There are so many beautiful trucks on this site, and owners should be very proud of them. So much time and money spent to make each truck just how you want them. I'm actually kind of afraid to post the following, from concerns of being flamed for my ideas. But I'm proud of it and going to show it. It is a 1949 Chevy 3100, bought new by my great uncle. It's been in my family ever since, and my first driver when I turned 16. The truck has been pretty much in storage for the last 30 years. I decided last fall to start work to get it road worthy once again. I have a nephew that is getting started in the auto body and mechanical business, and he was excited to be getting some work. My plans are to get it to be a solid daily driver. I don't have the resources to do a full restoration or full body work and paint. I've decided to go a little different route. This will be a bare metal finish, with some of the original green paint in some areas. This will not be rat rodded, or a restoration, but just a different finish on an old classic. I know many will not agree with the direction this project is headed, but so be it. Loaded up the 49 and headed to the shop. Work Begins The following pictures will be close to what the finished truck will look like. This will be getting a clear sealer to protect the metal from further corrosion.
Welcome to the forums! Great story, and great truck. Looking forward to following your project on here. Keep the photos and updates coming. Damon
Excellent! Looking forward to seeing more of your build. Your truck looks amazingly solid. I see you are from Minnesota, is that where the truck spent its days also? I have seen quite a few bare metal vehicles here in Colorado at shows and cruise ins. It's considerably easier to pull off here since the climate on the high plains is pretty arid. Will you be using a rust inhibitor like "Gibbs" or are you planning a different route? I had thought about doing my truck in bare metal when I stripped down the bed, but in the end I painted it.
Thanks guys. Yes the truck has never left Minnesota. My great uncle only drove it a few miles back and forth to town for groceries and supplies until 1976. There are some areas that would need extensive body work if going the total restoration route. I've researched a few companies that sell a bare metal protectant. We are going with the product Permalac. They have not been exposed to the automotive industry as much, but have product use in lawn ornaments, salt water boating and other areas where metal protection is needed.
That should look pretty slick! From the pictures, that looks like a might straight body. Welcome! And thanks for the pictures!!! What are you using to bring it down to bare metal?
Welcome Hey Mark - good to hear you are going to fix er up and get her back on the road - that is the main thing. I wish i had just clear coated mine the way it found me, but i had it backwards. it had an awesome patina on it already. great back story too and glad you have more family that is able to help you with it. who says heirlooms have to be furniture? Good luck.
Welcome a board Mark To polish bare metal and to have it like that as a permanent condition would be very exciting to see what result you came up with ! I have seen some hotrods like that build in aluminum shining in the sun like a rocket. Your truck looks very solid , thanks fore sharing . I am not familiar with the product you discribe but it looks its a protective coating. To avoid any rust getting underneath the coating i am shore the coating needs to be done very quikly after you get to bear metal inside the paintbox. Its warrented lasting for aprox. 10 years it says using 2 or 3 layers of coating ! I would rather paint the truck but taste and money is undispeckable your choice. I wish you all the best of luck with your nice truck. Martinius.
Thank you everyone. Originally I wanted to keep all the old paint patina, but the doors had been sanded down years ago and primed. Over the coarse of several more years the primer on the doors turned to light rust. We didn't have a good way to blend the doors in with the rest of the body. My nephew was prepping the body to accept, new primer, new base, and then a finish color. The plan was to sand through the layers of new coating to reveal, what was sprayed down first, creating our own patina look. Seeing the truck sanded down to bare metal gave me the idea to go this route. I can leave original paint where I want, plus any dent or imperfection would show up as a accent to the bare metal look. If this method doesn't turn out, I can always sand off the Permalac and start over. Happy Easter.
Good Luck and Have Fun Mark I bought my 49 3100 13 years ago and promised my Grandson that when he is 16 he can drive Grandpa's trk. Well I have 2 years left and I may have the trk on the road this summer. Never did a restoration before ,didn't have a lot of money to spare for it and did everything but paint myself with some help from nieghbors and My boy's. "It's my first ,It's not perfect, but it's my 49" I'll try send some pictures out. Putting it back together after paint has been a little challenging. And I have had no previous experience doing this but just always wanted an old Chevy trk.
Welcome mark ! That's a very nice truck you have there , most Med West trucks have gaping rust holes . Color isn't really important , keeping the dreaded tin worm a bay is the only really important thing . The good people here will have many good ideas on having fun with it and how to tune it up and make into a nice driver .
Mark, shame on you for thinking that anyone on this forum would shoot you down for doing what you want to do on your truck! You must have forgotten the motto that we follow on this part of the forum. "You're paying the bills, so YOU decide what you're going to do with YOUR truck!" My only advise would be to make sure you protect the metal, no matter how you decide to present it. One thing about metal is that once you lose it, it won't come back! Have fun with us, ask questions, bounce ideas off of us. We're truck lovers and we thrive on what we have and what we can do to help! And we love truck porn! So send lots of pics our way and feed our addiction!
Welcome Mark. I don't think anyone here will criticize your plans There are all kinds here. I started out thinking " I'll clean her up, sand her down, and put a coat of paint on, then just drive and have fun." Well, notice my avatar.... I got a little more involved than that. I have, however, done all the work myself, saving a lot of $$, and learning a lot. Enjoy your truck however you like.
Greetings from a fellow Minnesotan. The only time you will get ripped around here is if you are doing something unsafe.. even then its less of a ripping and more or a slap on the back side of the head.
I kinda like the bare metal look to it! It's something different and most people on here do something original to their trucks which makes viewing them all the more appealing.
Thank you everyone for the kind words and encouragement. I've been following this site for some time, in awe of the members builds and attention to the details. I know on some sites, if you stray from the normal, you get flamed. This is the reason I was hesitant to post something different. I feel a little remorse for not doing everything myself, but I'm actually helping out my nephew who is getting a start in the business. I've went through a rebuild on my 1968 Oldsmobile 98 and a 1978 Monte Carlo, this time I outsourced to nephew. He is set up better, with much better tools for this body work. The Permalac product was a result of searching for metal protectants. The salesman we contacted with questions mentioned he would like a full story behind the 3100, with plenty of pictures. He even mentioned it could be used in advertisements of their product line in hot rodding magazines? I will believe this when I see it happen. We are looking at a mid May completion date. Will keep you updated. Thanks again everyone, Mark
No ripping here. The thing I love about old trucks is that you get to do whatever you want. I think there is the occasional 'resto nazi' that might be offended cuz you didn't do it the 'right' (aka:'his') way but the majority of us just want to see another truck gettting some love. Looks like you are doing a great job. Jealous!! Keep at it. I know I will.
