a deluxe truck.

Man what I would give to see one of those Deluxe versions of that truck. Anyone see these at shows anywhere? Deluxe or otherwise?...anything about the price of a new one in '37 ?

Baldbenny,

I might have a 286 in my '37 T18 conventional, 3 piece engine, no ID marks seen-still in truck.

If there is a quality copyshop that you frequent, I(Spanky also?) would like a copy of the brochure that you got, I will pay, of course.

Ed

Now that I know what the heck I have, I need to get title on it and was wondering if the F33hd tag was the only vin tag on this truck, does anybody know where else there could be? there's really not a number on the tag under the dash, what numbers did they use? the tag says F-33HD and under that it says 200 and next to that says 23000. anybody know? thank you all again for all your help on this COE. Dan

Ed , I PM'ed you. Dan

after going back and looking at some of the other past posts about finding the vin number on these 37 GMC COE'S, either they were stamped or not stamped, I went and looked on the frame for numbers. and I cant believe it but I found the stamp numbers on this COE on the right side on the outside on the frame just behind the front spring hanger! WOW ! it also matches the tag number under the dash. so the numbers on the tag will be the vin number. if you are missing a tag check the frame where I did and you might see it there, the letters are very big compared to the stampings on a engine block. I will take a picture of it tomorrow. Spanky you are correct, they did stamp the frames in 1937 thank you again for your older posts, it has help me like you cant believe! dan benson (baldybenny)

I've never seen any fully chrome Big truck hub covers. The ones I have are painted with a chrome center One is NOS. They could have actually been ordered for any of the trucks,as an accessory, not just for the deluxe trucks only.

All 3 of my '37 T-18's have the frame stamped there too. MV dept. has a hard time with small numbers, have to add anything elso on tag. 23,000 is your GVW.

Thanks Ed, have you found any numbers on those 3 piece engines yet? and if so where was it stamped?

Hy guys, I don't know if this will help us to find a serial number on a 286 or not. Today I checked out one of my 503s, I found a stamped serial number on machined surface at the left rear corner, the surface is parallel to the cylinder bank/head mounting surface, hope that helps, and Merry Christmas!

I've been following this with interest and when I looked in my "ultimate truck and van spotter" book I thought it interesting in 1937 that they called the cab on the "Panel-Stake" bed a "helmet-top cab".
Didn't say anything about the one your talking about though.

Thanks 3B, I went and looked at this engine and there is no pad where you said to look so I started to take apart this engine, when I did I saw by the carb that there was a pad on the block, left side in the center bottom by the pan rail,right now it doesn't look like there is anything stamped on it, I am going to take it out and then I will see if there is anything stamped on the engine. the good news is this engine turns over with socket on the front crank bolt, I took off the valve cover and all looks great in there. oil still in the engine, manifold off and there is no bad rusty ports, just the normal carbon, I cant wait to dig into this engine, looks cool as heck to rebuild, I guess EGGE has parts somebody told me. so we will see. Thank you and all of you for your help and info, I will keep you posted on the progress and what I find, Dan

Hi Achipmunk, in the brochure I got it does say this....Cabs, standard and deluxe are GMC truck-built to provide maximum driver comfort. Modern all-steel drop skirt heavy duty design with "helmet-top" V-type slanting, full-vision windshield. creosote treated floor boards. fully insulated housing over engine. cowl ventilators. indirectly illuminated instrument group. locking dash compartment. dome light. outside assist handles. Deluxe cab features two chrome wipers, chrome windshield frame, chrome telescopic mirror, sun glare shield, arm rests, door locks and keys, full interior trim and heavier floor mat. hope this helps someone with there COE, Dan

Dan, Got the brochure for a T18H, only shows a 239, of which I have one that I replaced w/ a 453-T, do not show any other engine, my 3 piece engine in my other T18H could be a 360, held my 2 carb manifold for 426 and 503 along side it, has wider port spacing than subject 3 piece engine. Have px if anyone has other ideas.

Happy New Year to all.

Hi Ed, is a T-18H a 2 ton truck? or bigger. I have not got my engine out of the truck yet, I am going to remove the cab and then remove it, but I did remove the manifold and can measure the spacing if you like. the brochure I got said that a F-33 and a F-33HD had a 286ci in these cabovers , as soon as I get the engine apart I can check out what bore and stroke it is, its is possible that they(GMC) made three piece engine with different bore and strokes , maybe if you measure the front port to the rear port on the head, we can compare them to each other. Dan

It'd make sense that the HD would have bigger fenders,with the 10 lug Budd style wheels and likely they used bigger tires.
Very cool truck,by the way!
Speed

Thanks Speed, Sorry I haven't replied but I have been busy taking this beast apart, I pulled the cab yesterday and the rear end 3 days ago, HEAVY STUFF! Then I pulled the head and found out that there is no ring ware at all so I measured the cyls. and they are .040 , it is a 286 cubic inch 3.625 bore and the bores are now 3.665,thats a good thing since these parts are not readily around. Head looks good and it has a victor copper head gasket, I might reuse it if I cant find another, has a number of 733 on it. If somebody has one please let me know, then I did some cleaning on it and found the GMC factory brass tag on the drivers side block under 1/4inch of dirt, riveted to the block, it says 286ci and the serial # I286----, I do believe that the 286 is the engine on the serial number, I was happy to see that factory tag, it says the bore size and stroke(4.5/8) I will pull the rest of the engine and trans out tomorrow, and tear it down to see what's the crank and rods look like, engine turns over very nice and it feels smooth, so if all goes well I might just have to get rings, the rest of gaskets I can make, still has oil in it and looks dirty but not bad. that's my update so far. Dan

Hy baldybenny, Happy New Year, thanks for the update. Glad to read that the engine seems to be in good shape so far, continued good luck with it!

Thanks 3B and Happy New Year to you also, Well after I pulled the engine and trans out and I tore down the engine and found that it had 1 wrist pin clip came out and you know what happens when that happens, it scored the cyl. and wrecked the piston, I can sleeve the hole but finding a piston for a 37 286 is rarer then hens teeth to find, all the other 5 pistons are in great shape, I feel like welding the piston and recut the wrist pin holes, I know..I know... the crank is in need of help, it looks like somebody didn't have a good machine and a wider wheel when they ground the crank and there's steps on all throws, its got babbit rod bearings so I can have the rods rebabbited for the rod and get the crank cut, mains have inserts bearings and the mains are not as good as I would like them to be so I will have to send out the bearings for a rebabbit on them too, unless I can take out all the shims and see what the size of the inside bearings will be and cut the crank to that size, I need more time to figer that out. It also needs a cam gear, its got a fiber gear and its worn out too much. Cam looks ok but I will have it cut also and grind the lifters to match. I might just re-sleeve the block back to std. since I put the head gasket on the block and saw that the gasket is in the chamber/cyl. because of the over bore(.040) or its got the wrong head gasket on it. the funs things of fixing old trucks up! so if anybody has any old parts for a 286ci let me know. thank you Dan

I've seen your inventive machine work on your '36 tow trucks drive line Brother so I have no worries you'll get that awesome 286 ci engine running again. Did you send that Cab in yet for body work? I'll be coming to your neck of the woods as soon as the pass clears to do the chassis work you wanted. Brother Rick.

Did you call Egge about getting a piston? They can make a new one if needed.

Mike B

Yes I did Mike, Thanks, and I have sent them a piston to see if they can make them, I don't think that they can make just one and if they did make one then the weight would be different from the rest ,so I will get a set of them in standard bore and sleeve the block, since I have to sleeve one hole anyway and the head gaskets is in the chamber and I don't like that very much so if I sleeve it the gasket will be right.

Dan,

Haven't been on here for a while, getting caught up. Perhaps it might be less expensive and get your truck running sooner, to put in a 302.

Hi Ed, that's a great idea but I couldn't even think about doing that, its not about the money, its making it the way it came, I love doing things like this, it may be hard to find parts for it but there is always a way to get it back the way it was. The parts will cost some money but I can do all the labor and machine work, so really not that bad. it is going to look nice to show people the slant engine this truck has, and say its the 286ci GMC engine that came in it. on another note does anybody know whats the best way to post pictures so people can see what I am doing on this truck? I have been taken a lot of pictures but every time someone clicks on my library(photobucket) it say error , any help with this? thank you so much, Dan

The pics are there now Dan.

Cool Rick,I want to thank Ritchie 54 for his help! Thanks Bob!

Great news and a collection that everyone should see. I never knew the coupe / pickup even existed - that is quite unique.

Dan - you do great work!

Dan,

I also like the 36's...are they both Coupe Deliveries? Chevrolet only made about 3300 of them in 1936 (first year for them) and they continued to make them until 1942. Are you leaving them stock or street rodding them?

Mike B

Hi Mike, I am leaving them stock, I am doing the 207's that came in them, They are a cool old ride from 36 and you don't see very many at all. but first before I try and finish them its this BIG GMC truck that needs to get done or at least start coming together instead of taking it apart, Dan

Dan, I know the feeling about one project at a time. I'm trying to finish a '56 3100 restorod so I can start on a '56 4400 Napco Fire/Brush Truck.

I still have my 1935 Chevy Master Coupe that I got when I was 18 (40 years ago). It's all stock with the 207 engine (fully restored in 1980), I've been collecting parts since I got it...

Mike B

Mike, You have a nice collection working, keep working on one at a time, your 35 master is like my 36 std coupe........................................Just a update, the parts from Egge machine, Pistons 980.00 rings 90.00 gasket set 350.00, ductal sleeves 600.00, they might even have a camshaft gear. 6-8 weeks for pistons to be made, I will have the block sleeved tomorrow and then maybe finish the machining on it this weekend. I am taking a lot of pictures of what's being done on this engine, I just need to get the camera back home so I can post more on photobucket. Going to have the cab soda blasted when the snow gets the heck out of here. Dan

Hy baldybenny, thanks for the update!

Dan,

Have you checked The Filling station for parts? They list pistons and timing gears as well as most other engine parts needed. They even regrind cams for $89.00.

Mike B

Yes I did Mike, They don't have anything that I could look up for a 286ci GMC ,from what I have learned that they only made these engines from 36-39, maybe somebody correct me if I am wrong and there is just nothing out there for them, does anybody know where to get engine parts besides Egge Machine? I have been on line and looking for anything about this truck and engine and there is not much out there. Hey I am fine with Egge Machine, just getting the parts I need is a plus and moving in the right direction! Dan

Dan,

Sorry for the confusion, I thought we were talking about the 207...my bad. I don't think any of the normal vendors will have anything for the GMC 286...

Mike B

I wish it was a 207, I can get those parts and it would make it easier , but I like the hunt for some things that are hard to find, when its running and I hear it ,it will be all worth it, Thanks Mike!