My '46 Chevy Pickup - The Innaugural Pre '47 Thread!

[Dan in Pasadena]

Hello to any fellow pre '47 owners that may be here. I first posted about my then new-to-me 1946 Chevy pickup back in August '09 on the '47-54 board. I wondered if I would be asked to leave by a moderator but everyone was very welcoming. I am honored to be (apparently?) the first poster to this new board.

After having restored an older Porsche 911S and selling it to an exporter who sent it to The Netherlands, I went looking for a '55-'59 or a '67-'68 Chevy shortbed. A friend found this '46 and I thought it was just too old for me, frankly. I'd had a '57 project truxk I lost in the divorce of my 20 year marriage 10 years ago so that's what I really want to replace. I looked at this truck three times before deciding to buy it.

It has an excellent running,mildly cammed 350/350 engine/trans combo, and a Jag fully independent rear suspension with inboard disc's, up front it has disc's as well. The truck shows no rust that I've found yet and I suspect that it was assembled from rust free parts from other trucks of the same years: '41-46. My cab is a '41 as it has the pot metal rear window frame that I understand was unique to the one year of this model run. THe only thing I've done to it since buying it is buy a bunch of weatherstripping and windpow channel parts, bought a windshield regualtor which I rebuilt (but haven't installed yet, and I had the truck professionally re-wired. The wiring had been a nightmade.

Anyway, enough blabbing. Here's some pix. I'm really looking forward to this board taking off as Stovebolt.com doesn't allow direct posting of photos and doesn't get nearly the traffic of this site.

[Dan in Pasadena]

...a couple of detail pictures. The original seat that was in it was a MESS....no, worse than that, it could ACTUALLY put a steel spring in your rearend! I actually put a folding aluminum camping chair in it the first weekend so I could drive it "safely". Later I bought a 3rd row bench seat from a Dodge Ram 12 passenger van. I have since bought an original underseat gas tank sheet metal surround and found better original seat frames but frankly, the bench seat from the van is very comfortable. Haven't decided what to do yet.

The tailgate is from a '40. I understand correct tailgates are blank, but I like the script better, so I'm keeping it. It's not like thetruck is a restoration project.

The rims are off a '51-'52 Chevy car. I actually lost one of the caps early on and managed to find a replacement set on CL! I picked the best of them to replace my existing set.

All comments welcomed, Dan

[Liz]

Dan thanks for sharing! Congrats on being the first post. That is a bad ride. Love the way it looks

[Kabwe]

Must be nice and make you feel very important to have a message board all to yourself.lol Nice truck Dan and I'm sure others will join you soon. I'm glad they made the board, but I hope this does not mean you will not visit us in the 47-59 board.

[Myself]

Nice!! I have a '46 too, but mine is in surface rusted original condition sitting in the neighbors field, lol. I hope to start it in the next couple of years. Too many projects, not enough time. I'm seriously considering an Infinity 32v 4.5 v8 swap with mine.

[Dan in Pasadena]

Holy Moly Liz, 22 THOUSAND posts?!

Kabwe, I feel more honored that you guys responded so quickly than by having my own (temporary) board. And Kabwe, your truck just flat rocks. Man, I wish I had your fabrication chops. I love reading updates on your work. I won't be leving he 47-59 board, to be honest, that's where my heart really is. I like my truck a lot. I think it will be fun to own it and build it, but I want a '55-'57 again really badly.

Myself, Get that old girl up outta the field! I need someone here to talk with. I've managed to make a few contacts via Craigslist and Stovebolt so I've managed to acquire the windshield regulator I mentioned, some glove box hinges and some interior window trim. I'm now searching for the center and rear headliner bows. If you know of a source for these in good used condition, please let me know. And even if you don't get the old girl out of that field soon, let's at least see some pictures, okay?

[1956cameo]

Congrats on breaking in the new message board! I love the Art Deco style chevy trucks.

[nickp51chevy]

I glad to see that the system works and now we have a place here for the much older trucks. That's totally awesome that you were fortunate to be the first poster the this new section.

I agree with you about the tailgate. I like the script also, and oddly enough the Cali plate matches it also

If you don't mind I've never seen pix of a Jag rear end; could you take some pix of that to put up?

[Todd68Chevy]

I am glad to see they added pre-47 also. I love my 68 Chevy but I am also working on a 1946 Chevy to take to the street rod meets. Good looking truck. I wish mine was drivable and looking that good. Todd

[special-K]

YEY!!! A forum for the forefathers of all GM haulers.The coolest of the cool!

Nice truck there.

[Dan in Pasadena]

Thank you guys for all the kind remarks. I'm glad there's a pre-'47 board now too. If and when the guys on Stovebolt hear about it I suspect they'll come over in bunches.

I've got pix of the Jag rearend on my other pc, I'll upload what I've got later. Jag rearends in streetrods was "high tech" in the 60's and 70's. I guess it's not done as much now. I think Vette rearends have kinda taken their place. The nice part is the center section is a Dana 44 I've been told and it's 5 lugs on the old 4-3/4" pattern, so rims are no issue.

[Dan in Pasadena]

Oh and P.S. Of the really early trucks the '39-'40 front end is my favorite. I always thought of the '41-'46 as a bit of an ugly duckling! Till I bought one of course. Now "...it's so ugly it's cute..." as my girlfriend says. So I won't be offended if it's not someone else's cup of tea. All opinions are still welcome. - Dan

[special-K]

The Deco grille is awesome.What a personality! My favorite is the`37.

[rwolf9653]

Nice truck!

I agree 100%, that scripted tailgate is awesome!

[Dan in Pasadena]

Originally Posted by nickp51chevy

...If you don't mind I've never seen pix of a Jag rear end; could you take some pix of that to put up?

These two are all I currently have. I apologize in advance - they're lousy shots. They were taken the first week I had the truck and I hadn't even pressure washed the undercarriage yet. By summer, I will take the bed off and detail and paint the rear portion of the frame, rearend, etc. The truck's brakes work fine but the rear rotors are scored and need to be changed. I assume I have to completely disassemble the half shafts to get the rotors out and replaced(?)

Whoever installed this used the original factory carrier to install it. It works fine but is not as attractive as the street rodder approach which does away with the factory carrier. I'm not certain how they do it - I think just a square tube cross member over a boxed frame section, but however they do it you can see the whole rearend much more clearly and in most street rods, they chrome plate the center section and half shafts, backing plates, the whole thing. It's LOOKS great but I doubt I'll do mine. Maybe late in its life with me as a last touch or something.

[Kabwe]

Originally Posted by Dan in Pasadena

Kabwe, I feel more honored that you guys responded so quickly than by having my own (temporary) board. And Kabwe, your truck just flat rocks. Man, I wish I had your fabrication chops. I love reading updates on your work. I won't be leving he 47-59 board, to be honest, that's where my heart really is. I like my truck a lot. I think it will be fun to own it and build it, but I want a '55-'57 again really badly.

I don't know what to say to that other than thank you very much and I'm glad you enjoy my build page.

I really like your truck and I would love to get my hands on one of them.

[nickp51chevy]

Thanks for posting the pix. That rear end does look pretty bad a$$.

[Driveway Dreams]

Nice looking build! I will try and get the 38 I am building with my good buddy THE UGLY (Jason) posted up this weekend. It is his truck but he can't seem to post pictures of anything...ever. It is sitting mid chop for now. But there are some big, or little depending on how you look at them, plans for that one. So glad we finally got this section!

[tnblazerk5]

great lookin truck ya got there !!!!

[Dan in Pasadena]

Thank you guys.

And to Kabwe, I will have to post some pictures of the way the '40 tailgate and the '46 bed side do not work together. Clearly I will have to fab a mod and I'm curious about your opinion of it.

As I said in one of the other THREE(!!) threads now on this board, I recently bought a used Hobart 140 MIG welder and of course I am itching to use it on something beside my fence project at home. I don't know how to weld, but I intend to teach myself on scrap. I welded stick 25 years ago but haven't done any since.

By the weekend I should be able to take some pictures and post them here. Basically, the '40 tailgate has "ears" that the tailgate chains are supposed to go through along with going through the bed side, but they do not align. I either have to add coinciding "ears" onto the bedside, or cut the ears off the tailgate and make slots in the tailgate sheet metal to coincide with the slots on the bedside.

Another option is to do away with the tailgate chains altogether and go with one of the other latch systems I've seen. Mar-K's system coes to mind. Does anyone know of another good (cheap! ha...ha...) system on the market? I will have to get some measurements to see what can be made to work cleanly. I kinda like the idea of keeping the truck MOSTLY stock appearing, but this mod would be done to keep the chains from damaging the (eventual) nice paint job.

[tnblazerk5]

Originally Posted by Dan in Pasadena

Thank you guys.

And to Kabwe, I will have to post some pictures of the way the '40 tailgate and the '46 bed side do not work together. Clearly I will have to fab a mod and I'm curious about your opinion of it.

As I said in one of the other THREE(!!) threads now on this board, I recently bought a used Hobart 140 MIG welder and of course I am itching to use it on something beside my fence project at home. I don't know how to weld, but I intend to teach myself on scrap. I welded stick 25 years ago but haven't done any since.

By the weekend I should be able to take some pictures and post them here. Basically, the '40 tailgate has "ears" that the tailgate chains are supposed to go through along with going through the bed side, but they do not align. I either have to add coinciding "ears" onto the bedside, or cut the ears off the tailgate and make slots in the tailgate sheet metal to coincide with the slots on the bedside.

Another option is to do away with the tailgate chains altogether and go with one of the other latch systems I've seen. Mar-K's system coes to mind. Does anyone know of another good (cheap! ha...ha...) system on the market? I will have to get some measurements to see what can be made to work cleanly. I kinda like the idea of keeping the truck MOSTLY stock appearing, but this mod would be done to keep the chains from damaging the (eventual) nice paint job.

i have seen and used the seatbelt ends (metal parts ) to keep a tail gate closed sorry i dont have any pics
just weld the male part to the tail gate and the female part to the bedside , i have also seen sum peps use the seatbelt(metal part and belt itself with another floor end sewed to the belt part ) that bolts to the floor used as a stop to keep the tail gate from falling down to far

[Kabwe]

Originally Posted by Dan in Pasadena

Oh and P.S. Of the really early trucks the '39-'40 front end is my favorite. I always thought of the '41-'46 as a bit of an ugly duckling! Till I bought one of course. Now "...it's so ugly it's cute..." as my girlfriend says. So I won't be offended if it's not someone else's cup of tea. All opinions are still welcome. - Dan

Ugly! If these are ugly then I must be nuts because I think they look sweet. Man I'd take one these any day. Just drop yours off buddy and I'll be happy to take it.lol




Those are my style, but for the stock people.

[Dan in Pasadena]

Kabwe, You would find THE most awesome versions of my truck. The green and red mettalic ones are to die for. My girlfriend likes the red one best. I''m torn. They both are outrageously nice. Any chance you can post bigger version of those pictures? I'd like to save them.

[Kabwe]

Originally Posted by Dan in Pasadena

Kabwe, You would find THE most awesome versions of my truck. The green and red mettalic ones are to die for. My girlfriend likes the red one best. I''m torn. They both are outrageously nice. Any chance you can post bigger version of those pictures? I'd like to save them.

My personal favorite would be the BlackCherry one but without the sun visor. I don't like sun visors. Then it would be the one your girl friend likes. I found them on the net for you to give you an idea of what you have. I don't have any bigger pics. I'm glad you like them.

[Dan in Pasadena]

Well, I love them all. The metal work would have to be arrow straight for these colors. Nothing but pure manhours to achieve that.

I agree on not being a fan of visors. I still don't have any firm ideas on my truck's eventual color. I am trying very hard to follow a self developed protocol of Safety first: Brakes, electrical, etc. Reliability second - changing all the fluids, filters, belts, hoses, etc. Complete-ness third, and appearance last. I don't have space for a derelict in my driveway so I need to keep it running as much as possible while I build it.