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1950 Chevy 6400

Discussion in 'Quitters' Club' started by Mr Vaughan, Jul 4, 2021.

  1. Jul 4, 2021
    Mr Vaughan

    Mr Vaughan

    this thing is a beast. it's got a 216 I6, sm420, eaton 2 speed rear, and hydraulic dump bed. got to meet the guy who has had it since '76, down in kansas. saved it from being scrapped, and practically stole it from them at $500. it's got almost no structural rust, has great petina, and is just a crazy truck all around. it needs new wood for the bed (i put a foot through it - not fun), a new battery, and some electrical work. we got it to run on fuel dumped down the carb, but we had the tank disconnected. should be fairly straightforward to get going, but the battery just won't hold a charge, and we don't have any 6 volt batteries on hand. when we got it, it had some scrap metal in the back that the previous owner (father of a family friends spouse) wanted, so we took it to the scrapyard and had it emptied. what we didn't realize was exactly how much scrap metal we had. it was around 5,000 pounds, 1,000 more than it's rating. that plus the truck came to about 12 or 13 thousand pounds, 3 or 4 thousand more than the suburbans towing capacity. o_O take that chevy haters, that thing is still pulling loads like that with 332,000 on the odometer. anyway, the link in between was a homemade tow bar with a ball hitch that was rated for 7,000 pounds. when we were towing it home, it kept locking the wheels all the way one way when making a sharp turn, then skidding the tires. the solution to this was to have me jump out of the suburban anytime it did that, and run back to the truck to correct it. fun times. we were told that it didnt want to crank last time they tried (5-6 years ago), but when we got power to it it did turn over, and with some adjustments and fuel down the carb it ran for a few seconds. now what we gotta do is get some new stuff put in it, and hopefully it will run. it also has 5 split rims, and 6 destroyed tires. those will need replaced. then i need to learn how to drive with a 2 speed rear. at some point, we may pull the 292/sm465 from the '70 suburban (to be replaced by a souped up 292 and nv3500) and put it in this thing. i then have an sm420, perfect for a 4.3 swap in the jeep. mom has all these ideas of yard art type of stuff for the truck, but i argue against that any time it is brought up.

    sorry, dont have many pictures.
    [​IMG]Resized_image000000002 by Levi Vaughan, on Flickr

    [​IMG]IMG9520210611951035239501 by Levi Vaughan, on Flickr

    the collection grows...
     
    melvinm and dozerjim like this.
  2. Jul 4, 2021
    Mr Vaughan

    Mr Vaughan

    by the way, those were the pictures we were sent when we first heard about the truck. we didnt have a fancy trailer for it.
     
  3. Jul 5, 2021
    68BuickV6

    68BuickV6 Well-Known Member

    Hesperia, CA.
    Joined:
    Mar 12, 2012
    Messages:
    2,160
    That's cool as hell, I keep wishing I had a dump bed. Sounds so handy.
     
  4. Jul 5, 2021
    dane71

    dane71 Member

    USA
    Joined:
    May 11, 2017
    Messages:
    195
    Im glad you saved it. Im guessing there's not a huge market for something that big, but it's such an interesting piece of history.
     
  5. Jul 5, 2021
    Mr Vaughan

    Mr Vaughan

    i don't know about the market for them, but it'd make a good farm truck, which is fairly big around here. definitely interesting
     
    dane71 likes this.
  6. Jul 7, 2021
    duffer

    duffer Rodent Power

    Bozeman, MT
    Joined:
    Sep 17, 2009
    Messages:
    4,459
    Prices on old "large" trucks is increasing but still restrained compared to about everything else. Vintage Truck Magazine usually has a bunch of classified adds that would give one a ball park value estimate. A few show up on Hemmings also.
    Vintage Truck magazine

    I have a 46 Chevy 1.5 ton dump truck with the 2 speed rear axle.
     
  7. Jul 7, 2021
    Mr Vaughan

    Mr Vaughan

    cool!
     
  8. Jul 7, 2021
    CHUGALUG

    CHUGALUG Member

    Silverton, OR
    Joined:
    May 11, 2019
    Messages:
    238
    I wish you had a Photo of the engine. I seriously doubt it has a 216 in it as the early 235 was available for trucks as early as 41 and would have been the std engine in anything as big as a 6400.

    in 53-54 the 235 was changed to a full pressure oiling system and true bearings. Around here as soon as that engine was available all the farmers and trades men swapped the 235 into their trucks.
     
  9. Jul 8, 2021
    Mr Vaughan

    Mr Vaughan

    what does the 235 look like compared to 216?
     
  10. Jul 8, 2021
    Mr Vaughan

    Mr Vaughan

    going by images on google, it looks like it is indeed a 216.
     
  11. Jul 8, 2021
    eyotajeeper

    eyotajeeper Member

    Iron Range
    Joined:
    Aug 18, 2010
    Messages:
    59
  12. Jul 8, 2021
    Mr Vaughan

    Mr Vaughan

  13. Jul 8, 2021
    eyotajeeper

    eyotajeeper Member

    Iron Range
    Joined:
    Aug 18, 2010
    Messages:
    59
    Your age ? Or the trucks age?
    Don't think there's either.
     
  14. Jul 8, 2021
    Mr Vaughan

    Mr Vaughan

    i think i may be too young, at 14
     
  15. Jul 28, 2021
    IRQVET

    IRQVET Bubbaification Exorcist

    Tallahassee, FL.
    Joined:
    Feb 5, 2015
    Messages:
    680
    Me likey . . .
     

    Attached Files:

  16. Jul 28, 2021
    iharding

    iharding Quitter

    Tacoma, WA
    Joined:
    Feb 24, 2013
    Messages:
    354
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