57th HEAVEN - RESTORATION

 A 1957 Chevrolet Model 3100 Standard 1/2 Ton Pickup Truck

Text & Pictures: gharris5@bellatlantic .net

I saw this add in the Sunday paper for a 1957 Chevy Truck. I had been wanting to restore another car, (a 1960 Impala) but I couldn't find one. I was beginning to finish the basement in our new house so I thought I would kill two birds with one stone an buy a truck to haul the materials. I went to see it and was surprised at the good condition it was in. The guy who had it also had a 62 Chevy. He was selling them both because of money problems. He just had the engine rebuilt in the truck , and bought the two front fenders. He let me have it for $1400. The Engine sounded pretty good but when she rolled it was no symphony. There were noises and vibrations coming from every corner. Of course you could hear them very accurately through the floor which was a shadow of its former self and the original wood deck, or what was left of one. The right door was from a different model, but he gave me two extra to get the guts out of. The seat had a bad spring held in place by duck tape and the holes in the floor were covered by aluminum tape. I found a few old parts catalogs and began to list all of the parts I would need to replace. I wanted an estimate of how much it would take to get it on the road "just as a driver". My estimate was $939.70. Seriously understated! The Steering was very tight and probably the reason I thought it was worth saving. I had a 50 Chevy with a bad steering box before, and I could never get that to feel right. I drove the truck around the neighborhood for a couple of weeks before I started dismantling it. In the Fall of 1992 I sand blasted the frame and under carriage, painted the frame and began the mechanical portion of the restoration. In the Spring of '92 I replaced the stopping system. I tried to rebuild the wheel cylinders but they were a mess, in fact everything , except the master cylinder was a mess so I bought all new stuff. I replaced the front wheel bearings, and shocks all around. I had taken the bed off and had the parts in the basement. I was going to patch them when a friend of mine told me his Father in Law was a welder and he would do it for me in return for a reciprocating saw. I marked up the bed sides to outline the boarder of the intended patch and gave them to my friend. I heard nothing for months. I finally made contact with the guy and arranged to meet him to pick up the renewed parts. When I got there I found that he had taken it on himself to completely remove the top of the bed and weld in a hole new side. He did a nice job, but not what I had in mind. Then he said I owed him $450. This was two weeks before Christmas and there was no way I was expecting that. The saw was going to cost me $60. I got him down to $250 but I could have bought new originals for $500. Well that experience slowed me down a whole lot. I considered selling it at that point because the cost was already out of control and I didn't have a lot of flexibility. I was supposed to spending the money on the basement.

The truck sat for another 2 years before I started up on it again. I had gotten some money together and planned on welding the floors. I took a welding class and found out that it should probably be done by a professional. I was never going to be that good.