1955 Chevrolet Truck Base 3.8l on 2040-cars
Eden, Vermont, United States
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1955 second series 1 1/2 ton with 12 volt system. A fairly rare short 130 inch wheelbase model which is less than a regular cab F150 with 8 ft box. Overall it's only a foot longer than my Volvo 240. 235 cu in 6, 4 speed manual and single speed rear end I bought it in 1980 from the original owner, a grain farmer near Calgary , Alberta. The Canadian model is a 1500, which I believe would have been a 4100 in the US. The GVW is 11000 lbs with the original tires, 6.50-20 front and 7.00-20 rear. It now has 7.50-20 all around. I drove it back the 3000 miles to Vermont and it got 14 mpg and used 7 quarts of oil. I've done about 12000 miles in the 34 years I've had it, and within the last 4000 I've done the following ; The 235 motor was tired and I replaced it with a reman unit. It's just broke in and runs smooth and strong. Compression is between 130 and 140 in all cylinders. It's never had ethanol in it. A complete brake overhaul, including E brake band. New water pump, king pins and steering ends. Front wheel bearings were repacked and 2 replaced. All fluids were changed, except for the hydraulics. New exhaust with 304 stainless pipe and a titanium muffler which I fabricated. It will never need replacing I installed the battery backwards in a rush a couple of years ago which was a bad idea. It got a new generator, regulator, and most of the wiring connecting them. The starter was also rebuilt with a new drive at the same time. The mirrors were rebuilt with new glass and titanium arms. Seat rebuilt with new covers and new floor mat. All sheet metal that I could remove, inner and outer fenders, grill, hood and doors were removed, blasted, epoxy primed, top coated and reassembled with new seals and stainless fasteners. The fenders were undercoated and the floor was scraped clean, primed and undercoated. The cab roof and back have the original paint. The truck as I bought it had very little rust. The floor is 100%. The rear cab corners rotted at the edges where chaff had accumulated, and mice had gotten up in between the roof and the inner metal. From the stash of grain I found I'd say they were there before I bought it. I've cleaned it out but the mess they left has caused some pitting inside the cab. It wouldn't take much to finish the paint. I've rebuilt the carb and probably other things I can't remember. None of the work was ever done with the idea of selling it. The bed is 9 ft. long and 7 wide. It is all wood and solid except for the sideboards which are original and have some dry rot. There was 1/2 in plywood over the 2x6 planks when I bought it and I've overlaid it all with 14 ga. steel welded to the steel side rails. The dual cylinder hoist is very strong and reliable. I had it way overloaded the first time I went for gravel and it didn't flinch. I've never added oil since I've had it. I began to build aluminum sides and tailgate, but only completed the tailgate. I have the material for the sides cut and bent but they need welding. It's all 1/8" 6061 T6 aluminum which is very good stuff, and goes with the truck. The tires have almost full tread all around but some have weather checking. Two of the rears are almost new retreads. I also have 4 good extra tires, 2 are 7.00 and 2 are 7.50 . I don't believe they're checked but they're buried in my shop out of the light and I'd have to look. The rims are 3 piece with a locking ring. The front were blasted and repainted and the rears have not but they have most of the original paint on them. There is a pair of dual chains in a box mounted to the bed. Other things I've added over the years are a very heavy duty trailer hitch, a 15 gallon aux fuel tank outside the cab and a tool box mounted on the frame. The tank behind the seat was drawing rust so I haven't used it for a while. It doesn't leak, just needs flushing, and it's the tank that feeds the fuel gauge. Everything works on the truck, lights ,heater etc. and it was inspected regularly until I stopped using it a few years ago. It's always been garaged and run and serviced annually. It's had a tune up this summer and fresh oil. Mechanically it's almost 100% and I wouldn't hesitate to get in it today and drive anywhere. The only issue might be that the vacuum wipers are weak, but then they probably always were. I think an electric upgrade might be a good idea. The truck is a joy to drive. It steers easily and runs straight down the road. The gentleman I bought it from had given up farming and was sad to see it go, and now I find myself in the same situation. The truck may look old fashioned but it's as willing and able to do a days work as it ever was. Hopefully it will find a home where it can be useful. |
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Ford, Toyota clean up in Best Car For The Money Awards
Fri, 22 Feb 2013The U.S. News Best Cars for the Money Awards picks winners by looking at the average transaction price, five-year total cost of ownership, the regard a car has from the automotive press, reliability figures from J.D. Power and Associates and safety data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. The result, according to the magazine, is "the best combination of critical acclaim and long-term value."
Ford nabbed six of the 21 categories that received awards this year, the Focus, Fusion, Fusion Hybrid, Taurus, Escape and Edge getting trophies. Toyota and its Lexus and Scion sub-brands took another five, the Tacoma and Tundra owning the two categories given to pickup trucks. The other ten awards were split between Honda with three, Buick with two, and one each for Subaru, BMW, Hyundai, Chevrolet and Mazda.
Follow the link to see all the winners and read about why they were chosen.
Junkyard Gem: 1987 Chevrolet Turbo Sprint
Sun, Feb 6 2022Fifteen years ago, I wrote my first-ever automotive article under the name Murilee Martin, and it didn't take me long to start writing about one of my favorite automotive subjects: the junkyard. Before I'd refined my system for documenting discarded vehicles, however, I shot a lot of boneyard photos that never got used. For today's Junkyard Gem, I have four shots from early 2007 of one of the rarest turbocharged machines of the 1980s: the Chevrolet Turbo Sprint. The Chevrolet Sprint was really a rebadged Suzuki Cultus, from the pre-Geo era when General Motors sold the Isuzu Gemini as the Chevrolet Spectrum, the Daewoo LeMans as the Pontiac LeMans and the Toyota Corolla as the Chevrolet Nova (soon enough, the Spectrum became a Geo, and the Nova became the Prizm). The second-generation Cultus appeared in 1988, becoming the Geo Metro on our shores the following year. The Turbo Sprint was available for just the last two years of the Sprint's 1985-1988 American sales run, and it appears that just a couple of thousand were sold; if I'd known at the time just how rare they were, I'd have shot more photos of this one at the now-defunct Hayward Pick Your Part. The turbocharged 993cc three-cylinder produced 70 horsepower, 22 better than the naturally-aspirated version. Since the Turbo Sprint weighed just 1,620 pounds (that's about 500 pounds lighter than a barely more powerful '22 Mitsusbishi Mirage), it was plenty of fun to drive. For 1988, the regular Sprint hatchback cost $6,380 while the Turbo Sprint listed at $8,240 (that's about $15,375 and $19,855 today, respectively). Believe it or not, a Turbo Sprint actually raced in the 24 Hours of Lemons 10 years ago, though it didn't end well. This ad is for the regular Cultus, not the Cultus Turbo, but the screaming guitars sound reasonably turbocharged. For the most part, Chevy Sprint marketing was all about cheap purchase price and stingy fuel economy… at a time when gasoline prices were cratering. Related Video:
Foreign automakers pay from $38 to $65 per hour to non-union workers
Sun, Mar 29 2015As leaders for the United Auto Workers gather in Detroit for their Special Convention on Collective Bargaining to work out the negotiating stance for this year's new labor agreements with the Detroit 3 automakers, what they most want to do is figure out how to eliminate the two-tier wage scale. However, the lower Tier 2 wage has allowed the domestic automakers to reduce their labor costs, hire more workers, and compete better with their import competition. As it stands, per-hour labor rates including benefits are $58 at General Motors, $57 at Ford, and $48 at Fiat-Chrysler – a reflection of FCA's much greater number of Tier 2 workers. The Center for Automotive Research released a study of labor rates (including benefits) that put numbers to what the imports pay: Mercedes-Benz pays the most, at an average of $65 per hour, Volkswagen pays the least, at $38 per hour, and BMW is just a hair above that at $39 per hour. Among the Detroit competitors, Honda workers earn an average of $49 per hour, at Toyota it's $48 per hour, Nissan is $42 per hour, and Hyundai-Kia pays $41 per hour. The lower import wages are aided by their greater use of temporary workers compared to the domestics. Automotive News says the ten-dollar gap between those foreign camakers and the domestics turns out to about an extra $250 per car in labor, which adds up quickly when you're pumping out many millions of cars. That $250-per-car number is one that, come negotiating time, the Detroit 3 will want to reduce, as the UAW is trying to raise both Tier 1 and Tier 2 wages. Another wrinkle is that the domestic carmakers are considering the wide adoption of a third wage level lower than Tier 2. Some workers who do minor tasks like assembling parts trays kits and battery packs already make less than Tier 2, but the UAW will be quite wary about cementing yet another wage scale at the bottom of the system while it's trying to fight a bigger battle at the top. News Source: Automotive News - sub. req., BloombergImage Credit: AP Photo/Erik Schelzig Earnings/Financials UAW/Unions BMW Chevrolet Fiat Ford GM Honda Hyundai Kia Mercedes-Benz Nissan Toyota Volkswagen labor wages collective bargaining labor costs