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My father in law is looking for a project, I assume so that he might be able to retire without spending any more time than necessary with my mother in law. His dad used to own a plumbing shop in Carpinteria, and the first company truck was, IIRC, a 1953 Chevy. Either '52 or '53, I forget. Anyway, he's thinking about doing one up to look the same as the old one; no street rod, just an honest and fun truck to drive around My wife spotted this on Craigslist and we're going to go look at it tomorrow: http://juneau.craigslist.org/pts/4847250712.html First things first: No title. "The guy who owned it died and I ended up with it. I just want it out of my yard." I can probably deal with that, the paperwork for an abandoned vehicle isn't horribly complicated, just time consuming (minimum seven months). So if we drag this thing home it will be in my front yard for at least that long. However, I am seeing this as a good chance to FINALLY get my FJ40 down here in a bit of a prisoner exchange. What do I need to be looking at in particular on these trucks? Obviously the frame will be prodded and I can see from the pictures that the driver's running board is rusted through. Beyond that I'm out of my realm of knowledge. I'll probably shine a light in the cylinders and obviously check if there's any oil in it. Help me please!
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Jan 31, 2015 03:35
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| # ? Apr 24, 2024 03:44 |
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I guess reading the Milktruck Megathread would be a good start?
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Jan 31, 2015 05:58
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Trucks You Say?
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Jan 31, 2015 06:09
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Yikes, that truck sure has seen better days! Luckily Advance Design Chevys are pretty simple so there isn't much more then the usual stuff you need to look for. Plus they reproduce pretty much every part so if its broken/rotten you can just buy another one. At the minimum I'm betting the rear cab corners, bottoms of the doors, & cowls will all be rotten. Since it looks like the radiator is missing there is probably water in the engine too. If it still has the old 216 though that's a perfect excuse to bolt in a 235 instead. Judging by the turn down door handles, full size side windows, and cab mounted gas tank that is a 1948 - 1951, not a 1953.
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Feb 1, 2015 02:56
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How similar are the frames on Chevy trucks throughout the years? I know on Fords you can go from an F100 all the way up to a brand new F150 and most of the cab attachment points are retained. Might be worthwhile finding a truck with a reasonable body rather than a reasonable frame and just drop a repro frame under it. Though I imagine shipping is just as bad for you in Alaska as it is for me in Canada, only more so.
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Feb 1, 2015 03:06
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I talked with my FIL today, and apparently he mentioned this truck in a phone call to his mother. She said that the guy who bought the plumbing shop has managed to track down the original tuck and dumped a ton of money into getting it 'restored'. As none of us have seen the truck or any pictures we have no idea what that means but it's nice to know the inspiration is still around. Also it was a '48, not a '52-3, but they're close enough as to make a tribute still workable. Anyways, what I get looking at the pictures is that somebody has already started a restoration. The cab top is clearly newer paint and at least one of the windows is new (a Red Bull sticker?  ). It looks to me like cowl work has been done and the doors might be replacements. Who knows, really. From the pictures it looks to me like it's in better shape than Mooecow's truck started...Didn't get over today, we'll try for sometime tomorrow before everybody starts hibernating in front of their TVs to watch the Super Bowl. That's pretty much where we stand as of this second. I'm on page 26 of the Milk Truck thread (in which, I would like to point out, I was encouraging on pages one and two before I think I dropped off the forums for like a year). At this point I know exactly how I'd build one of those trucks: 250-T5-Tacoma rear axle with disc brakes and a front disc swap, all hidden behind stock body work/suspension. I'd also warm over the engine to bump the compression and run propane, but that's just me. All of that is moot since this wouldn't be my truck.
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Feb 1, 2015 09:17
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It's amazing what people have rusting away in their yards up here. I've seen tons of cool old trucks that haven't moved in decades. One of our somewhat regular customers is an old native guy with a yard full of neglected FJs that I'm sure some toyota guys would kill for.
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Feb 1, 2015 13:54
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Where might that be? There are only a few places I can think of that hoard old Land Cruisers in Alaska and most of them do some parts selling... As for the truck: I don't like getting a different story about the owner when I show up. Now he's apparently alive and having the guy sell the truck. Also, "The other night my wife said someone was in the back yard" was the explanation given for a lot of the parts having suddenly gone missing in the last few days. Passed but now I feel a lot better about looking at an AD when I can find one.
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Feb 2, 2015 01:17
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They're in Homer. They belong to this native guy named Carl who I always mistakenly say is "old" but he's actually like 40 and has had two strokes so he looks and acts like an old man. There's a couple other yards around town with FJs and at least one auto shop with one I haven't seen move in 5 years.
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Feb 2, 2015 06:35
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Okay, internet, please help! Apparently new information has been dug up. The restored truck is actually a 1959, not the 'original' 1948. In the process of attempting to dig up pictures of the '48, someone came across a picture of an even older truck. They think it's a Ford, it looks to me like a 1937-40 Chevrolet Master. Any better guesses? Bonus picture of restored 1959 with my grandmother-in-law's head through the driver's window:  Edit: I have been told the current owner of the shop/truck plans to have the lettering reproduced on a magnet for the doors.
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Feb 2, 2015 09:38
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The current owner sounds insane, even in a rural Alaska kind of way.
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Feb 2, 2015 16:57
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That 59 looks awesome.
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Feb 2, 2015 17:10
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Update! I sent my FIL this link today: http://anchorage.craigslist.org/cto/4924606117.html I later went looking for photos of trucks with Alaska Road Commission lettering/logos and when copying the link to send to another person noticed it said 'sale pending'. My in-laws were somewhat surprised to hear we had figured out they were buying the truck before they'd even managed to get home from checking it out. Internet stalker +4 points. quote:SALE PENDING Up for sale is my 1951 Chevrolet 3100 1/2 ton pickup truck. This old beauty runs and drives! However, it is not daily driver material (yet!), and it will need to be trailered. It does have rust typical of a 64 year old vehicle, mainly on the floor of the cab forward of the seat, and the brakes are not working. Driver's door glass is missing, but the truck is otherwise complete. I even have the original hand crank! This truck was originally owned by the Alaska Road Commission (The engine retains it's brass tag), and was used during construction of the highways.     This thing is too cool to do up like an old plumbing truck. Also, now he's interested in the original truck in this thread for parts  If anyone happens to know of any pictures of Alaska Road Commission trucks, we need to see what the doors looked like.
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Mar 11, 2015 06:49
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| # ? Apr 24, 2024 03:44 |
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Advent Horizon posted:Bonus picture of restored 1959 with my grandmother-in-law's head through the driver's window: That is a 1964-1966, not a 1959.
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Mar 12, 2015 02:51
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