Hot Rods My 1951 Chevy 3100 1/2 Ton Stepside Build

I wanted to begin using this thread to document my build. I picked up a 1951 Chevy 3100 1/2 ton in late August in various forms of dis-assembly and I aim to get her back on the road by Thanksgiving!

I'm located in Omaha, NE so I figured this was the best place to document this build.

Here is a link to photos along the way: 1951 Chevy Project Flickr Page

Here is a shot of the pickup as purchased
Untitled by Mark Haner, on Flickr

There is a short backstory on my acquisition of this pickup. I first starting working on older cars around 14 years old when I got a 1972 VW Super Beetle (of which I just finished restoring - frame off in August 2015). I also at about 16 years old got a 1964 C-10 Fleetside that I completed a partial restoration on. I then completed a 1974 VW Super Beetle and after selling both that and the '64 Chevy - took a ~10 year pause through college and starting my career from working on old cars (but I never lost that itch!).

I have always been a huge fan of Advanced Design and Task Force Chevy pickups. They just have that look I love. Upon finishing my pan-off restoration of my 1972 Super Beetle, I was already itching for another project (my wife was not however but she lets me pursue my 2nd love). I took my time and discretely started flipping thru Craigslist and Facebook ads of local projects for sale and was shocked at how readily available these pickups still are! Unfortunately, I had to weed thru lots of ads asking for what guys had invested in their unfinished project or projects that were just simply too far gone for me.

Then one day it happened. An ad showed up on Craigslist for a 1951 3100 that had no pictures and only a price - but the seller was responsive and very close in proximity! I grabbed a buddy and went to go see it one Thursday night. The pickup was all I wanted it to be. Solid and straight frame. decent body (although completely disassembled), a stock motor and transmission (that supposedly ran) and even a Mustang II clip included but not yet installed! I left knowing I'd buy the pickup and played the game with the seller. He needed it out of his storage shack to store another project, his son had lost interest in it and he just didn't have the time to deal with it. Lots of guys were making offers on parts and he just wanted it gone as a whole. I made a fair, yet lucrative offer and after about a 30 minute discussion, the car hauler was on it's way and I was the proud owner of a clean title 1951 Chevy 3100 1/3 ton. Let the games begin!

So far, I've completed the following:

• Installed the motor
• Installed the radiator
• Installed the transmission
• Pulled and cleaned the gas-tank
• Assembled the various bolt-on body panels
• Started the motor and tuned it to idle (first time since the mid-80's!)
• Began painting the motor

Items remaining before initial road test:

• Finish painting motor
• Replacement of motor gaskets
• Replacement of motor mounts
• Reinstall gas tank & sending unit
• Go thru brake system

Thanks in advance for everyone's thoughts and advice along the way! Looking forward to getting this old girl back on the road!

 

good to have a solid foundation to work with

 

What a busy week it's been! I have got a lot of work done on the pickup and things are really starting to take shape!

I have worked to paint the block, valve cover, push-rod cover as well as replace the fuel pump and all relative gaskets for these items. I have also painted the starter and the generator. I'll be painting the other bolt on items (oil pan, water pump, harmonic balancer, distributor, oil filter and air cleaner while breather tube will be getting replaced) and replacing their gaskets in the coming days. Here are some pictures:
Shots of engine, manifold, starter and generator in painting process





I also spent last night out in a farmers field picking thru about 5 cabs/partial AD trucks for parts. I scored big time, coming out with the following for peanuts!:

• Air Cleaner
• Door Glass (both sides)
• Front Hood Emblem and brackets
• Headliner Rod/Bow
• Visors
• Glove Box Door
• Speaker Grill Trim
• Lower metal door panels
• Windshield center trim (inner and outer)
• Throttle Cable
• Complete exhaust
• Wiper Arms

My floor pans are being delivered this afternoon so this weekend will be a fun time of working on the motor items listed, cleaning up and installing the above as well as cutting out my old pans and hopefully putting the new ones in with tack welds for a test-fit!

 

Dude, you win! Keep her stock or mildly modified. I am over 100 k miles on a dd/only vehicle '49 Chevy 3100, '56 235, Fentons, 2x2 1950's period Edelbrock intake, '69 3sp+od, '57 3.90 rear. Stock suspension, radial 215 85R 16's on stock rims no tubes. Rides great, 18.9 mpg my last long distance trip.

 

Nice start

Looks like 4 and 5 spark plug wires are crossed in the pic





Check out the AD social forum.

 

153624

 

1 is closed to the cab correct?

 

No, the first cylinder is next to the radiator.

 

Does it currently run? if not make sure it runs well before you spend anymore time on that 216...

 

Skidded - It runs fairly well.

Cosmo49 - I'll check the firing order / plug wires tomorrow.

 

Amazing help! I'll check soon and report back!

 

Cosmo49 - great catch my plug wires were all outta wack.

Not that one guy - thanks for the pic! I got the rearranged as shown and it runs so much better now! Great help!

 

A very busy weekend. Below is a summary with a handful of photos:

Got my front hood badge hung:


Windshield center molding and wipers mounted:


Side hood emblems mounted:


Started doing a rough cut to remove rusted floor pans:


Radio Delete plate, center speaker grill, glovebox door and throttle cable installed:


Stock air cleaner refurbished and installed:


Oil pan gasket replaced including painting the oil pan:


Until next time!

 

Disassembled and reassembled each brake on all 4 corners last night and besides needing some cleaning, everything appeared in good condition. The previous driver of this pickup took good care of things.

My question is: Can I fill the master cylinder (it's totally dry) and use a manual pump bleeder at each corner to force pull fluid thru each entire line and then commence with actual bleeding or am I forced to remove the Master Cylinder to bench bleed and then go on from there?

 

Well today I pulled and rebuilt the MC and bench bled it. I need to replace the main brake line that runs under the trans but other than doing that and a full bleed, I think I'm ready for a test drive!!!

 

Very nice!

 

Progress update: Disassembled and reassembled the emergency brake cross shaft assembly last night because it was frozen. Is it normal for the shaft to just rotate metal-on-metal at the ends or should there be a bushing of some sort in there? What are you guys using to lube yours if it is metal-on-metal?

 

AFAIK That's the way it's always been. I'm going to talk to a machinist friend about improving this poor pivot point.

 

Good to know. Can't find anything in the service manual about lubricating this as well. Any thoughts here are appreciated.

 

that cross-bar was metal to metal, no bushings, primitive but it did the job.
you could use a lil white grease.

 

Thanks! I did use some white grease and it seems to be doing well. Now time to get these new floor pans installed!

 

You're making great progress. Keep it going!

 

Was bored last night so decided to install my Fulton SunVisor:



Any tips on how to understand if it's positioned properly on the A-Pillar & center molding?

 

Good progress, keep posting pics.

 

Removed 3 leaves from the rear leaf packs and 2 from the front!



And the rear leaves:

 

Today I got the passenger side of the new floor pans welded in!

 

You've done great ! Keep up the good work - and keep posting pics 2

 

I went and did some more picking today and picked up quite a bit of goodies!

I got:

• All of the inner windshield trim
• both inner door window trim pieces
• downdraft vent tube
• matching ignition and glove box locks with key
• pedal pads
• battery hold down bracket
• seat rails/sliders
• heater fresh air delete plate
• cigarette lighter delete button
• a side-view mirror bracket

Check it out!:

 

I haven't posted in a while but that doesn't mean work hasn't been getting done!

Both floor pan halves welded in (pic 1)


Both floor pan halves welded in (pic 2)

Seat (non-stock) installed on original runners