My Quest – The beginning

My Quest …

(My on-going story of getting involved with the trucks, the characters and events related to VOV)

How I Got Started

Several years ago my wife’s uncle mentioned that his landlord was interested in selling his 1944 Chevy 4×4 truck.  I was somewhat familiar with the truck and knew it when it ran back in the early ’80s.   I knew the owner and since the truck was only about 8 miles away, it wasn’t too much effort to go “check it out.” My wife’s cousin and daughter accompanied me to check out this gem. It was parked at the back of a field where it had gotten stuck about 14 years before and suffered a broken fan belt.  It was into the dirt up to its axle and still had a load of sand on the back.  Needless to say a deal was made and the rig was mine. As it turned out, this truck started me on one of the greatest treasure hunts of my life.

The air cleaner of this old Chevy was missing and water had gotten into the engine. Stripping it down and further checking revealed a very tired engine.  I put an ad in a local paper looking for an engine.  Early one Sunday morning I got a call from a fellow who said he had a truck just like mine and would I be interested in buying it?  This time a fellow MV’r went with me and we were taken aback by the truck we found.  The body was civilian, but the rest of the truck (a 1944 airfield crash truck) was in immaculate condition with only 9,000 miles on the odometer. (1944 with civilian box as I first saw it) It was tucked in the back of a large storage barn among the owner’s tractor collection.  It needed engine work, but according to the owner it had not been outside overnight a single night in its life since it’s Army discharge.  As you guessed, it came home. Several months later I  placed an ad for a cargo box in our local MVPA chapter newsletter. I received a call one evening from an older collector in the mountains west of me.  He had a correct cargo box for sale and as we talked he asked what I was putting it on.  When I told him and mentioned that it was very difficult to find the correct box for an airfield crash truck he said “you should have said so.  I have a complete truck and am thinking of selling it too”.   Do I need to mention what happened next?

(1943 Airfield Crash Truck being loaded for the trip home)

At this point the wife became alarmed and something had to go.  The dump truck needed far more work than my time and budget allowed, so I ended up selling it. The quest has been a ball and I have met some great people in the process.  The  path that this great road has taken me is this website where I can share my interest.

2002/2003

I finally have the engine in the 1944 truck (the red dump in barn above) rebuilt, in the truck and running.  I am trying to finish the frame work, box and painting before winter.  I am fortunate to have a neighbor who has taken a liking to the trucks and is a professional welder.  He has been of immeasurable help on some of the tricky stuff. Final painting of the cab Before and after shots of rear frame.  This truck was originally a crash truck, so I had to add the rear cross-section with pintle and bumperettes. Cargo box had lots of holes to fill, and someone had cut off the front extension.  Here is the new one we made up.

The cargo box, with new stake pockets, sandblasted and painted, goes on

My tractor loader was indispensable in getting the body off and on the many times it took to get the hoist and under-frame laid out and assembled.  The 2002/2003 winter was miserable, so I didn’t get as much done as hoped for until April. 2003 – The Home Stretch The end is in sight as the truck finally takes shape………..

May 2003 – The new tailgate (from Vehicles of Victory of course!) is installed and touch-up priming done. Not 100% complete, but we still turned heads  transporting some of the members of the Town of Wright/Schoharie Valley Lions Club in the 2003 Memorial Day Parade.

Many items still need attention, but at least the truck is roadworthy and usable.

A New Adventure Begins

Back in January I had an opportunity to take a look at at fire truck several hours north of me.  To say it was remote, would be an understatement, and the snow was well over 3′ deep.  After wading through the snow I spied the truck behind the barn – more of a mound in the snow than as a truck.  I checked out what I could and struck a deal with the owner.

The snows cleared and in May I brought the truck home.  You think this was easy?  The challenges just began!  The WIFE who is slowly adjusting to trucks coming (as long as they are also going) was firm that one of the fire trucks had to go.  This was a very difficult decision.  The red Class 325 pictured at the start is more representative of a WWII truck, but the yellow “snow” truck (which we believe to be a Class 300) had character, only 3,000 miles on it and a GMC 270 engine. With input from Jim Davis (who informed me that he is aware of only one other restored truck in the US like the snow truck and it is 4×2), as well as polling of friends and most importantly, the WIFE ( a shrewd strategic decision…), I finally arrived at a conclusion.  The red one will be sold and the yellow one will be the next project.  I already have it running well and hope to be able to get some done on it later this summer. Meantime, the red Class 325 has already found a new home in New Hampshire with Bill Wolf. I was able to get the back of the fire truck sandblasted late in the fall.  All the fenders and parts came off, but the body is unusual in that it is riveted to the frame.