And The 1960 That Made It All Happen
This month’s Feature Truck is almost never seen among restored vehicles in today’s world. Because it is a ¾ ton, it was bought for work duties on the farm or hauling merchandise for a company. There was almost no concern in keeping it nice for a future generation. Actually, prior to the mid 1960’s all trucks were bought with only hauling in mind. After a day of working, the farm trucks were often parked behind the barn as the farm tractor must be kept in the dry.
The following is the story of why this current 1961 Chevrolet ¾ ton pickup was bought about 2013 and then restored to be about the best ¾ ton pickup of its kind in the country. Maybe just a bit better than new!
Here is how it came to be: Almost everyone remembers the first time behind the wheel, whether you were sitting on your father’s lap turning the wheel or actually driving the vehicle that you had total control.
For many, this first vehicle becomes a focal point as you remember the “Good Old Days”. This was the case for Dennis McCoy of Northwood, North Dakota. When he thought of his youth growing up on the family farm he would remember when the family bought their new 1960 Chevrolet ¾ ton fleetside pickup that made farm work more successful.
It had a six cylinder 235 engine, four speed transmission, and an 8’ fleetside bed. Just right for everyday duties on their farm. And so dependable!
It was their main farm work vehicle for many years. No longer did his father need to go to town and get a part so their prior pickup could get a needed item to keep it running!
The 1961 has different grille and park light inserts than a 1960.
Three memories of this 1960 ¾ ton pickup:
1. Shortly after the new 1960 arrived, very young Dennis slid the ignition key across the dash. OOPS! It went down the defroster vent! He still remembers his father spending time getting it out of the new truck’s vent so they could go to wherever was planned.
2. Square hay bales were being picked up in the field by his father and a hired hand. The recently new 1960 ¾ ton pickup was being used to carry them. It was so inconvenient to keep moving the truck every 10 feet, stop, load a close-by bale, and then get in the pickup and do it all over again.
Suddenly, they had an idea! Five year old Dennis (he was there for something to do) could steer the truck! They placed the transmission in 1st (granny) gear and it would creep along so slow. Perfect! Dennis would only have to hold the steering wheel in one position. Unfortunately, he was too small to see out the windows! It was not long before he ran over a bale, breaking one of the twines holding it together. That ended his job as a driver. Fired at five years old!
3. Three years after buying their new 1960 pickup it was the annual harvest time for their big cash crop, wheat. All the family had to move quickly when the wheat was ready to harvest. Just one hour of high wind or hail would completely total that years’ income. All the family was involved in harvest.
Dennis’s mother was helping by driving their 1948 Chevy 1 ½ ton grain bed truck. Unfortunately, she left the barn with the hand brake still on (most all older field trucks had their transmission covered with much grease and grime which also attracts so much dust and blowing grass)! When she made it to the field the brake band on the back of the transmission was smoking. Burning grease dropped onto the freshly cut wheat field!
In a few minutes the 1948 grain truck was destroyed. All were okay, but the truck was a smoldering heap! Fortunately, a farm plow sitting in the next field, was pulled into service to create a “fire block” and saved their wheat harvest.
After the fire of the totaled grain bed truck, his father could not wait two weeks to purchase a new cab and chassis truck and then have a grain bed built for it. There was no time to wait. The wheat crop was in the field waiting to be harvested. Bad weather could ruin the crop and almost all the year’s income would be lost.
What now? Dennis’s father could think of only one option. Buy an available hoist for dumping the bed, have it attached to the underside of their 1960 ¾ ton pickup and install a bed hinge that would pivot for dropping the wheat when selling it in town. Also added were homemade grain tight plywood extended sides to allow less delivery trips to town. Thus, the McCoy’s wheat harvest was saved with their great 1960 Chevy ¾ ton.
As then, and in today’s world vehicles are traded in after the best part of their days are over. Thus, at its seventh year of dependable use, the 1960 was traded in on the new 1967 body style pickup. Of course, as usual, the 1960 was never seen again!
Over the Years...
Over the years, when Dennis remembered his early years, the 1960 would often appear in his thoughts. He began to think, “Why not find a 1960 to remind him of his younger days?” The more he thought about the 1960, the more he knew that was the direction he wanted to go! So the hunt was on.
Locating an early 1960 ¾ ton example proved almost impossible. Most he saw were far beyond the restoration that Dennis would require. By 2013 he had bought two ¾ ton’s that were finally combined into one.
Dennis had never been involved in restoration to this degree and realized, to make this pickup like new, he would need an outside specialty company. Fortunately, he discovered Krown Restorations in Wilsall, Montana. A family company; Tracy, Rhonda, and their son Colter understood what Dennis required. They were totally capable for this very detailed assignment.
He would provide the necessary 60 year old near new restoration parts and the Krown’s would make them look like new again for the restoration. He soon found parts for this project were very difficult to find. The parts hunt was second to his farm and a retail business he had. Fortunately, Krown Restorations kept several rebuilding projects going at any one time so the 1961 project could be set aside until more parts arrived. Looking back, Dennis said the total project took eight years to complete! (It almost became a part of the Krown family)
A Few Examples:
- The sheet metal was sent to Oregon where it was chemically dipped to remove
all rust. (Imagine the freight cost)
- Stainless side trim was repaired and polished in Fargo, North Dakota by Flashback Stainless.
- A better rust free hood was found nearby on a neighbor’s retired green truck.
- Actual 1961 “Custom” cloth 40 year old seat upholstery was bought in Michigan.
And it goes on and on!
The following photos of the one of a kind “really” special 1961 ¾ ton. It is kept in its enclosed trailer awaiting local shows and parades. Dennis’s distant hope is to show it in a few annual national shows just to see how it does and if professional judges can show a mistake.
Hubcaps:
Two years to find this set of ¾ ton hubcaps that were good enough to chrome! Their deep outer center was made to perfectly fit over the two large diameter rear axle that extends beyond the eight bolt split rim wheel.
Low Geared Differential:
From the factory, these ¾ tons’ came with 5.7 ratio rating (The engine turns over 5.7 times while the axle turns once in a high gear).
Great for the farm! Not good on today’s smooth flat highways when the engine is at full RPM and the truck is just going about 55 mph. Dennis then discovered how to fix this was to install a “Gear Venders Overdrive”. They produce an assembly that allows about 25% less engine RPM for the same speed. This photo shows it attached to the back of the transmission. The added one extra cross member for support.
You can contact Dennis McCoy at: mccoyde1@polarcomm.com
