Features My wife's anniversary present

My wife has had her eye on these '48-'53 Chevy trucks for a while now. So for our 6th anniversary I decided to get her one. This one has a little sentimental meaning behind it. You see, a few weeks ago a dear friend of my dad's, and to our family, passed away after a year long battle with cancer. An amazing guy who loved life, his family, and especially hot rods. Some of my earliest car show memories are with him and my dad when I was little. His two sons decided to keep working on his Model A and rightfully so. But I was given the opportunity to take on this truck. When the chance came about I thought that there was no better anniversary gift for my wife. She is so pumped and wanted me to share it. Our plans for now is to pick it up next weekend, start cleaning it up and getting it running. We want something we can drive around and have fun with. It's a '49 btw. I don't have a whole lot of knowledge with these trucks but I know a bunch of people here do. Hope you guys enjoy.

 

Looks like a great start. Come join us on the AD Truckers social group.

 

Nice!

 

nice truck to start with.good luck

 

Great anniversary gift and best to you and yours!

 

Cool - so, what are the plans? years ago I bought my wife a '39 Chevy PU and got about 3/4 done with it and found a '50 Chevy PU like she had before. so, sold '39 and finished '50. work never gets done as fast or as cheap as you figure it the beginning.

 

nice start looks like a 235 was put in it .

 

Thanks for the invite. I joined yesterday. Hope to gain a lot of knowledge from you guys.

 

For know we wanna get it on the road. It's another one of those "it ran when it was parked" kind of deals. I've had good luck with the last two motors I had got running so I think there's some promise. It came with an extra cab also. She wants to drive it this summer so we definitely got our work cut out for us.

 

Thanks. I am completely new to these straight six's. What about it tells you it's a 235? And what would it have had originally?

 

Valve cover w/ Chevrolet script is usually a 235 or a 261. Mucho better than the old 216s that came out in 49.

 

had a few of these chevy pickups, one 49er, couple '51s an '52s.
the 5 window cabs are the best, imo.
flat safety glass is not too expensive, but you would love the green glass better.have fun.
rich

 

I love those trucks...My wife does to...Must be the curves!

 

I dig those cool horns. Hope the wifey appreciates your work...

 

We are planning on working on it together so if there's something she doesn't like I'll just blame it on her.....

 

Great looking project. Stoked to see the progress of your build.

 

Coooooool.............rich

 

Good looking truck!

 

Nice anniversary gift .

 

Well,you did the right thing,,a traditional gift is iron or wood,,you got her both. HRP

 

Way better than roses, chocolate or diamonds! Good luck with the project!

 

original 216. the valve cover looks like 235 or 261. the numbers are down by the dist. plenty of help here to look them up. http://stoveboltengineco.com/ this site will help you alot. heres the numbers page for your engine. http://www.inliners.org/

 

sorry try this http://www.inliners.org/becks/BCN2.html

 

Nice anniversary present! The engine is a later 235/261 that has full pressure oiling. The valve cover is the '59-'62 type so looks like you've got a good motor to work with.

 

Great lookin pickup, love the 5 window cab!!

 

Easy vehicles to work with compared to some of the things I have watched being built here. I am about 3/4's done with mine, so if I can help just let me know. Build thread below so you can save yourself some of the hassles I went through...

 

Thanks for all the kind words and info so far guys. This should be fun for her and I. May have scored some steelie wheels already. Guy has some 6 lugs off a '56 he doesn't want. I think they should work. Any reason they won't?

 

Nice Truck, Nice Gift, Hope you both enjoy it for many years!

 

They'll work. See what size they are though, in '56 a 15" rim was standard but 16" and 17.5" were available as options. Also, as anyone who has owned one of these old trucks will tell you, chances are they aren't the original equipment. So many Chevy parts are interchangable between years. I'd check to see if they have the dog-dish clips on them (if you plan to run those) and are in good shape before shelling out my $$$.

 

Very nice - what a great anniversary gift. Women do seem to love these trucks. My wife says ours still makes her smile everytime she looks out and sees it sitting in the driveway (and it's still a piece of junk!).

Here is a link to our 51 build thread in case you're interested.
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=672888