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

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.

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

...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

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

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

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

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.

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

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.

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

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?

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

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

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

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 :lol:

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?

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

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

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

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

Nice truck there.

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

Nice truck!

I agree 100%, that scripted tailgate is awesome!

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

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.

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

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.

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

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

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

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!

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

great lookin truck ya got there !!!!

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

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.

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

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

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

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

http://carphotos.cardomain.com/ride_...0105_large.jpg
http://carphotos.cardomain.com/ride_...0108_large.jpg
http://carphotos.cardomain.com/ride_...0106_large.jpg
Those are my style, but for the stock people.
http://carphotos.cardomain.com/ride_...0109_large.jpg

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

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.

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

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.:metal: I don't have any bigger pics. I'm glad you like them.

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

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.

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

Dan,

I forgot to tell you, you have a nice little welder. I have a Hobart 180 and love it. Your Hobart 140 will take care of all your sheetmetal needs. Get you a bottle of gas (if you don't already have one) and you are good to go. If you need any tips feel free to PM me.

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

Man im gonna be watching this one close. I love these old trucks, wish i could find on in this good of shape. Good luck on your build keep at it.

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

Kabwe, thanks for the positive on the Hobart. I bought it from a guy on Garagejournal.com who had only bought it new last October then bought a bigger, 220v unit. I don't have a bottle and can use your recommendation where to buy one, what size and which gas for sheet metal work? I need to patch about 8-10 holes in the firewall of varying sizes. I THINK I've read my body is 18 gage, is that probably correct? Where is the best/cheapest place to get a small amount of flat sheet in matching gage (I assume that's critical?). What fasteners do you recommend I use to gold the small hole patches in place while I weld them in?

Oh, and I do intend to practice on some scrap sheet metal if I can find a fender or something cheap to play with.

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

Let me try to answer all your questions
1. Mig welding gas (75% Argon, 25% CO2). You can buy it at a welding supply (don't go to airgas they are crazy) the bottle is expensive but its yours and you just keep refilling it. Size depends on how much you weld you make the judgment.
2. Sheetmetal I use 18 gauge its easy to find. I go to a metal supply and pick up their scraps for cheap.
3. Fasteners depends on what I'm welding. To fill holes like your talking about I have some welding magnets to hold it while I tack it in place. Sometime you have to be creative when it come to holding stuff in place there are no rules.lol
4. You don't need a fender to practice, just get that 18 gauge cut some scraps and practice welding them together.
5. For sheetmetal welding I use .023 wire. You can use other wire sizes but thats what I like.
6. Learn how to tune your welder to the metal thickness you will be welding. The recommended settings on your welder are close and will do fine most of the time, but I always tune my welder.
I think I answered all your questions.

Oh important tip: Never and I mean never try to run a bead on sheetmetal, you will warp the metal. Use a series of tack welds keeping the metal as cool as possible.

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

Gotcha on all the things you recommend. Especially the idea of picking up some scraps from a metal supply yard. I'll have to see what's local to Pasadena; there's got to be one.

I hadn't thought of the magnets, but DUH, of course that makes sense. Are the cheapo ones at Harbor Freight worth buying or are they crap? Can Harbor Freight screw up a magnet? I use HF for what I call "dumb tools" - rubber mallets, bungee cords, and I would include magnets, but maybe I'm wrong.

The welder came loaded with flux core wire....I'll have to check but I THINK it's .030...does that sound right to you? THe guy I bought it from demo'd it for me welding some 1" square tubing.

Last, I know about only using tack welds, BUT...how long to wait between tacks? When welding small dia. patches it would seem the tacks are so close together it'd bebest to have multiple patches going and move from one to another.

What's your opinion of hammering the tacks immediately? This dos what? Minimize the need for grinding? Or should I skip that? How can I weld on the engine side and reach around and back up the body hammer with a dolly inside the truck? My truck isn't apart.

Sorry to add more questions!

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

Yes the Harbor Freight magnets are cool thats what I have.lol
Having multiple patches going to keep things cool is what I also do.
You really can't hammer mig welds they are very hard you have the grind them down before you use your hammer and dolly. If you are not going for perfection just keep the metal as cool as possible while welding and use body filler to smooth things out ones done. If going for perfection like I try to do for that you will need someone to hold the dolly on the inside of the car while you use the hammer.

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

I had to show you a friend of mines GMC.

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

Thanks Kabwe, i'd probably need to use a skim coat of body filler even if I were trying for perfection! LOL. Guess I'll buy an HF set of body tools too. Not much body work on the truck except whatever mods I decide on. Wish me luck!

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

Nice GMC.You should post it up in the picture thread,too.

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

I just did.

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

Come out here for a weekend. There are surprisingly quite a few in junk yards around the area. Which reminds me, if you guys need particular parts off the old stuff, I may be able to help with as many as are around here now.

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

Really? There actually ARE a few things I am looking for that OUGHT to be super cheap but I can't come up with them...yet.

I'm looking for the center headliner bow. This is basically a metal strip about 3/4" - 1" wide and runs across the center of the cab from door to door. I also need the rear one (nearest the rear window) but I DO have a source for that one. Unless I find one cheap, I'll probably just look for some form of strip I can "...cut to fit, bend to suit, and paint to match"

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

Dan in Pasadena, I have several extra parts and I think I have extra headliner bows. If you do not find them out there, I should be able to check tonight. Todd

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

Todd, let me know if you have these bows. If you can part with them cheap or even if you can just post their measurements I'd really appreciate it. A closeup picture of the look of them, the profile or whatever would also be a real help. Thanks so much for the offer.

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

Dan, I took some pictures of both brace and the outer trim. If you want to PM your e-mail I can send more. I think you are right about the shipping. The trim is over 51 inches long and I have not found a box it will fit in yet. Let me know what other information you need. What measurement do you need? Thanks, Todd