The Cal-look Lounge

Waaaay off topic here, if old American Trucks are not your thing, feel free to ignore ;D

OK, it starts like this.. a week or so ago my buddy Marty (The General) runs across this simple print ad in the local Recycler that reads something like this: 1955 Chevrolet Cameo truck, mostly original, sitting for years, etc, price, phone#, blah, blah.
The seller is 62, does not own a digital camera and is not internet active.. Marty calls the guy but he wants way too much money for it. Fast forward to last Sunday.. Marty calls the guy again and catches him just as he gets home from the Pomona Swap Meet.. turns out the guy shot a few Polaroid photos of it and went to the swap meet to try to sell it on photos alone. He gets several lo-ball offers and hands out his contact info to plenty of vendors. He's now somewhat frustrated but still wants to sell the truck, so he offers it to Marty for nearly half price! (still a lot of money, but it's now a smokin' deal!) Marty calls me and with little convincing I tall him he has to buy it.. so we do.. I call the guy myself to set up the deal.
With truck, trailer, and cash in hand we go to the sellers home the following Tuesday.. the guy opens the garage door and there it sits.
Turns out the sellers Dad had purchased this truck new in 1955. Around 1962 he re-powered the truck with a V8 Oldsmobile engine (somewhat common back then) but left the truck otherwise stock and original. He drives the truck until 1967 when he was given a company car. He parked the truck in the garage in '67, and it never moved again until last Tuesday! The truck still has it's original paint, interior, etc and has no rust. It even came with the original 1955 issued title that had the same address where we picked it up.
The Cameo is a very special, limited production truck built from 1955 - 1958. I believe there was only 5000 or so built in '55.
Sorry for the long story here, but I had to share..
I'll post progress photos as we start to work on it a little... for now, it's safely tucked away in my hobby shop among it's new "Brothers"

(oh yeah, I'm first in line if Marty falls out of love with it :D)

 

 

more pic's..
 

some more..
 

Very cool! Was the wrap around window part of the Cameo package?

Yep.
What really sets it apart is the custom fiberglass bed sides (the first "Fleetside"), deluxe interior, and all the chrome trim. Trucks back then were more of a workhorse..

 

That really is a very cool find , wow max respect  8)

Wasn't there some special trim on the beltline for the Cameo?

Right again!  But not in '55.. I believe it started in '56, for sure by '57
I'll be doing plenty of research soon.

 

dave , gregg bunch have one , those are rare  no? only 2 years made correct ?

wow, that's a great find! thanks for sharing this cool story!

here's a Cameo I saw at Muscle Car City in Punta Gorda Florida
(http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2207/4118670682_637185e3be_o.jpg)

WOW!! Beautiful trucks!

Fabs, they were built for four years, beginning with 1955. Gregg's looks like a '57

   

Where it sat parked for 43 years...

 

#1- Marty, "The General" proud new owner..
#2- First time outside since 1967...
 

The morning after... no buyers remorse ;D
 

Check out the cool radio!
How about some nice black plates with 66 & 67 tags?

 

Gee, Dave, when I read the "garage find" title I thought maybe you found something in your shop you forgot you owned! 

Seriously that's freakin' cool.  Almost a shame to wash all that "original dirt" off it.

That's bitchin!! Cameo's were very special trucks, and that one with the Olds motor makes it soooo much cooler, IMO. Sweet find!

Sorry Mike, the largest "lost & found" so far is a motorcycle... no trucks yet ;)
I know what you mean about the dirt... Maybe a clear coat and call it padirtina?? We'll have to ask Fred ;D
 
   

Thanks Zach,
The plan for now is to get it running / driving as-is. Down the road, we're going to locate and reinstall a period correct 235 in line six with a three speed + overdrive stick transmission. We'll rebuild the engine and install a mild cam, Fenton Headers, and a bunch of Offenhauser parts such as aluminum intake manifold, triple carburetors, finned aluminum valve and tappet covers.
We'll never compromise or butcher the truck... we fully understand what we have here..

   

Dude... I'd leave the Olds in it... such a period correct modification.

(http://userpages.umbc.edu/~zuses1/i-see-what-you-did-there.jpg)

 ;D

Great score!!!

(http://cal-look.no/lounge/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=12799.0;attach=42467;image)

nice find.  I'm with Rick, leave the olds.

Wow what a great find. I drove a '53 Chevy truck for a couple of years on a daily basis and have owned two other early 50's Chevy cars. (All 235 six cylinder powered) I really regret selling that truck and plan to get another one of these days.

--louis

When do you start cutting ? Two choices restore it or save it, Hot rod truck !! Great find.

Danny, you left out 4X4! We'd call it the "Cowmeo Look" ;D

Got the stuck engine to turn last week.. this weekend we'll try to start it.. could be funny if nothing else.
We'll decide on direction once we figure out the engine / transmission condition.
 

You just dont find stuff like that now days, Where you lookin in cowtown ? Again great find !

Well, we worked on the 'ol gal this past weekend..

Decided to treat it to it's first bath since the 60's  ;D

Lemon fresh "Soft Scrub" cut the dirt and left our hands fresh & soft  :D
 

Some shots "post wash"

   

More...
 
 

More..
 
 

Wheels / drums off to make a brake parts list..

 

 It looks really cool. Some CLR and warm water will take any rust stains on the paint right off.

Check out the decals in the back window... so cool..

Another interior shot.. if you look through the windshield you can see Sarge's truck parked out back  ;D

This week we order tires from Charlie at Performance Plus (Mr. Bug here on the Lounge). We'll get vintage looking whitewall radials of some sort. Also going to pick up the brake parts, new fuel tank & misc. bs.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot.. the Olds engine runs and sounds good!! Fresh battery & fuel and it fired right up after a 43 year slumber.. I'm pretty sure we'll leave the Olds & Hydro combo in it.

That's it until next week..

  

Thanks Bryan, I'll give that a try on wash #2!
 

look s  clean , and cool
good work dave  :o

Awesome! And I'm with the guys on keeping the Olds in there  8)

looks awesome! would love a truck like that!

  Very Nice Dave (and Marty). Now lets see that Olds Engine! It really cleaned up nice so far. Is it original paint?

love the stickers!!

Thanks for the positive comments guys!

Yes Charlie, original paint!!! Looking forward to the new tires too-- thanks.

Mark/Fred, the stickers really add to the whole vibe of the truck.. and yes, we're leaving the original paint and looking for a bumper corner. Repro's are available in limited supply but they're $800/pr :P plus they look too nice :D I may have a good used lined up from a guy that has restored several Cameos in the past.
Cameos are top of the line and very hard to find due to limited production plus back in the day trucks were more utility than anything else.

Appreciate the props on the Oval... someday... problem is, that pesky ADOS keeps kicking in ;D

     

Just bitchen !  So dave, is the BUD truck next?

maybe ask gregg bunch  to see if he don't have parts

 
[/quote]Just bitchen !  So dave, is the BUD truck next?
[/quote]



You bet! Need to get-r-done for Sarge ;D
 

  
maybe ask gregg bunch  to see if he don't have parts
[/quote]


Thanks Fabs-- will do!

I see it has optional "Up Skirt" chrome glove box door.   :o  Certainly an item that is a period piece.

Ha! Good one!!
We were just talking about that very thing this past weekend :D

Just found this thread..... UNREAL FIND! 

I had the pleasure of seeing Greg Bunch's Cameo right after Bug In and I have to say that is one bitchin truck.  Totally uncommon and as I recall fiberglass panels on the bed.  Wild.  Yeah, like Fabs says talk to Greg, his truck was immaculate.

ANY old truck with a big rear window rocks!  This is the corvette of trucks.  Great find.  Wax it/drive it/done.

I agree. Don't change a thing!

^^^That's the plan now.^^^
Got all the brake parts and new tires this week.. should be a busy weekend.. hope to drive it Saturday
 

OK, the post weekend update...

Got a lot done. Started with the DMV lady stopping by to verify the VIN numbers, lic plates and fill out all paperwork to currently register / title the truck complete with re-issue of the black CA plates-- all went well there.

Next up, we installed all new brake hydraulics, hoses, brake linings, rear drums, converted the front ball bearings to Timken type needle rollers, seals, bleed brakes, etc... brakes turned out great.

Installed the new whitewall tires and got ready for the first try to see if it would move under it's own power. As I stated before, the Olds engine sounds great.. the only wildcard really was the transmission.

We started it up, clicked it in to gear, and nothing.. revved it up and it slowly started to creep. This old Hydra-Matic trans has a pump in the tailshaft along with a fluid coupling whatever sumbitch that has issues. We did get the truck to drive on it's own, but the transmission has problems.

After some phone calls to trusted sources and extensive research, we've decided it's best to choose your battles and that transmission is not one of them. We're looking at $2K minimum to go through the trans and to be honest, it's just not worth it.

With that said, and honestly with great relief we've decided to re-power it with something GM. Not sure just yet what it's going to be but it'll be done right.

Some photos below up for review..

   

Never owned a set of white wall tires before.. never really liked them, but IMHO they look good on this truck.
I'm on the lookout for some original hubcaps now..
 

Very Nice Dave -- The grass in the front yard is really starting to fill in

Looks great! And I have to agree about the white walls. What about swapping in a turbo 350?

Thanks Harold... I cut it a little short this time  ;D
 

Hi Zach,
There's a guy that does a 700R4 conversion to the Olds engine but it's very expen$ive... and you still have a 50+ year old Olsmobile engine.
Truth is, the truck is being built to drive.. most likely it will end up with a modern 350 dressed up to look old and a 700R4 automatic.. of course any of this is subject to change  :D
 

Nice job so far.  At least you can work on it mostly uninterrupted, Dave!   ;)

What would the truck have originally come with?  Straight-6?  Nice little period-looking 265 would be a treat.  Or a 2276 with IDAs...um, nevermind.

Hi Mike,
This particular truck came with a 235-6 w/ three on the tree stick shift. If it were all mine, I'd probably go that way and add an Offy dual carb intake, valve cover & tappet cover along with some Fenton headers and dual exhaust (A1 of course). For a transmission, I'd do a three speed w/ electronic overdrive (I have one in the shop). It would look period perfect and not just be another SBC / 700R4 blah blah conversion.. trouble is, the call is not all mine.. I do have some influence though.. ;D
 

U need sumting like this -- -- maybe???????

Is this where we guess what this motor is?

Ok I'll bite....A modernized Hudson?  No?  How about a Chrysler marine engine?



Regarding the Olds and the trans, IMHO fix the Hydro (4 speed?) You'll never break it with that motor,
there aren't any plastic or pot metal parts in it and it'll last longer than we will  :D

Damn Phil you are good -- It is a Hot Rod Hudson motor sporting side draft webers

[attachment=1]

My friend who built the Fiat for me has had this project forever. He is in the long process of bagging the car right now

He makes his living restoring old trucks/cars (not concours, but drivers) -- if you look at the video and see the trucks laying around for him to work on you can see he has a little backlog

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uki344VRGDE

Wow! July, 2011 since the last update! Where has the time gone?!?
Ok, for anybody interested, here's the latest..
We removed the Olds V-8 engine & Hydra-Matic transmission due to the high cost of a transmission rebuild... plus this truck is going to be a driver.
For the engine, we decided on was an early 60's GM 261 ci. medium duty in line six. We sent the engine out for complete rebuild along with a mild cam, milled head, decked block & forged pistons. We chose this engine for a number of reasons, one being it looks nearly identical to the original 235 ci. engine the truck left the factory with.
The transmission was an easy choice. The truck originally had a three speed stick shift.. We opted to upgrade to a modern Borg Warner T5 five speed overdrive stick.. the modern five speed transmission directly bolts in place of the old original three speed with minimal driveline modification.. God Bless the GM Engineers... 
So we spent the past weekend bolting together most of the parts acquired in the past few months..

pic 1 & 2 the engine nearly ready to install
 

pic 1) Modern Borg Warner T5
pic 2) My good friend, Marty (aka "The General") test fitting the transmission before the engine install.

   

Original paint engine compartment cleaned up pretty good..
 

1) "The General" guiding the engine to it's new home...

2) Bolted in.

We'll be back on it in a couple weeks to get it running.
Future plans include dual carbs, cast iron headers, dual exhaust (A-1 of course  ;)), aluminum Offenhauser valve cover.

   

Nice!!

Looking great Dave!

Only just seen this thread - Super cool truck dude, I have been working on a bunch of American Trucks in my new job here in norway - I feel just like the "Fall Guy" sometimes  ;)

Again REALLY cool truyck dude  ;D

Wow! Anybody remember this thread?? :o
Two + years since the last post.. A lot has happened in my personal life the past two years and the Cameo (along with other projects ;)) have had to take a back seat.
The short story is we got the truck running and had the maiden voyage this past Sunday!! There is still much to do but it runs / drives / stops quite well!
I'll post some pic's & more info soon.
Cheers!

We still love you Dave --

even though you leave us when it suits ya LOL --

i remember that one dave , but that's you , you are not activ anymore on the lounge ... ;D
how're you?
 

Harold, that hurts!  ;D

Hey Fabs, all is well my friend  :)
I never really left, just lurked  ;D
The Lounge is a little sleepy these days...