Projects Look what I found: 1959 Chevy fire truck with a 348!!

I got the call a week ago to see if I was interested in this old fire truck. I said sure and now I am the proud owner. It is a 1959 Chevy Spartan 100. It has a 230 horse 348 with a Rochester 4 Jet and a 5 speed. The odometer shows 6509 miles. It was driven 20 miles by the seller to get it to us. I have no plans for it as of now, but something will come to me. Here are some pictures:

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I like it!

 

OH hell yes, that is a keeper!
Nice shot with the Boys....this is cool beans!

 

Nice! Make a car hauler and throw a 62 409 Bel air on the back!

 

Nice find! That´s a very nice engine indeed!!

 

wow that thing is in great shape! I'm a fire fighter myself, that thing is very restorable!

 

that is so awesome

 

Make a nice resto. Bad-a mill. Throw a patina'd small blockin in it & sell it ? Very nice truck, and the right color. Our local brigade had a Marmon- Harrington open cab '41 Ford and an old Jeep when I was a kid- both white.

 

Stick a junk yard 350 in the truck and make the W into a rod motor

 

check the numbers on that engine,it looks like more than a 348 to me. i know it's an older truck,but it could have been replaced wth a 409. look where the dipstick is????

 

Too cool, that will be great restored or whatever you decide to do with it.

 

cool truck, i'll take the sireeen!

 

WOW. That thing is badass! I have no idea what someone would do with a fire truck other than parades or shows, but that thing is badass!!!! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE don't rob the motor out of it! It would be a crime to dissect that thing!

 

My guess is it is a 409. The dip stick on 348 motors were on the drivers side. 409 motors were on passenger side. Motor could have been changed.

 

Nice find, I'll take the 348/409!

 

That is a very cool truck. I would restore that sucker. I like the fact that it is running too. I've always wanted a firetruck, and that one is one of the best finds I've seen.

 

Hmmmm .... door sez "High Pressure Fog".

Sorta sounds like my life to date.

Neat truck, great find!

 

Nice old truck, those hard suction hoses are hard to get, if you plan to restore it you should put them up in the rafters now.
Mike.

 

Don't get all exited about the dipstick location. My truck 348 came with the 409 style pan, and a vacuum/govrened carb just like that. Also, 409s didn't exist in 1959. Try 348/409.com for info if you haven't already. Super cool truck!

 

Thanks for in heads up. I was just searching for info and I see the dipstick goes in the pan. I don't have any casting numbers right now, but I assume it is the original 348 engine. But you never know.

 

i know 409's didn't exist,read my post..motor could have been changed. i've always been told to check..and that's what i advised the op to do.

 

Paul: Glad you got it! Funny thing is...I remember that old truck. I lived not too far from Linden in the early/mid 80's and was a local fireman. We competed in "water fights" all over SW WI. Been through Linden many times.

If you get carried away and make a hauler out of it, we sure could put Faded Memories on back and go the Great Lakes!

Or how about a Topolino hauler?

 

No doubt that is the original mileage on the odometer. Old small town fire trucks didn't rack up a lot of miles. My home town, Rockmart GA, had a '38 Ford open cab pumper that had less than 3,000 miles on it when they retired it in the early '70s. Cedartown (next town west on US 278) still has a '48 LaFrance open cab pumper that only has about 10,000 actual miles. Thing to remember though is that the engine in a fire truck has spent more time idling and providing power for the pumps than it has hauling the truck down the road.

 

Nice score! I have a truck 348 still in a bus in my buddies junkyard. Driven to where it is....

 

I think I would be incined to restore that its pretty damn cool

 

i need a 348 for my 59 elky,but NO WAY would i part that puppy out.cool score,REALLY COOL SCORE.

 

The one thing I remember about truck blocks is the notch cut out of the block/cyl wall that will result in at least 1 point lower compression.

 

Nice truck I can tell the boys just like it. It might be from Linden N.J.

 

What cool patina, man, no fake job on that one. Really an interesting vehicle, those old warriors were usually low milage, my pal and I scored a 1940 Ford firetruck last year with 12,000 miles on it, purrs like a sewing machine. Watch for it for sale soon, to many projects, picked up a vintage wrecker boom for it, as the fire truck rear stuff had been removed. Thanx for showing us this cool truck, another of our club members has that block in his 34 Ford pick up and it hauls ass!! ~Sololobo~

 

Im not into fire engines ,But damn thats sweet,Goodluck with your project ,Looks like a solid truck body and mechanical wise. I d restore it .I just dont want to say that,Because I dont know If you planned on getting alll the other stuff functional .I would just paint it and drive it .Enjoy it.