IT'S "DONE"!!!
There's still some minor things left to do and she still needs good and cleaned so I'll have a couple pics here and there after this but it's DONE! Dad took mom, his younger sister who remembers the truck from when she was younger, myself, and my brother, for rides today. Man was it a great seeing the smile on his face as he drove around and reminisced telling me stories I've heard a hundred times before. It just felt better this time around.
In dad's words:
"My 1952 five window Chevrolet 3100 project that started five years ago before I retired is finished. This is for those of you who have been following my son’s posts.
It started as a coincidence where I happened to be with my grandfather, Ivan Grooms, as he went to look at the truck for sale at the West Union Fire Department in Adams County in 1972. We were visiting him and Mamaw on our last vacation as a family before we were to go with my father who was being stationed overseas. Granddad, as we all called him, bought the truck for $300 and took it to use on his farm.
When we returned from overseas Christmas of ’75 the truck wasn’t running and the brakes didn’t work. My father, CMSgt William Nelson, fixed the brakes, got it running, and offered to buy it off Granddad but Granddad ended up giving it to him. He drove it nearly 600 miles back to McGuire Air Force Base in New Jersey. At the time the trucks top speed was roughly 55 miles per hour. It was his daily driver as an EOD Master Blaster until he retired from the Air Force in the late 70’s. After his service he returned to Ohio where he would drive it without issue. At times I would take Sharon out on dates in the truck. Eventually it was driven less and less until it basically sat idle.
In the late 80’s I acquired the truck when dad moved to Indiana to pastor a church. Randy William rode in the truck once early on in his life but only around the block. The floors had rusted out by this time, it had a few other problems, and it wasn’t safe to drive very far. I began the off frame restoration in 2015. The original mileage to this day is 37,176 but that number will grow as I enjoy the truck with my wife, kids, and other family and friends.
I would like to personally thank my wife, sons, and all the other family members and friends who have helped with everything from lifting the cab and bed on and off the frame, helping me learn to weld, helping me learn to do body work and paint, and everything in between. This is a labor of love and I’m ecstatic to see it done."