A FAMILY HEIRLOOM IS REBORN…

AS A CUMMINS-POWERED ’51 CHEVROLET

- MIKE MCGLOTHLIN

You see them all the time, especially during planting and harvest season. The service trucks that show up in the field to keep equipment running are the backbone of any farming operation. When he didn’t like the prices he was seeing while shopping for the family farm’s new service truck, Chris Ohl decided to take matters into his own hands. He would build it himself—and it would be one of a kind. After all, his great grandpa’s ’51 Chevrolet 3800, a 30,000-mile 1-ton grain truck that’d been parked for a number of years, was practically begging to be transformed into a service rig.

WELL-PRESERVED PATINA

Combining his wrenching, welding and auto body skills with the knowledge he’d amassed in other encounters with the 12-valve Cummins, Chris set out on what would become a year-long journey to bring the old Chevy back to life. A quick trip to Ohio yielded the second-gen Dodge chassis and axles he would set the ’51 cab on top of, along with the P-pumped 5.9L that would power the truck. Aside from having to address a rusted driver side cab corner and fender, the body was straight as an arrow and in what Chris believes was good-to-excellent condition, given its age. All of the new sheet metal and welds were left raw, and with no clear coat to speak of, Chris keeps the Patina preserved and protected with Gibbs penetrating oil.

A TIGHT FIT