Hi I am a new member and I thought I would introduce myself and my truck.
You can see us at www.homestead.com/zclan
I have been getting the digest version of this list for quite awhile and
have benefitted greatly from the sage advice dispensed here. I finally
subscribed to the regular e-mail so that I could contribute. I have 3
young boys, a daughter and a fabulous wife, who absolutely love old trucks!
We bought a '54 Chevy last summer and had the time of our lives going
camping and fishing with it. I remember driving across the tall grass
fields through the Nisqually River Delta down to the rope swing with a bed
full of cubscouts picking huckleberries, salmonberries and blackberries,
rockabilly music cranking from the speakers, thinking, "These are the good
old days. These are the times these kids will remember the rest of their
lives and so will I." We were transported back into the fabulous 50's and
it was really a great feeling. I went to the Washington State History
Museum tonight with the Webelos troop, and there was an old model railroad
with a bunch of old trucks sitting around (all Chevys of course) and I
said, hey that one's just like mine. One of the fathers said, "My son loves
your truck." (He was one of the boys in the back of the truck driving
through that fields.) It has a beautiful 350 corvette engine with a 300
turbo tranny, headers, 750 holley, b&m speed shifter, nova clip front end,
and drives like one of Tim Allen's street rods. I love the sound of it when
I floor it and the turbo overdrive kicks in. But more than the way it
sounds, I love to open my garage door and see that classy truck sitting out
there every morning. My little three year old tells me, "Sure is a cool
truck Dad!" just about every day. It puts a big smile on his face when I
say, "Do you want to go for a ride in my truck?" The body's a little rough
(especially after my amature attempt to weld a plate over the sunroof) It
will probably end up with a new cab top. If anyone knows where I can pick
up a decent 5 window cab, in the Puget Sound area, please let me know. I
had my eyes on one in a local junk yard and when I was ready to go pick it
up I called the owner and he said he sent it to the crusher! What a shame!
As you can see from the website, it is all primered right now, but we will
have it straightened out in time for a fresh coat of navy blue paint in the
spring.
Speaking of which, I am in my office the other day and in walks this kid
wearing an "Old Navy" shirt with a horny looking AD pickup on it and I say,
"Hey I have a pickup just like that!" and I point to the picture on it my
wall. The kid says, "Cool!"
I go home and tell my boys about the shirt and they say,"Yeah Dad (like
duuuh) we know. That is like Old Navy's logo. They have a real one sitting
in the middle of their store." That was about the only thing that could
coax me into a mall. I went to the one at the Tacoma Mall and sure enough,
there it was, an old, navy blue, '54 pickup sitting right there in the
middle of the store with the bed full of sweatshirts, with pictures of
pickups on them. I went around to the front and it had a '53 grille on it.
I asked one of the workers there if they knew what year it was and she
said, "No, but everybody wants it!" I went to the new store in Downtown
Seattle, same thing. I thought that was totally cool. They sell these
really nice die cast little versions of the navy blue '52 pickup with "Old
Navy" written on the door in white with an oval around it for about $5.00.
I bought one for my 3 year old and now he sleeps with it like most kids
sleep with teddy bears and plays with it all day long. (Future list member)
Can you just swap out the '54 bullet nose grille with a '53 louver type
grille pretty easily? That might be a serious consideration if it is that
easy.
In anycase I will update you once I get my car to the next stage.
Stan Zielinski
Seattle, WA
'54 Chevy 3100
oletrucks is devoted to Chevy and GM trucks built between 1941 and 1959
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