I have way too many photos selected for this post...so I will have to see if I can pare down on them! 

This past Saturday, my long-anticipated truck restoration project had it's birth. A couple of real good friends made the trek from their home to ours to help this "mechanic-in-training" officially begin the project. Probably can't give you a real good "play-by-play" since this are a little mixed together in my head. I think once you see the pictures it will be clear that it was rather chilly! I will add that it was also raining nearly all day long...so it was a bit damp in the back of the barn.

Anyway, they arrived before lunch, and Katherine wisely suggested that those of us who were going to work on the truck not begin and get grubby before lunch...so we did a scouting job and then had lunch.

After lunch, we headed back to the barn...where Luke and I promptly addressed ourselves to the fuel tank while Andrew prodded around in the engine (I guess...I was a little preoccupied) and later hooked up a battery...before we all ended up underneath the truck...then working on the fuel line from the tank to the engine. By the time we got around to me sitting in the engine (it is actually an asset to be short sometimes!) the girls had gone in, so any pictures from that came off the guy's phones.

However, before I get into this any further...we made two interesting (and to me) surprising discoveries! First, the fuel tank is not the original. The original was a 30-gallon (according to the manual) and the schismatics Luke pulled up on his phone showed that it would have sat within the chassis, not bracketed to the outside of the chassis like this 40-gallon tank!

Second, the engine is not the original '42/'43 Chevrolet...but a circa '55-'58 Jasper. (And yes, I still need to look that up and see what more info I can find.) It is thanks to Andrew's research that we know that. Anyway...it sure made things makes sense as to why the manual didn't seem to be matching with what we were looking at!

Anyway, back to the fuel tank removal and clean up:

It was about here that Katherine and Abigail went in...but here are a few random shot s from the day: 

After getting the fuel tank back on, the guys cleared the fuel line from tank to sediment bowl...then Luke cleaned the sediment bowl and the fuel pump...

Unattaching the fuel line from the other side of the fuel pump, it was decided that because the copper pipe was twisted so bad up by the carburetor to just cut it off and put the old connector back on further down the pipe. That was an interesting operation to watch...

That old copper tubing got bent...and rebent...and bent again as Luke tried to eke out enough length to get it re-connected to both the fuel pump and the carburetor...which at last it made it...and between the all of us, we got it hooked up.

Then we tried starting her...and the battery charger whined...but nothing doing. 

Still, it was a decent days work--I think--and we all enjoyed it. There was plenty of laughter at any rate! 

Looking forward to the next time which will probably involve brakes....

P.S. Photo credits go to Katherine, Abigail, Luke, and Andrew

Years ago, right after we retired from the Army, I boldly asked my Grandpa, "Can I have your old Army truck?"

The answer being yes, I became the proud owner of a 1942 Chevrolet. I have recently confirmed what my uncle once told us that it was an airfield fire-truck. Only the proper terminology is "airfield crash truck". 

In the post-WWII era the truck was modified from having a proper fire-engine-ish back end to a boasting a large white-painted wooden box. This was my Grandpa's beekeeping truck. I don't know (I will have to ask Grandma) if he built the box on it himself or not. I do know he purchased it in 1959.

Restoration to WWII-service configuration is not going to happen right off for me. I have no clue how much it will/would cost, but I know far more than I currently have to spend. 

Finally feeling that I may be well enough to be serious about this, I am hoping to start working on it this summer. I have already drawn up a list of things that need doing--starting with a battery and a brake job. Whether that is "just" bleeding them (something I have zero experience with) or something more major (I hope not!). I want to do the work myself, though I will doubtless be running to Daddy for help...even though I found and was able to print off a copy of the shop and repair manual.

Between pictures and research and help from a reenacting acquaintance (the gentleman in question is a practicable encyclopedia of WWII information!), I am completely convinced that she is indeed a 1942--only with a few 1943 features--like the dash. But, seeing, as I now know that a certain number sequence is the delivery date (December 4, 1942), that in all likelihood explains the next year model features.

I have GOALS of getting her RWWII ready for this year (clearly not 100% restored). In fact, Mr. Courter saw my FB post and personally contacted me to encourage me to bring her, no matter what she looks like! Talk about being somewhat flabbergasted...

​I love this event...and the people are amazing!

Anyway, back to my truck...I have a number of questions. The two most pressing ones to my mind are:
#1: HOW do I find out where my truck served? I did some poking this afternoon and came up empty.
#2: What was the original paint job's color? Was it the red I can see underneath the OD green or was it indeed Olive Green like the majority of these (or so I read)? I'd LOVE it if it were red (I have seen one colorized photo from 1944 with a red truck--up in Alaska) since that is my favorite color and vintage Chevy red is the best--but if it she needs to be olive, olive she will be--eventually.

Oh...and very importantly, I have to learn how to drive her. I'm fairly confident after reading the manual on top of what I already know about the mechanics of a manual transmission that I can without too much trouble learn how to drive a stick--even a beast of a truck like this one. 

Skimming the manual today after I printed it off, I ended up going to the internet for further descriptions of how internal combustion engines function and as of this evening, I understand better than I ever did before how vehicles go down the road. I still have a thousand things to learn, but each piece of info I tuck away helps. :)

Anyway...I'm excited. I won't say "stay tuned" because if I get started, you'll hear about it and if I don't you won't...and of course, this is an "as I can afford it" project.