The WC53 Carryall thread .

[Gary Weaklend]

Heater

Since this picture I installed two defroster vents (from eBay) and ran heater hose up to each of them.

[Alxj64]

Gary, your truck really is a work of art! Evertyime I have an idea in my head about how I am going to do something you post a picture of a smarter and cleaner way to accomplish the same thing! Hats off!

[Gary Weaklend]

Gary, your truck really is a work of art! Evertyime I have an idea in my head about how I am going to do something you post a picture of a smarter and cleaner way to accomplish the same thing! Hats off!

Thanks for the kind words but I'll admit that I learn from my mistakes and when it comes to working on the truck I made a lot of mistakes so most everything was done twice. :-)
Have fun and enjoy the time you're working on your Carryall.

[Alxj64]

So, I kinda feel bad for posting these because I feel like I have had a wild case of good dumb luck and I fear what my "payback" will be.

Have been having some good success on the tailgate build.



And then I have been quazi looking for a set of Hutchinson wheels like Lee had on this truck before I bought it, and a friend of mine stumbled across a set so I picked those up over the weekend.



And then less than an hour from where I grew up, and about 2 hours from where I live, a friend of mine from Highschool informed me of this particular item that became for sale so I made a trip to drop off some parts with Bruce in Midlo, and the continued north towards Charlottesville. Wandered off of the interstate so far into the woods, I had to ford a creek on a Virginia State route, and then had to use 4wd in my Ram to get to where the truck was hidden in an area that was logged over about 15 years ago.

This is what followed me home. Its almost 100% complete but its pretty rough. Its also a Navy truck. Notice the lack of headlight grill guards and the weird shaped headlight buckets. The truck has USN markings showing through the paint. It doesn't look like it will take much to get it running but I think there may be something up with the clutch as the access cover is missing.

I have more pictures I can share later.

[Bruce]

Nice Catch, wish I could have gone on w/you guys! Looking forward to more pic's, BTW, it's not luck, it's karma!

[Bruce in BC]

Quick buy a lottery ticket

(1) Your tailgate frame mimics my design , yours looks way more pretty .
Lets see more of the thing .
(2) What did the wheels set you back ? I thought you were a tad short on cash . Keep your eyes open for another pair .......
(3) YES ! This is just so wrong on so many levels and so right on many more .
It is wrong because is not one carryall enough ?
It is right because you have saved it and who is more deserving of a carryall than a guy who likes messing with them .

yah more pictures is a good idea . Lots and lots of them .
I seem to be bogged down .

Bruce

Well done - you have the grape vine working for you .
A big high five from up north ...

EDIT - Take another look at your hinges on the bottom gate , are they on the wrong side ? If you take a long rod , it should slide through both hinges where the pin goes . This is an old trick to use when adjusting hinges to stop them from binding .

[Alxj64]

(1) Your tailgate frame mimics my design , yours looks way more pretty .
Lets see more of the thing .
(2) What did the wheels set you back ? I thought you were a tad short on cash . Keep your eyes open for another pair .......
(3) YES ! This is just so wrong on so many levels and so right on many more .
It is wrong because is not one carryall enough ?
It is right because you have saved it and who is more deserving of a carryall than a guy who likes messing with them .

yah more pictures is a good idea . Lots and lots of them .
I seem to be bogged down .

Bruce

Well done - you have the grape vine working for you .
A big high five from up north ...

EDIT - Take another look at your hinges on the bottom gate , are they on the wrong side ? If you take a long rod , it should slide through both hinges where the pin goes . This is an old trick to use when adjusting hinges to stop them from binding .

Good eye on the hinges! I was wondering if anyone was going to say something. They are just finger threaded on for mockup and measuring but I noticed after the fact of taking the picture that they were wrong and laughed and was hoping someone would say something. You win the prize!

The wheels, I got with a pile of stuff from a mess of horse trading parts between several people, some side work, and even delivering parts on my trip out of town recently, and minimal "cash" but a bunch of Jeep and heavy axle parts were involved and quite a bit of my time but still $ number regarding less than $750 for the 4.

As for the 2nd Carryall, I do feel bad about snagging it but at the same time, after meeting the sellers and them telling me about how their friends wanted it and what their plans to "cut the top off" or put 40"s on it and mud bog it, and the fact that the guy I bought it from originally bought it from a local scrapper because they were going to use it as a mobile hunting truck on the logged over property that they had just purchased. They used it one season and it broke down on them so they left it there about 10 years ago and the woods have grown up around it. Luckily it was still along a main used property road that I was able to get my 4wd Mega Cab down with the trailer but now have some nice new Pin-striping on the Ram.

I don't need two of them, so my intentions are not to keep it but rather help someone else find a restorable and complete Carryall such as this one. To buy it I had to scrounge for a sum of money to put into it so I do have a bit of cash tied up into this thing but I figure this one was worth it because the truck is saved and more than deserving of being saved. I WISH that I could be the one to enjoy this thing but I know I don't have the money or time for two Carryalls. I am going to give my dad a chance at dibbs on it, and a few local friends as well. I am going to invest some time into it to see if I can get it running again, and I have a set of better tires and wheels to put on it so that it can maybe move under its own power. So I didn't buy it with the intention of "I need ALL of the Carryalls!" but rather "Oh my, I need to get that thing so that I can make sure it ends up in the RIGHT hands eventually rather than leaving it to the local wheeling community to consume and hack into some poor unfortunate trail rig."

And I will admit, deep inside, I really want to get it running so I can drive it around the yard one time so that I can drive an original Carryall since this one is more original than mine, down to the fact that it appears it wasn't really used much at all after it was booted from the Marine Air Station in Cherry Point. ALL of the tires have the date stamp of 1951 on them and most of them are in decent tread life.

So, that basically means that once spring gets here and I can get some time to tinker with this one, it will probably be "discreetly" listed for sale within the community.

A few more pictures of it...

[Alxj64]

and a few more...





And parked next to my brotber's '52 M37.

[Bruce in BC]

Smart plan .

your plan is dead on . Tweak it a bit and get it running . The other thing I have done in the past is to free up stuck brakes and repair the odd piece to make the vehicle more presentable . Even gone as far as to do some patches and straightening on a panel or two that would scare most folks . Paid off big time more than once and a few I let go because I new the new owner would do a decent job with the vehicle .

[Jake]

Nothing like the thrill of finding another old truck! Retrieving them and parking them on your property is better than winning an Oscar in my book!
More pics of the tailgate build please.

[Alxj64]

Nothing like the thrill of finding another old truck! Retrieving them and parking them on your property is better than winning an Oscar in my book!
More pics of the tailgate build please.

Thanks! Yea, I am just glad that I know its saved from being chopped into something and it will be one more "known" Carryall for someone to enjoy.

I am hoping to get some more work done on the tailgate this weekend. I'll be sure to take lots of pictures.

Speaking of the gate... This is the latch style I would like to use, but I can't seem to find anything less than $200! Which is insane! The latch I have works but there is no key for it. I can replace it with the same style for $40 but with a new key, clean, etc.

What else have you guys been using?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/55-56-57-Che...-/200745929786

[Bruce]

That is slick, but chrome city & big bucks. There should be something around more to the mil style & able to take some paint?

[Bruce in BC]

give me some time

hitting the road
Those handles go for about 35 bucks if you know where to look .
Heck a painted garage door handle might fit right in ..


I am gone.

Bruce

[Gary Weaklend]

Carryall Tailgate Handle

[Alxj64]....I can't seem to find anything less than $200! Which is insane! /QUOTE]

You're right Alex the price is insane. I've been looking for a handle for the past month. The handle I'm using now is from a 57 Chevy Station and like the one you linked to on eBay for $189 (it's on my watch list). The problem with the one in the picture ($15 at a swap meet) is the key cylinder is rusted and I can't get it freed. I took it to a locksmith and they couldn't loosen it either. I did not try a torch because I thought I could find another one and didn't want to ruin this one. Lately I've been thinking of taking a torch to it. A garage door handle or pickup topper handle will probably work but the one's I've seen are not solid metal on the backside (I'm picky). I'm also thinking a 50's Willys Jeep Station Wagon handle will work. There are 5 available on eBay for $55 but located in Turkey and I don't want to take a chance on the purchase. To make a 57 Chevy station wagon handle work you will need to grind off the tabs on the two screw holes and drill through the plate (countersink the front). You will also need to enlargen the hole in the "original" tailgate. Good Luck.

[Alxj64]

Gary, thanks for the advice on the handle. I too want something with a closed back thats not just something stamped. For the time being I think I am going to go with a '29 Ford Deck Lid handle, or maybe just use a "nice" garage door handle.

Guys, please be nice as I am sure I am not doing this entirely "right" as I've no prior experience with sheet metal work nor do I have all of the correct tooling for it. But here is my slow progress.

Added the two center ribs to the gate frame.



Made some plates for the lower corner to create a radius and give the gate frame a rigid corner.



Then tested the gate to make sure nothing was going to bind.



Hang with me, as it only lets me post 3 pictures per post...