What is unique about your truck?

[daveshilling]

Originally Posted by 59GMCApache

My wheels and patina.

Did I see this for sale on Instagram today?

[59GMCApache]

Originally Posted by daveshilling

Did I see this for sale on Instagram today?

Not for sale I just got them back from the chrome shop.

[mr48chev]

Thanks MPC, much appreciated. I try to give honest well thought out or researched answers that work.

You won't see a build thread until I actually have some progress to show. First I have to build a shop and do some repairs around the place that i have been putting off doing though. The shop won't give anyone shop envy for sure as it will be a very basic 28x30 work space with a sliding barn door, cement floor and lights and plug ins with a wood stove or oil stove for heat.

[daveshilling]

Originally Posted by mr48chev

Thanks MPC, much appreciated. I try to give honest well thought out or researched answers that work.

You won't see a build thread until I actually have some progress to show. First I have to build a shop and do some repairs around the place that i have been putting off doing though. The shop won't give anyone shop envy for sure as it will be a very basic 28x30 work space with a sliding barn door, cement floor and lights and plug ins with a wood stove or oil stove for heat.

I have half of a 2 car garage.. I'm storing the front clip in the truck bed right now, and I cant pull the cab off because there is nowhere to put it afterwards. I removed the door so i could access the inside... opening the door wouldn't be enough room. So consider me envious!

[b-mac]

Originally Posted by daveshilling

I have half of a 2 car garage.. I'm storing the front clip in the truck bed right now, and I cant pull the cab off because there is nowhere to put it afterward. I removed the door so i could access the inside... opening the door wouldn't be enough room. So consider me envious!

That's where I started too. Looking back at pics, I'm lucky I didn't burn the house down.

[MARTINSR]

I am so fighting with this space thing right now. You see I am looking to buy a new house in another state to retire to and the garage thing is a HUGE issue. With the price range and the area I want...two car garages, and a small shed in the back. Very little side yard access for my little trailer (made out of my dads 55 F100 bed I grew up riding in). Then out of the area I want same price, three car garage and sheds in the back yard with no problem access. It's driving me out of my mind!

I don't think I am going to have any big projects in my future, I just don't see it. And I hope to have my truck a roller at the very least by the time I move, but DAAAAAMN I would love to have that three car garage!

I am going out of my mind with this decision.

Brian

[solidaxel]

What stat are you moving to ?

[J48chevy]

Well what is unique about mine is that after almost 5 years I am still not finished. Haha. Hoping this is the year I can complete it.

[CountofMonteCarlo84]

Originally Posted by solidaxel

What state are you moving to ?

+1, if you are coming to Florida, I have to get you in the Central Florida Classic Truck Club. BTW, am I permitted to make a post about a regional truck club on this forum?

[dew468]

fuel door ( can't figure out how to turn pics)

[gigamanx]

Grandpas old wrench for a shifter. He engraved all his tools so as not to lose them at work.

[vintovka]

I built a 24 x36 garage specifically for mine 2 years ago. Site conditions and some rookie errors have come back to haunt me. If I had it to do over again I would have opted for 18' wide rollup door instead of 16' Going 30' wide instead of 24' and reducing ventilation to a minimum would have been nice as well. . 18' door would ease access problems in both pulling in two vehicles side by side (and opening doors while in the garage). Having another 2' on either side would be great for tool/parts storage. I also would have opted for all LED shop lights instead of florescent. If i could enclose the work area i could use a stove to heat the area on cold winter/rainy days. I added over ventilation having come from a very hot climate and didn't think.

I did have foresight to add a rain drip ledge in the floor under the rollup and a full 8' door for clearance. The 36' depth does allow large vehicles to pull in far enough for access all the way around and enough room at the back for tools and stuff. Liberal outlets on walls and ceiling are good as well as a 220 outlet for welding/compressor AND to carefully use for an emergency generator. Wireless alarms are a comfort too.

[whitedog76]

Originally Posted by gigamanx

Grandpas old wrench for a shifter. He engraved all his tools so as not to lose them at work.

Love the shifter. I wanted some of my Dad's wrenches with his initials engraved on them. He retired a few years ago and auctioned off his shop. Evidently, I was asleep at the wheel when they went on the auction block.

BTW. What's the tunnel from?

Chris

[gigamanx]

Originally Posted by whitedog76

Love the shifter. I wanted some of my Dad's wrenches with his initials engraved on them. He retired a few years ago and auctioned off his shop. Evidently, I was asleep at the wheel when they went on the auction block.

BTW. What's the tunnel from?

Chris

Shift tunnel was fashioned from the 1988 S10 tunnel I chopped out of the donor truck. I then took another forum's suggestion of taking some 16ga sheet and cutting the outer ring so it fit perfectly in the recess of the 49 cab. Welded-er-up and put some sealant on it.

[whitedog76]

Thanks for the info. I've been looking at some later model trans tunnels. I don't like the squared off ones, so I'll keep this one in the memory bank.

[gigamanx]

Originally Posted by whitedog76

Thanks for the info. I've been looking at some later model trans tunnels. I don't like the squared off ones, so I'll keep this one in the memory bank.

There was another post where someone made the same outer cutout and then took a section of cardboard pushed through from the floor and bent the round shape. Draw around the edge, take that template and put it on some sheet and bend it into the same curve to fit. Totally custom, but I thought it was genius. I happened to have the tunnel already otherwise I would have gone that route.

[daveshilling]

Originally Posted by gigamanx

Grandpas old wrench for a shifter. He engraved all his tools so as not to lose them at work.

Oh man, thats so cool!! And with a few nuts you can totally add a wooden shift knob or something, or even swap stuff out here and there.

[gigamanx]

Originally Posted by daveshilling

Oh man, thats so cool!! And with a few nuts you can totally add a wooden shift knob or something, or even swap stuff out here and there.

Thanks! That's exactly how I built it where I can unbolt the wrench if I want to switch things up. I used the biggest wrench he had, so the top actually fits pretty nicely in the hand. Don't think I'll need a shift knob.

[evilokc]

mines just a crusty old truck but we have logged many miles together.

[CMACDONALD1]

The thing I get asked about most on my truck is the steel bed floor so it kinda makes it unique.

[gigamanx]

Originally Posted by CMACDONALD1

The thing I get asked about most on my truck is the steel bed floor so it kinda makes it unique.

Dang!! Did you cut strips or just use one sheet and put the chrome strips on top?

[CMACDONALD1]

Originally Posted by gigamanx

Dang!! Did you cut strips or just use one sheet and put the chrome strips on top?

It is made from two pieces of 18 gauge with the seam down the center.

[1957 Chief]

My 1949 truck has an odd story.

My grandfather bought it in 1951. From my early beginnings, till I went in the service, we used the truck for hunting and hauling trash. A pitchfork was always in the bed to help load and unload it. Also had a spotlight for assistance in hunting. :-) It was always this raggedy ole beat up truck. Heck, I remember one time I was in the back of the truck while my grandpa was loading a boat on a trailer. The parking brake slipped and the truck, trailer and me were slipping down the ramp into the water... He gunned the boat motor and ran up to the front of the boat, jumped in the bed of the truck (where I was standing) and over me to get into the truck to get it stopped. One of my fondest memories.

Well in 1998 I was lucky enough to get stationed back home. I helped him restore the truck in his shop. And he was proud as all get out... Later that year he unexpectedly died. Well, fast forward a few years and 9/11 hit. I was gone a lot, to say the least. My grandmother sold the truck to a friend of my grandfather's. No one knew until my cousin noticed it missing in the shop. Well, my grandmother wouldn't tell me who she sold it to...why I don't know? It really bothered me that the family didn't own the truck anymore. And for years I dwelled on that fact. Slowly but surely, the memory faded.

Fast forward to 2015...I was in Afghanistan. Was sitting in the USO at Bagram AB and decided to get on craigslist... Low and behold I saw a 1949 3100 just like my grandfather's. From the pictures, I KNEW it was my "Pop's" truck. Not very many 1949 trucks out there with a boat vacuum pump on the firewall to help with the wipers. I tried to refrain from showing my excitement when I was making contact with a third party seller. Who was a total a$$ I must say. The guy was asking 30K for the truck. Way too much. So my wife hired an appraiser to pose as a buyer. He came and looked at the truck and told us it was worth about 15K.

Well, we went back and forth and they wouldn't budge at $25K. So I dropped it. I lost the truck back in 2002, and I lost it again in 2015.

My wife wrote a letter to the guy (he is off the grid...no internet, just phone and snail mail) and he said it was "divine intervention" that I found the truck while I was in AFG and after 13 years. So he held it till I got home.

I bought an enclosed trailer while I was in the desert and when I went to pick it up in Oklahoma, I decided to swing by and look at my granddad's truck and to possibly buy it. My wife met me at the guy's house and as soon as I rounded the corner, I saw it. Then I knew it was for real. I met the owner and I walked straight to the truck and opened the door. First words outta mouth were, "it still smells like Pop." Looked over at my wife and she was bawling. The owner said, take it for a spin, so we did. As I was driving it, it brought back all the memories. The sounds, the smells, the noises. Was just like in 1998.

So we get back to the guy's house and I want to get down to brass tacks...I offered him $15K cash and he got all upset. We talked a few more minutes and I finally told him, "I'll give you $17.5K for the truck. If you don't take it, I'm gonna go back to the truck, take a few pics of it, and I'm rolling back to White County."

He didn't take the offer and so I took a few more pics and told my wife its ok, I have closure. So I was hauling ass home and I got a phone call from the guy. He asked where I was and I told him I was 40 miles away. I remember him commenting that I was moving out. He said come on back and get the truck for $17.5.

So I turned around and got the truck. Handed him the money and he didn't even count it.

I got it home and it sat in the trailer for 2 months. I didn't want to look at it cause I still had a few bad memories. But now, 2 years later its back to its glory days. Except 6 inches lower and an overdrive.

My kids call the truck "PT" for Pops truck :-)

Wife took all the pics that day except for the two I took. Here they are:

[Advanced Design]

Great story, nice truck. Thanks for sharing!