Chevy Loadmaster 1947 serial number help?

[concorde]

Hello and greeting from Finland.

I'm starting a restoration project of our old 1947 Chevy Loadmaster Truck. It's in fairly sad shape in the cab, but frame and engine are fixed/rebuilt some years ago.

I know the history of this truck: it came as new to Finland in 1947 and the first owner sold it so my grandfather 1950. Ever since it's been owned by our family, but it has not been in traffic for the last 30+ years and was forgotten into barn...

Now the truck arrived to my property and I could have a look into it.

I would need some confirmation on identifying what I've got. I have browsed through some VIN decoders etc., but somehow I haven't been able to get a full match.

The engine code is: EEA 344 945 and the Vin (under hood, co-driver-side) says K QWS 365



So if I have understood right, this is a (Q)1947 (WS)6400S Loadmaster with (EEA)235 cid engine. Am I right?

But this VIN starts with K instead of a number, so which plant this was assembled?

All the extra info about this will be much apprecieted

[Jesse Z]

As you correctly stated, usually the first character is a number representing the assembly plant.

However, K code for factory on other Chevrolets stands for Kansas City.

[mr48chev]

I wonder if that truck was made so early in production that the didn't have the number system in effect yet.

Here is a link to the GM Herritage print out on the 1947 trucks that you will probably use a number of times. [url]https://www.gmheritagecenter.com/docs/gm-heritage-archive/vehicle-information-kits/Chevrolet-Trucks/1947-Chevrolet-Truck.pdf[/url

That sir is a big truck being a 6400 series. = QWS = 161 inch wheelbase.

[concorde]

Thanks for the info! From Kansas with love it is...

Here's the pic of this truck from early 50s. Chevy is on ice load.

Originally Posted by mr48chev

That sir is a big truck being a 6400 series. = QWS = 161 inch wheelbase.

That's true, but in modern standards that not so big anymore. The height of the truck is about 2meter (just a bit taller than my grandfather in the pic) and the frame is under 6meter, which is not that long... ;-)

[mongocanfly]

concorde...nice history behind your truck. ..always like to hear about these old trucks with a back story...to help clear things up..what you have is a 1 1/2-2 ton series truck...not to be confused with the 1/2, 3/4 or 1 ton series...the cabs are all the same throughout the truck series from 1/2-2 ton..the front end is where the difference comes into play. .your trucks front end is longer wider and taller than the "smaller" series...

[Henry50]

That looks like a car id plate.

[concorde]

Thanks for the additional info and the pdf-link above. I found that also and seemed to be a valuable source for info.

I think I will need to get a "new" cabin for my truck, since the original has so much rust on it. So if you know suitable rust free cabs lying around somewhere with reasonable price, just let me know...

I can see that quite solid full trucks are being sold with 1000-2000usd, which would not be bad price for a "donor" truck, but ofc the shipping to FI will cost something like 3k$

This truck's 235 engine has been rebuilt years ago and not started since. During that rebuild there was some oil pressure problems fixed, so it should be better than new, just need to get it running first.

[vintovka]

Is it right or left hand drive? The men in the pic look like ex-SA soldiers

[mr48chev]

Shipping would probably cost more than a cab and you would want a lot of very high resolution photos of one before spending the money.

That plate doesn't look right as it should have the tonnage on it but as long as the numbers are the same as on the title and other paperwork that should pass.
Quite expensive by most standards but Premier Street Rods does sell a reproduction Steel cab https://www.premierstreetrod.com/det...nt_Window.html

[vintovka]

Many larger AD trucks sit abandoned in and around central and northern CA farmlands. With scrap metal now being nearly worthless many are just left alone. At one landfill there were several stored on one side. I tried reusing some parts but as stated earlier they won't fit 1/2 -3/4 tons and are often left alone just for that reason.

[concorde]

Originally Posted by vintovka

Is it right or left hand drive? The men in the pic look like ex-SA soldiers

Hi, It's "normal" LHD truck. And those clothes were hip and style back then...

[concorde]

Originally Posted by mr48chev

That plate doesn't look right as it should have the tonnage on it but as long as the numbers are the same as on the title and other paperwork that should pass.

I have the original paperwork mathcing those numbers, so in that perspective it's OK. I also looked for number plate in the doorway (as seen in the web), but there was no evidence that there ever were any plate. Then I found this plate and it matched the number in the papers...

Originally Posted by mr48chev

Quite expensive by most standards but Premier Street Rods does sell a reproduction Steel cab https://www.premierstreetrod.com/det...nt_Window.html

Very nice, but also very expensive as you said. Maybe, if this would be a show-truck with goal to be the best, but with current budget, only in my dreams...

[mongocanfly]

how bad is your rust...most things can and have been repaired...some of us started with swiss cheese...but its always nice to have a nice rustedout free truck...

[concorde]

The cab looks like this (currently lifted out of frame into top of old trailer)



So basically all the lower part of the cab is quite badly rusted through.

The dilemma is, that all the parts can be bought new, but e.g. fenders are 400+$ a piece and there's full rust-free trucks being sold with 1000$...

[mongocanfly]

yeah that looks like a parts truck..you would be better off with another cab...are your plans to build it back as a big truck or are you looking at building a pickup truck...and around here there are no rust free cabs for $1000..and on the fenders like are on your truck..I'm not aware of any reproduction (new) fenders for a 6400 series...as far as I know only the smaller truck fenders are available. .

[concorde]

I'm planning to build first something like this without a bed:



and later on maybe a small flatbed into it.

I have browsed through old chevy parts - sites, but I haven't realized if all those body/fender parts are actually for the smaller 3000 - series trucks? When I was talking about ~1000$ trucks, I mean something like these below. They might have ugly looks, but still all the body panels should be quite solid with only surface rust on them:

http://topclassiccarsforsale.com/che...400-truck.html
http://topclassiccarsforsale.com/che...rear-axle.html

And sorry if I'm using wrong terms... in my world cab is everything from front grill to back of cab (including front fenders etc.)

[concorde]

Originally Posted by vintovka

Many larger AD trucks sit abandoned in and around central and northern CA farmlands.

I'm pretty sure there would be some hidden gems among those... If they're being sold, where I could find them? In Ebay or some Craiglist?

[vintovka]

May be tough to find as many are just "objects' in the view of landowners. Been there forever and due to interchangeability with smaller ADs largely ingnored. Many have been stripped of usable parts. Maybe a craigslist want ad with a clear picture of one?

[mongocanfly]

those are interestimg concorde .. I can't find much info on top classic cars but I think that's a auction site...I saw something about needing money after the auction...if that was the actual selling price I'd be buying them in a heartbeat..I've been casually looking for a large truck myself and most all that I've looked at usually sell in the $3-5000 range..

there's a craigslist search tool called "searchtempest"...pick out a zip code. say from Kansas, and put the search radius at 1500 miles.type what your looking for in and choose cars and trucks....it'll search all citys craiglist in that radius for whatever you put in....itll search ebay as well

[concorde]

Here would be something to aim for... Awesome truck!

https://classics.autotrader.com/clas...stom/100863923