So I was just looking for a Chevy Pickup...

[JakeM211]

New member here and figured I'd share my little story.
SO there I was searching for a small pickup or maybe a full-size truck and even made an inquiry on a nice Chevy Colorado that looked much like one I used to own with a nice little lift and bigger tires. When my son said hey Dad look at this. What he had found was a 1954 M211. At first, it was just something cool and we just kinda chuckled about it but as we talked we couldn't stop giggling and well one thing led to another annnnnndd welll the little boy in me wouldn't stay quiet.
My best friend tried to be the voice of reason asking me "Don't you have some home improvements that you could spend that money on?" I responded with yes but then I thought of pulling into Home Depot with this thing to pick up the building supplies for said home improvements! Ayy ayyy you see where I'm going here right?
I told the mine boss at work that I was looking at buying a real man's truck (Big grin on my face) and he responded with "Oh so you're going to buy a Ford?" I said no, it's a GM and he scoffs but after showing him the pictures he finally had to admit that yes this was a manly truck as he walked away.
We went in Friday and fed it some gas and engine came to life and reved up sounding really nice without blowing smoke all over or clattering. Need to clean out the carb as it won't idle well but it had a bunch of old gas in it so that's not really surprising. Over all she seems to be in pretty good shape. The thing that seemed most beat up was the poor driver's seat

Anyway, what do you think of my new pickup?

 

[98G]

These are herd animals. Soon you'll have multiple...

 

[cucvmule]

Welcome aboard Jake! You do not get to see em like that very often just resting in a field of dreams.

Yes indeed its a great pickup. And looks like someone took great care of the pickup. Must be on the dry side of the State.

I just want to add a word of caution. Newer old gasoline is not like old old gasoline. It will glue the valves in the guides and create your pickup into a yard ornament real quick. Get a clean fuel can and hose, connect to fuel pump until you drain old rusty fuel.

Good Luck looks to be a great beginning.

 

[cucvmule]

Enter your pickup into the vehicle of the month, everyone would love to see her.

 

[SCM35A2]

Welcome to the site, nice project!

 

[AKPacker]

Welcome to the site, that is a cool old truck!

 

[Mullaney]

New member here and figured I'd share my little story.
SO there I was searching for a small pickup or maybe a full-size truck and even made an inquiry on a nice Chevy Colorado that looked much like one I used to own with a nice little lift and bigger tires. When my son said hey Dad look at this. What he had found was a 1954 M211. At first, it was just something cool and we just kinda chuckled about it but as we talked we couldn't stop giggling and well one thing led to another annnnnndd welll the little boy in me wouldn't stay quiet.
My best friend tried to be the voice of reason asking me "Don't you have some home improvements that you could spend that money on?" I responded with yes but then I thought of pulling into Home Depot with this thing to pick up the building supplies for said home improvements! Ayy ayyy you see where I'm going here right?
I told the mine boss at work that I was looking at buying a real man's truck (Big grin on my face) and he responded with "Oh so you're going to buy a Ford?" I said no, it's a GM and he scoffs but after showing him the pictures he finally had to admit that yes this was a manly truck as he walked away.
We went in Friday and fed it some gas and engine came to life and reved up sounding really nice without blowing smoke all over or clattering. Need to clean out the carb as it won't idle well but it had a bunch of old gas in it so that's not really surprising. Over all she seems to be in pretty good shape. The thing that seemed most beat up was the poor driver's seat

Anyway, what do you think of my new pickup?
View attachment 921312View attachment 921313View attachment 921314

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Welcome to the Outfit!

Like @98G mentioned, you've definitely got to be careful. These trucks tend to attract more like them, and before you know it - you will have an entire herd of Green Iron.

Be sure to check in with @m1010plowboy . He has had several trucks like yours and he has gone through them and made them even sweeter than ever. Search "piglet" for an easy way to find his posts...

 

[m1010plowboy]

Welcome to the most MViron mentally stable greenish iron on the planet. Reduce, reuse and recycle. That truck looks better than anything up here so you got a good one. Keep those pick up pics coming.



First thing I noticed was...... You don't need a 3' ladder to reach over the hood. What do they feed you guys? 5'9 1/2........ 5'9 and one half fits the deuce real nice. Mattech is a little taller with knee replacements and he still does okay. SuperDave must be close to 6' and he drove his to Tower Park in Cali from Canada. Over 6' foot might require some flexibility. Small drivers can't reach the pedals so there is a balance.




All four corners appear to be on the truck and I can't wait to see the other important parts. We get hung up on a decent steering wheel around here so if your wheel is not cracked up, you're in bonus world. Seat covers can be replaced and I'm almost certain I saw some in a box if you stay with that seat. A seat swap is never a bad idea if you find something more modern with a thin back. Another big story is the number on the hood. A person never knows if we'll spot that number in historical pictures or in a movie. Gently sanding that hood and other parts to find all the little bits of history, including the number stamped on the frame, may expose some info.



Those aluminum pistons tend to stick to the cylinder walls. We just did a compression test on one that was sitting for a long time. We found 75psi at the back rolling through 90psi in the middle to find 120 at the front. An old 302 may still run but damage can occur if the PO has not pulled the plugs and oiled the pistons. The G749 guru up here stuffed an 07' duramax in a M211 two years ago and has thousands of miles running the highway and back country. Other power options are available.

 

[JakeM211]

Thanks all for the warm welcome. Here are pics of the bed and cab. Hopefully going in Friday after work to tinker on it some more. Oh, and I called my insurance agency and asked how this was going to be to insure and the guy on the other end said "You know, that's a good question.. I don't know." With a laugh. He thought it was totally cool that I was buying the old girl and thanked me for an interesting end to his day. It was late when I called so anyone higher up was busy closing down for the day so I need to call back.
As far as these being herd animals. It's just going to have to be happy being in a herd of mixed breeds along with the 79 Firebird Trans AM, 68 GMC 3/4 ton pickup, and the 84 Pontiac Fiero. Oh and my dad's old 58 Studebaker Champion that he said I could have years ago... Many projects so little time.
Overall if the mechanicals are in any shape on this truck, it looks to need less work than most of the other projects but I'm sure something will pop out to surprise me.

 

[m1010plowboy]

There is something wrong with that truck. Did everyone see this? Either someone put bondo all over the top rail, filled the tailgate, smoothed out the inside wall of the box, sanded everything flat, painted it then added patina including s/n and bumper tags.......... or that box has no work experience. I need to see even more now. The floor of the box should look like ocean waves, the top rail always has dents and the tailgate.....if it has a tailgate.........if I'm looking at a tailgate painted in the 50's or even touched up a few times, .... is there even a slide mark on that gate? Why would a 1950's deuce have a perfect box? That's a museum quality Tennessee flat top box rail right there if I ever did see one.



There's a story up North about thousands of deuces put on blocks for Civil Defense Defence. They were parked, blocked up and wouldn't be used until defcon 2 readiness. Did the United States have assets decentralized, stored, away from target Cities, in readiness to evacuate or recover casualties after a nuclear strike?




There's just something about that truck...... It's got a story.

 

[JakeM211]

OK it's officially MINE!!! Title in hand. I had great fun at the insurance office today. All 4 agents in the office were having a group meeting to figure out how they would get it insured. Ended up with Progressive with a commercial policy listed as an agricultural truck. (I do have a small farm so that works). Now if registration goes as well I'm up town.

The story I got today was that the lady who was selling it and her now X husband were fixing it up and would drive it around from time to time and then they kinda got out of doing it and parked it for a while. The title was issued in 2022.

Had a better look at it today and looks like I have a leaking brake cylinder on the rear left but the other 3 are dry. Not sure if the front is leaking or not or if it's just grease residue from the steering.

I'll be heading out there Saturday to give it a good going over and hopefully get it to run smoothly and see if It will move. Anyway here are a few more pics from today.

 

[m1010plowboy]

We found one where someone previously removed the large air intake hose from the carb to the monster oil bath air filter....like yours. If anything GMC could have done better was face the carb outward so someone could look in the big hole in the carb. After removing the 90° elbow on the carb we found leaves, rocks and all kinds of garbo sitting right at the edge of the big breathe hole. Even the ladies can't get their head behind the carb to look down the hole but a chunk of mirror works real good. Check the carb hole. That tailgate has been opened at least once by the look of the bumper dents but it's still museum quality. That's an after-market muffler but everything else looks like it's still 1950, what a gem.



We usually pull valve covers before rolling them over just to watch the valves. The previous owner of one truck thought his motor was bad because it would run but made a horrible noise. Turned out a lifter popped out of a cup and once we put it back in, it purred like a sewing machine. Your odometer appears to start with a zero and usually they can't be trusted. With everything looking so fresh, she was either in the movies or stored and magically preserved.

The brake fluid was typically DOT 3 and if your Master Cylinder is low, then it's brake fluid. Bleeding the Air Pak is part of the process and the Technical Manuals cover everything very well if you need a start point. Can't wait to hear it run!

 

[JakeM211]

Thanks for the info.
Spent all day with the old beast today and almost everything went really well. Pulled plugs and gave her some oil. Then it was on to the fuel tank. Drained about a gallon of nasty yellow crap out of the tank and took a peak. It was extremely clean other than some silicone that had fallen in from around where the fuel pump bolts down. So cleaned and flushed it out and then found that the pump was disconnected and got it all plugged back in but I could only get a click out of her and the relay would kick out.. Figured it was stuck so I pulled it out and sure enough it was varnished solid. After a couple minutes of tinkering, I got it turning, plugged it in and it seemed to work fine. So I put her in and bolted it down annnnnnd nothing....
Pulled it back out and found that it was spinning fine then the pump bracket touched the fuel tank and ZAP, sparks go everywhere!!! Talk about an oh-shit moment with a big square hole open on the top of the tank with fresh gas in there. So after some investigating I found that someone had gotten the wires swapped. They could only be fully attached one way with those little twist on male and female metal caps. I checked under the dash where I had plugged it back in to make sure I hadn't inadvertently swapped them but they only connect one way and they were in the correct plugs. But they were definitely the wrong polarity out at the tank. Swapped them around and it's working fine though I'll need to swap those caps around at some point.
On to the carb. Took off the elbow and found it was all clean so I decided to go for it and see what happened. little choke and a crank and vroom. At first, it didn't want to run well so I went ahead and opened the carb the rest of the way. That thing was cleaner than the one in my Firebird that I currently drive from time to time... I was really surprised. Put her back together and got her running again. Generator in the green, air pressure building, and the oil gauge at least moved toward the upside. I think the sender or gauge might be sticky but at least it was a sign that it was pumping oil. The more she warmed up the better she sounded. I adjusted the idle just a hair and it ran great.
Next, the drive line. They towed this thing to the storage facility and disconnected the drive line to the forward, rear axle but none of the others. I went down to see if I could twist it enough to get er bolted up but when you try to move one driveline they ALL move. (Has me wondering how that was on the tranny with the rear axle still hooked up and when I got into the cab the transfer case was still engaged..) Hope they didn't have to tow it far.
Didn't have any other way to line things up than to put her in gear and ease it back and forth. At first, it wouldn't do much but as I worked with it she really started popping right into gear nicely and she started moving forward and back very well. So at least I know low 1st and reverse work.
Got the driveline bolted up and then onto the brakes.
Here I ran into a problem. NO resistance on the pedal until the last tiny bit. pulled the master cylinder and found that moisture had gotten into the boot on the front and I had rust down the bore.. I cleaned it out pretty well but no matter what it just keeps sticking when pressed in. All the rubber looks really nice but it just won't return consistently so I'm not even about to risk using that even if I got it moving well myself I don't think I would feel good trusting in it. Thinking maybe I could find someplace to recondition it? It really seems to be in good shape other than that. Unless there is someplace I can get some kind of after-market one that works for it.

Anyhow that is where I'm at. Not a bad day's work. Other than airing up the tires everything else is checking out fine.

Edit: OK tinkered with the cylinder more and I'm pretty sure the return spring is shot. Once you get any fluid in the thing it just sticks. Think I found a replacement. Looks identical just without the long filler tube sticking off the top. Fingers crossed.

 

[ODAddict]

Good report.

As to the master cylinder, can you remove the plunger rod to remove the rust which is likely making it stick?

 

[JakeM211]

Good report.

As to the master cylinder, can you remove the plunger rod to remove the rust which is likely making it stick?

I took it totally apart and polished the bore up and it will come back on its own if its sucking air but much else and the spring just won't do it. I'm pretty sure that the spring was stuck in the compressed position for a couple years at least so that would probably explain it being weak. The rubber is still good though so if I find a good strong spring to replace the old one I think it would work fine. Should be ok like I said the new cylinder looks identical but without the long fill tube and vented cap. We shall see.

 

[Bulldogger]

Congrats on the new truck. There was one local to me that I badly wanted but still can't justify the purchase and the driveway is too small to hide it from my wife. One day. Some day.
Bulldogger

 

[JakeM211]

Congrats on the new truck. There was one local to me that I badly wanted but still can't justify the purchase and the driveway is too small to hide it from my wife. One day. Some day.
Bulldogger

Luckily my female didn't have an issue with me getting this. She is kind of a truck snob, though; anything that doesn't have a bed and 4-wheel drive is beneath her. And this bad boy qualifies as a real truck to her. That and she says my buying this will make it less silly when she buys a horse lol.

Oh, and good news. My new brake cylinder came in today and is almost identical to the original, and I found out that the tall filler spout/vent tube was just screwed into the top of the old cylinder so I can put everything back just like it was. I'm hopeful that this was the only major mechanical issue it has and i'll be able to bring it home Saturday. Should be a fun 50 mile drive.

 

[m1010plowboy]

Luckily my female didn't have an issue with me getting this. She is kind of a truck snob, though; anything that doesn't have a bed and 4-wheel drive is beneath her. And this bad boy qualifies as a real truck to her. That and she says my buying this will make it less silly when she buys a horse lol.

Oh, and good news. My new brake cylinder came in today and is almost identical to the original, and I found out that the tall filler spout/vent tube was just screwed into the top of the old cylinder so I can put everything back just like it was. I'm hopeful that this was the only major mechanical issue it has and i'll be able to bring it home Saturday. Should be a fun 50 mile drive.

The trucks love a 50 mile run at 50mph. The hubs will still be cold when you get there. Once you're home safe, a 0-50mph test to beat our times is always a bonus.

There was a story about a check valve in one style of MC that was different than the G749 Early Deuce. If the internals are an exact match you're set.

 

[USMC 00-08]

Welcome! That's a great looking truck!

The check valve needs to come out of the master cylinder.



The check valve is in the airpak.



I think there is a spring that should attach to the brake pedal to help it return, but I will check my truck tomorrow.

Here is a link to the parts list thread that we have come up with. Click on the hyperlink that says "G749 Parts List" in the first post. That will open the spreadsheet. If it asks you to sign in, close that prompt and the list should open. We have a part number for a master cylinder that you can double check with yours.

G749 Parts List

Here is the link to the parts list that several of us have been working on for the G749 series. We will continue to update it as new part numbers are discovered. Please let me know of any additional part numbers you might come across and I will add those to the list for everyone to use as...

www.steelsoldiers.com

 

[m1010plowboy]

I took a quick look in TM 9-1819 around the 260 pages trying to find MC return spring info. It's not obvious in the book so I found a bad picture of the spring outside the MC that's supposed to pull the pedal back to position. It's a pedal pumping pulling positioning piece.

It's a fairly stiff spring so the pedal return problem is an odd duck if this spring was in place.