1939

Passing the reviewing stand in 2016 at the Indianapolis 500 parade. In 1939 our Chevrolet Feature Truck of the Month came new as a 1 ½ ton with flat face cowl. It had a 158” wheel base. The attached 1939 sketch below shows it with all its dimensions. The dual rear wheels at right were included with our truck in...

Coming soon...

And the “All American Truck Club of New Zealand” After as much as 80 years of almost no maintenance, the saddles that wrap around the two rear axle housings usually require some serious attention.  The wear is out of the sight and often is over looked during most restorations. Steve Jones in the country of New Zealand had this problem...

Owner: Colin Carvolth  If you are a person that has followed our Feature Truck of the Month series you know we try to find GM trucks between 1934 and 1972 that are just a little different. Their criteria are they should have a different flair in some area that makes them almost a one of a kind! Therefore, even though...

If you wonder what are some of the most unusual early GM trucks, you should always remember John and Lisa Milton of Vestal, New York. Their continual search for those with almost no survivors is their passion. Not only do they occasionally find an available rare truck for sale they usually give it a ground up restoration to be like...

To add better night visibility to all Pickups, Big trucks, Suburban’s, and panel trucks, General Motors offered a 4 inch diameter 1940-1953 Accessory GM Reflector as a dealer installed accessory.  With the single small factory taillight, seeing of these vehicles on the road could be difficult especially if their one bulb burned out.  To help correct this problem GM offered a...

To keep General Motors truck costs down, Chevrolet and GMC ½ through 2 ton shared many components during the late 1930’s through the 1950’s. However, when it came to the grille, the focal point of the truck, changes had to be very noticeable. The truck designers were limited in creating a new grille as both makes would still have almost...

General Motors right hand drive trucks, though unusual in the United States, have always been very popular in specific countries such as Britain, New Zealand, South Africa, and Australia. These vehicles were not produced in the U.S. but came from GM's large assembly plant in Oshawa, Ontario. Due to reversed dash boards, the change in steering components, differences in starter...

So you wish to hear about my 1939 Chevrolet, grain bed, ton and a half tow truck. Well folks it is what I call a “REAL TRUCK”. This baby was built to work and be tough. Quality was important to vehicle builders of the pre-war era.

Even if you prefer an original vacuum wiper motor for these years rebuildable cores have become very rare and most New Old Stock units are just not obtainable. Even new ones have their lubrication dry after 70 years. For those that won't accept a slow moving or non-working used vacuum unit, an alternative does exist. New electric motors are now...

During 1939-40 Door window breakage on truck cabs became a problem. As the cloth fabric in the door window channel became worn, the large and now loose fitting side windows were susceptible to cracking when the door was slammed. Complaints from dealers resulted in an improvement on 1941-46 doors. A one piece metal frame was placed around the edges of...

Locating a pair of seat cushions for the 1939-46 truck has become very difficult in recent years. These early trucks increased popularity is the main reason for the shortage. Even when a pair of cushions are located the asking price often does not justify the purchase because of the age damage to the springs and frame of the lower cushion...

The unusual side doors on these Suburban and Panel trucks will fit on the more common pickup cab, however, their looks will tell the observer that something is not correct. Across the top of the outer skin is a horizontal stamping or groove. This groove is a continuation of the stamping that runs the length of the body to help...

The 1939-1940 Chevrolet and GMC grilles may look the same when they are seen separately, however they are not! By sharing fenders, hood top, headlight stands, etc. , the grilles overall dimensions had to be the same. To keep each marquee individual, GM made the grilles different. When the two are compared side by side, what a difference! 1939-1940 GMC...

There is none! Truck cabs during these early years all came the same from the factory. Accessories were dealer installed. You picked the factory installed color and the dealership added requested extras such as heater or inside sunvisor.

This early glove box lock assembly has a weak point that makes it difficult to find complete. Its die-cast vertical pointer is held in place by a small steel tension spring. After the truck sets outside abandon several years the spring rusts, breaks, or otherwise looses its tension. This allows the pointer to fall out and the glove box lid will no longer stay closed.

Now that our 1939 has had it's restoration completed we thought we would send you some photos of the finished product.

I purchased my 39 Chevy in 1973 for 500$US. I drove it in original condition for several years. After 3 wives, it has been the only thing I could hold onto. I used it for wood hauling, then with a 600 gal. tank, for water, then in the 80's, it went mining with me, serving well hauling gold ore down a treacherous road.

Article and photos by MB Johnson Holdings Pty Ltd, South Townsville Old 4810, Australia. copyright 2004 MB Johnson Holdings Pty Ltd. all rights reserved. Sergies Lucas is a 51 year old self-taught timber craftsman with vision, creativity and a passion for achieving a standard of product that has long been lost to the world through natural attrition.