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[oletrucks] 54 Chevy (Update)...

To: apache58truck@hotmail.com, oletrucks@autox.team.net
Subject: [oletrucks] 54 Chevy (Update)...
From: "K & B" <apache58truck@hotmail.com>
Date: Tue, 28 Sep 1999 04:12:44 EDT
Hello All-

Thanks so much for all of the help... from so many people who took the time 
to send me information about the 54 pickup I had inquired about.

Well... here's an update:

I was finally able to get the opportunity to see the "54 Chevy Stepside" 
that I had questioned the list about a while back. It had been stored in an 
old trailer for quiet a few years and during that time... has become the 
nesting place for a swarm of wicked, stealth attack hornets, but the bulk of 
that story is probably better suited for the "bee sting listserve"!

Anyway... thanks to all of my reading of all the posts to this list... I was 
able to tell the PO that the truck was NOT a 54 at all!  Actually... from 
the look of it (through swollen... bee attacked eyes) ... it seemed to me to 
be more like a 46, 47 or 48 with the corner windows and two piece hood.  I 
was afraid to open up the door on the drivers side to check out the ID plate 
for fear that I'd be forced to overdose on Diphedryl capsules which I had 
already taken once to counteract the pain and swelling I received after 
opening the passenger door!

So... after the PO had destroyed all traces of the "hornet attack squad" (He 
bombed the inside of the trailer... and sealed it for a 1/2 hour or so to 
kill 'em all for what they'd done to us!), we went back inside so I could 
try to get a better look at things.  That's when I discovered the second 
truck at the far end of the trailer under all kinds of dusty old treasures!  
>From what I could tell.. the 2nd truck appeared to be a 51, 52, or 53 Chevy 
stepside without the corner windows.  I could not get into a position to see 
the hood clearly, but my flashlight seemed to show a one piece hood (Does 
that seem right?).

The guy said he was sure that they were both 6 volt and all original, and 
the 50ish one ran when it was put into the trailer.  He said the 47ish one 
ran, but his son began taking it apart years ago and never put it back 
together. From what I could see (through the flicker of my flashlight and 
blurred vision).... that did seem to be the case.

The metal except for the cab corners (on the older truck)was very solid and 
had some pitted rust here and there... but there was quite a bit of light 
surface rust almost everywhere else.  A few dings and scrapes and peeling 
chrome, but overall not too bad for old trucks in NJ.  Both trucks seemed to 
have all the parts intact except one lacked a rear bumper. The 2 piece 
windshield on one truck was ok... the 2nd was smashed to bits.  BTW... is it 
possible that the bench seat was made of leather on a 47ish Chevy?  It 
really looked like leather!  Plus.... it seemed to be in very good 
condition!  The color appeared to be brown under all of the dust and dirt, 
and there were small embroidered things across the top of the seat from 
door-to-door.  I've never seen anything like it.

I'm very interested in seeing them both in full daylight so I've arranged 
with the present owner to help him empty the entire contents of the trailer, 
so he can prepare for a yard sale... as he is planning to move out of the 
area sometime this year.  In exchange... he's counting my help as a down 
payment (which he's putting in writing)and if I decide not to buy the 
trucks... he's letting me have a very nice haul of antiques that are worth 
much more than my muscle and time!

So.... in closing this chapter of "My Ole Truck Search"... I'd like to 
again... thank all who have helped me so far.  I look forward to hearing 
from anyone who'd like to guide me, warn me, or just offer thoughts, ideas 
or information.

I'd love to own a hundred of these old trucks, but even my son now thinks 
that we probably shouldn't have any more than three or four.  What are the 
thoughts of the list?

    Thanks in advance-

                     Ken
===================================================






K&B
Father & Son 1959 Apache Fleetside Truck Project in NJ
apache58truck@hotmail.com
Everyone asks:
Why the 58 in the e-mail address if the truck is a 59?
Our only reply:
When we bought it they told us it was a 58. When we
discovered it was really a 59... it was too late to
change the address! Plus, someday we might buy a 58 too! :-)
-

oletrucks is devoted to Chevy and GM trucks built between 1941 and 1959

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