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Long time coming - Truck Life

The restoration of Andy Inglis’ and Paul Davies’ 1955 Chevrolet 3100 pick-up truck has been a rather protracted affair. It’s taken many years to make the transformation from a fairly nondescript truck in grey primer with aftermarket 15-inch chrome steel wheels, to one that’s now resplendent painted in white, after an awful lot of hard work. The truck left the factory powered by a straight-six engine with a three-speed manual transmission. It was imported into the UK from California by Dream cars (Tel. 01737 765050/ www.dreamcars.co.uk) in the early Nineties, but very little else of its history is known, other than Andy found a stash of marijuana hidden under the dashboard during the restoration!

“I went to view the truck at Dream Cars with my stepfather Don,” remembers Andy. “Stewart from Dream cars and Don drove it up the road to the local MoT testing station so we could have a good look underneath. Once the inspection was completed, Stewart was reversing it out of the MoT station when it got stuck in reverse gear, so it was driven the half mile back to Dream Cars base in reverse! The problem was later remedied and we purchased the truck, and for the next couple of summer’s we used it pretty much in the condition it was in.”

Then Don dismantled the truck on a local farm with a view to completing a full restoration. He then got married and went to America on honeymoon, which was most lucky as he got to attended numerous swap meets and car shows (as you do while on honeymoon!) purchasing a wide variety of  parts needed for the restoration of the truck…

The years soon rolled by, a little work was completed on the truck and more NOS parts accumulated. A 1974 Camaro Z-28 was purchased locally for a few hundred pounds that was a runner, but rotten, which would provide the engine and transmission for the truck. “From the outset it was never the idea for the truck to be clipped or customised, but the later V8 engine and automatic transmission  from the Camaro meant it would be more user friendly, and less agricultural than the straight-six and three-on-the-tree transmission,” explains Andy. “Don’s idea was that the truck would always retain a stock look and uprating the engine and transmission was the only deviation from originality.”

Meanwhile Don had been made redundant twice, moved house, and somehow the restoration of the truck dragged on without making any significant progress. About 18 months ago Don realised that the truck was probably never going to be completed and made the decision that it was going to have to be sold. It was purchased by Andy Inglis’ best friend Paul Davies, who was looking for a restoration project, though Andy was very much involved from the outset.

More time was spent sourcing replacement parts until such time as the truck in the form of a stripped down cab/chassis and about 20 boxes of bits was transported to Joe Gillard, a good friend of theirs who runs Unique Auto Trimming in Surrey (07881 527770). While Joe is a trimmer by trade, he’s also extremely competent when it comes to bodywork restoration, as well as having a keen eye for detail and he was enlisted to sort the body repairs. Initially Joe’s brief was to complete the repairs, and to prepare and prime the body for repainting, while Paul and Andy would finish off the reassembly. Joe spent the best part of six months working on the restoration, which included fitment of new rear cab corners, repair panels fitted to the bottom of the doors, the replacement of the panel at the bottom of the bed below the tailgate, as well as various other patch repairs.

The dash panel had also been damaged over the years and required a great deal of work to make perfect once more. Repainting the truck was entrusted to another specialist and completed in Rover Arum White, which was a very close match to the original colour. All inner panels have undergone the stone chip treatment to ensure longevity. Once the chassis had been painted in black, Joe set about the task of reassembly, to incorporate the V8 engine and TH350 automatic transmission from the donor Camaro Z-28, which Andy’s stepfather Don had previously rebuilt, while the transmission had gone away to be overhauled. The propshaft needed to be modified in order to join up with the truck’s original back axle.

The rest of the running gear was virtually entirely renewed with NOS parts collected over a very long time. The drum braking system was retained, but fitted with a power servo that is extremely efficient. “We wanted to continue as per Don’s idea to keep things reasonably stock, which is why the suspension height is original and not lowered,” explains Andy. “We wanted this truck to feel and drive like an old truck should, with just a few concessions to modernity. While the transmission is automatic, the gear stick looks like a manual one, and is a Lokar Nostalgia 23-inch swan neck shifter. All the exterior brightwork and the lights are new, as is the glass, window frames, mirrors, front wing and badges. In fact, just about the only part bolted back on the truck that isn’t new, is the rear window which has a very slight curvature and we couldn’t obtain a replacement.”

The 16-inch steel wheels and chrome hubcaps were purchased by Andy many years ago and were intended for another Chevy truck, but that got sold and they came in very handy for the 3100. They’ve been shod with 85 profile Hercules which look absolutely perfect for obtaining the original ‘high riding’ stance. While Joe Gillard is a trimmer by profession, paradoxically it was Doug Brown of Trimmers 57 that retrimmed the bench seat. “We’d struck a deal back in the mid-Nineties whereby Doug was given the back axle from our ’74 Camaro for his truck, and in return he’d retrim the seat for us,” remembers Andy. “That was around 15 years ago, and it took me nearly a year to track Doug down as he’d moved several times and as luck would have it, he still had our bench seat! He honoured our arrangement and re-covered the seat using an original NOS Fifties Chevrolet red cloth and white vinyl combination in a Cameo truck pattern. Joe trimmed the headlining using the same red cloth material and also fitted new arm rests.”

After what seemed like an eternity, the restoration of the truck was completed in the summer of 2010. Ironically, Andy and Paul had invested far more in the truck than they’d first envisaged, and at a time when Paul’s business required a much needed injection of capital, the truck was regrettably sold to a new owner in Bedfordshire.

However, it was stored in a barn and rarely ever used and shortly before Christmas 2010 it was put up for sale and purchased back by Andy and Paul. Andy’s stepfather Don did eventually get to see the fully restored truck, and as you can imagine, he was pretty close to tears when he saw what a marvellous job had been completed by Joe, Andy and Paul. All that remains now is to clock up many miles of truck driving pleasure, after years of this 3100 being stored in a dismantled state.

Words & Photography: Paul Bussey