1957 Chevy 3100 – Dan W.

I always liked the look of older pickups. My first memory of dad’s truck was a ’69 Ford three on the tree. When I turned 18, I bought my first of many truck, a 1972 Chevy. By the time I got it home most of the bondo had cracked. This was a lesson learned, always listen to your dad. As time passed and my family grew up, I decided if I ever was going to get a classic and the time was now. As I would drive, I would be looking in fence rows, barns, and backyards. As luck would have it, I found a 1957 Chevy on Facebook marketplace in my hometown. I went and looked at it, but the truck needed tons of work. However, the bones were there. Soda blasting opened a whole new can of worms. The truck needed new cab corners, floor panels, and A-pillars. Unlucky for me, the rust kept coming. One day on my way home from work, I saw a ’56 Chevy for sale at a business. The owner shot me a price, and I did the math of what it was going to cost me to get my ’57 Chevy to this point. It was a no brainier. However, the problem was the ’56 was a 3/4 ton with a granny low. I drove it for a year or so, but I wanted a short bed step side 1/2 ton. I made the decision to swap a very good cab and put it on my 57 frame. The 3/4 ton also had a fresh 350 with the original tranny. I tore down the short bed, and had it blasted and powder-coated, moved the fuel tank to the rear end, and installed new disc brakes. I purchased a new grill and front fenders from LMC making it the ’57 that I wanted. I finished off the bed with new outer fenders. The inner fenders are original. One of my favorite things on the truck is the wood floor. My brother had cut a walnut tree down at my dad’s home place, and it laid there for a couple of years when I asked if I could have it. We took it to a local saw mill and there was just enough lumber for the floor. However, the wood was still too wet, but my neighbor let me store it in his wood shop so it could dry properly. After the wood dried, we milled and grooved the planks. Originally, I was going to paint it the truck blue. However, after leaving work one day, I stopped and noticed lots of blue trucks in the parking lot. I decided to paint my truck orange. My neighbor painted my truck for me in their shop. After, it took three weeks to put the truck back together. I have a few things I still want to do yet on my truck, but for the most part it is done. The whole project took four years to do. LMC helped in so many ways with parts and questions I had. I have never done anything like this in my life. I really enjoy driving and going for rides in my ’57 Chevy truck with my whole family especially with my grand daughter.