1949 Chevy 3600 Tow Truck
 

I admit it. I have a bad habit of searching craigslist for cars/trucks I don't need or have space for. This constant, unnecessary searching led me to a 1949 Chevy 3600 in Brawley CA, that was converted into a tow truck. The last thing I needed was another project in my garage but I really dug the patina and well... its too late now.

I live in northern California and was making a trip to visit friends in Huntington Beach and San Diego. Since I'm headed that way... how much further could this Brawley really be?

I packed my truck, caught an hour and a half power nap and hit the road at 11:30PM. Pull into HB at 7am to grab one seriously awesome friend (who I'm now forever indebted to thanks to this journey) and a fresh cup of coffee. Back on the road and finally pulling into Brawley a half day after leaving my house (much further then anticipated). Although we were still in the same state, it just might have been an alien planet. The cool temps of my air conditioned truck left us brutally unprepared for the mid-day 110 degree heat.

Heat exhausting had set in as a price was agreed upon followed by falling deep into heat stroke by the time we winched the truck onto the trailer and locked it down.

Back in HB I was finally able to take a few pics. Its not pretty, badly beaten, but I like the patina.
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/a...1&d=1409961537

Re: 1949 Chevy 3600 Tow Truck
 

Welcome to the forum!

Congrat's on the find. Looks pretty solid! Nice adventure getting it too. I've had the same problem with Craigslist searching (so many cool vehicles available) I disabled the app on my phone.

What are your plans for the truck?

Re: 1949 Chevy 3600 Tow Truck
 

Love a good story to start off a built thread! good lookin truck there too. Do tell... what are the plans for this guy?

oh, and... :welcome2:

Re: 1949 Chevy 3600 Tow Truck
 

Left SoCal on Labor Day afternoon, arriving at the house slightly after midnight. The majority of said drive time was spent contemplating how to get this tank off the trailer. My driveway is at a 10-15 degree uphill and the weight was far greater than estimated. It was very apparent the anchors I set in the garage floor would not hold the truck inplace if attempting to yank the trailer from under this monster.

The original plan was to get the 216 running, make it road-worthy, chop off the 1/4 in steel plate bumper and just drive this thing in all of its patina glory.

Unfortunately, a frame swap will have to be the path forward as this one was far too heavy and just an oddity.

Note the coil springs welded to the frame and read end housing to offset the additional weight. A keen eye will catch the location of a jounce bumper in the picture of the spring setup.

Re: 1949 Chevy 3600 Tow Truck
 

With it finally home, I was finally able to take some non cell phone pictures.

Someone dropped or dumped a few cans of paint on the truck. It certainly makes the overall patina more interesting.

Re: 1949 Chevy 3600 Tow Truck
 

As I've previously mentioned, this was converted to a tow truck. I would venture to guess in someones back yard or garage.

If you look closely everything was cut with a torch. Brackets, the bumper, bolt holes were not drilled, all were torch cut. The grille and inner fenders were cut as well and one could only guess this was done to mount a push bumper.

I found it intriguing how the linkage for the winch, PTO and gearbox was all fabricated from different scraps. They just make things work. All in all, there was a lot of additional metal welded in.

Re: 1949 Chevy 3600 Tow Truck
 

Had to clean out the interior and begin pulling everything out. No exciting rat or squirrel nests to clean out, but lots of dust and desert sand.

Re: 1949 Chevy 3600 Tow Truck
 

Work began... popped out the busted windows, removed hood/doors and kept working on the rusted/seized bolts holding everything else in place.

Day two of my efforts got it all off and brought to light just why the truck was so heavy. Not sure if you can see, but a previous tow truck was cut in half and welded on top of the 3600 frame.

Re: 1949 Chevy 3600 Tow Truck
 

So on to the little bit of clean up I've been able to do. Simply water and a soft sponge. So far the patina shows better than I expected.

Re: 1949 Chevy 3600 Tow Truck
 

Cool truck!

Re: 1949 Chevy 3600 Tow Truck
 

Really cool....lotta heavy metal in there. Like the lettering on the door.

Re: 1949 Chevy 3600 Tow Truck
 

cool truck, you must have some great neighbors, and welcome. plus keep the pics coming.

Re: 1949 Chevy 3600 Tow Truck
 

I undoubtably have great neighbors. They all know I'm always working in the garage, but I don't like to push the limits of how nice they are. Never too early in the morning, past 9pm and always tidy up so they don't have to see the mess I'm making. Stripping that truck down on the trailer to me was a little too much. Pretty sure we have a law/ordinance against it.

It was pretty awesome having some of the older people from the neighborhood stopping by and telling me stories about having a truck like this.

I was sold on the truck the moment i saw the lettering on those doors. I had a handful of 5 windows for sale just with in 25 miles of me... most of which looked to be in better condition. I can honestly say I did the 1300 mile round trip and suffered through the heat specifically for the hand lettering.

Re: 1949 Chevy 3600 Tow Truck
 

As long as you don't leave it sitting out there for too long, you should be ok.

Re: 1949 Chevy 3600 Tow Truck
 

It was there for 3 days. First day was spent making garage space and two for dissassembly.

All that additional steel really added up. Specifications from the GM historical website show a 3/4 ton truck weighing approximately 3900lbs. When I took the stripped "rolling" chassis to recycle it came in at 3860. I'm pretty sure this beast overloaded the 7000lb gross limit of the trailer.

Re: 1949 Chevy 3600 Tow Truck
 

Wow, at least you got some cash back!

Re: 1949 Chevy 3600 Tow Truck
 

Yea i did, and it puts me at a grand total of $233 to date.

On a build progress off-shoot.... I'm a sucker for historical tid-bits and been searching for info on Horstman Garage. I was able to find a few Horstman's who show having lived down there and both are in their mid-90's. Not yet sure if it could be the original owner but they are located a few hours north-west of me so a little more research is in order.

Re: 1949 Chevy 3600 Tow Truck
 

I bet that old truck towed a lot of cars.

Re: 1949 Chevy 3600 Tow Truck
 

interesting truck from back in the day when people just made do with what they had
chain drive pto and that pig of a winch that looks like it could pull the world
probably never worked well as a tow truck, just well enough :D

http://www.67-72chevytrucks.com/vboa...1&d=1410070516

Re: 1949 Chevy 3600 Tow Truck
 

Well it's been a while. What can I say other than... Life. Work, military, family other projects, Blah blah blah.

So I pushed the 67 camaro project in the corner and broke the year long hiatus of working on this truck and picked up an extended cab s10 and then realized it was 4wd. Well... $200 down the drain but shortly after found a 2wd version for $100 and stripped that down.

I drug the Camaro 327 out of the corner of the garage and mated it to a T5 that I picked off Craigslist for 400 with the bell housing clutch and flywheel. Unfortunately it's from an 86 camaro so the shifter is too far back which means I'll have to make some linkage to set the shifter forward.

I made a set of Sarge's cab mounts and motor mounts. Then chopped up the S10 transmission crossmember to mount the T5.

The picture uploads aren't working at the moment so I'll have to wait to get back from vacation.

Re: 1949 Chevy 3600 Tow Truck
 

Ive got a complete roller 3/4 ton 57 chevy truck long bed chassis if you want it. Ill send you a PM about it. Im close by in SAC.

Re: 1949 Chevy 3600 Tow Truck
 

So after entirely too long....
Dropped the cab on the s10 frame
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/a...1&d=1509408963

Stabbed the motor and transmission in...
https://i.imgur.com/hfupmGz.jpg

Re: 1949 Chevy 3600 Tow Truck
 

But unfortunately too far back

Re: 1949 Chevy 3600 Tow Truck
 

tried to delete post

Re: 1949 Chevy 3600 Tow Truck
 

Motor reset. Original column cut down, installed the column saver, 3/4" double d shaft with universal joints to meet up to the s10 steering box. Fabricated fuel lines to use with the s10 lines and a fuel pressure regulator.

Re: 1949 Chevy 3600 Tow Truck
 

We're building almost the same truck up front it looks like! Amongst the issues I ran into with the radiator, I also notice you're using a different neck at the top of the water pump. I have to exchange mine since I got the 45 degree one and it goes right into the A/C mount haha.

Seems like you skipped a few steps between 2014 and today though :)

Re: 1949 Chevy 3600 Tow Truck
 

nice start! I love taking the trucks everyone passes on and making them cool again. that old winch setup is great!

Re: 1949 Chevy 3600 Tow Truck
 

Yea I skipped a day or two in the build thread. There was a ton of work, then rework and rework of the rework... Not to mention a bunch of swear words sprinkled in-between. So I skipped the gory details.

Of my issues....The motor ended up sitting too far back and to make it better, the headers wouldn't clear the A arms. I tried to relieve the offending header tube but gave in. I cut the mounts out and this time positioned and welded the motor mounts with the engine and transmission in place. It took me a bit to align the steering column and headers to get the steering shaft to cleanly slip through. I see the majority of people use a third u joint to make the angles work. I picked up an adjustable bracket to bolt the column to the floor and used the original dash mount.

Also, I spent a bunch of time bending fuel lines only to figure out it would be in the way of the clutch and brake master cyl's. To keep the lines cleanly routed, it's tucked up close to the cab above the tail housing of the transmission over to the passengers side.

Re: 1949 Chevy 3600 Tow Truck
 

Well... it’s been a minute since I updated this thread. I’ve been driving this thing for the past 3 years making a few tweaks but I guess like everyone else returning to the board after a bit of a hiatus... life got in the way.

I think the majority of my swap is the same as everyone else so I’ll save you the details. What’s most likely of interest are the number of items I did differently.


To start was using a T-5 from an ‘85 Camaro. It was cheap and far from optimal due to the poor positioning of the shift tower. I was set on using the original shifter so creativity and fabrication were in order.

Cut down and modified the Camaro shifter.
https://i.imgur.com/J5PfLerl.jpg

Fabricated linkage to sneak under the floor and fit through the original transmission access panel.
https://i.imgur.com/6oopmtgl.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/yBz31yyl.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/WDt4Hpol.jpg

Re: 1949 Chevy 3600 Tow Truck
 

lets see the whole truck as it sits, she still have the patina letter?!?!

Re: 1949 Chevy 3600 Tow Truck
 

For the foot controls, I used a set from a gen4 Camaro and the donor S10. I needed to add some length so I could raise the mounting of the S10 booster and keep the pads of the pedals at a reasonable height. Additionally I wanted them to go around the steering column and sit where the original pedals were.

I couldn’t use the S10 clutch master cylinder so I picked up one from Wilwood. It was reasonably inexpensive but I needed to come up with mounting and linkage to the pedal.

Using the distance of the piston throw and pedal throw based on the brake pedal, I calculated the point on the lever I needed to attach the linkage. Then going 90 degrees to that and the pedal pivot at mid travel gave me the angle to mount the master.
https://i.imgur.com/sPsufmXl.jpg

Now for mounting it.
I split the difference between that line and where it would be with the pedal to the floor for my mounting elevation. I found this to be too close to the brake booster so I created some support on the pedal to allow the linkage to connect further outboard. I had to accept this will cause a rotational Force on the pedal and wear the pivot bushings more quickly.
https://i.imgur.com/13mmW2ml.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/esW8iMcl.jpg


Most importantly the go fast pedal!! Well... second most important.
I was dead set on using the original gas pedal. Obviously I would not have the original linkage rod to push down so I put on the thinking cap. I devised a plan to have a rod stick through the firewall and pull a cable.
https://i.imgur.com/6RT0aljm.jpghttps://i.imgur.com/ySMXgO0m.jpg

Video to help visualize.
https://i.imgur.com/6HKuPk3.mp4

Re: 1949 Chevy 3600 Tow Truck
 

The engine accessories were my next issue.
My 327 was an early small journal with a short water pump and accessories from that year. Not wanting to spend much the intent was to reuse everything but also move the alternator to the passenger side. Of course the difficulty with the short water pump configuration is the alternator will not fit in front of the engine and there aren’t as many bracket options.

As you could expect, I took the path of most resistance.

I found a cheap adjustable bracket and had to make a quick and dirty arm to adjust the belt tension from flat bar stock. The next hurdle was the need for inner fender clearance. Spent some time with a body hammer to resolve this one.
https://i.imgur.com/ibEOq8Al.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/xBcZRixl.jpg


With that out of the way it was time to mount the radiator. I purchased the one recommended in Sarge’s thread but my alternator mounting comes to bite me again as the belt is placed perfectly to rub the hose because of the direction of the radiator outlet. :dohh:

What else would anyone do but cut up a brand new radiator and hope for the best.
https://i.imgur.com/S4pxOLHl.jpg

Not too bad in the end.
https://i.imgur.com/txHCAjpl.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/9iOIplQl.jpg

Re: 1949 Chevy 3600 Tow Truck
 

i'm a huge fan of that gas pedal, now you're givin me ideas!

a buddy used a floor mounted foot starter switch from a tractor, similar to the trucks stock high beam switch. when he swapped the I6 for a crate 350 i just couldn't bare getting rid of the starter pedal.

Re: 1949 Chevy 3600 Tow Truck
 

I thought about a foot starter but the ignition switch was replaced quite a while back and it has a start position. That’s one of the few times I took the path of least resistance.

Re: 1949 Chevy 3600 Tow Truck
 

Hung the doors and hood as expected.
https://i.imgur.com/rof3lrBl.jpg

As I expected from a desert truck there would be some sand trapped here and there, but what I encountered was significantly more than I anticipated. It’s been a constant issue... any bonk, bang or clunk causes sand to fall everywhere. It’s in the headliner, dash.... you name it. This is a fine powdery sand that never fails to land in my eyes ears or mouth. I set after it with a scraper and assortment of bristle brushes.

After a few minutes of knocking sand out of the door, I decided to take a video. It’s comical how much comes out of to door.
https://i.imgur.com/8OBTaIzm.mp4

Fuel System
 

It seems most replace the S10 tank but I reused it.
The internals were in bad shape.. fuel pump was rusted, didn’t run plus the lines crumbled. I pulled it all out and replaced it with a piece of hose to work as a pickup in the sump. I used an external pump because of clearance issues but was able to reuse the lines to/from the tank and the filter. The fuel was as nasty as the fuel pump but I picked up a few extra filters and accepted my fate of multiple replacements.

https://i.imgur.com/bxakGfZl.jpg

Re: 1949 Chevy 3600 Tow Truck
 

Another step I did differently was the bed wood. A coworker gave me a log from her property and let me use her Alaskan mill to cut boards.

https://i.imgur.com/Dcsm0hPl.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/8C0H5yGl.jpg

After warping and splitting, I wasn’t able to use it entirely for the bed and supplemented with redwood fence boards. Certainly not to the original board widths.

https://i.imgur.com/JrnJjXul.jpg

Front License plate mount
 

For the front license plate mount, I welded up a few pushrods and rocker arms to a connecting rod. With the plate on it’s subtle enough to mostly go unnoticed.

https://i.imgur.com/76xMEg1l.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/3odgM4al.jpg

Re: Front License plate mount
 

Ha, I like it :)