57th HEAVEN - RESTORATION

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

Text & Pictures: gharris5@bellatlantic .net

After a couple of quotes I was referred to a guy who had just opened a shop on Holibird Avenue. He had put a Camaro front end on a friends '48 Chevy Pick-up truck and it was a great job. I called the guy and asked him to look at the truck and the next day it was in the shop. We began a long friendship because that is what you need to get through this kind of project. Every part he took off he found disaster, and every discussion became one with the words "Well, you came this far!" My friend Greg Horst of GFY Custom could have taken advantage of me but he let me work off misfortune and truly took care of me. Of course the costs kept rising but he worked on it when I could afford it  and he had the time.   He actually had it in his shop for 3 years. As the pictures will show, he and his son Nick dismantled the entire cab. Meanwhile, I was buying parts. I have the list. I'll stick it in at the end. We ended up replacing the first foot of sheet metal all around the cab. Frame up. Greg started with frame cross members, and added floors, hinge pockets, door steps, and rear quarters. He had to fabricate the the area where they all came together, years of rotted leaves and mice nests completely obliterated the the area behind the wheels on both sides.

The matching up of the running board sill, the bottom of the door and the back of the front fenders was also very challenging.  If you are looking for this type of truck check to see if this area looks good. Not many are. The door bottoms are often mis-alligned , or are too fat because a poorly placed door skin. On this project it was difficult because 2 of the 3 mating parts were new sheet metal. We couldn't make measurements because the intersection of parts was somewhere out in space. There wasn't even rust left to measure from. It did take two tries. The doors were on and off that truck allot.