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The Stovebolt Collective can help in your quest and walk you through the mire and magic of working with old iron!

New owner of an old Stovebolt?

    Congrats! Welcome to the old truck hobby (or madness...) Along with getting the new edition of Tom Brownell's seminal work on How to Restore Your Chevrolet Pickup (Covers Big Bolts, too!), you should call Chevrolet for the scoop on your truck from the folks who built it. It's easy! It's free! They'll send you a complete package tailored for your year of truck containing copies of the original technical data sheets related to your truck.

  The information is invaluable if you are trying to interpret serial numbers, determine what standard equipment and colors were, what options were available, etc. They will also send a catalog called 'Past Model Information' that has a listing of hundreds of dealers of parts for old Chevy's.

Stovebolter Comments

"When I called, I gave them the year, model, VIN and mailing address. I received the packet about 3 days later, and it contained a lot of useful information."

Doug 57
Stovebolter # 6328

"The package I got from GM Canada for a CDN truck included all the usual info on the truck models [nothing on cars], but also included the exact day of production and the dealer that sold it - it was a special order panel truck to be used for an ambulance, so may have had more recorded."

red58
Stovebolter # 2136

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The Restoration Kit

        We called the Chevrolet Customer Service representative to get the directions for this great service. For Stovebolters using this service, it may take some patience (you need that if you are going to restore an old Stovebolt, so this will be good practice) and perhaps some persistence (or calling a different Customer Service Rep). The kit, which will take three to four weeks for delivery (but many of our Bolters have had MUCH faster service), includes the following features for most trucks (for Chevy Suburbans, they only have information for years 1971 through 1999):

To get yours

USA -- To request a free restoration kit from Chevrolet, have your Vehicle Identification Number and model year.

By Phone

1. Call the Chevrolet Customer Assistance Center, 1-800-222-1020.
2. A computer will ask some questions to direct your call.
3. You are looking for "product information" on a vehicle you "already own."
4. They'll ask for your telephone number
5. Now you'll get to talk to a person. Tell them you are looking for the "Restoration Kit"
6. Be prepared to give the VIN.

 Please be patient with the reps as they may not be as knowledgeable about antique trucks as we are.      

By Mail (no pounding required)

Simply fire off a request (Don't forget your VIN and model year!) to:

Chevrolet Customer Assistance Center
Chevrolet Motor Division, General Motors Corporation
P. O. Box 7047
Troy, Michigan 48007-7047

Canada and outside North America

GM Canada reports:

        "We can not access U.S. production information prior to 1977, as we can not find any anywhere, and we have tried. Vehicle specific information (options, production date, selling dealer, etc) is available for U.S. produced and sold vehicles 1977 and newer. However, because all this data is stored in archives, there would be a fee of $137.80 to retrieve and decode this information. (GM charges us to retrieve it from archives.) We have our own Canadian vehicle database. Fees are currently $37.10 for Canadian produced / sold vehicles for which we have no option information (about 1966) and $58.30 for newer vehicles."

        "We also prepare the paperwork that U.S. Customs and Border Protection requires for importing Canadian vehicles into the U.S.A."

        For Canadian-made trucks, contact GM Canada with your VIN (toll-free in Canada) 1-888-467-6853, between 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. EASTERN time.

        Outside Canada, call 1-905-440-7689. The Canadian restoration pack is not free but does include vehicle specific option data.

More Info

   Vintage Vehicle Services, Inc., 905-440-7689. They have production data on Canadian-produced trucks back to 1945.  They do not have information on pre-1973 US-produced trucks. They can help with paperwork for importing vehicles.

    For transporting a vehicle to Canada, also check this Tech Tip.

• Vehicle: 1957 GMC Pickup VIN: 79314809605 Wheels: Black Paint: 004 - Alpine Blue Body Number: 23183 Production Plant: Oshawa, Ontario
• Production Date: June 13, 1957

• Shipping Date: September 25, 1957 Model Number: 9314 - Pickup Engine: 235 CID 140 HP 6 Cylinder Engine Number: 266498 Dealer: Sold In Manitoba (Dealer not recorded)
• Number Produced for sale in Canada: 2,656