After years of searching I finally was able to find and buy a rare 1931 Divco helms truck! Hopefully when I’m done with it, it will look like the last picture. Might be a while and I may need some help.

I recently acquired an incredible 1931 Helms Bakery truck, and it’s a true barn find with about 95% of its original parts still intact! It’s completely stock, except for a couple of modifications over the years. The only missing pieces are the whistle and the original cabinets, which someone removed and replaced with back windows. I plan to restore it to its authentic Helms Bakery configuration by removing the windows and reinstalling the cabinets.

One of the biggest challenges I’m facing is restoring the hubcaps, which are extremely rare. If you check out my post history, you’ll see that I’ve been looking for help with this for a while. Most Helms trucks you find online are missing them, and even in the last photo of my post, you’ll notice that truck should have hubcaps like mine—but in better condition.

I’m fortunate to know someone in Thousand Oaks who owns a pristine, untouched Helms truck with the original hubcaps, which has been a helpful reference. Now, I’m on the hunt for a skilled fabricator who can restore or remake these rare hubcaps for me.

For context, I bought this truck from the Valley Relics Museum, where it had been donated by the owner of Pick-A-Part, who had it parked in front of the yard for about 30 years. After sitting for nearly 40 years with a frozen water pump, my mechanic and I took on the challenge of getting it running. We completely disassembled it, from the clutch to the oil pan, transmission, and figured out that the reason it stopped running all those years ago was something froze the water pump! We dismantled all that other stuff for no reason lol. I’m happy to say we’ve got it running, and now we’re tackling the brakes. With any luck, by the end of the day, it’ll be back on the road—fingers crossed!

I’ll keep you all posted on the progress, and there will definitely be a restoration video in the future. Stay tuned!

by Rk1987