This is one great looking old truck! The patina on this 1951 Chevrolet is awesome and the truck is in remarkably great condition. It can be found here on eBay with a current bid of $4,000. Located in Edwall, Washington, this truck looks like it’s ready to hit the road!
According to the ad, the engine is the original 216 cubic inch 6-cylinder with a 4-speed manual transmission. The “engine oil pan, valve cover and side cover were removed and the internal area of the engine was cleaned with new gaskets installed.” The engine also has a rebuilt water pump and new fan belt. It is said to idle smoothly and doesn’t smoke.
The interior is in decent shape and the gauges are said to work. There is a rubber floor mat, however, there are several photos with the mat removed and the floor underneath looks very solid. The dash needs a good cleaning but doesn’t look like it’s in bad shape.
The rear passenger fender and the driver’s front fender have been impacted at some point. Other than that, the body looks great. Unfortunately, there is no history in the ad, but the truck certainly hasn’t seen an overly harsh life. The wood bed will need to be completely redone, but there are great looking aftermarket kits available in any configuration you can think of. I hope this truck gets another lease on life. It certainly looks like it has plenty of life left in it.
In my opinion the P word should only apply to paint that has been worn thin from excess washing ,weathering or polishing. At some point it’s just rust. That being said there’s no denying the appeal of the natural look of all the paint and primer gone and nothing left but rust. My 50 F -1 is such a look. Every one says ” Don’t paint that truck” I have no intention what so ever to paint that truck. I also have never used the word patina to describe it’s finish. Don’t want to make any body mad with these comments, just my two cents worth. Looks like a solid old Chevy, what to do with the paint-rust? Not a clue.
I agree, the “P” word should not apply when there is 95% rust to paint ratio.
Although a really cool truck- I like.
I completely agree, in fact I made much the same comment in the listing featuring the Ford 1 ton earlier this week. The word patina should be omitted from the classic car vocabulary! Lol Ha! Completely NOT going to happen sadly.
P-word or no, the rust on this one is the kind I like to see. Eastern Washington is rather kind to exposed steel, at least from what I remember 20 years ago. It’s not that deep, rotten rust you see so many other places. It’s almost iridescent, kind of pretty on its own. Seems like many of these trucks avoided road salt and eventually just lost their paint without significant metal deterioration. Every farm had at least one old heap sitting around in surprisingly good shape.
If this truck was to head my direction I would likely put it to work. A running restoration would be the order of the day. The 216 would remain and the 4-spd. is a good transmission for the tasks I’d be doing. A repainted for sure and it might have to be a Rustoleum special until I could actually take the time to do it right. Of course there might be some who would gasp when they saw me exiting the hardware store with my paint supplies.
that is not Patina it is RUST ;patina is on old copper and silver;Rust is on old cars; clean it sand it and repaint it before the rust eats it
Short of spraying it with a clear or repainting, what is the best way to preserve this truck’s metal. I have heard linseed oil but that seems like it would be hard to remove when you were ready for paint? Any good recommendations for an interim solution?
WD-40. It gets used a lot on bare metal hot rods. Frequent applications are required, and it does attract a bit of dust. Not sure about residue when it’s time to repaint, but the stuff does seem to evaporate almost completely over time. A few years back I hit my “patina” IHC L-110 with a coat of it just to see what would happen. For a few weeks it looked nice and shiny and rain rolled right off. Eventually it did evaporate (or whatever happens to oil) and the paint oxidized to its former state.
Antique collectors, e.g. old steel beer cans, etc., use oxalic acid to convert the rust and let the original screened art come back.
In automotive use I use phosphoric acid (there are lots of commercial products with dyes and mystical names, but they are all mostly or totally the same material), mixed with years of experience. It lasts waaaayyyy longer than the oil treatments, and doesn’t look as phony as clear coat.
Pictured is a ’39 Ford I massaged that had surface rust on the roof, hood and fender tops. The shine of the paint is the result of some judicious buffer work. Those rub through looking spots are just that, the factory color was burgundy, the folkstone grey color was an old repaint. Lacquer has a warmth that is very tough to duplicate with modern paint products.
I’ve never heard of that process, but man what a result! That ’39 looks excellent!
Thanks John, just to give a before reference here’s the day I got it when I went down to California to bring it home. The roof was particularly rusty due to having been stored under one of those blue plastic tarps (yes, a bad idea).
This would be a cool truck t drive as is and slowly put back to “closer” to original condition. The four speed is actually a good “upgrade” to the driveability/ usability, imo (better gear spacing and easier to shift than the 3OTT. It’s too far away, and I have too many projects already, unfortunately!
I’m with Geomechs. Put this truck back to work and paint it later.
But that Rustoleum primer job would too be first on my list as the
salt air and dampness here in Florida would devour this truck in no
time at all. The only thing I’d change physically on it would be to add
one of those AM/FM radios that match the original unit that you could
have ordered from your dealer. Other than that, I wouldn’t change a
thing.
Uncle Bob, again gives the correct answer. I have had several Ford F-100’s, only one of the GM’s. This looks to me to be a great starting point to make a nice driver truck, kind of depends on the reserve!
Hat’s off to the folks that did the work on this truck! I respect the “not too much ” approach to freshening up an old vehicle… I too find & save old vehicles. This truck is in the process of being saved. Not knowing what direction the new owner may take, this degree of sympathetic restoration will inspire that person to take this beauty to the next level… what ever that turns out to be. Nicely done!
Stop with PATINA already! The word you’re looking for is spelled R-U-S-T!
Aah, yes Ken but there’s good rust and bad rust, the bad rust makes holes in stuff but the good rust just lays there and adds age, which you can’t buy off the shelf, not real genuine age anyway, you have to wait for it to accumulate, which takes time, something else you can’t buy !
Here is what you can get in South Africa for $4000.
Reminds me of my grandfather’s truck. He was a general contractor in Kentucky. Great memories of him and riding with him. He died in 1963. Still him.