My '48

[LRRP]

I'm starting the restoration of a '48 Chevy truck that I picked up from a Craigslist ad. The guy who had it before started on it, but wound up with too many other projects. I'll use this thread to document all the work.
Here's a couple the night I brought it home.

[LRRP]

Some welding to do...tears in the fenders & around the stake pockets in the bed sides.

[LRRP]

Cab is in good shape.

[LRRP]

Fitting up all the sheet metal. The plan is to go as close to original as possible. I'll do a 12 volt upgrade & maybe a 3:73 rear end, but not too much else. I'm thinking of black bed liner material on the running boards instead of paint. The rest of the truck is either going to be Forester green or Carmine red, I haven't decided which.

[LRRP]

Took me a while to figure out the spare tire mount. The factory assembly manual doesn't look like this. The manual is supposed to be good from '47 to '53, but all the drawings are dated '53. None of them show this particular arrangement.

[T Hilde]

Sweet! I vote for the green. Red is over done.

[oldman3]

Looks like you are starting with a real solid truck, look forward to the build. I vote green also on the color.

[BlueJeep]

Wow, that's the way to buy a project! Definitely no surprises there!

Green is where mine's headed too.

[MrTucker]

Good to see another restoration project!

[LRRP]

Last night I started tackling the brakes. Huck brakes - real fun. This is the first time I have seen them. They are not too different from the Bendix ones I dealt with as a kid, but they are a bit harder to disassemble. After I got into this one & saw the condition, I'm thinking a set of new wheel cylinders might be in my future. You can see where I had to replace a stud. That was the only one on the truck that was missing.

I may decide to upgrade these to Bendix type later, but for now, I have the original replacement shoes, so we'll try it out.

[MrTucker]

forgive my ignorance - what's the difference between Huck and Bendix?

[LRRP]

Well, the Huck brakes are the original equipment for this truck. As you can see in the picture in my last post, the shoes are connected by an articulating link at the bottom of the wheel. The adjustment is from two "star wheels" at the top of the wheel, on either side of the wheel cylinder. Because Huck brakes are pinned at the bottom, the entire surface of the pad does not contact the drum when you stop.

Bendix brakes look like the picture below (although this one is from a Ford truck). They are connected to a "star wheel" at the bottom that self-adjusts as you drive. The wheel cylinder pushes out at the top, so more of the shoe contacts the drum. This may be what I wind up doing on my truck.