Okay, in the past we have had Ebay listings that have claimed to be original and the learned eyes on this forum have picked them apart. Here is a 53 that looks pretty much like a survivor to me. I link to it here so that we can comment on the originality or whatever we want. I thought the pencil holders on the dash would be the exact kind of thing that a working man's truck would have. Have fun. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1953-Chevy-5-window-pick-up-very-nice-original-truck-/200559795848?pt=US_Cars_Trucks&hash=item2eb24b9e88
Flea-Bay Truck It looks O.K. to me , Not overly special though . in addition to the RF fender having been changed out , the whole truck looks like a repaint to me . Certainly the bed wood isn't original .
It's way, way more original than some (most) that are making that claim. I think the door trim panels were pressed paper instead of seat matching material and as Nate pointed out the factory bed floors were hard yellow pine painted BLACK. Can't tell what the device is that's by the voltage regulator and tail light fuse but don't recall having one on my 3600. The fresh air heater shows the valve knob in the cab but can't see the rest in the under hood shot. It's darn good as far as being unmolested but the seller just couldn't resist embellishing it a bit.
Looks like maybe the cowl vent might be leaking some & that unit below voltage reg. looks to be a horn relay. All in all it seems to be in pretty good shape, not too badly priced either. Wonder if it would make it from Ill. to Wash. state without serious problem(s)?
That is the horn relay and is correct for a 53. Seat cover is not orig, it is the same one that was in the 53 when I got it. Door panels are not orig. Dash trim looks to be painted over. Without looking closely for rust out, it looks to be a nice, un molested truck, with a bit of wear.
A surprize i`ll guess ? What is your purpose ? Are you considdering of buying the truck ? Do you wanna compare with another one ? Or is it just to learn how it should be looking originally ? Some is allready mentioned but as the seller uses words like litle rust i showed the ad to my son whom is a professional carpainter at volkswagen/Audi/BMW. He says that this truck is pretty much rusty inside and outside. He presumes it is the result of water leaks inside the cab and not beeing well presurved. I `ll agree with him. Painting has been redone outside aswell inside in a bad way on different panels outside aswell inside. Different color tones means ....... we all know what ! Owner does `nt tell how many miles the engine or the truck has been running on the road , there could be a big difference as there often is with these "original" trucks ? Keep the price low when bidding. This a project truck where a lots of bucks are flying out of the window. Beware of that there are no holes in your pants pockets as the money will slip through there to.... ha ha ha
Re: Keep the price low when bidding. This a project truck where a lots of bucks are flying out of the window. Beware of that there are no holes in your pants pockets as the money will slip through there to.... ha ha ha Love that description of what it takes to restore/repair an old truck,Martinius!
The "small rust hole at the bottom of each front fender"? This is in the cab proper area. You can see the pavement through them and this most often translates into the cab mounts being about ready to let go. Not too tough a fix though.
No one has mentioned the "repair" work done on the runningboard. Ruins the appearance of at least the driver's side board.
It does have a few 1953 only parts on it..... so the year is verified. The Sea Shell horn mounted on the intake was a 1953 only item { the '54's had the horns mounted on the radiator support & the earlier trucks used the "model T" style horns on the intake }. 1953 was the only year that used a round maroon bakelite parking brake release handle knob {earlier trucks used the chrome "T" handle & the 54's used a larger black knob}. 1953 was the first year for the blue on aluminum VIN tag & that is correct. The non chrome dash is correct for a 1953 plain jane truck along with the maroon windshield wiper knob.... the interior paint is original. Right front fender has definitely been replaced & the door jams & under cab splash seal have signs of overspray so... definitely a repaint. As Nate pointed out... the bed wood is not original & the seat & inner door panels have been recovered. I find it interesting that the seller claims there is no rust in the floors & provided no pictures of what is under the floor mats.....but if the outer cowls are any indication.... those gaping holes & the fact that the inner cowls are covered with carpet leads me to believe that there are some serious rust issues with the cab. Looks like someone gooped up the water pump, water outlet & upper radiator hose pretty good with RTV..... cooling issues are sure to follow. The Plain Jane non deluxe '53's came equipped with grey painted hubcaps & the deluxe trucks had stainless caps.... Those rusted chrome caps say that they are probably replacement reproductions from years ago. As mentioned earlier.... the driver side running board appears to be smooth with no tread humps to it..... that leads me to believe that it has been filled smooth with bondo. Not a bad truck though... actually looks like an older restoration rather than a time capsule. If you are buying it for a weekend beater to take to Home Depot.... it is a good score. Anything above that.... & it would be a big money drain to restore. I wouldn't pay any more than $2500-$3000 for it as the resale value on 3/4 ton trucks sucks as compared to the 1/2 tons.
This is just the kind of comments I wanted to generate. I am not interested in the truck. I just wanted to stimulate the conversation around what was original and what was not. Many of us actually rode/drove these trucks before things were done to them so we know what they looked like. For some of our younger enthusiasts I think this conversation is good because it "learns" them up on these old trucks.
Reality In the real world it's gonna be a long time hunting to find an all original un abused truck with nowt wrong with it, these trucks were used for purpose so for one to be as factory after nearly 60 yrs is nigh on rare as rocking horse sh*t, nearly every one will have been altered/tweaked by various owners and mechanics, and as they get older then people tend not to hunt down correct parts but go for the cheapest option to keep it running. So for me, on a scale of 1-10 then this ain't a bad truck, it's pretty good, a few bits are not orig but nothing to lose sleep over, rust wise it's not so bad, you could do a little work and have a nice useable truck, Jus my 2 bob!
Well said, my British friend! However, I'll have you know that I still have a big box of rocking horse sh*t up in the attic! I would venture to say that there is not a single operational 60 year old vehicle in the world that is original. I've seen the vehicles that GM has in their Heritage museum and trust me, not even GM has access to original GM replacement parts, nor do they know, in several instances, the correct color schemes used back in the day, according to their own records. Long story short, we, as enthusists, should not get bogged down in useless detail, but rather build, rebuild and enjoy the fruits of our labor, regardless of whether it's original, rebuilt with NOS, NORS, cheap-ass reproduction ill fitting Chinese crap (oops semi-rant) or whatever! My truck is certainly not original and it has all of the above parts keeping it going. I get a kick out of cranking it up, tooling around, getting a "thumbs up" and feeling the "rush" of driving a piece of Americana!
under bed spare tire rack I dont think any body mentioned the under the bed spare tire rack sitting in the bed of the truck or at least part of one cant tell but thats part of what i see witch is very hard to find and i would say if that the heater core was probably leaking when they took the pics.
spare tire rack in bed Does any body know what year or years used that particuler under the bed tire rack, the one that tire slides in and out from a track under the bed not the swing out type, my truck is a 1950 and it has the track still in place but i dont have the rest, and i think its original for 1950 not sure does any body know.
Parts Differences Well ; Sorta - kinda ~ remember , at that time the Korean War was on so there was a shortage of chrome and copper etc. so depending on what assembly plat your particular truck was made in , they weren't all 100 % alike no matter what some book you read says. Agreed on all the various comments here , especially Ken's comments as they mirror my views after all those years restoring rigs that never got enjoyed , now as long as it cranks up & goes down the road , I'm happy with it .
