Restore or Drive? 1947 Chevy 3100 Five-Window Pickup
Chevrolet’s first post-war truck – the Advance-Design line – offered buyers just about any configuration imaginable starting in 1947. Sizes ranged from half-ton to two-ton, and shapes ran from pickups to cab-overs to panel vans to school buses. The most popular were the light trucks, with their new emphasis on comfort and down-to-business hauling. Chevy called its light truck the Thriftmaster, while its larger siblings were Loadmasters. Smooth fenders incorporated the headlights; a simplified, horizontal grille emphasized the truck’s new width; and the fixed windshield heralded the use of cowl vents and later, vent windows, to encourage air movement. Here on eBay is a good ole boy, this 1947 Chevrolet 3100 pickup, bid to $3600. A reserve is still in play. This truck can mosey home from Waukon, Iowa to your garage, so long as you stick to side roads. And its condition either inspires dreams of restoration, or an urge to get in and drive. Let’s see what route you think is best once we know more….
Chevrolet equipped its light truck line with a 216 cu. in. in-line Stovebolt six – such a successful act that it was in its tenth year by the time this truck came off the line. The engine is mated to a four-speed floor-shift manual (in 1948 the shifter moved to the column). With about 90 hp on tap and a 4.11 axle ratio, a comfortable speed is about 55 mph. This video shows the truck crawling down quiet gravel lanes: the owner says he takes it to his favorite fishing holes nearby, which sounds like a perfect job for a 1947 factory-original truck. It’s not up to bigger adventures yet anyway, because it’s running off an external gas tank in the bed. The old gas tank is in poor condition and will need to be replaced. I’d also shorten that hose from the thermostat housing to the water pump – this photo doesn’t quite show that it’s kinked.
The interior is … mostly gone! The gauge glass and faces are so obscured by age that they’re unreadable. The speedometer doesn’t work. Rudimentary floor repairs are evident. The bed is lined with plywood – hard to say what’s under there. The original bed was crafted of nine Southern Yellow Pine boards painted black.
Though a few body colors were available, the 3100 came standard in Forrester Green. This one has that all-too-common weathered finish, though it’s probably honestly aged rather than “patina in a can”. The windshield and door glass on the driver’s side are cracked (of course). But overall, this truck has virtues – primarily, it runs! So what do you think – drive it around town as is, or conduct a full-on restoration?
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Comments
Well, 1st of all, something didn’t look right. It appears to be a ’47, but the doors, with vent windows are from a ’51, so not a true “5 window”, and entirely possible changed at some point. The Advance Design, and GMCs “New Design”, was huge. It was exactly the jump start this country needed to get us out of that war funk. Some say a prosperous time, when I heard anything but. Post war in America was a dismal time. The AD was all new, and by most standards, quite modern looking, and why its still popular today, with a much different function, of course. Goodbye putt-putt motor, hello Ford small block, HA! Now you know how it feels,,, but seriously, got resto-mod all over it, and whatever you do, make sure you put the most expensive, useless motor you can find, and oh, leave it rusty,,,
I think the seller says the doors are from a ’53….
Then the seller is wrong. Maybe they were on a ’53 when he sourced them, maybe he was told they were ’53s, but they are “51s. That year is unique. These trucks look alike for many years, ’47-53. In 1951 the doors gained a vent window, aka wing window, and still had the turn down door handle. From 1953 onward they have push button door handles.
And be sure to convert to an automatic trans behind the most expensive, useless motor you can find….
Now yer’ talking,,
Postwar America a dismal time? Lots of employment, new start up companies, new housing, new and better cars, spread of TV (well ok…some moronic stuff), returning GI’s getting college on the GI bill, and a generally positive national attitude. America was on a roll.
Baloney, sorry, this time, you and your 6 followers are wrong. I’d post a link, but that’s taboo, and post WW2 recession was indeed a serious time. The transition from wartime production to peacetime, did not go well. Labor strikes, material shortages, layoffs from military contracts, housing shortage, the unemployment rate in 1949 was a whopping 7.9%! GDP fell, industrial production fell 15% in 1948. Sadly, it took Korea to get things humming again. Not sure what your info is based on, but my parents and grandparents lived it. My grandfather had a good job at an overall factory during the war,, that went bust. It wasn’t until 1952, when he bought his 1st newer car, a slightly used ’51 Chevy.
I apologize, Mike, a fellow Coloradoan( sp?) some segments of our society did enjoy improved wealth, it was the “regular Joe” who were most of the returning GIs, had no other skills, that got the shaft, as usual. In the early 50s, was when things got going, not so much because of Korea, but housing demand. My old man started his house building business then, and couldn’t keep up with demand. Peace, hey? I hear they may open the Blue Mesa bridge soon
Who cares?! Just drop in a 235 to get
a bit more power and full pressure oiling. The 4-speed would be just fine. Upgrade the brakes, and drive and enjoy. Sorry folks, but I’d put a decent paint job on it to protect all that vintage Chevy steel. Glass and interior stuff you can get. Nice to see
this running!
A 235 is definitely more power but I saw those 216s take a horrible beating and still come back for more. I saw more than my fair share of both running farm trucks. I have to say that I saw more 235s and 261s suffering catastrophic failures than 216s. The 216s would pound out a connecting rod but it would still stay attached. I saw some 261s that put a rod out both sides, sometimes the flying sharpnel would break the camshaft. I only saw (1) 216 actually throw a rod…
If it needed an engine. Id go all in at get a nicely built 292. Lots of low end torque. This may be a good restoration candidate. Although trying to figure out why its a hodgepodge of parts, unless the doors rotted away and they were both replaced. The wood beds when done right look amazing, especially if their stained and not painted, and have the chrome strips in between the planks.
My 49 GMC. 228 big block. 3 on the tree. My 1st truck in the early 70’s. I am 65 now. Dad picked it up for 35 bucks. Sold it to me for a hundred. 49 was the last year for one brake light by the way. Explain that to the police.
Gorgeous! Thanks for posting the photo – love to see readers’ vehicles.