Hi everybody, I thought that I would provide an update to the post I
made last week concerning the '53 Chevy wrecker that I was looking at
buying. First, here is a link to some pictures that I shot yesterday:
http://home.sprintmail.com/~mgtrautoxr/index.html
<http://home.sprintmail.com/%7Emgtrautoxr/index.html> Ignore the
rest of the web site, since I mainly use it to post pictures for eBay
auctions it isn't all prettied up. I haven't purchased it yet, the guy
who has it is going to pull his paperwork today to see what he has in
the truck so hopefully I will know more later today. I measured the
wheelbase yesterday and the truck appears to be a 3/4 ton since it
measured 125 1/2". The title says that it is a '49, but I see that the
cowl vent is up by the windshield rather than on the side. Does anybody
know if this is appropriate for a 3/4 ton (I know that it didn't move up
there until about '51 for the half tons)? The truck does not have vent
windows, has a pedal operated parking brake (with a metal T-shaped
release handle), an 80 mph speedometer, 4-speed floor shift, chrome
grill (which has been painted over) and chrome strips on the dash - all
of which I think is correct for a '49. Another odd thing is that the
truck has 15" rims in front (with very old tires on them) yet they are 8
lug split rims. I don't know that I have ever seen a 15" split rim.
Does anybody know if the 15" rims were an option on this truck? The
back has newer 16" non-split rims on it and there is another pair of
them laying in the back of the truck (the parts truck that comes with
it, which is a '48 or '49 GMC 1 1/2 or 2 ton truck, has 18" dual rims on
it so I guess I have all sorts of wheel options).
The truck has stainless steel trim around the windshield and side
windows - does that make it a deluxe model?
There was apparently some sort of hood ornament on the truck originally.
There are four holes on the hood in the shape of a "V" with the open
end in front an the pointy end towards the windshield. The front two
and middle two holes are about 5/16" diameter. The rear hole hole is
only about 3/16" diameter. The front two holes are about 6" in front of
the middle two holes which are about 6" in from of the rear hole. Does
anybody know what type of hood ornament was mounted there?
I spent a bunch of time scraping crud off of the engines on booth trucks
to get the engine numbers, unfortunately I ended up with serial numbers
instead of casting numbers. Here they are in case they make since to
anybody: wrecker - LAQ69793 (Q could be an O with a mark on it), parts
truck - 0913929F54Y. Both trucks have Chevy 4-bolt valve covers,
short side covers and fuel pumps mounted towards the front. The wrecker
doesn't have an oil filter, the parts truck has one clamped on to the
manifold near the carburetor.
The truck was originally red, I think it would look real good with a
fresh coat of red paint on it and some gold pin stripping on the wrecker
bed! I'll let you know how things turn out. By the way this is coming
from my home email instead my work (in case anybody noticed the
difference. Thanks for everyone's input.
Kevin Brown
Odessa, MO
'39 Chevy Master Deluxe Sport Sedan
'48 Dodge 1/2 ton
'50 Dodge 1 ton
'54 MG TF1500
'67 MGB
'70 Corvette Convertible
'71 MGB
'74 Triumph TR6
'80 MGB V8
'01 Suburban (Great tow vehicle for hauling home old vehicles!)
'01 Camaro SS
7 Decades of vehicles - no '90s though
oletrucks is devoted to Chevy and GM trucks built between 1941 and 1959
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