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'51 Project for my boys and me

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FarmTruck

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Hi, everyone -

I'm new to this forum and to Chevy trucks in general. My 14 1/2 year-old son wants a car, and we happen to have a 1951 Chevy truck that's been sitting on my in-laws farm. The 12 year-old wants to help, too. Sounds like a combo for a great project.

My wife's grandfather bought the truck used in '54. It was the first vehicle my wife ever drove. It literally got put out to pasture around the time that Don MacLean's song "American Pie" was topping the charts. (That would be about 1972.)

On Monday we went down to the farm, fired up the Michigan loader and dragged the truck from the pasture to a spot where we could reach it with a pressure washer and a shop vac and washed off 35 years of dirt and mouse droppings.

A friend of ours gave us a working 216 motor. Not what we want to end up with in the end, but we're guessing that the original motor will take a lot of work after sitting for that long.

I'm sure my sons and I will be asking you for lots of advice over the next few years. We'll keep you posted on the progress. Here are a few pics. I think the old John Deere and the '62 Scout will be lonely in the field now.
 

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Nice lookin truck. You might be surprised at how easilly it might be to fire the old motor up if it hasn,t been exposed to water . Welcome BTW . Bob
 
cowboy357 said:
Nice lookin truck. You might be surprised at how easilly it might be to fire the old motor up if it hasn,t been exposed to water . Welcome BTW . Bob
Click to expand...

Thanks, Bob and ccharr -

Yeah, it should be a fun one, I'm guessing that the original motor won't take too much work, but it's nice to know we've got a running one as a backup!

Harry
 
nice find, looks great. they sure are fun trucks to drive
 
"Search"

You have the makings there of a very nice project. Welcome for a fun crazy ride. :D Be sure to read old postings above on "Search" about awakening the original engine and just about anything else that comes to mind. Then ask away, we are all in this together...
 
Lucky Kids !

Grumble , mutter..... :rolleyes:

Before you do _anything_ else , please go look up older posts on ' tune up ' and ' make run ' etcetera ~ begin with a nice valve adjust , taking the time to liberally soak the valves by squirting oil between the springs so the valve stems get oiled and won't sieze as you rotate the engine.

Resist the urge to take it all aprt , get the engine running , it'll prolly smoke a lot but that'll stop after a while , then do the brakes , grease it and drain & re-fill the tranny and rear end beforever trying to drive 'round your dooryard .

The guys here have done this many times over and stand ready to answer any question no matter how mundane .

parts too , just ASK .
 
A w e s o m e

Looks like a real nice solid complete truck you got there to start with - and a crew to help! Nothing wrong with that. Glad to see you are keeping it in the family too. Looks like the fenders and all are straight, so it must have been worked gently on the farm. (and the wife was a good driver) Stick with what these guys tell you about the engine - you'll be surprised that it may keep on running. Why was it parked? Glad the kids want to be involved. Sounds like maybe when the older one goes off to college, it will be about time for the younger one to start driving it.

I was about the same age and wanted a truck to drive. My uncle had an old '66 F@#! out in a pasture. I traded him some oats I had in storage. My dad had an engine out of an old car he helped me get going. Body shop down the road had a kid that liked my Honda 150 mororbike, so I traded it to his dad for the paint job. My friends in High School and college still talk about the times we had in that truck!

Enjoy the project and more importantly, enjoy the time spent with the family. Welcome!
 
Thanks, everyone!

gypsy truck said:
Looks like a real nice solid complete truck you got there to start with ...
Click to expand...

I'm amazed how well-preserved the thing is considering how long it was grazing in the pasture. The only reason it got parked is that it moved down the pecking order; 1 new truck in, 1 old one out to pasture. My brother-in-law has been eyeing it for years, but he decided to work on a Mustang that's been in his family.

I've already been using the search button, and have found some great information on this forum.

Thanks, everyone, for the warm welcome and the great advice!
 
Welcome Harry!

That is one fine looking truck for sure. There's a wealth of info on the net but don't take everything you read as gospel! Get a copy of the shop manual! It will become your bible! If you run into snags along the way (and you will;)), hollar at us! We're pretty good at giving out cheap advise and we're cheaper than going to a shrink!

Keep us posted! And send pics! We love pics!

Ken
 
Sorry!

I saw you pictures earlier, just now had the time to say, "DAAAAAAAAAAANG that truck is fine!!!!":cool:
Obviously the brakes worked up until the day it was parked. I think my truck had the brakes go out months before the driver quit feeling lucky! I have the dented to -pieces- front fenders to prove it. Your truck looks so smooth!
Congrats! If you've read the posts, you found, by now, how you can change it from that common Chevy to the ever more popular GMC style!:D
Welcome to the best sourse of info on these old, beloved ADs!
You want that old motor to start? Get V8... er vwnate a web cam so he can speak directly to that old six of yours. Hold your laptop next to the intake manifold and let him whisper down its ear. That engine will cough to life without a drop of miracle oil! I've seen it happen!;)
Thanks for the photos! You've got a good thing going!:cool:
 
Speaking of fine shape!

DANG, that's a nice looking picture of your truck in your avatar, Vegas Kenn!:cool:
I hope there's more in the photo section of this site!
 
There are a few recent ones while the truck is in various stages of rebuild and a few when it sat real high. Still not as low as I want it to be but someday. Sorry guys, Im rodding it.
 
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Welcome to the forum. Make the kids do all the work! A wore out Chevy has taught many a man patience and the facts of life. Besides if you can fix it your self, you will look like superman, at least some times. Get good brakes and steering and chevy will do the rest because these trucks a so slowwwww. 80 MPH was a dream in 51 unless you were coasting down a mountian.
 
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