We can only imagine the rush that reader Pat T. and his son Sean got when they found this 1956 Chevy step side truck in a garage in Georgia. The truck had been stored there since 1980 and had acquired quite a patina while it was there. Pat and his son dragged the truck from storage and started the process of getting it back on the road.
Amazingly the truck’s original 235 cui straight-6 not only runs, but doesn’t smoke and isn’t leaking fluids. The truck was in need of a few new pieces, such as a new radiator, gas tank, and exhaust. Pat’s sons went over the body with Scotch Bright pads to remove some of the surface rust to reveal the original blue paint that was hiding underneath. The photos above show the before and after of the truck, the after was taken this last weekend at its first car show. Notice the window swamp cooler that Pat found for $25.
After the end of WWII Chevrolet began ramping production of civilian automobiles, many models got revamped including Chevy’s popular Pickup Truck line. In 1947 Chevy’s newest truck rolled off the assembly line, these trucks were coined as the Advanced Design line. The Advanced Design line was one of Chevy’s top selling vehicles and the best-selling truck in the country. By 1955 Chevrolet decided it was in need a refresh, so in ’55 they released an updated version designated as the Task Force series. The Task Force series had the most optional features of any truck Chevy had ever offered, the most popular of these features was the wrap around rear window, which Pat and Sean’s truck has.
These Chevy trucks were known to be well built and by the looks of this one, we would have to agree with that sentiment. The body is rusty, but there are no holes or patch panels. The wood in the truck bed is even intact. Sean cleaned and painted the rims in light blue, which actually ties this whole truck together really well.
This truck is a 3100 series, which means it rated at half a ton. It not only has its original engine, but its original 3 on the tree and original drivetrain. ’56 was the last year Chevy offered the egg crate grill that this truck wears. This truck is very original and shows its age proudly. Pat and Sean should really be proud of this truck and the hard work put into it. To think this is Sean’s first vehicle, it will definitely get him lots of attention at high school. We want to congratulate them on this find and we hope Sean gets many miles out of it.
Cool story!
Can you clear coat patina?
YES!!!! You can shoot a semi – gloss or gloss coat polyurethane clear over the patina… just use a degreaser/dewaxer first, and lightly scuff-sand the paint with 600 – 800 grit (wet-sand), it’ll last forever!
Nice truck.. i like these much better than the 1957 Chevy truck.. which has the “cat fish” grill. i remember this model/most famous for Clint Eastwood’s early 1980’s movie.. “Every Which Way But Loose”.. he is bare knuckles fighter, and drives a light yellow model around Calif.. drinking & fighting, with biker gang chasing him. i think his is either 55 or 56. He rides around with Clyde the orangutan.. “right turn Clyde”.. one of the greatest comedy movie lines of all time.
Hey Ron. The truck has a metal perservitive on it. Should keep it just like it is.
Pat, what did you use to preserve the surface? It looks great in the photos.
check out the a/c lol
I have a 56 like yours that is bone stock.I put an original AM tube radio in it.I’ve seen pictures of an original speaker in its stock location above the rear view mirror.Does your truck have a speaker on the roof panel and if so is there an opening in the inner panel that the speaker magnet sets into?I can order a stock speaker grill for this stock location but I don’t want to cut a hole in the inner panel for the magnet.My truck doesn’t have a hole there and I don’t know if one is neccesary.Please post me a picture of said area if yours had a stock speaker there. Thanks-STOOK
Hey Michael. Mine does not have a radio in it. No speakers anywhere in the truck. Sorry.
Thanks alot.
oh i love the task force trucks, i have just aquired a long wheelbase 3/4 ton with large back window 283 v8 and it is sweeeeeeet, 1958 looking great . just like this one
ps i am in hull in the UK,
@ the-dools: As I was reading this post and, the replies, a television commercial, which I have, on a videotape, of vintage ‘spots’, sprang to mind. It, probably, ran two or, three minutes, was done in rhyme(same pentameter, iirc, as ‘The Cremation, of Sam Mac.Gee’) and, was about the “Task Force ’57” Chevy trucks, that worked the ‘Alcan Run.’ due North, from, ‘most, anywhere!
Nice truck ,not many left like that but should have left the paint like it was ,THAT was COOL!
Is it for sale