This story goes way back to 1984. I grew up in a small town in Central Missouri. My grandparents lived in Jefferson City and we would visit quite often. On one particular trip I saw this beautiful 53 chevy truck for sale at one of their neighbor's houses. It had 53,000 original miles and was a one owner truck used in the owner's lumber yard business. The owner's name was A.T. Becker. The asking price was $800.00 but unfortunately I was too late it had been sold. I was getting ready to turn 16 that year and always liked this style of pickup. I was dissapointed to say the least. A couple of months later I was at home and heard the sound of an old horn honking and came out to see my Dad pulling up in the truck! As luck would have it he was in Jefferson City and saw the truck around the corner from where it had been sitting. The people that bought it had tried to jump start it with a 12 volt car and had messed up the voltage regulator. They were glad to be rid of it. I drove the truck for a year or so until I found a 1967 Chevelle ss 396 four speed car that needed to be restored which I did. Long story short I drove the Chevelle to college and gave up on the truck. Bills came due during college and I sold the car and the truck. In 1993 I got a job and settled down, got married, and started raising a family. I found the old truck in a salvage yard and the yard owner gave it back to me for free. 20 years later I still havn't worked on the truck until now. I have a 235 from a 57 chevrolet truck and a t5 5 speed that are going in it with new rearend. I have lowering springs for the front and put new kingpins in the front axle. I have the 54 chevy car drums and spindles that I had rebuilt when they were on my 54 chevy truck bolted on and ready to go. I have a couple of rear ends to choose from so I'll have 5 lug all around. I also picked up 5 original red Chevy car wheels and 5 15 inch Super Cushion whitewall tires to go on them. Other than that I plan on leaving it as is and driving it.
o im digging that truck ..... always loved that body style on those trucks .... glad that you have it and great story behind it .... keep US updated on the progress ...
My dad had 40-50 of these rough cut oak boards in the barn. They are 1/2 inch thick and were 16 feet or so long. We cut them down and used his joiner to smooth out one edge. I will cut them to size on a friends table saw and use the original strips I took off. Along the way I have been collecting parts that would match the age of the truck. I picked up this visor for $50.00 at a garage sale. It has been in may attic for a long time. The 235 was a swap meet purchase. It has been rebuilt since then with a couple of cans of black engine enamel. This was another excuse not to work on the pickup. I turned it around in the garage and painted it green!
Stop getting distracted on those musclecars and get the truck done! Then you can use the truck to make parts runs for your other projects (like musclecars). Truck looks pretty good shape overall. Your 235/T5 plan is a great combo.
It's a jack. Glad to see you're finally getting to this one. Let me know if you are interested in a dropped axle and discs for it. r
That's an amazing story. Usually, once one gets away you never see it again. Looks like you've got a good one to work on and a good plan. Keep us posted.
That's an aftermarket hydraulic bumper jack the hook thing on the side hooked under the lip of your bumper to lift the car or truck up. I'd clean it up and paint it up and stick it over in the display area of the shop. Cool thing to have but if they don't twist your bumper out of kilter they kick out from under the rig and let it fall pretty easily.
Thanks for the kind words. Does anyone have a picture of one of these Jacks complete with handle so I know what to look for in my clean up pile? Raven shoot me a pm on the axle and brakes. I bought Posies lowering springs and the brakes came off my 54 and were redone a few years ago but I could be persuaded to go discs with a dropped axle and really drop this thing. I already put a little money in fitting the kingpins to the existing axle. Also FYI when pitting the spindles back on and the truck is miles away from the axle they can be put on upside down. DAMHIK
These pictures are of the original paperwork I took from the glove box the day I went out to the salvage yard to verify it was my truck. 20 years ago. Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
Getting your original truck back is really neat, I'd like to find the First Series '55 I had back in the late 1970's. Keep the updates and photos coming. Bob
OK we got it rolling and fixed the spindle good up. I'm missing a inner seal dust cover if anyone has a spare. The drums are from a 54 Chevy car. Any easy way to lower the rear and center the axle? I used a 9 inch out of a 57 mercury or ford and the spring pads were perfect width. Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
the pilot hole in the spring mount is offset in the stock Chevy. Drill a hole with a similar offset (or measure what is needed to center your wheels) in the new axles spring pads. reversed eyes, remove a few leaves to lower. another low buck trick is to use front spring mounts in the place of the rear spring mount.
Thanks Treb11. I thought about drilling a new hole. I bought posies lowering springs for the front and tempted to (if funds allow) to do same for the back. I may see what Speedway offers. I also wonder if the vendors have come up with a solution for centering the wheel. My friend is putting the engine and transmission in. We talked about some square tube and making an offset lowering block to re center the axle. New springs would be nice though. *****EDIT****** I talked to posies and they make a spring part #440A that addresses the 3 inch offset issue. Smart fellers they are. I searched a while last night and couldn't find any information on the AD truckers group or the Stovebolt.
Nice project and about time you got to it. I quote : The 235 was a swap meet purchase. It has been rebuilt since then with a couple of cans of black engine enamel. Do you mean the engine was rebuilt and then painted ? A couple rattle cans does not make a rebuild.
It has not been rebuilt that was sarcasm. It came out of a running 57 truck. I trust the mechanic that I bought it from and he said it was a good engine. He had a customer that wanted a 350 crate motor in it so that's where it came from. We'll find out shortly!
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