Projects 53 Chevy 3100 ..Now my Project!!

This truck Has been in my family since 1958, When My Grandfather purchased property for his business, and this came with it. So the truck became mine the beginning of August 2011. Here is what I have done so far, with much reading on H.A.M.B to decide what to do. I Completely stripped the air cleaner , primed and painted, was thinking about going paper , but love the look of the oil bath. Was not ready to cut it up and try and shove a paper filter in it. So today I did some WWW's with the Krylon Method, that I read on the H.A.M.B. I sanded the sides with a flap disk, wiped with mineral spirits and taped. I used Dover White Krylon Fusion. Was hoping it was not going to be as bright, it was. Could not find "bone white" that I saw in another post. But still looks great. Love it! Just need to do a little light sanding on some over spray. The second tire I did, the tape popped up , and it will take a more effort to clean and tighten up. But still So cool. I will be doing the rears tomorrow. Will keep everyone updated on yellowing and such!

 

A couple pics with hub caps back on. The hubcaps used to be white . I am thinking I may change them back to white with black lettering.

 

Nice truck. Have fun with it.

 

Thanks. So far I am having so much fun. What does your 53 look like?

 

Got the rear wheels done today. Made sure I cleaned where the tape was going to be super good. Turned out great. Mineral spirits a rag and q-tip did great for cleanup on the tires from the day before.

 

Cool truck

 

Thanks Dave

 

I wanted to show a before and after of the air cleaner. I cleaned it out, removed a couple layers of paint from the outside, primed and painted it. Turned out Good. Lovin the 53!

 

nice

 

Need more ideas, join the AD Truckers Social Group. Love these trucks!!

 

Very nice '53!! Good job on the Krylon WWW's.

 

Joined it, Thanks..It is perfect Did not know about the seperat AD posts and being able to search them...Awesome

 

Thanks, I have admired your Truck, Need that lower stance for mine!

 

Thanks Leroy

 

Could not keep my hands off the truck today, was going to mount the front lic plate differently so it would not cover up grill. Think i have my solution, but I need a new center bolt for my front bumper, to finish it up. SO, I tore off the front turn signals. Wow looks way better. Love the lines of these trucks. Beautiful! Will fill in holes tomorrow. Going to order the turn signal conversion from lmc, and some other small stuff. Also under the turn signal, I may have discovered the original color. I always thought it was a darker green.

 

My truck had those aftermarket turn signals on them too - they had to go!

Just FYI, the hood badging on your truck is 1952. In '53 they did away with the Chevrolet markings and only used the 3100 markings. Doesn't really mean anything, someone could have added the markings, hood could've been changed at some point, or it could be a '52 registered as a '53.

It might be interesting to look at the engine serial number (a stamped number located on a flat ledge just aft of the distributor) and see what comes up. Post the number on here and I or someone else can determine the year of the engine.

 

Found it

 

Engine ID

 

Very cool pickup! Looks like your havin a ball!

 

What i can tell by the number is that it is a 216 and does the GM mean it was made at the Tonawanda engine plant in NY. And I was looking at 52 chart, so now you have me super curious about this 52/53 mystery.

 

Great photo documentation on your whitewalls! I hope they hold up. I was wondering about the fusion paints. I used regular flat white krylon in thin coats, but they only last a year or two against scuffs and cracks.

 

I am! pretty much cannot believe it!

 

I used the fusion, because of a post I read. And it made sense to use it because it bonds to "plastic". I mean the tires are rubber, buuut. I hope they last a while. I used one can for 2 tires, and 2 pretty good coats and 1 last little coat on each with that. They look so sweet right now, made it a whole new truck. So we will see I will definetly be posting pics of them.

 

That's the casting no. and it tells us it's a 216 block used from '42 - '53. What we need is the ID number, a STAMPED number on a flat ledge just behind the ignition distributor. Post that no. and we can tell what year the engine is.

 

Well Found it, man its pretty greasy in there, I had been looking , anyways that was easy.

 

here it is

 

K, so L is its a 53, and BA is it is a 216 truck. Built in Flint. But what is the rest (I635), and is that correct? Is the I for september?

 

Yup, it's a '53 216 truck engine. The "I635" is the production number or serial number. Since they started the serial numbers at 1001 I'm guessing the "I" is actually a "
"1".

If you want more info there should also be a date code cast into the block just above the starter. It will be a letter, followed by 2 or 3 numbers.

Interesting that the engine is a '53 and the hood a '52.

 

Yeah that is interesting, I am guessing the emblem mounting holes would be different. Do i have my side mirror bracket upside down, or does it go either way?

 

......cool. hey, what the heck are those 'lil "spurs" on the ends of the front bumper?