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1951 Chevrolet 3100
   Image gallery of my restoration in progress ... 

 This image gallery is provided for all the great folks at Stovebolt.com who continue to provide inspiration and support (both technical and moral!)
 Due to actually having a job, I only get to work on the truck on Saturdays (the shop is closed on Sundays), so progress is sloooowwww.
   . . . click on image for a larger view, images will open in a new window    . . . 

August 2007
     
  Purchased on 07 August 2007 in Atoka, TN.  These pics were taken on day I saw and bought the truck.    Nice straight vehicle with only minimal surface rust. Woo-Hoo!. 
January 2008                           May 2008
     
     Poor truck weathered the winter in              Finally drug the ole girl to Florida in April 2008.  Sat on this trailer for a month before I started tearing down the sheet-metal.
    front of my hooch in Millington, TN.  
May 2008                                                                                                                                                  June 2008
     
  Front-end comes apart easily enough.  Everything is just bolted together.  Everything looks good so far, no hidden rust or surprises.      June 2008, finally get an indoor booth .  
July 2008
     
 Here's a look at the original 216.   Very clean and serviceable.   Motor has an old rebuilt tag on it, but company no longer exists.      Bed is off, chassis is clean and straight!
August 2008
     
     Interior gutting begins.        Enclosed driveshaft and right rear suspension.    Have removed the windows             Dash is stripped of gauges and panels
                                                 Still amazed at great condition of truck.
September 2008
       
       Floorboard is in pretty good shape.  New hood standing by (purchased locally off Craigslist).  235 motor from a '54 panel truck, was able to hear it running before purchase (also bought locally off Craigslist).  Seat taken to upholstery shop for new padding and recovering.
October 2008
     
 Engine on stand from plans at Stovebolt.com (Thanks to Stephen "Farmdog" Peterson) .  Finally took the hood and hinges off. Cleared the underdash of all padding. Vent windows removed from doors.  The blue color in lower left of last pic is the original Mariner Blue color.
November 2008  Truck on stands, engine out (finally).  Wheels off and starting to wirebrush the chassis.
 
February 2009  Didn't get much done over the Christmas holidays. Wirebrushing the chassis myself would have extended my build time by a couple of years (HA!) ... just not enough free time.   I now have the truck at Auto Marine Industrial Services (AMI), a local fabricating and body shop located in Atlantic Beach, Florida.  They will blast the chassis and panels to metal, repair areas that need it, prime with an epoxy primer and then paint the truck to the color of my choice (I'm leaning towards the original Mariner Blue from 1951).  Great group of guys at AMI, they have been in the same location for more than 20 years.
     
  Truck as delivered to AMI.  I needed some tires to roll the truck out of the teardown bay and I stumbled on these perfect Firestone WWW's on sale locally through craigslist.  Paid about half of what they go for from Coker's.  AMI will pull the cab off the chassis for a full frame-off resto.  Truck bed after bead-blasting.
March 2009  Deconstruction continues.  Cab pulled from chassis.  Blasting and priming of major body panels.  Discovered some pinholes that will require repair.  Am expecting to replace the cab corners and lower passenger-side firewall and footwell.  Chassis is nice and straight and will require just a pressure wash, bead-blasting, prime and paint.  Will replace the stock brake reservoir with an after-market dual reservoir and possibly add the power-assist booster. 

April 2009  All parts have been bead-blasted and most are now in primer. The cab is being worked and there is some extensive metalwork to complete. The passenger floorboard and lower firewall will require replacement metal. The chassis is blasted and looking GREAT and is now in primer and black paint. Just got the cost estimate for all the metalwork to be done. 
                  
 May 2009  Bodywork being done is fantastic.  Paint going on the larger panels.  The blue color is perfect if not quite as original.  The insides of the fenders have been undercoated to protect against stone dings and provide a quieter ride.  The running boards are covered in sprayable black bed-liner for durability and traction.  The cab corners have been patched and the floorboards have been replaced with new metal.  Wheels painted and put back on the chassis.  Decided to go ahead and put in a firewall-mount power brake booster and hanging brake pedal. Ken and Jeff of AMI (Auto Marine Industrial) are doing artisan level metalwork and paint prep.  The body panels have been color sanded and buffed to a high gloss. Ken added new metal to the cab left-side lower cowl after digging out a bunch of old bondo. He will finish the repair on the cowl and then smooth out the dash-board.  After that, prime and paint on the last two large pieces, the cab and the bed walls.  I expect to start receiving the finished pieces the week after Memorial Day. I now have a garage full of new parts waiting to go on the truck.  I have cleaned up the 1954 235 motor and will repaint it as a Blue Flame Special.
       
June 2009  Cab has been painted and being wet-sanded and polished.  Awaiting paint on the hood and the pickup bed frame. 

 July 2009  Cab is back on the chassis and the bed has been painted.  The doors are hung and the hood is also painted and ready to go.  Expecting to get the truck delivered before the end of July so I can start putting her back together.  You can see the new power brake booster on the firewall.  Still keeping it 4-wheel drums but with the added safety feature of the dual-chamber brake master cylinder.  I also replaced the steering drag-link and that really tightened up the sloppy steering system. The doors are from a 1954 truck, and the fit is a bit tight, just a hair of clearance at a few spots around the door openings.  Put new rubber around the doors and also new rubber between the running boards and the cab. My goal now is to have the truck up and running before the Turkey Rod Run in Daytona Beach this coming Thanksgiving.

     
   
December 2009  Been busy with work and haven't  been able to work on the truck with any regularity.  Truck is back in the rented workshop and slowwwly coming together.  Have had the drums turned and replaced the brake cylinders, seals, bearings and shoes on all four corners.  Pulled the rear axles and drained, checked, refilled the differential.  Have installed the new gas tank.  Fit the refurbished vent windows.  Installed new door striker plates that required a lot of grinding and fitting to get the doors to latch properly.  Put the bed on the chassis and installed the rear fenders, welting, running board splash shields, and tailgate hinges.   Ran into a bit of a snag with the "new" 1954 engine ... turns out the rear mounts of the '51's and the '54's are different. as are the chassis cross-member mount points.  This means I will need to rig my own rear engine mounts to use the original '51 crossmember with the '54 bellhousing.  Keeping the truck under cover to keep it clear of debris from the many other folks working on their vehicles in the Auto Hobby Shop on the Navy base.  Wife bought a new steering wheel and hood emblem for Christmas.  sweeet!.