"I spent 45 years in management of motor freight-so yeah, I'm a trucker." Jim Adams III.
Even without knowing that, you'd know Jim was a truck guy by the contents of his garage. In addition to this '46 Chevy, you'd find a low-mileage '94 Chevy; his wife, Marlys', '87 Stepside; and the '75 Chevy dualie featured elsewhere in this magazine. The '46 is the most recent addition and the only one early enough to get Jim through the gate at some of the big shows in his hometown of Pleasanton, California.
The '46 was in decent shape when Jim bought it, but had been ignored and needed an owner who would get it back on the street. The previous owner, a friend of Jim's from the P-Town Pushrods custom car club, had intended to be that guy, but it never happened.
A lot of the work had been finished-started, that is-by the owner prior and his friend. It was already painted, but the black was contrasted with white underpinning. The bed was off, but the wood was there. It was rolling on American mags that didn't quite suit the look and the original dipper-rod 216-inch Stovebolt six-cylinder had been replaced by a '57 full-pressure 235-inch Stovebolt.
What it needed was a clean, original look. "A dropped axle, a nice rake, some wheels and tires-the way they would've done them when I graduated high school in '59," Jim said.
The DuPont 99K paint, shot by Tom Thorne, shines like patent leather. The trim is original and Jim kept it all (even the wipers are the original vacuum units). He removed the red striping from the door handles and hood trim. Pinstriper Real Ralph added blue double stripes along the beltline and painted the Chevy shield on the grille. The blinkers are incorporated into the parking lights. Len Catana helped put the bed back together-using the freight box, fenders, and oak that came from the previous owner. The '48 bumpers ride lower to reveal the license plate. Those taillights and turn signals turned into a big project, but in the end Jim got his LED sequential arrows to blink like they're supposed to. All it took was time, imagination, and money. The custom made 15-inch steelies with caps and rings are from Frank Mauro's Stockton Wheel Service-built with the right offset to keep them inside the fenders with plenty of clearance. The tires are BFG radials, 275s and 215s.
To get that rake right, Jim took the stock axle to Mor-Drop in Oakland-where they still know how to bend them-for a 31/4-inch drop. The '46 now runs front discs and new shocks. The factory steering box was rebuilt with a kit from Patrick's Antique Cars and Trucks, which corrected the geometry after getting lowered. "Power steering doesn't matter to an old trucker, and this rides and steers great," Jim told us.
Tom Walsh helped upgrade the 235-inch inline-six, bored 0.030-over and loaded with double valvesprings. Single-barrel BXOV-2 Strombergs feed an Edmunds intake-with Fenton headers at the exhaust ports. Dual pipes are muffled with glasspacks. Jim finished the exhaust with 18-inch chrome pipes, so when you look between the body and bumper, all you see is shiny. The transmission is the faithful non-synchro First gear three-speed with a rebuilt clutch, with a torque tube spinning 3.55:1 gears. Jim says the differential made Second like Third and the '46 has no problem keeping up with highway traffic. It never runs hot either. When stuffing the 235 where a 216 once lived, the fan blades were cut to fit, but the stock radiator hasn't failed yet. On a recent ride, in 105-degree blowtorch heat, the black truck reached 180 once or twice, but never hotter.
Inside the cab, the stock bench is covered in black Naugahyde. The door panels are left unupholstered and rubber mats are the perfect floor finish. Jim replaced all the screws and bolts with stainless steel (he did the same thing on the firewall). Dennis Crooks at Quality Restorations made the old steering wheel like new-and the gauges are all factory and all work. Fresh sound deadening material and windlace, and a new glovebox, are finishing touches. Next on the list is some new glass, plus new upholstery for the seat-nothing different, just some restuffing and some blue piping to match the outside stripes.
Jim drives the '46 as often as he can, around town and to Northern California events, to show people what an "old school truck for an old man" looks like.