Re: Bought this yesterday.... 1953 4100 Wrecker...
 

how about using the floor pan and firewall from the dodge? trans hump, seats all that stuff would fit.
somebody already did that here somewhere. used the dodge stuff. can't remember who though. the donor was a white truck thats all I remember.check out 11_slow's build for helper points
take lots of pics and keep them for dimensions etc on dissassembly
post lots of pics for us poor saps that are bench racing due to injury

Re: Bought this yesterday.... 1953 4100 Wrecker...
 

2slow..he'll still have those firwall and floorboard mods but the outside width of front fenders will cover the later model chassis and tires much better..plus he'll have more room under the hood...I've seen a 12v in a mid 60s truck before and the back 2 cyl were under the cowl...and there's less room in a ad truck..
He can't beat the price of his donor but its still gonna a full engine bay..

Re: Bought this yesterday.... 1953 4100 Wrecker...
 

you can always split the front fenders and add some to cover the wheels. more work but would look better in the end. or split the body and add......yup, roof involved. not happening, haha.

Re: Bought this yesterday.... 1953 4100 Wrecker...
 

Don't laugh about widening an ad truck..its been done.https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=GowJeGcf_Kk

Re: Bought this yesterday.... 1953 4100 Wrecker...
 

Well, now I have two of them... This one popped up on craigslist this morning and I went and scooped it up. I almost think the wrecker truck may be too nice to chop up! I got the wrecker running, and I'm thinking of just cleaning it up and leaving it that way. This truck cost me almost nothing, and I think I can use the dump bed for the hauler bed.

Re: Bought this yesterday.... 1953 4100 Wrecker...
 

I've seen that video, Truck is cool, but I hate the powerstroke in it. lol...

I DIG this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVb8IBfYoog

Re: Bought this yesterday.... 1953 4100 Wrecker...
 

You lucky dawg you...that's a good looking gmc you found..those gmc front ends look purty darn good..make sure all those fromt end parts are there..they're hard to come by

Re: Bought this yesterday.... 1953 4100 Wrecker...
 

Come on, man. You'e a drag racer - nothing is too nice to chop up!

Re: Bought this yesterday.... 1953 4100 Wrecker...
 

Almost 70 years in the weather and no hail damage. Damn near every late model car and truck around here has damage. They just don'k make them like they used to!

Re: Bought this yesterday.... 1953 4100 Wrecker...
 

cant tell for sure but the grille looks like a 47/early 48 GMC, those are my favorite grilles of all the 47-55. nice find!

Re: Bought this yesterday.... 1953 4100 Wrecker...
 

Ok, so here is about the coolest story I have ever heard in my whole life. I got the title to the 49 that I bought this morning, and the name on it is M.C. Johnston in Broadview NM. My dad owns a lot of farm and pastureland right around Broadview so I called him to ask if he knew that name. My dad said "Oh yeah, old man Mansiel Johnston, he used to cut crops for me way back in the 70's." I told him that I bought one of his old grain trucks, and he asked me "Is it an old ford or an old GMC?" I said an old GMC. He asked me if it was faded red, like pinkish, and I couldn't tell, it's rust brown. So I looked at the pictures, and sure enough the back of the cab is red faded to pink, and under the hood is red. My dad says it's your granddad's old grain truck that he sold to Mansiel way back in the day. He said your granddad bought that truck new in 49. It was the only vehicle they had back then, and they drove it to town! He has old 8mm video reels with video of it. I'm pretty excited about that! I'll for sure be building the 49 GMC now! Really makes me think of my granddad!

Re: Bought this yesterday.... 1953 4100 Wrecker...
 

Wooooow!!!..that's unbelievable...
Talk about 6 degrees of separation
Circle of life just circled around

Re: Bought this yesterday.... 1953 4100 Wrecker...
 

I know! I'll have to keep this one forever!

The bottom of the dump bed is actually a pretty good base for a car hauler bed!

Re: Bought this yesterday.... 1953 4100 Wrecker...
 

wow, that is freakish. very cool.
my dad bought a '59 1/2 ton. he quit driving it and parked it in the yard where it sat for years? before I got my license. he SOLD it just a couple of years before I got my license. grrr. my uncle bought it, used it for a long while then it got parked on his inlaw's farm. it is probably still there but in really bad shape. couldn't be any worse than my 57 gmc was when I got it though.
that deck looks pretty solid. how will you make a car hauler, beavertail extension on the deck? rollers so the deck slides off like many tow units?
sounds like you're in for the long haul now.

Re: Bought this yesterday.... 1953 4100 Wrecker...
 

My plan is to build a beaver extension on the back, and build retractable ramps into it. I plan on getting the dump bed working, but I hadn't planned on making it a roll back. I was thinking the bed a lot like this truck, but all diamond plate:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVWx2JvD_30&t=8s

Re: Bought this yesterday.... 1953 4100 Wrecker...
 

that is a nice set up. I would be wary of the checker plated decks, they are very slippery when wet. they do skid a car across easily if it is dead though, just dump a bucket of water on the deck first and Bob's your uncle, slips right on. install a winch at the front and some HD load eye's along the sides so a car can be dragged on with the winch and then if it isn't quite right the winch line can be strung through the eyes on the side of the deck to bring the car over to one side or the other. also, a slightly curved ramp makes it easier to load low slung cars because it levels out the transition from beaver tail to ramp.

Re: Bought this yesterday.... 1953 4100 Wrecker...
 

My thought was to Rhino Line it. I think that would be nice.

Re: Bought this yesterday.... 1953 4100 Wrecker...
 

https://youtu.be/KBJmLT3SHmI

Drove the 53 today! No brakes. Pedal stays on the floor. Lol

Re: Bought this yesterday.... 1953 4100 Wrecker...
 

Cool little drive..man that next vid of your camaro..wow..that thing moves..thats street outlaws kinda numbers

Re: Bought this yesterday.... 1953 4100 Wrecker...
 

They're just down the road from me. I'm in Amarillo, they're in OKC. I race in Noble OK (their home track) pretty often. I have been asked to be on the show, but I turned it down. They make everyone not from OKC look like an asshole on that show.. lol.. I was on the first episode of the second season, but not with my car. I was there helping Justin and Shaun (Big Chief, Murder Nova) with their new boost controllers. I have the same one, and they didn't know how to use them. lol

Re: Bought this yesterday.... 1953 4100 Wrecker...
 

I got the most important part working!!

https://youtu.be/cA7gB51znMQ

Re: Bought this yesterday.... 1953 4100 Wrecker...
 

Yep..the drama of tv..still pretty cool you got some connection to them..my only connection to them is watching on tv..but I was surprised when I went to get my LS swapped truck dyno tuned to find that 2 days before that big chiefs first crow was sitting on the same dyno making pulls at culver automotive in huntsville al

Re: Bought this yesterday.... 1953 4100 Wrecker...
 

Love the blue light rotating..I've seen way to many of those behind me in my time..

Re: Bought this yesterday.... 1953 4100 Wrecker...
 

I let them borrow a set of wheels for the El Camino that Kamikaze drives when he started racing it. They never gave them back. The back wheels on the el camino were mine, up until they put the magnum beadlocks on it. I have no idea where my wheels are now.

Re: Bought this yesterday.... 1953 4100 Wrecker...
 

That sucks..if I got back everything that I "loaned out" over the years I'd have to build another building to put it all in