1949 Chevrolet 3100 V8 Prototype

1949 Chevrolet Other Pickups Description

Welcome to my auction for a 1949 Chevrolet 3100 V8 Prototype! V8? 1949? Before you go all nuts with hate emails and facebook blasts or putting out tweets, twats, I-blabs, or whatever the latest trend is faster than your fingers can type, I know the V8 came out in 1955 and was never offered in an AD series truck. But what's just about everyone do with these things? Shove a V8 in there of some sort. So I thought, what would it look like had Chevrolet made one in the AD series truck? And that ignited my build inspiration. I set out to make a "what if?" truck that retained the stock look and original feel of these old trucks, but would accelerate when I pressed down on the gas, be able to be driven around the town without creating a traffic jam as I try and shift gears, and actually be able to STOP when needed when some idiot in front of me decides his text is more important than everyone elses lives on the road. I'm not a professional restoration shop, nor do I play one on TV (I'm pretty sure there's enough of those reality Chasing Gas Drama shows out there already.) and other than the glass installation, 100% of everything was done by me in my workshop. Paint, bodywork, mechanics, tool throwing, running to the emergency room...twice...Yup, all me. So, here's the specifics on the truck.
I bought this truck on Ebay about 2 years ago, sight unseen, since it was relatively solid and blue. I wanted a Mariner Blue truck and was seeing evidence that this was one, but I could tell it had a repaint at some point. When the truck got here, she started up, drove off the trailer, and me and the wife drove around the neighborhood grinding gears, dripping/burning oil, and hanging our head out the windows since the interior reeked of rat droppings and who knows what else. So much fun!!! But realizing the engine was tired, trans was less than smooth, brakes....well, brakes were there, and everything needed to be redone I decided to drive it into the shop and tear it apart. This was an Iowa farm truck apparently, and before that I'm not sure but other than a lot of mud, there wasn't much to rust. Typical front floor corners, lower fender corners, but the rear cab corners, doors, and rear fenders were pretty solid. The bed was a farm truck bed for sure, but that was to be expected.
I took the truck down to the frame and it's entirely redone. The whole build can be seen on a link I can forward you. Ebay won't let me list it here, but that's OK. If you're interested in seeing the build from start to finish, call me and I'll send you the link. It's answer all the questions you have for sure. I've been driving the truck now for about 6 months and only had one issue. The temperature gauge in the cluster went out and I added an auxiliary one under the left side of the dash. If you don't want to look at the website and read about the build, here's the overall package:
Engine/Drivetrain: 350/700R4 combo from a mid 70s Camaro. I didn't rebuild anything, it was done before me, supposedly. I heard the engine run before it was out and it seemed good to me. No smoke, knocks, and fires up on the first key turn every time even after sitting a few weeks. Transmission shifts great. 4bbl 1405 (manual choke) Edelbrock carburetor, Pertronix Ignitor, Powermaster 1 wire Alternator, cast iron 70s exhaust manifolds, factory radiator re-cored to a 3 row with V8 water necks, additional cooling fan added in front of the radiator along with an auto trans cooler, Y-Pipe exhaust run through the original style canister muffler. Brakes are CPP Front Disk conversion with a Corvette style dual bowl master cylinder, rears are stock drum. CPP 4 wheel tube shock conversion, CPP engine/trans mounting kit. Rear axle is from a 1955 Task Force truck with stock 4.10 gears fully rebuilt with seals and bearings. Steering is the stock steering box with an offset intermediate drag link to compensate for the 3" offset on the frame to get the V8 in there. Lokar under dash emergency brake. Manual steering through a Speedway Motors Tilt column featuring a 1940 Ford repro wheel. Speedway 12 Circuit harness. Coker 5.50x16 wide white walls (tubes installed and I have a spare tube included as well).
Body: Single Stage, original color Mariner Blue. There's some buffing areas I missed (slight haze here are there), and a few areas that have slight trash in the paint. One small rock chip that I had to brush touch up on the passenger side rear fender, but it's pretty low and not overly obvious. I'm probably being over critical, but that's just how it is and I drive the truck, I didn't set out to make it a trailer queen. Are you going to win the Ridler award for best paint? If there's no other cars entered, then yes. I don't think you'll be embarrassed by it, but understand it's not perfect. Fender mounted spare tire. Solid Red Oak bed, custom red oak side wood. All new chrome emblems, bumpers, new glass all around. LED turn signals and brake lights. "Aoogah" horn, electric wiper conversion. AM/FM/I-Pod/Aux Retrosound radio. Original cowl antenna mounted behind the cab. Main Floor mat and individual mats (no carpet). Original interior panels (cardboard).
So, the jist of the whole build is an old time truck retaining much of it's original engineering that has modern disk brakes, a V8 with an automatic transmission, new electrics, and a radio that can play tunes while you're trying to focus on actually driving, and bouncing, down the road. Understand you are bidding on a 1949 Chevy truck that drives like a 1949 Chevy truck. It's not equipped with a Fatman II IFS, slammed airbags, adjustable Blisteen shocks, or the latest in nano-ezride-cruising technology. I'm not a salesman. I'm not going to tell you this thing floats down the road, because it doesn't. It bounces over everything it sees and hit a bump, you better hold onto that wheel! The skinny tubed bias plys hunt all over the place. It's hot. The cowl vent helps, but it's just blowing in hot air from outside. Come to a stop and you're not moving that steering wheel. Power steering only engages when you move forward. Can you drive this thing from Houston to Walla Walla? Sure. It'll take you about seven months at an average speed of about 45mph. Want to go blasting down the highway at 75mph? Buy another truck. Remember that whole "I'm not a salesman" comment earlier? I just don't want any disappointments for you if you buy this, and I'm avoiding the "well you said..." thing all together by telling you it's a fun truck to drive around town, enjoy some smiles with others at shows, but it's not a 2016 Silverado you're going to jump on the freeway and drive across the country in.
If you have any questions, feel free to call me. 281-660-6069 and I'll answer anything you ask, plus I'll send you my build webpage. I do have a clear title to the truck along with all the receipts from the build. I'm not interested in a trade, so if you have a 1932 Crummley Touring carriage, a double wide on 18 acres in Otumwa, or this here boat motor connected to some bass boat that's over at your cousin's friend's uncle's house, no need to offer it my way since I'm not interested. I can keep the truck here until you arrange shipping. It's being sold as-is, where is, with no warranty expressed nor implied. I hope this answers your questions and good luck bidding!!!! - Dave