Restore Old Truck And Have Some Fun

Last year Rod Builders completely restored the Swartley's

'50 Chevy pickup.

Look at them now all smiles at Car d'Alene.

Swartley Pickup Joins the Parade

Steve Swartley sent in a couple of photos of the '50 pickup in their local parade over the Memorial Day Weekend. Steve and his grand kids representing the North of the Narrows Fire District in the Collin Days Parade tossed candy and waved to the spectators. Parade crawl can be hard on an older vehicle especially in warm weather, but the truck ran great!

Thanks Steve, we look forward to more pictures of family fun with the '50 Chevy.

'50 Chevy At Home

The Swartley family took their '50 Chevy pickup home for the Thanksgiving weekend, so they could show it to their visiting children and grandchildren. Thanks for the pictures Steve and Linda.It wasn't completely done though, so we've had the truck here in the shop for the last few days installing some little extras such as shoulder belts, bed latches and side mirrors. This truck is going to earn its keep by doing what trucks do - haul things. We are all smitten with its charms.

'50 Chevy Pickup - Home for the Holiday

Steve Swartley and his wife picked up his 1950 Chevy 3/4 ton after a thorough going thru by RBI. Steve wanted his dump run truck cleaned up a bit. Oops, sorry Steve, it looks like you got a really nice restoration instead! Steve bought this truck in a while back and wanted it brought back from near death.

Dave Swenson went through this 235 CI straight six and did a great job, it sounds like a sewing machine (on steroids).

We hope Steve enjoys having his truck back, he owned it many years ago and always wanted to have it again. It should give him many hours and miles of cheap entertainment.

A Tour Through the Shop

The Skirt took her camera on a walk through the shop this aftertoon to record what each fabricator is working on. Here's the scene, Eric is reinforcing the fender lip on the '46 Chevy pickup.

Last week he finished the tailgate on this truck. It's reversible. On one side he bead rolled a Chevy logo, on the flip side he English wheeled a concave design. Sorry, it doesn't photograph very well. If this is your first time to this blog click on the label below to see more alterations to this '46 Chevy pickup.

Dustin is laying down the Dynamat and carpet padding on the Swartley family '50 Chevy pickup. We hope to finish this truck next week in time to show the Swartley clan when they come into town for Thanksgiving. The work on this beautiful truck has been documented on this blog. Click on the "50 Chevy Pickup" label for the rest of the story.

Here's a snap shot of the truck seat Eric re-covered yesterday.

Greg is wiring Dr. Roger's '34 Ford Sedan. Lots of pictures on this build too. Just click on the label if you're interested.

Hood & Tailgate On '50 Chevy Pickup

The Swartley Family '50 Chevy Pickup

We are getting closer everyday to getting this beautiful truck on the road. Click here , here and here for the full story on this build.

Wiring the '50 Chevy Pickup

Greg is several days into an installation of an American Autowire wiring kit in the Swartley's '50 Chevy pickup. RBI uses American Autowire's Highway 15 kit. The guys love the flexibility they get with this product. It's perfect for the custom wiring jobs we specialize in. Here is their web site if you'd like to read more.

Have to show you a few more pictures of the red and silver paint laid down by Cory Gilbert and the team at CG Customs. Cory, it was worth the wait.

Color on the Swartley Pickup

Cory Gilbert, owner of CG Customs sent over this picture of the Swartley's '50 Chevy Pickup. Here are some more in progress shots.
Won't be long now and we'll start final assembly.

Restoring the Swartley Family's '50 Chevy Pick-up

This truck has been in Steve Swartley's family since 1981. Steve found it in a field on Five Mile Prairie near Spokane. He got it running and Steve and his children enjoyed driving it over the years. In 1993 he sold it to a friend when he ran out of garage space, but he never forgot the truck and pestered his friend to sell it back to him. It spent a few wet winters on the coast and needed some serious surgury to bring it back to life. About 30% of the cab sheet metal has been replaced.

As some know, fenders for these trucks have become quite rare. Our sheet metal skill allowed us to bring these babies back to near original condition.

Except for the fenders, this bed is new.

There aren't a lot of people that do these old engines anymore, but our buddy Dave Swenson sweetened up this old thrasher motor so it sings again.

The cab is out for paint, but this tuff old rig is about to make dump runs again.

1950 Chevy Pickup

Just in Monday, a 1950 Chevy pickup for restoration. Here is how it looked 24 hours later.