DRIVING AN ORIGINAL 50'S VEHICLE IN MODERN DAY TRAFFIC

Looking at the reflection in the dash I'm going to guess the passenger had nothing to do but hold on when that picture was taken.

uphill run on I-65 north in Shelby Co Alabama.

Wouldn't you rather have a Buick?

I LIKE!!

Ben

On the speedo shot. It was not uncommon to see those speeds on the GM tubular speedometers back then...in a parking lot. Not one of GM's better ideas.

Referencing the Buick speedo shot....I saw that speed on a 55 or 56 Buick I borrowed from a friend to escort a wide load with - - one time. My Dad pulled out of a restaurant up near Richmond Kentucky and I had to wait on traffic a minute. I had no clue where we were or where we were going, so I "nailed" the nailhead to try to at least get Dad in my sight. As I topped a hill, there he was slowly driving along waiting on me and I nearly slid into him trying to stop. He pulled over, told me several things about my driving and intelligence, traded cars with me and away I went following him driving the Buick and me in his rather less powerful Chevy wagon. I wanted that Buick back SO bad, ha ! Oh, I was 16, so he probably saved my life, because my own cars after that were quite anemic until I could buy them without him signing for me...

If you can not lock up your brakes on any year car/truck, the brakes are not set up correctly (unless you have antilock brakes). My 1929 Graham-Paige owners manual states "avoid excessive use of the brakes, it will dislodge your passengers from their seats". We set up my friends mechanical brakes on his 1932 Nash "twin ignition eight" town car, not only would it lock up all four wheels on pavement if you tried, but he thought it stopped better than his new truck. Get the correct brake lining (correct coefficient of friction), and adjust everything correctly, you will be stopping like a new truck (without antilock brakes). Now if we can just get a warning device for the people texting or their phone behind us...

My 49 New Yorker Accelerates like a modern Semi Truck and stops like one also, so I just tuck in about 4 car lengths behind a truck rolling 60 and enjoy the ride when on SoCal freeways...

My 56 has the 235 six cylinder..........

Here is the Restoration.........Rooney3100

http://s555.photobucket.com/user/rooney3100/library/1956%20Chevrolet%203100%20Truck%20Restoration

Wow, that is one nice truck.

Are you sure that's stock ? Just kidding....I could tell by the outside that the engine compartment was just as special and was hoping you'd share some pics. I thought I seen a truck just like this for sale up in the Prescott Valley in the past 2 years ???

Man that's clean and done right ! Beautiful

I have to ask, what kind of paint was used on the Carb and Exhaust Manifold ?

I have a 1961 Impala that I use fairly often. It has powerglide and power steering but no power brakes. I don't follow closely and plan ahead for my stops. The 283 has no problem keeping up with modern traffic. This car rides smoothly and is a pleasure to drive. I love riding with all the windows, especially the vent windows open. The thing that bothers me the most is other drivers staring at the car and not watching where they're going. I enjoy the nice comments, but get annoyed when people go out of their way to tell me that a brake light is out. Meanwhile their three year old car has two brake lights out. People around here drive like they're in a race and make a lot of stupid moves to gain a few seconds or to get ahead of other cars. They always change lanes out from behind me if I'm first on line at a traffic light; they think all old cars are slow. I enjoy keeping up with them or accelerating faster than them to prove them wrong.

The modern gas may play havoc with your restored engine. The ethanol is bad news, so keep your eye on fuel lines, gaskets, and your carburetor.

That's a gorgeous truck. We've started a non-geographic region for 1955 and later AACA eligible Chevrolets, the Space Age Chevrolet Region. Your truck would fit right in. Please PM me if you're interested in joining. Enjoy the truck.

Lots of comments about brakes.

I well remember my first car with disc brakes. Saw no difference from the older drum brakes for several months until we had a lot of rain and the river covered the road, as it did during heavy rains in that time period. There was approximately one half mile of level blacktop that would flood. Those native to the area knew by how far the water extended up the road the relative depth; and would slowly drive right through the water. After exiting the water, standard procedure was to stand hard on the brakes for several seconds at 30~40 MPH to dry out the drums. Glad I had my seat belt (special order then) fastened when I stood on the brakes.

Right there learned a BIG difference from drum to disc!

Oh, and this stretch of road has now been raised way above the high water mark.

The floods were actually a social event; as the high water would send a big discharge of alkaline water off of the strip mine dumps, which would send all of the big fish ahead of the alkaline. I've seen as many as 15~20 vehicles pulled off the road a few feet from the water, and their drivers/passengers out hand fishing in the road ditches. While we now know such activity as driving through the water must be dangerous, I have no memory of any vehicle ever swept off the road.

Nice truck by the way.

Jon.

Wow, that is one nice truck.

Are you sure that's stock ? Just kidding....I could tell by the outside that the engine compartment was just as special and was hoping you'd share some pics. I thought I seen a truck just like this for sale up in the Prescott Valley in the past 2 years ???

Man that's clean and done right ! Beautiful

I have to ask, what kind of paint was used on the Carb and Exhaust Manifold ?

I sent the carburator off to New York to get it refurbished, so I;m not sure what was used for color,also I used a cat iron paint from eastwood for the manifold...Rooney3100

I have a 1961 Impala that I use fairly often. It has powerglide and power steering but no power brakes. I don't follow closely and plan ahead for my stops. The 283 has no problem keeping up with modern traffic. This car rides smoothly and is a pleasure to drive. I love riding with all the windows, especially the vent windows open. The thing that bothers me the most is other drivers staring at the car and not watching where they're going. I enjoy the nice comments, but get annoyed when people go out of their way to tell me that a brake light is out. Meanwhile their three year old car has two brake lights out. People around here drive like they're in a race and make a lot of stupid moves to gain a few seconds or to get ahead of other cars. They always change lanes out from behind me if I'm first on line at a traffic light; they think all old cars are slow. I enjoy keeping up with them or accelerating faster than them to prove them wrong.

The modern gas may play havoc with your restored engine. The ethanol is bad news, so keep your eye on fuel lines, gaskets, and your carburetor.

That's a gorgeous truck. We've started a non-geographic region for 1955 and later AACA eligible Chevrolets, the Space Age Chevrolet Region. Your truck would fit right in. Please PM me if you're interested in joining. Enjoy the truck.

I do use the ethonal free gas in my truck, I also had the hardened valve seats installed, I would be interested in your space age chevrolet region.....Here is my e-mail smav@charter.net send some info.....Rooney3100