Previous News

09/03/2003 - We're finally back online again. Sorry about the down time, but we finally did move. Not much progress on the truck lately. I did get around to updating the gallery index page, though it's still incomplete...seems a little more finished than the old page. Their's a few other things on the site I'd like to update/finish that I hope to get around to coming up.Hope everyone is doing well.

04/17/2003 - I finally got around to updating the left-hand menu today. If you haven't already, please check out the newest addition to the website, the 1947 - 1955 Truck & Panel Forum. Anyone may view the forums but sorry, only members may post or reply in the forums. If you would like to register to become a member, please go here. Becoming a member is free and their are no ads or spam to contend with. By the way, I finally got the passenger side fender stainless mouldings mounted and they look great. I hope I can find the rest of the mouldings shortly. I'll try to post some pictures soon but with moving and all soon, that might be delayed a bit. Happy Easter!

04/02/2003 - I haven't gotten around to updating the left hand menu yet but I thought I'd post the link to the 1947 - 1955 Truck & Panel Forum that has been added. I'm still working on the logo, so please bare with me while it's in it's infancy. An addition of live web chat simular to IRC is in the works, only you don't need IRC. All that is needed is a javascript compatible browser to chat. Hopefully, this will be availiable shortly.

On a good note, I thought I got ripped off $75 for a set of door window stainless mouldings but I got bailed out thanks to the Cottonwood Police Department in Arizona. I would have been ripped off if they hadn't intercepted my money order and mailed it back to me. The guy I mailed the money order to for the stainless mouldings, is being investigated for internet fraud.

03/30/2003 - Two more pages have been added to the how to section, Chevrolet Paint Chip Colors and Standard GMC Color Combinations. Both of these are the exact colors taken from the color chips. The colors should be fairly close to the originals, since paint chips fade and what not. I'm also going to be changing the left menu. While it will still look the same, I'm going to change some of the sections. Including the addition of a forum section for fellow truckers to share their tech tips and more.

Serveral of the items under the Accessories Available For 1947 - 1955 1st Series Trucks page have been corrected. Here are some of the corrections: "The stainless steel window moldings on the inside of the door were dropped midyear 1951 and never reappeared. The panel truck fender moldings did reappear on the 1954-1955 1st series trucks. The airplane style GMC hood ornament never appeared until about 1951-1952? it wasn't available for the 1947-50 models. There was a earlier GMC hood ornament that is in question, it was similar to a 1947 Oldsmobile ornament. The license plate surrounding molding, is actually a standard production item from a 1949 Chevrolet passenger car 3690351, they have been used on just about every kind of car and truck that was made in the forties and fifties". Special thanks to W.D. Foster for all the information.

There has been good news and bad news this month. The good news is that the original jack, 54/55 De Luxe vent window assemblies and the 3 passenger side De Luxe stainless fender strips should be arriving this next week. The bad news is both my mom & dad fell ill . I was going to update the website yesterday, but I was in the emergency room with my dad. He kept having sharp side pains that had been going on for almost two days now. It turned out it was only a kidney stone and nothing really serious. My mom had to go to another hospital due to a mental illness. She's had these problems before so it's not a big shock but I'm still going to miss her. She'll probably be their for 3 months or so before they'll release her.

The other bad news is I got ripped off for a set of stainless exterior door window mouldings. I mailed a P.O. money order over a month ago and still no mouldings have arrived. I've emailed the gentleman I bought them from over 4 times now with no replies. Guess sooner or later it was bound to happen. The most I can really do at this point is file a mail fraud compliant with the post office. Though, there's a pretty good chance, nothing will be done about it. O' and one last thing, I'm going to be moving in the next few months, which means their will be a point where this website will be down for a little while, while I switch from SBC to Verizon. I hope to keep this downtime minimal but it might be anywhere from a few days to a week. I'll keep ya posted on when exactly it will be down. Have a good one!

02/28/2003 - The site has been seriously updated including making the gallery section a bit more fancy,adding thumbnails to the gallery section, and adding more pictures to the welcoming door page. Several things have been added to the how to section including "Trailer For Two" Build Your Own Tear Drop Trailer and "An I.F.S Bolt-On" A Bolt-in IFS For 1947 - 1953 Trucks.

Also added are the two known Fulton Sun Shield Patents (there might be more) Fulton Sun Shield Patent Number 2,334,856 and Fulton Sun Shield Patent Number 2,470,477 And just to confuse you a little more, a few more items have been added (including pictures) to the Accessories Available For 1947 - 1955 1st Series Trucks page and more information has been added to the General Chevy & GMC Truck F.A.Q, which covers some basic information like what are the dimensions of 1/2 ton AD trucks, when 12 volts became available on trucks, etc.

As you might have noticed, the website has a new address and is a bit slower than before. I had to move from the other site due to disk space issues. So please update your bookmarks to http://53truck.ez15loan.com. While this site is slower, I have almost no disk space limitations. On a good note, we got our Leslie S-5T train horn several weeks ago. Sadly, it was improperly packaged from the gentleman I bought it from and got damaged during shipment from Virginia. We plan on fixing/rebuilding it and squeezing it between the radiator support and grille (nice and hidden). If all goes well, it will just barely fit and have a minimal effect on air flow to the radiator. While it's not really legal to put a train horn on a motorized vehicle we still plan on having a blast with it. Have a good one!

01/19/2003 - Sorry about the long time between updates. With the holidays and my primary transportation vehicle crapping out, I haven't done much on the truck. The original radio is almost mounted in the dash. The lower spacers where missing so I bought a pair of repo ones at Brothers. Now all I need are a set of stainless 1/2" fine threaded jam hex nuts for the upper section. Those size jam hex nuts have been fun finding, especially in stainless. Once we get the radio mounted, we'll try to post some more pictures. Sadly, we didn't make our dead line about getting those exterior door windows stainless before the end of the year but where still looking.

Their are going to be somethings added this year, including more pictures and a lot more information. I would also like to expand the how-to section into the Task Force year trucks. The website will be under some changes soon as well since I'm thinking about possibly changing the layout or consolidating some of the sections. Like making the wanted and for sale section the same and possibly adding a link/vendor section for those looking for aftermarket parts or other vintage truck sites. Better late than never so Happy New Year!

11/11/2002 - Looks like we might be getting an original radio in another week or two which would be really great. It's the correct year to, the 51 - 53 year radio with the flat back panel. It's been fairly hard to find one lately. Their seems to be a lot of the 47 - 50 year radios around though.

Hopefully, we can also find a decent set of outside door window stainless mouldings soon. Sorry, but the website how-to section won't have any updates for a while. Their is quite a bit unfinished, like the Frantz & accessories section, but time has been limited lately. I'll try to get some of it finished up before Christmas.

10/13/2002 - Got a 54/55 1st series clock. Actually, I got this quite a few months back, just haven't gotten around to updating the site lately. I'm looking at possibly modifying the clock housing & mounting it where the radio opening is. My radio opening isn't real bad but it is a bit butchered up & I can't seem to find a low cost original 51 - 53 truck radio. So, I'm thinking about putting the clock their & converting it to an electric clock, as the windup mechanism is a bit worn out. It takes a lot of winding before it starts to tick. Also, it would be really nice to have a clock in the truck, since GM didn't make a factory clock for 47 - 53 trucks, it just seems like it might be a good idea.

I also got an original 16 X 6", 6 lug rim, about a week ago, for the side mounted spare tire carrier. Figuring out where to mount the carrier on a 1/2 truck with the indented fender has turned out to be a bigger project than I originally thought. Fortunately, I was able to get some help off the Stovebolt forum, from a gentleman who use to make repo carriers for the auto part vendors like Jim Carter. He doesn't make them anymore but the side mounted carrier mounts about a 1/2" from the stake pocket. He also is selling me a few parts that my carrier is missing. I didn't know that their was a 12 X 1" sheet metal bracket that went across the bottom of the carrier & that their is a c-channel that helps support the bed angle. He says that these parts are usually missing & are very important to have. Some really good info, thanks Ray.

08/21/2002 - Finally did a few more site cosmetics. Going to be adding some more accessories in under the "How To" section. I also really need to finish the Frantz Oil Cleaner Instructions as well. It's been sitting unfinished way too long.

No real progress on the 53...I'm in a bit of a financial bind at the moment. Most of my play money has gone to pay bills. I would like really to find an decent original 16 x 6 rim for the side mounted spare or the outside door window stainless mouldings if at all possible. Financial problems just seen to be holding things up for a while.

06/28/2002 - No real updates on the old 53 truck. I finally made some site updates though. Added "Windshield Installation Made Easy" For 1947 - 1953 Trucks and added some more accessories items in the Accessories For 1947 - 1955 1st Series Trucks under the "How To Section".

06/05/02 - The grille frame arrived safe and sound last week thanks to Christopher Poolas. It came from New Jersey but the truck it came off of was originally from Arizona. He sent it to me for the cost of shipping...a really nice guy. Thank you. Where on the search now for a pair of outside door window stainless and a good non-working original AM radio. If you have any of them, please contact me via the "Contact Me" form.

No real major site updates...the "Image Gallery" section has been updated with the pictures I took when I got the truck. My wise and boring remarks will be added to their descriptions soon. We also got an N.O.S. chrome Kleenex holder that I would like to bolt to the back of the cab, between the two, soon to be, Mid 80's Cadillac bucket seats. I always hated having know place in my dad's 94 S10 to put any tissue or paper towels. We usually just keep a box on the floor behind the seat but it tends to slide around and is always on the wrong side of the truck when you need it. I really liked the 40's Chevrolet tissue holder but it's made out of plastic and with this being a truck and all, I didn't think it would last too long. Especailly, since I go out to the desert fairly often...it would probably dry out real bad and crack.

05/01/02 - We got the windshield stainless today and hope to get a complete grill frame soon. Mine was badly damaged by the previous owner. Also, the Teleoptic fog light has now been temporarily mounted. We're still in the search for another one, hopefully N.O.S. (New Old Stock).

04/23/02 - Cleaned up the "Gallery" section and added some larger pictures. I'll be reposting the previous pictures also in the larger versions a little later. I'll probably have to link them to another site though. I'm a bit strapped on space on this site.

04/21/02 - Got the lower grille baffle today at the Pomona swap meet. The one on the truck originally had about 85% of it cut away when the P.O. installed a different radiator. It was unsalvageable and trashed. The one I got needs some work but is very solid. I however am sad to say that I will not be going to the Pomona swap meet again. It was a major disappointment for the second year. I was in hopes of finding a decent original radio and came up with nothing. Their where hardly any truck parts their at all. I ran across a few Fulton Sun Shields, lower radiator baffles, a few hoods, a few deluxe burb/panel rear fenders (none of the deluxe trim where on them, bummer), some rear truck fenders, several grille guards and two big truck cattle guards. Most of them where very expensive and not in the greatest of shape. Most where fairly rusty but most of them had quite a bit of damage to them. If hadn't already bought my grille guard I would have bought the NOS one I ran across. Oh well.

04/12/02 - Added new pictures of the truck under the gallery section and to the for sale section. Made some minor site updates. Going to be getting an NOS Teleoptic 5 3/4" Fog Light Kit. Unfortunately, every things their but it's missing one fog light.

03/14/02 - Major web site update. Home page has been prettied up a bit. Added an "Accessories", "3 Window vs 5 Window Cab" and "Side Mounted Wheel Carrier" section under the "How To Section". Where trying to gather more info so if you have any for these trucks, please let us know. Please do not email me asking me how much I'm asking for items under the "Accessories Section". I have two of these items and they are not for sale. They are for my truck. The "Accessories Section" is only a reference section...nothing more. Haven't heard back from the gentleman I'm looking at buying the windshield stainless from. I hope he gets back with me soon.

03/09/02 - The email form is working working fine now from what I can tell. I got a the stainless interior door window mouldings this week and it looks like I might be getting the exterior windshield stainless mouldings as well. No real new updates to the web site though. I better get too it...

01/15/02 - Happy New Year! To start off the new year with a bang, I got an original side mounted wheel carrier and will be getting an original left rear indented fender. Also, I might be getting a rear roll pan with the license plate indentation. Brothers is having a sale on them right now...so we'll see. The top banner banner timing has been changed (again). It now changes every 120 seconds verse every 20 seconds. I noticed it was changing too quickly for those on modems. I would also like to beef up the "how to" section, so if anyone has any articles or truck related stuff to contribute, please let me know. I will give you full credit for it and post a link to your web site or your email address. I'm not interested in taking credit for other peoples work. I'll put the link on the bottom of the page, but I will put it where you want it for that page. My only requirement is that it must be put on my site. Sorry, I don't have time to chase down dead links to other sites or sites that have exceeded their bandwidth. I really would like any info on rare items, copies of original installation instructions and/or non-reproduced items. Also, I think my "contact me"email form is not working right now. I'll try to get it working right soon.

11/07/01 - New introduction page has been added to the entrance of the web site. Top part of menu now changes randomly every 20 seconds and when ever this site is reloaded. Nothing new for the old truck. Looking at possibly getting the external windshield and door window stainless mouldings.

10/16/01 - Added a few new links under the "How To Section". Added installation instructions for the original GMC outside sun visor. I'm currently working on the Frantz Oil Cleaner link, but it wont be working for a few weeks.

10/09/01 - Got some more of the site cleaned up. Cleaned up some more under the "How To Section". I would like to add a bed installation and how to convert to 12 volts section. I noticed, that for some reason, the site doesn't always come up? It seems to time out occasionally. If I hit refresh a few times it comes right up, not sure why. I would go back to Geocities but they have a max band width. I'll try to see if theirs anything I can do about it.

10/01/01 - The "Main Page" button has been changed to the "How To Section". I got tired of searching all over the internet for information on how to modify/upgrade my old truck. So I decided to start a section that has a vast amount of info in one central spot. I did not create any of these articles but have altered them to fit the sites formatting. Also, some where confusing because of the way they where laid out. I also got started with modifying the trucks ash tray. I removed the tray top piece that rubs the radio grille's skid plate. It made it very difficult to open and close the ash tray. I'm going to also remove the skid plate. I have already made a bracket to rivet to the back side of the tray to use as a stop so it doesn't fall out when opening it, but I'm not sure how to keep it from opening at random. I'm either thinking of useing a magnet or making the ash tray nob a pull out and turn latch. But, I guess I wont full know until I get their. I like the magnet idea but I think that any metal pieces put in the ash tray (such as any coins) will want to cling to it.

09/05/01 - The drive train that someone put in this truck appears to be from a late 50's Bel Air. The 283 engine had a cracked block and has been trashed. The rear differential is about 2" not wide enough and the tires have been rubbing the inside of the wheel well. Who ever installed in didn't measure for the 1" clearance between the inside of the wheel well and the inside of the tire. The tranny is possibly a power glide, not sure. It has a lot of surface cracks on the outer housing and has a cracked ear. Probably going to see if I could get a few bucks for it was it. It worked fine but I'm not sure what condition the guts are in. Since then, I've gotten a late 70's 350 motor out of a junk yard. I hope it's has 4 bolt mains as the cast number is know help since they used the same cast number for both 2 and 4 bolt mains for this particular year engine. If it's not 4 bolt mains then I'll have to trade it in or something when getting it rebuilt as 2 bolt mains wont handle the horsepower and torque I want it to thrive on. The plans are to convert it to a MPFI 383 stroker motor with a TH700-R4 tranny. Down fall to the whole thing is theirs know one around here road worthy to race when the truck is finished...bummer.

09/04/01 - This site is the newest thing so far. Progress is slow as I'm very busy and short on funds. This site is far from complete but much like the truck, its getting their. It might get even slower, as I'm interested in buying a 1959 Cadillac Coupe De Ville. The owner is asking a lot for it considering it's mostly complete but most of it is worn out, so I dunno if its worth the money or not...oh well...only time will tell. It's worn out but could possibly suit a daily driver until my truck is finished, then I'll completely rebuild it as well. Still seems a bit pricey at 6,000 beans for it's shape though. 21,924 of these where ever produced in 1959.