9-28-07

at the moment, i'm playing with color choices for the ol' girl. i've got a number of scale models i'm planning on building, each in a different color scheme, and i'll be posting pics of them as they come along. i'm using rustoleum rattle cans at the moment and i've found a few matte finish paints that seem to work for me. i may be going that route on the real truck if i like the way it turns out. two tone is the direction i'm going in, either tan and green or tan and blue, i like the red wheels, but red and green reminds me of christmas and red tan and blue is almost too all-american for me. i dunno. we'll see what the models look like. also, i'll be going with the original blue paint for the engine, since it's correct for the 235 passenger car power plant. i may even add the "blue lightning" sticker or whatever it had originally on there. i think that'd be cool. more to come!!

 

8-6-07

this is where i'll be chronicling the slow but steady progress on my 1953 Chevy 3600 pickup truck. i'm not restoring it per se, but i will be keeping most everything looking stock and pretty much vintage.

i'm sorry i haven't had this website up since i bought the truck, but i have been taking a lot of pictures along the way, so i'll be posting lots of those as we go.

the plan for the truck is this so far - keep the 235 straight six (previous owner put that in) as well as the rear gears (also not stock). i put in a clear fuel filter, changed all the fluids, plugs, plug wires, points, condenser, cleaned up all the road grime, put new gaskets on the valve cover, oil pan and pushrod cover, and cleaned out the oil bath air filter- put Automatic Transmission Fluid in there. i also redid the brakes- new flex lines, new shoes all around, and repacked the bearings with the lube job. filled the steering box with 90 weight and drained the transmission oil and put new oil in.

in the near future, i'd like to put in a horn, switch to 12 volts, get some grose jets for the carb, switch out the cab, bang out all the dents, and get the seatbelts installed (i found some old WWII bomber belts)

in the distant future, i'd like to get a set of fenton split headers and have split exhaust, get a two carby manifold with two carter carbs, and i hear tell that the 261 running gear plops right into the 235s. if that's true, i'd love the extra boost from that swap. i also want some tall skinny wide whitewalls and a two-tone paint job. chrome grill and anything else i can get that was a fancy option in the 50's. (fan, sunvisor, electric shaver, under hood lamp, visor mirror, stoplight prism, etc.