26 November  A former mechanic friend of mine from work (Chuck) and I are going to Davis, California later today to meet with the current owner.  Melissa has owned the truck for eight years and is selling it for $1,500.  I made contact with her via email after originally seeing her add on Excite classifieds.  This has been the most promising add so far; mainly because the owner is local and the truck runs.  The timing was also pretty good.  If I'd have found it earlier, I may not have been able to swing it (for various reasons).  I've wanted an Advance Design Chevy truck for years but have only been actively searching for one for about a year.  I'm so excited about this truck that I couldn't sleep much last night.  I've been up since about 4:00am and I wont get to see the it until 3:00pm.  Nothing much is on TV so I figured I might as well start a homepage/diary about it.  At the very least it should keep me busy until my family wakes up...

27 November  I purchased the truck last night after an extensive inspection.  The body was in exceptional shape and after a bit of effort, Chuck got it running.  We got about two blocks or so from the seller's house when the fuel line completely  gummed up and starved the truck.  You see, one of the major selling points of buying this truck was the fact that it would be secondary transportation for me.  The deal was:  my wife would get the car to take the kids to school and run errands and I would be able to drive the truck to work.  A two car family -- what a perfect picture.  Now picture me explaining how this truck I just paid $1,500 for is still in the seller's garage because it wont run.  The phrase, "What were you thinking?!" came up several times...  I'm going back later today. Chuck and I will hopefully be able to figure out a way to drag it back to my  place.

28 November  We got about 1/2 mile from the seller's house last night before the fuel gummed up the lines again.  Luckily there was an auto parts store nearby.  After brainstorming for a while we bought a 6 foot section of fuel line, shut off the fuel from the tank, hooked it up to the section of hose and ran it into a 10 gallon gas can we had taken with us.  Certainly not the best way of driving (and probably not something I'll share with the CHP) nonetheless it got me and the truck home.  I highly recommend taking an ASE Certified mechanic with you when you buy one of these. Thanks to Chuck, I now have the truck sitting in my garage.

30 November  D'oh!!! According to Chevy, the Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) on the title isn't valid!  Of course my first call was to the folks who sold me the truck.  No response yet but it makes me curious as to how she registered the title when she bought it.  I'd rather not get a new VIN.  The CHP officer I talked to on the phone said that if I did, I'd have to get the truck smogged and it would no longer be considered a '51 but a 2000!?!  This sounds fishy, so I'll be looking into the CA vehicle code to be sure.  In the meantime I'm hoping that the former owner will come thru'.

1 December  Took the day off work to try and make some headway on the truck.  No news about the VIN yet, but I'm proceeding with cleaning and repairing the truck anyway.  I got the seats out.  The back is in pretty fair shape but the bottom is trashed.  Until I can swing the bucks for new upholstery, I'm going to get a sheet of  foam and rig up some sort of cover for the bottom.  I drained the gas tank (boy, the gas was cloudy) and took out the seat frame and undid the straps to the tank.  Tomorrow I will remove the tank and clean it.  I'm planning to take it to the car wash to see if I can clean it up for cheap.  I also picked up some cleaner and will let it sit over night in that.  If that doesn't get all the crap out of it, I'll take it to a local radiator shop and have it boiled out.  I also just ordered a shop manual from American Classic Truck Parts today -- a little light reading...

3 December  Finally made contact with the previous owner yesterday. She didn't have any further info on the VIN, but did say that she had no problems registering the title when she bought it.  I spent the last two days cleaning the truck and removing the fuel tank.  I removed the float assembly from the tank -- man, that thing was gunked up!  I tilted the tank to get it out of the cab -- sounded like several pounds of gravel sliding around in there.  I Finally got that cleaned out enough where I think having it boiled out at a radiator shop will do some good.  Got some recommendations from the Stovebolt guys that I'm going to follow.  They recommended not doing it at a carwash and said that I should have it done properly and seal it with POR-15.  Sounds like pretty sound advice -- I'm taking it.

7 December Not much going on pickup-wise.  I took the fuel tank down to a local radiator shop a couple of days ago to have it boiled out and sealed.  I should get it back tomorrow.  I'll spend part of the day tomorrow putting it back in.  I spent the last few days cleaning out the interior.  I found a strange collection of junk back behind where the fuel tank was; including a bunch of almond shells and a brass cow pin?!?  I'm going to bleed the brakes once I get the fuel tank back in.  That's the current plan anyway.  Cosmetically, I plan to re-upholster the bottom of the bench seat.  The local upholsterer said that they whole thing will run me about $200 to $250.  A little rich for my budget right now.

17 December I got the fuel tank in finally.  It was sealed with "red coat."  I've never heard of it, but the radiator guys swear by it (and were very proud to show me what it looks like).  One of the fittings on the fuel line leaked, so I had to seal that up.  After letting that cure for a day, I finally got to drive the truck around the block.  My wife asked to go on the short journey with me (pretty cool, huh?).  Her reaction was, "Neat!"  Although the words, "death trap..." were also mentioned.  I think, maybe some condensation worked it's way into the lines so I'm going to put in some gas treatment to dry that up.  Tomorrow I'm going to call the CHP to set up an appointment to have them inspect the truck and possibly give me a new VIN.  Once that's done (and I get some seatbelts put in) I'll start driving old Norman to work.

20 December I had an appointment today with the CHP.  I had to get a "one trip permit" from the DMV in order to drive it into town.  The truck ran like a dream all the way in (I had the wife follow me, just in case -- she had some errands to run anyway).  The inspection went well except that the officer figured out that the engine had been rebuilt.  This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but I was told that it was all original.  I looked again thru' the old maintenance records I was given and sure enough; I found a bill for $1120 for a rebuild of a CH235 in 1990.  However, my VIN woes are finally behind me.  The officer affixed a VIN plate to the truck matching the VIN on the title and I went directly to the DMV and registered it.  I also ordered 2 shoulder harness seat belt kits from Julianos as well as some upholstery C-clamps from American Classic Truck Parts.  I'll use the clamps to temporarily re-upholster my seats. I went to Joann's fabrics the other day and bought some stout burlap (yes, burlap!) that and some foam should do the trick at least temporarily.  It wont look pretty, but at least I wont have to worry about getting my butt pinched by some rogue spring.  Next project:  brake bleeding....

29 December I sent the URL for this page to the Stovebolt folks on the 21st.  After they hooked it up on the "ongoing projects" section of their site, my hit counter went from somewhere around 20 to 99 in a week.  Pretty cool.  I hope folks find the site helpful.  I got the seatbelt kit I ordered from  Julianos and all the stuff I ordered from American Classic Truck Parts yesterday.  I'll probably wait until after the holidays to put in the belts.  In the meantime, I got the title back from the DMV.  Next stop, my insurance guy so I can start driving the beast to work...

8 January I got insurance on Norman a few days ago.  It's fairly cheap.  I fixed the bench seat last night.  It came out looking pretty good.  I also put in the new glove box that I bought.  The rainy season has started so I ordered some windshield wipers.  My next stop is the auto-glass folks to put a window in that passenger side door.

26 January I've been working a bunch of extra shifts at work so I haven't had much time to work on Norman.  I went to a local autoglass shop on my one day off this month and had a couple of windows made using the Plexiglas that was in the driver's side as a template.  I also had some time to play with Photoshop.  At the top of the page you ca see my amateurish try at what color Norman'll eventually be.  I couldn't figure out a way to make the paint shiny, but you can get a pretty good idea of the color.  My next purchase will be some window channel so I can finish up the windows and I'm also going to have to find a way to buy or acquire a windshield wiper motor.  I'm also still figuring out a way to install those seatbelts without destroying the interior sheet metal.  Hopefully I'll be able to take some leave to get all of that taken care of.  Following that, I'll be tackling the doors to get them to fit/close properly.

27 January I had someone send an email the other day asking what the interior of Norman looked like.  Well, a picture being worth a thousand words and all....  This picture was taken prior to my upholstery efforts.  The burlap is just laying in there at the point the picture was taken.  The steering wheel isn't original (it will be as soon as I can locate an original to replace it).  The latch on the glove box is broken (it still shuts tho') and the light behind the speedometer is out.  So many projects, so little time.......

5 February I was contacted via email by one of the Stovebolt Page's regulars who saw my 27 January journal entry above and asked if I could use a repairable, original steering wheel that he took off of his parts truck.  After several emails to coordinate our meeting, I drove Norman about an hour or so south of where I live (he performed like a trooper) and I not only got the steering wheel, but also acquired an important piece of my passenger-side window regulator.  Unfortunately his truck is, for the most part, disassembled (tho' his sand-blasted and re-painted frame looked great!) so I wasn't able to see how his wiper motor was mounted or several other things that I was interested in.  In exchange for the parts, I let him take Norman for a spin around the block.  Fair exchange?  Probably not, but he seemed to enjoy it, and it was all I had to offer besides the cash he wouldn't take.

16 February I took another whack at colorizing Norman.  I'm pretty darned pleased with the results this time (more so than last time).  Finally bled the brakes yesterday.  Fairly messy job but not any different than what you'd go thru' for any other car or truck.  I got the window channel that I ordered from American Classic Truck Parts.  Still very pleased with the products and service that I get from them.  I'd highly recommend them if you're restoring a truck at the speed I'm doing it (as money allows).  I've been looking at Jim Carter Truck Parts too.  Some of the things I need (vacuum wiper motor) are quite a bit cheaper, but I'm having problems ordering from their site.  I sent off an email to their webmaster and they actually responded and are working with me to see what the problem is.  I'll give them a call and order the part once I get back to a normal schedule again.  I have the day off tomorrow so maybe I'll do it then.  In the meantime, as I said, I got the window channel in today so that's my project for tomorrow.  I also have to find a new fan belt -- the old one gave up...

23 February Got the window channel and those pesky windows installed the other day.  Serious pain in the butt to get the first one in, but once I got the hang of it, the second one took me about 20 minutes.  Sure is nice not having all that air blowing on you.  Quite a bit quieter and drier in the cab as well...  I also installed the new fan belt.  It's not for a '52 Chevy truck (they didn't have any in stock) so it squeals a bit as I approach 40mph, but works well enough to keep the battery charged so I'll leave it in for the time being, just deal with the noise and hope it stops squealing as it breaks in.  Still haven't done the seat belts.  That's probably my next project.  I'm going to try taking out the headliner and slide it down behind the door post and see if I can install it that way.  Next purchases are a steering wheel repair kit (epoxy) and the wiper motor.  I'm considering three options: 1. regular vacuum motor; 2. vacuum motor and double action fuel pump; or 3. electric motor.  As I sit here, I'm leaning towards the electric, mainly for safety reasons (and cost) -- stay tuned...

8 March Those of you who've visited my site before (thank you) may have noticed that I've reformatted things a bit.  This was mainly because the diary was getting a bit unwieldy and it made the page look (in my opinion) a little clunky (technical term...)  Use the "Email" link on the green panel if you feel compelled to comment on the new format.  Not much going on pickup-wise.  I've had some things going on in my personal and professional life that have sort of put things on hold for the time being.  Never fear, however, I'll get back to my projects soon and update the diary as I finish things.

20 August Some folks, seeing my most recent entry was in March, have been nice enough to write and inquire about Norman's current status, so I thought I'd take the time to give you an update.  Norman is still on hold (as I mentioned above).  I went on a business trip a few weeks ago and I think either Norman missed me or something.  I came back to a flat tire, leaky brakes and some problems with the starter.  Unfortunately, as of right now, Norman is not road worthy.

13 April Okay, things have settled down a bit; Winter is over and it's time to start getting Norman back on the road.  I've been doing some really small projects over the last several months (new tires, defrost ducting, etc.).  Norman runs, but because of the leaky brakes (okay -- lack of brakes), I haven't been driving him.  Brakes are a two-man job folks -- as busy as I've been lately, my friends have been just as busy.  AGAIN, I want to say how much I appreciate everyone's emails.  I receive a few a month.  Most encouraging and some asking advice.  I'm certainly not qualified to give advice, but I'll give you my opinion and tell you what I'd do.  Thanks so much to the folks who've written.  If nothing else, it's motivated me to keep writing in this journal.  My priorities have changed a little bit, but it's come full circle and it's time to get Norman on the road!