69 Custom 30 wrecker restoration

[bobs409]

This thread will showcase the restoration of a 1969 Custom 30 wrecker!

The Purchase

This is my latest toy, a 1969 Custom 30 wrecker. This truck came into a local junkyard and when I initially asked about it (only to buy parts from it), the owner said he wasn’t sure what he wanted to do with it yet so I just put it out of my mind. It sat for a few weeks and I would see it on my weekly visits to this yard but then one day I noticed it was gone. While down in the yard looking for parts, I spotted it way down in the corner. I got over to it and noticed someone had gotten some interior parts; door panels, arm rests, sun visors, etc. I found a few parts which I bought myself; 4bbl air cleaner, door vent shades, radio knobs, wipers, etc.. At that point, I never even considered actually buying the whole thing! (I had 8 antique cars/trucks as it was) That was a Friday but from that point through the weekend, I couldn’t stop thinking about it. It was driving me crazy! I decided to see if I could buy the whole thing and restore it back to its former glory. The 1969 Chevy trucks are and have always been my absolute favorite so why not a tow truck to add to my collection?

Monday couldn’t get there fast enough so I went to find out very early that morning. It was bitter sweet as they yard owner did agree to sell it to me IF they still had the title. I went back every other day or so checking and finally I got the good news, the title was located! I had almost given up hope by that point which was the following Friday.

I still had no idea how much this was going to cost me but I’m a regular customer there and the yard owner gives me good deals so I took a chance. In addition, he told me he had a soft spot for the truck and had considered having it restored because his first tow truck was very similar to this one. I knew he would be glad to know someone would fix it and was hoping it would help the purchase cost situation.

I had $800 in my mind as a starting point and about $1,200 as an absolute maximum! Things worked out perfectly as he told me he wanted $1,000 and that would include delivery to my house and I could get some parts from another C30 that was there at no charge. I didn’t even bother trying to haggle. The deal was made!

The next day, (Saturday) I paid for my new ride and they hauled it to my house on a rollback. I’ll got to drive behind the roll back most of the way, watching my rusty tow truck riding high atop of the roll back. I couldn’t help thinking to myself, “What the hell was I doing?” but kept telling myself I was doing the right thing.

Anyone that is familiar with junkyards will know that most of them haul cars around with front end loaders that have forks on the front. That’s ok for junkers but not something you want to have done to a truck your going to drive someday. The forks did quite a lot of damage; bent the rear driveshaft section, put a hole in the transmission case, busted a door mirror and mangled a fender.

The day I went to get it, I got to watch my truck being slowly moved through a maze of cars, hanging off of those forks, way up in the air. I wish I had my camera but truthfully, it’s a sight I won’t ever forget. It looked happy to be getting out of there though with its big smile like grill. Again I found myself thinking, “What the hell am I doing?”

As luck would have it, the weather was lousy. Temps were about 20 degrees and a bit windy with a few snow flurries but that wasn’t going to stop me from playing with my new toy. While I sure wasn’t going to break out the garden hose and wash it, I did remove some junk from it and gave it a good look over making some notes and doing some planning. I even got it running that first day. The gas smelled old so I fed the engine fresh gas intravenously through a funnel attached near the fuel pump.

As soon as the gas hit the carb, it roared to life! It sure ran quiet and best of all, no smoke! I was very surprised to see the automatic choke and fast idle still worked as they should. (up until this point, I did not hear it run but was told they got it running at the junkyard and that it ran very good) Checking the numbers shows this to be the original engine.

While the trucks brake system was not working due to a broken line, I still got to drive it around a dirt lot next to my house. It drove great! It’s funny how a vehicle that sat so long and looked so bad could run and drive so nice. A few weeks later, I even hooked up a parts car I have and towed it around the lot just for fun. I used to work at a local garage and often towed cars with a 79 Chevy wrecker so it brought back a few nice memories for me. The truck towed that 68 Chevelle parts car around without missing a beat. It may be old and rusty but could still haul the freight!

The Plan

Right from the start, I knew that I wanted to restore this truck to factory new condition. Sure, it’s tempting to go custom with all kinds of chrome goodies and upgrades but I’m more of an “original” type of guy when it comes to old Chevy’s. Call me a purist.

First off, I needed to learn all I could about the truck. It was quite obvious that someone named Vic owned it and had a body shop since it was painted all over it, LOL. When I paid for the truck, I got a peek at the title and it was the original and in Vic’s name. Very cool I thought! (I’m usually at least the 6th owner when I get a vehicle!) In the glove compartment I found the original owners manual with protect-o-plate that had his name & body shop address. It also listed the Chevy dealer it sold new at which is 5 miles away from me. It was sold as a conversion cab so it was just a cab without a box when new and the wrecker portion was added by a company from NJ. (more on that later…)

I did some searching on the net and found this body shop was only a few miles from me but I never heard of it and to my knowledge, never saw this truck before. (I bet we crossed paths at some point in our lives on the roads here in northeast PA)

I learned Vic had gone out of business and was selling all his trucks and odds/ends. I also learned of a person locally that had asked Vic about buying this truck on numerous occasions and Vic always told him what a good truck it was and he wanted $3,000 for it. Needless to say, that was too much so no one ever bought it and it sat outside next to the body shop for a long time.

Not sure what made him eventually sell it to a junkyard, I bet it wasn’t easy for him but in this case, I’m glad he did. Fate brought us together.  I had considered contacting Vic but decided not too. I made the same considerations with other antique cars I own but always decided not to bother the previous owners not knowing if they would appreciate it. Maybe when it’s all shiny new again I’ll show it to Vic.

Another area I wanted to learn about was the wrecker body. It wasn’t hard to see it was called “Wreck-Master” with its large decals displaying proudly. Doing a search for this name on the net turned up nothing! All I found was a company named “Wreckmaster” that does certification for tow truck drivers but they had nothing to do with building wreckers.

About all I know about Wreck-Master wreckers at this point is they were sold by E.F. Wegener company of N.J. I can find no other information on that company so I can only assume they went out of business years ago. I did find a picture of a magazine article for this brand, the latest showing a mid 70’s Chevy.

I did learn this wrecker body is model 410 from a metal tag found in the glove compartment which basically means it’s a 4 ton model. (single boom) If anyone reading this can offer any info on this brand of wrecker, please contact me. I would love to see original sales ads, literature or anything showing specification, operating guide and prices.

The plan is to completely disassemble the whole truck and rebuild it piece by piece from the ground up. I recently started to take the wreckers “business end” apart as can be seen in the last 2 photos below.

I removed about 10 pounds of dirt & rust, an old broom handle, rotting wood and what not from the top of the bed and gave it a vacuuming. This made it look much better already! I took some of the boom apart and removed the home made tool box. While the tool box is not original, I consider it “vintage” so I think I will reinstall it to store the J hook chains and other items in later.

Once all the mess was cleaned up, I could start to see how the body was put together. The floor is diamond plate steel (1/8” thick) and made up from 5 pieces not including the wheel tubs. I will have to replace some of the front floor section due to rot but will be very easy to do.

The sides and top rail caps are made from 1/8 inch sheet steel so I will be replacing much of that with new due to rot or heavy rust. The rear part where the tail lights mount is much thicker, it’s 3/16” and will need the lower 3 inches replaced.

All in all, the box will be fairly easy to rebuild. Finding the metal is proving to be a bit difficult in my area however.

From the cab forward will be disassembled and all parts either refurbished or replaced. I plan on installing a one piece floor pan with all new mounts and braces, new cab corners and outer rockers. One fender is fixable and I have located a good used one to replace the bad one. I have new door skins just waiting to address that area.

The interior on this truck is a bit challenging. 1969 had a special maroon color interior option that is very hard to find used and NOT reproduced. Luckily I managed to find most of the original parts that were taken off the truck while it was in the junkyard. All I am missing is the sun visors and clips. 1969 had a one year only special door panel design and I was happy to find the originals.

The seat I learned had some changes done to it. Custom trucks came with cloth inserts in the seat. This now has vinyl inserts. I guess it’s not easy being a seat in a wrecker! No one is reproducing the maroon so finding a new seat cover will be challenging as will a dash pad and floor mat, all of which are maroon in color.

Mechanically, the truck will simply be rebuilt and restored to new condition. I will make no upgrades or changes. It runs great and even if it does only have 49,000 original miles (not confirmed), it is still 42 years old so I will tear the engine down for inspection and at the very least, replace rings and bearings, etc. If needed, a complete rebuild will be done.

The pictures give this truck the appearance that it is red but in fact, its original color is a red-orange shade. (dash area in photo shows original color) Being a purist, I will go with that original reddish-orange but would prefer a basic red color myself.

I have mentioned staying original with this build and will for most of it however there are a few items I may change or add. I have located a rubber sling type lift for the back to replace the strange looking hunk of steel it came with. While I won’t be towing many cars, I may have to “rescue” one of my antique Chevys some day and I sure don’t want to use that against any of my bumpers!

Another item I located from a wrecker found in a junkyard is a hand crank winch for raising/lowering the boom height. While this wrecker only had a stationary cable and the boom stayed in one position, adding the adjustable feature will allow me to get this thing under my car port! LOL

Lastly, I found a hydraulic brake line lock in another wrecker that I think I will add. Most wreckers would have these added for safety but mine never did. It mounts under the dash and plumbs into the brake lines. It works by locking the trucks brakes on by pulling out a handle. This will be nice to keep the truck from rolling if I ever do tow a car. This will be much safer than trusting only the emergency brake.

While I do have the wrecker body and workings to deal with that most truck restorers do not, I look at the bright side. At least I don’t have to buy bumpers! LOL. No tail gate or pickup bed parts needed either.

I look forward to going full steam with the tear down this spring. I am just waiting for warmer weather. I will post more pictures and continue with this “novel” as I progress.


Thanks for reading!

[no moa]

I freekin love it!!!!! There is a 69 up here for $1300 292 4 speed. Never dared call, cause i'm outta space!!! lol

[propanemudtruck]

Best of luck restoring this truck, there's a c50 wrecker in the area that I've had my eyes on for about 5 years, but I really need to get all other projects together before I ever go look to make an offer...

[ChevLoRay]

Always was a sucker for wreckers, but never owned one. Got all I can do to restore my '69 1/2-ton. Good luck on yours. I like it.

[MARKDTN]

Really neat. You may consider talking to the people at the Towing and Recovery museum here in Chattanooga.

http://www.internationaltowingmuseum.org

Someone there probably knows about the body and can tell you more. If it was a Holmes, I could get you more info myself.

[Swiftshifter68]

Hey, if you need a rebuilt Q-Jet for your engine, let me know. I've had this '74 Pontiac unit for a couple years, taking up space on my shop shelf. You can have it, just pay for USPS flat rate box to get it to ya'. Good luck with your build, looks really neat!


---==Temio Williams
Yuba City, CA

[GmtGmt]

Wow great story i like these kind of storys looking forward to see more

[fun in dirt]

Nice find...wreckers are so cool!
There is a '69 white wrecker in the local junkyard I frequent & i'm pretty sure it had the maroon interior (but maybe orange?). It's been pretty much stripped over the years but I'll look & see if it still has the visors & clips for you.

[bobs409]

Thanks! That would be great to cross those off of my needs list.

[bobs409]

Originally Posted by MARKDTN

Really neat. You may consider talking to the people at the Towing and Recovery museum here in Chattanooga.

http://www.internationaltowingmuseum.org

Someone there probably knows about the body and can tell you more. If it was a Holmes, I could get you more info myself.

Thanks. I sent them an email but haven't heard from them yet.

[bobs409]

Originally Posted by Swiftshifter68

Hey, if you need a rebuilt Q-Jet for your engine, let me know. I've had this '74 Pontiac unit for a couple years, taking up space on my shop shelf. You can have it, just pay for USPS flat rate box to get it to ya'. Good luck with your build, looks really neat!


---==Temio Williams
Yuba City, CA

Thanks but that's one thing I don't need. It still has it's original carb that I will rebuild.

[MARKDTN]

Originally Posted by bobs409

Thanks. I sent them an email but haven't heard from them yet.

Let me know if you don't hear anything. I know some people down there.

[bobs409]

Not a peep.

Originally Posted by MARKDTN

Let me know if you don't hear anything. I know some people down there.

[bobs409]

Now that we're moving out of the arctic temps, I got ALOT of the truck torn down.

Cab has more rot than I would like to deal with but so far I've decided to keep it and fix it.

I've also been busy hitting the local junkyards for parts. Scored a pair of "repro" inner fenders. Yep, used repro parts are showing up in the yards I guess. (I even brought home 1 perfect outer fender however that won't be used on this truck) I found a perfect fan shroud to replace the broken one, a pair of nice mirror heads and a rust free hood. Still searching for some diamond plate steel to do some box repair. It's a specific "football" shaped pattern so not easy to find.

Now I'm just waiting on spring Carlisle so I can get all the new sheetmetal parts I need. First jobs on my list are rebuilding the cab with a brand new floor, cab corners, lower kick panels & door jams as well as top cowl panel. I'll also be sandblasting the frame and tearing down the engine to inspect. If it needs machine work, it will head out for that.

The first pics show the wrecker boom parts getting removed. Both the winch and the boom upright piece are God awful heavy! More so than they look.

Got the front clip off and amazingly, most bolts on the front clip just turned right out easily, even those pesky fender well bolts with the U-nuts that ALWAYS spin! Only 2 gave me trouble but were no match for my sawzall.

Seems to be going fast and the "parts to be done" pile is growing.

Engine and trans comes out today and I will start sandblasting some of the small parts and put them in storage.

Here's what it looks like now. Front bumper is fully welded on so that's staying put! Engineless pics to come next...

[no moa]

Good start! You a lucky man going to spring carlile, I'd luv to find a cab down there. But to far for me
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[bobs409]

Lots has happened over the past week. I've been working full steam on the tear down. First off was to pull the engine and transmission. Engine is now in the garage on the engine stand and will soon be taken apart for inspection. Seems to be way too much grease and grime to be 49K original so it's probably 149K after all. (not that it matters too much to me, I love it just the same)

Transmission will not be taken apart. I will put it on another engine stand and completely degrease and detail it. I will also have to fix a hole on the bottom of the case put there by the junkyard loaders forks.

I removed all the parts bolted to the inside of the cab such as speedometer cluster, dash pad, glove box, etc and parts on the outside like brake booster, oil gauge line, heater parts, etc.

All parts that are to be sand blasted and refinished were placed into one box and parts not needing attention at this time were placed into another box and stored. Through all of this work I am slowly chipping away at all the small parts that need to visit the sand blast cabinet.

First the parts go to the parts washer, then to the sand blast cabinet, then outside for a coat of etch prime. I will not apply any finish coats until I'm ready to install these parts. That way I don't have to worry about scratching anything while in storage. Oh yeh, after the prime coat they get put into box #3, "the DONE parts."

So this leads me to yesterday when I got about 6 solid hours of work in. This day I started to get the cab seperated from the frame. To my surprise, the rear body mount bolts simply turned right out! Front ones were not so kind so I introduced them to the business end of my sawzall. lol

The windshield unfortunately is milky at the bottom so not good enough for a restored vehicle. Very sad as there are no stone chips or wiper marks in it and it's a fully tinted version matching the rest of the glass. While I won't be reinstalling this one, I used it as a practice piece to try and remove it without breaking it. Success!

Next I next removed the emergency brake and the clutch/brake pedal set up.

Now it was time to winch the truck into a good position to remove the seat and gas tank. Not easy working in my new carport, a bit tight side to side with my 69 Chevelle in there too but I will make do.

With the help of my engine hoist and a few jacks, I quickly got the cab up to get some doubled up 2X4's under it. Notice the custom holes I cut into the rear cab corners to feed the wood through. I won't have that luxury for the re-install so will have to devise a new method for when that time comes. That's where I ended yesterday.

Today I will continue to lift the cab until I can roll the frame back out from under it. The cab will be lowered to about 12 inches off the ground for safety and I will then remove the rear window and start a bit of metal work. I sure have my work cut out for me on this cab! I've decided to fix it come hell or high water and once I set my mind to something...

Here's 5 pics. 3 more in next reply.

[bobs409]

Here's the other 3 pics:

Much more to come...

[Pop's C-10]

I love tha bumpers on those wreckers..

[no moa]

Nice work! I spent 2 days working like you did but on my 72 shorty. I'm still searching from rear leaf shackles for my wrecker. They have holes right through them.

Keep up the good work!
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[kyull67]

Can't wait for this one, going to be awesome!

[FRENCHBLUE72]

Im in not too many of these old wreckers being restored these days..

[coops714x4]

My hat is off to you sir, glad to see someone who loves these old trucks restoring a wrecker just remember this not only are you restoring a piece of automotive history you are also preserving local history and memory's just wish I lived closer so I could give you a hand. oh if the seat cover is not being reproduced I have a upholstery guy who is very good a matching and restoring old seats hes VERY good!! another follower- Coop

[tow guys]

Lookin good Bob. Jim and I spent last weekend finally starting to put stuff back on our wrecker. The front end is together and back on it's wheels. I'm hoping you catch up (and pass us) so we can learn a bunch from yours lol.
Keep up the great work!

Tony

[bobs409]

Woohoo! Found some decent sheetmetal at the EZ pull today.
I got the whole dash and firewall section! It was easier to cut that way and I only paid $30 for it. My handy dandy Harbor Freight battery powered sawzall did the trick.

I will probably remove the inner kick panels and the inside cowl area from this chunk and install into my cab. The firewall and the dash will also be removed but will be sold. All said and done, I'll end up making money on it.

[bobs409]

Originally Posted by coops714x4

oh if the seat cover is not being reproduced I have a upholstery guy who is very good a matching and restoring old seats hes VERY good!! another follower- Coop

Thanks, I may take you up on that later!


tow guys: I have a long way to go. You'll be on your second oil change by the time this is on the road.