Dad's '50 Chevy Barnfind Build

[theastronaut]

Long story, but here it goes. A few years ago we moved out to the middle of nowhere and there's lots of old houses and barns still out here. The house we moved into was built in the 1860's and the barn was built in the late 1800's/early 1900's. Everybody has old barns in our area, so we are always on the lookout for neat old stuff. I had met the owner of the truck right after we moved into the area when I was driving our '57 VW and it started skipping and cutting out (had been having trouble with trash in the gas). I turned off on a side road and coasted to the side of the road near a house and called dad for a tow. The guy in the house came out and offered to help push the VW down to his driveway to get it off the side of the road until they came to help tow it home. Instead of dad showing up, mom came with our Tahoe and towbar, we hooked it up, thanked the guy, and left.

A few years later dad had the grandkids over and took them to our local fire department to let them play on their playground, and dad met the same guy while they were there. They got to talking about the house dad and mom had bought, and it turns out that this guy had bought a few things that came from our place when our house had been auctioned back in the 80's. Dad was interested in buying one of the old tables the guy had so they went over to look at it, and during the conversation the guy mentioned that he had an old Chevy truck in the barn that he bought in the late '60s and drove until the brakes went out about 16 years ago. He put it in the barn and it had sat untouched ever since. Dad had always wanted a 48-54 chevy truck and tried to buy it then, but the guy wouldn't sell it. They kept in touch but the guy wouldn't budge on it.

Fast forward a few years, dad bought a 5 window truck that was in good shape but had been taken apart and never finished. Needed the floor patched and cab corners but everything else was in good shape. He's been wanting to get started on it but it's a pretty good sized project and needs everything replaced since it's just the sheetmetal and a frame. I mentioned to him that he ought to go make an offer on the '50 in the barn near the house, since it would be a much better start and would be a ton cheaper to finish than the one he already had. He went two weeks ago and the guy said that he had actually been thinking about selling it but wasn't 100% sure that he was ready to let it go. They came up with a price if he did decide to sell it, and the guy said he would call when he made up his mind. Dad got the call a week and a half later, and we picked it up yesterday.


Here's some pics of it in the barn and right after we pulled it out.



















Plans are to lower it with a dropped axle, get a set of 16" steelies and bias ply tires, get it running, and roll it as-is for awhile. It's got an engine out of a '59 that was running when it was parked. The wiring will need to be gone through, gas tank removed and cleaned out, and the brakes fully gone through. I'm going to knock the fender back into shape and the left side tailgate hinge mount area is rusted out so I'll have to cut that out and repair it. I've got a '66 C10 that I'm putting back together and restored a '65 at work but have never worked on an earlier truck so I've got alot to learn as we get it going again. I'll keep yall posted on the progress, and hopefully we'll have it up and running again in a few months.

[dos0711]

OMG! What a find! Lucky dog indeed!

[duwem]

Neat story, post some pictures once you give it a bath.

[OrrieG]

WOW, they still do exist. Nice story and great truck.

[Layedoutsonoma91]

Looks an awful lot like mine! same condition i got mine in!

Love seeing stories like this!

[D-man313]

Barn fresh!!

[theastronaut]

Thanks guys! Here's a shot of it cleaned up. The dirt was hiding alot but it's not that bad overall.



We're thinking about a set of Wheel Vintiques' 16x5" artilery wheels and a set of 600-16 Firestones for it.

[Layedoutsonoma91]

nice, you going to keep the stock frame and suspension?

[theastronaut]

Originally Posted by Layedoutsonoma91

nice, you going to keep the stock frame and suspension?

Yes, stock except a 3" or 4"dropped axle and bring the rear down too. Maybe pull a couple leaves to soften the ride? Stock brakes and keeping the '59 engine that's in it. Don't really see any point doing a ton of suspension or brake upgrades and then put a set of bias ply tires on it and waste the potential of better suspension/brakes with low grip tires. Its just gunna be a weekend toy and not a daily driver so we aren't going for more modern drivability, we're actually wanting to keep the 1950's driving experience and enjoy it for what it is instead of modernizing it.
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[oldman3]

Great find, keep us posted on the updates...Jim

[theastronaut]

Who's got the best original style wiring harness for these trucks? We'd like to get one that's as close to an exact reproduction as possible. Thanks in advance!

[50seven]

That's a very nice score.

Almost to nice to do alterations. However you're planned mods will definitely do it justice

That truck gives me a warm fuzzy feeling all over....
I think I need a smoke.

[daverod]

I think I would have left all the dust on it. Very cool find.

[theastronaut]

Originally Posted by daverod

I think I would have left all the dust on it. Very cool find.

We talked about how cool it would be to just clear over it, dust and all.

The guys at the shop made a little progress today inbetween other jobs. It took four of us to push it downhill into the shop since the brakes were dragging pretty bad. They took the old glass out and cut new green tint glass and started rebuilding the doors with new glass run channel and inner/outer scrapes. Dad picked up a set of stainless window trims and inner moldings that go on the doors for $40 bucks(!) and already had the stainless w/s trim so he swapped those out instead of using the old black ones. I did a quick polish job around the glass to get an idea of what the paint is going to clean up like while we were at it. Sure do wish the rest of the truck would clean up that good, but there's a lot of rough spots on it that'll have to be touched up. I also took two of the stuck drums apart and got the shoes adjusted back so it rolls better now. The guys at the shop should have the glass work finished up soon and I'll post back once that's done with more pics.

[oldman3]

Lookin' good.....Jim

[dmwphoto]

wanna sell it?

[theastronaut]

Originally Posted by oldman3

Lookin' good.....Jim

Thanks Jim!

Originally Posted by dmwphoto

wanna sell it?

Heck no! Dad needs this thing to get him back into the older cars again! It's been atleast 20 years since he's had something like this to work on and drive. When I was a kid he had a '69 Ford Ranger that his dad had bought new that he would drive every once in awhile, but it's been parked forever. It's coming out of storage soon to get it running again too, will be much easier to get it going though and he's actually talking about starting on it the first of the year. That'll make three project trucks at one time for us...

[Ratpin]

The words barn find get thrown around all too often, but that truck truly looks like it lives up to the name.

[theastronaut]

Well, I tried to turn the engine over this weekend but it's very tight. I pulled the plugs and squirted some oil in the cylinders but that didn't help much so I opened the valve cover to spray some oil on the valves/guide. The rockers, shaft, and springs were coated with rust so we won't be trying to get the engine running like it is. Dad had a friend with a rebuilt 292 that had only been run enough to break it in so I think we'll swap it out for the 235 that's in it now.

Is there anywhere that has info on swapping in a newer 230/250/292 in place of a 216/235?

Originally Posted by Ratpin

The words barn find get thrown around all too often, but that truck truly looks like it lives up to the name.

I'll definitly have to agree with that!

[dmack91]

Here is some info on the 292 swap.

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...light=292+swap

[GRX]

Originally Posted by Ratpin

The words barn find get thrown around all too often, but that truck truly looks like it lives up to the name.

Agreed. Nice find. Glad to see it.

[theastronaut]

Originally Posted by dmack91

Here is some info on the 292 swap.

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...light=292+swap

Thanks for that link!! There's alot of info in that thread!!



Here's a couple pics of the 292 dad is buying. We pulled the plugs and the piston tops look brand new, and had .040 stamped on top. Under the valve cover is clean with new pushrods. The old oil drained out clear and clean too. We're almost ready to try to start it.




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[Wheelie]

SCORE! I am jealous as hell..... but the truck looks great!

[duallyjams]

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[ChuckDriver]

Nice find!