47-55.1 Different Year Parts

[MiraclePieCo]

Being the owner of an AD panel truck that was assembled from a hodge-podge of years, I am acutely aware when someone says their truck is a certain year, but the body parts belie that claim.

I saw these two exceptionally nice and apparently original panel trucks on Ebay today, the red one claiming to be a 1951, but with '52-up doors, the blue one claiming to be a 1950 but with '51 doors. No criticism; as the owner of a Johnny Cash "One Piece At A Time" special, I can't complain. It's very typical of these trucks to have had parts interchanged over the decades. It's just interesting to see and wonder how and when the changes happened, and what other parts on them may be from different years?

When I see a truck at a show with different year parts I don't try to show off how knowledgeable I am by pointing it out to the owner. If he knows or doesn't know makes no difference, nor reduces the aesthetic of his truck in any way. I just say "Nice truck" and admire.

[omarsphatt]

I always wonder on the one year difference in part vs. truck if it was a running change made on the assembly line - "We're all out of last year's part, time to start using next year's part."

My '49 has everything that year should, except the hood & hood side emblems are '50 style, and prior to my messing with it there was no indication the hood had ever been removed or swapped.

[mr48chev]

Back in the 48 and earlier only for hot rod shows, every 53 and earlier truck was claimed to be a 47/48 and guys even hunted down 47/48 titles in that time frame.
Mine started out as real 48 when I bought it but I had a go around with some gate dude at the 73 Street rod nationals in Tulsa when he wasn't going to let me in because he claimed it was a 53. Finally one of his supervisors came up and shut him up and told him to back off. I'd been running in and out the front gate for a day and a half but decided to go in a side gate following one of the Pete and Jake cars in the gate.

Parts interchange and what each of us like isn't the same.
I like the single piece glass of the 47/50 trucks but there are those who like the vent wings far better and the vent wings do direct a lot of air inside when you turn them around as air scoops.

There are guys who hate the turn down door handles and switch to the push button doors.

Then there are the "this is what I found in that was in the best shape for the price I could afford brigade. They may be running real nice 51 doors as real nice 51 doors don't seem to get a lot of love at swap meets.

Hood side emblems? As long as I have had AD trucks (since 1973) I still have to check to be sure my info is correct on them.

Still as long as the serial number on the door post or the engine block serial number matches the title and the year on the title is correct for that life is good no matter how we mix and match unless it is supposed to be a 100% restored truck that is competing in high level judged shows for high honors. That said, if you roll into a Judged Chevy truck show and enter it in the as original class you are going to loose a lot of points with either of those very nice panels.

[torchlight]

My 53 was definitely a 53 and I’m almost certain it was all original (except wheels) before the rebuild. However, two parts have always mystified me a bit. It had the hood emblem more commonly associated with 52 and it had what was definitely a front bumper attached to the rear bumper brackets on the back.

I used to think these must have been weird parts replacements over the years, but I have now seen two other 53 trucks at different shows over the years that have the exact same thing (emblems and rear bumper) and both those owners told me their trucks were all original.

So now I really wonder about that emblem and that bumper. Maybe some trucks really did come out of the factory in 53 that way? It certainly goes against the knowledge about what makes each year unique. I know the Korean War was on in 53 and maybe some wonky things happened because of that? I dunno, but I’d love to learn for sure some day!

[mr48chev]

Rear bumpers were an option in several years. That was probably two fold, it cut shipping weight by a few pounds and the base price of the truck was a few dollars less. Then the sales person gives the "well you do want a rear bumper, which bumper do you want us to put on it?

Heaters were the same way, a lot of trucks got ordered and shipped without heaters as they could easily be dealer installed and it kept the base price down. That is one reason you also see a lot of heaters in the trucks that were not intended to be installed in trucks. Either the owner went to a wrecking yard to get a heater or the dealer might pull a heater for an older model car off the shelf and install it at a discount price.

The only part on my 48 that I am absolutely sure was on the truck the day I bought it is the left front fender. The right got changed after a wreck in 1976 and the grill was made of several different grill bars. The rear fenders came from a guy who also sold me a chrome seat frame and several other pieces. His contribution to the truck in 1973 was huge to a guy who was so broke he couldn't pay attention at the time.