VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - GENERAL Trucks and Vans Old GM C.O.E (cab over engine) Trucks

Hello, I'm Spanky, COE truck collector. How many of you guys out there own Chevy or GMC COE's. I have a '53 Chevy 5400 COE 2ton Holmes Wrecker, a '54 Chevy 5400 2ton flatbed chain drive tandem, a '50 GMC 600 COE 5ton cab & chassis, and a '52 GMC 450 COE 3ton road tractor....... Spanky Hardy...Collector of Fine Old GM COE Trucks...

I have two Chevy COE's. One is a 1948 2 ton, with a 158" wheelbase, and the other is a 1951 2 ton COE slide back with a 179" wheelbase. :cool2:

Bigger toys for bigger boys. :eek: Too cool. :cool2:

Chevy with flatbed-dump.

Well I got a 57 COT* flat bed C6500

*(Cab over Transmission) Ha!

Spanky. I have 2 COE's. A '47 & as you know a '54 2 ton. Glad to see you are online now. You need to get your email workin' so you can keep the little lady off your butt about the long distance phone bills.

MT,
those are some great shots that you have. Is that a mean junkyard dog beside your COE?

Mothertrucker, Still can't do anything with email, I sent you a private message off of this board , check it out. Spanky Hardy .....Collector Of Fine Old G.M. COE Trucks.

Old 216 ,that dog [ in the coe picture ] is the daytime " customer relations " K-9 unit & he is a old freindly retired K-9 unit. What ya gotta watch out for is the night time K-9 sentry patrol units at the Mothertrucker compound. Night time K-9 units consist of a combination of nasty Rottweilers & a fang chomping Wolf hybrids. Needless to say...... The night time working dogs are not friendly. So please make your appointments for parts during normal business hours.

lil' johnny, I rebuilt the updraft carb. on my '54 COE while I was off for Christmas. Runs good now, it had gotten to where it would only idle. I got the rebuild kit from a Co. in Conn., I also purchased a NOS Zenith updraft for my 450 GMC COE, & a NOS Zenith side draft for my 600 GMC COE big cab, from this same Company. I think he told me they still had a NOS Carter updraft for a '50-53 Chev. COE. The '54-'55 COE take a different carb., thats why I had to settle for a kit for my '54.

Spanky,
Glad to hear you found the rebuild kit..

I need a source for the COE fender scuff pads. I have a set that are fair & I am gonna take them to the sprayed in bedliner guy once I clean them up.
I have decided to part out my late 47 COE so, if ya need parts let me know.I could sell the truck whole & let some guy hack it & put it on a motor home frame but, I would rather see this donor truck's parts go to keep other original COE's on the road.

lil' Johnny, The carb. kit I purchased just barely contained what I needed. It wasn't close to being what the old Carter kits were. The name of the company where I got the kit & the NOS Zenith carbs. was Battery Ignition & Fuel Systems Co. of Manchester, CT. ph.(860)646-4594. I can't remember the guys name, so just ask for the person that dealt with Spanky ,the Cab over engine man. He got a real kick out of my name. He also said he had a NOS Carter Carb. for a Chevy COE, but it was for the earlier than '54 COE. The '54 Chevy COE does use a different model Carter BB 1 than the earlier COE's because of the location of the air cleaner. You know the 47-53 COE's air cleaner is located under the cab. The '54 COE air cleaner is located under the hood. This is why the carb. is mounted facing the opposite direction. The GMC's have their air cleaners under the hood on all of the 47-54 COE's. GMC COE's used the heavier duty Zenith updrafts on the 350,370,450, & 470 series COE's. GMC used the heavy duty Zenith sidedraft carb. on the 500 series thru 900 series large gas engine trucks. Catch ya later. Spanky Hardy ..... Collector Of Fine Old G.M. COE Trucks.

HEY JUNKYARD DOG, I think I found your COE Slideback. The more I thought about your truck(especially the part about the slide back bed), I remembered reading about a Chevy COE truck once with a slide back type car hauler bed. So I went digging through my Old Truck Archives, and what do ya know ,I found a article in the March\April issue of the old Classic Trucks magazine. Its titled The Junkyard Dogs COE, by my old COE friend Ric Hall. This has gotta be you. If so did you ever change the carb. back to orig., or are you still running the down draft setup. Does the truck still look the same. Pretty neat old truck. Ric did write ups on my COE's a couple of times in that mag. Spanky Hardy......Collector Of Fine Old G.M. COE Trucks & Antique Holmes Wreckers.

JYD, I forgot to mention, that was the March \ APRIL 1992 issue of Classic Trucks. Spanky hardy .........Collector Of Fine Old G.M. COE Trucks & Antique Holmes Wreckers.

Hey Spanky Doodle! Yep, that's my truck! It still pretty much looks the same today except that I have added a few other necessary things for hauling and etc. Yes, the downdraft carb. is still in place and it's staying there. Heck, the truck gets 12.6 miles to the gallon, and it runs a lot better with that carb. as well, so no need in changing a good thing. :cool2:

What would you think it would cost to fix this one up? Looks like it is fairly solid. :confused: :confused:


http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2401257185&category=6783

I would like to get one like this and have an original truck hauling my original car. Cool :cool2:

How far is it from the ground to the load bed?
:confused:

Gator,
One of the "secrets" about a COE (cab-over-engine)is that they very similar to a ¾ ton Chevy truck of the same year!

Thanks for the information, since they are like the pick-ups, I now worry about the weight a COE can carry. What was the GVW of the COE's, this may be stupid but were there different GWV and models within the same build year? Thanks. :confused:

Gator, I would say that I read the comparison to the 3/4 ton and the COE to be that the cab trim and other interior items interchange, that also applys to the conventional cab medium and heavy duty truck,However, the chassis is not comparable as to load capicity to a 1/2 or even a one ton. COE trucks are usually rated at 1 1/2 tons up.

Yes, the Max Gross Vehicle Weight (GVW) will change from truck to truck of the same "ton" models.

Just to add to what lil'johnny was saying about '47-'54 AD COE gvw's. GMC AD COE's differed from their Chevy cousins. The 350 series GMC COE had the same gvw rating(16000lb.), as the Chevy, but GMC also had a 450 & 470 series COE that used the small AD COE cab. The 450 COE was rated at (19500lb.), while the 470 COE was rated at (21500lb.). When you first look at a 450 or 470 GMC COE you might not notice the differences they have from the 350 med. duty COE. They have larger fenders, plus wider & taller cab steps. This is because of the larger , wider front axles they used. For an example take a look at my 450 GMC COE on the oldgmctrucks.com web site. The 450 & 470 COE's are much harder to find. Some came equippted with full air brakes. GMC also had large cab COE trucks, that were series 520-850, with gvw's up to (37500lb.). These were better known as the cannonball cab trucks. I also own one of them, shown on the old GMC website, its a 600 series rated at (23000lb.)

The website I was talking about in the previous post is www.oldgmctrucks.com Spanky Hardy....... Collector Of Fine Old G.M. COE Trucks

VERY, VERY, Nice web site, and some great photos of the trucks, good job.

Now if I could find a COE in that condition, for sale, cheap...... dreaming here.....

GATOR, You may not be necessarilly dreaming. I have truly been" BLESSED" when it comes to the COE's I own. Out of the 4 non part lending COE's I have, I've got less than 3 grand in them total. You may not believe this but the most I have ever given for one was $1200.00 dollars. The key to buying a COE is you have to stay away from the guys that buy them to re-sale.A good place to start would be to join truck clubs like( The American Truck Historical Society, or The Antique Truck Club Of America). These clubs are geared more towards the big trucks. You usually get your best prices from older farmers or garage and salvage yard operators, who to them they are just old snubnosed trucks. It is still plenty of them out in the midwest on farms in use. I bet their are still some in the rural areas of your state. I'm a member of, The American Truck Historical Society. They have local chapters in just about every state.Florida has the (South Florida Chapter) contact person is Cliff Gibson of Miami ,his no. is (305)251-5839. I have recieved leads on just about every COE I have ever bought, from guys in my local chapter. Many times they have even voluntered their services in helping me get them home. Hope this was of some help. Spanky Hardy..........Collector Of Fine Old G.M. COE Trucks & Antique Holmes Wreckers.