my 59 apache fleetside shorty build thread.

Gotta love those impala bumpers.. Caddy-o has good taste.

 

looking good

 

man thats looking sweet. I myself have a 58 fleetside with an axel over spring front and it seems ok. Front seems a bit spongy though. I like that you got yours even lower with the dropped axel though.

 

How much clearance do you have between the axle and frame with the notch? How about axle to oil pan? Any more pics of the front suspension with the engine in?

Thanks a ton!

 

cool to see someone lowering their ride other than airbags

 

i will get a measurement for you as soon as i get back over to the shop but i know the notch wasn't really that big of a deal up front cause we had decent clearance but since we were there and nothing was in the way we did it !! i will get you solid numbers though . the issue was more with the tie rod to oil pan clearance than the axle to oil pan clearance . i ended up using a stick of aluminum with hiem joints on the ends for a tie rod and it is a little beefy !! it ends up real close to the oil pan when the truck is being held up on stands fully loaded on the suspension i did the ole' jump up and down test to try to bottom out the susp. and it was within a 1/2 to 3/4" of clearance , as it is with the load on the springs it clears the pan by around 2-2.5". we were planning to clearance the pan but haven't yet , not sure we will need to for sure.
here is a pic you may be able to get an idea from !!in this pic the tie rod was mounted on top of the steering arm mounts with hiem joints it is now mounted under the arms and that allowed an additional 1" with (washers on the joint) of clearance to get to the approximately 2.5" ...... again i will get you exact measurements but it will be a few weeks before i am back over to the shop to work on it!!

 

Lookin great so far, Justin. I hope i am commissioned to lay some sick striping on it! Or some subtle lines, which ever you prefer.

Brian

 

Thanks for the info! I dig it. Looking forward to more progress!

 

of course you will be putting some lines on it , hopefully be ready for next season , not looking good for the indoor show in march cause my buddy is wrapped up with other stuff and we can't work on it right now!!

jp

 

cool truck you got going man...
curious, whats the clearance from ground to the bottom of the
front leaf pack ? thanks

leonard

 

not much !!! the scrub line thing went out the window , the minute i decided to flip a dropped axle i knew that was going to be an issue . we actually had to re work the front shock mounts cause they were only 1" from the ground and that is with no fenders, hood ,grill, bumper, headlights etc. etc. . as of right now with the 235 75 15's on the front and the shock mounts redone i have about 3" clearance from the u bolts for the spring pack and the ground . it will be something i will need to keep in mind when driving it . i can see it being a problem if i ever pull off the shoulder of a road or go into a parking lot on an angle, or worst case scenario , get a flat tire . etc. etc. one of those things i was willing to live with to get this truck down and retain basic straight axle susp.

 

cool, thanks for the info..
i also have scrub line issues running my 3 inch dropped axle, but like you said, gotta have the stance....
look forward to following your build.

leonard

 

i never even got ahold of the seller after getting the truck here . i bought it so it was mine at that point . one of the risks of buying sight unseen .

jp

 

I had the chance @ the california bumper because I wanted to do the same to my 58. I hesitated because I think it will have to be narrowed a bit to tuck up right anyway and the the 3 piece might work out better.
Hows the width?

 

well if it ever shows up ( bought and paid for from a fellow HAMBer months ago ) i will let you know !! i don't plan to keep it tight to the front end like the one on caddy-o 's truck i am going to space it away from the front end untill the sides work with the wheel well opening and then build a filler panel to fill the gap , it wont stick out ,from a side view ,any further than the headlight brow of the fender and a filler panel should be a pretty simple fab. i have heard that the width is not an issue but the sides are and in the side view of his truck you can see where it sticks into the wheel opening a bit . either way i will make it work out , but hopefully without much modification because i would have bought one that needed chrome if that were the case .

UPDATE!! bumper showed up and it is not "runnable as is" and since it needs chrome anyway i may end up sectioning the sides and making them fit the wheel openings better. UGHHH !!

 

Good looking truck bro! keep it up, got to get over there to see i in person!!

 

Where did you buy your astros from.?

 

love it. i really dig 58/59 apaches.

 

No pressure, but I still really want to see that in depth front axle tech post! I'd love to flip my drop axle if the pain in the assedness doesn't exceed the lowness.

And I hear you on the "replacing everything" deal, lol. Trucks were not usually treated as nicely as cars. Back then, trucks just weren't the fashion statement like today's trucks and suv's. They were worked hard til they died or fell apart. I've gone through it before and am doing it again. Sucker for punishment I guess.

 

just grabbed em used on the HAMB in the classifieds but you can get em from summit racing and coys wheel here on the hamb and a few other sources i'm sure . just do a search on astro supremes and pages of stuff comes up!!

jp

 

not much to see right now , but when it rolls out in the spring it'll get a few nods i'm sure!!! i plan on driving it everyday so i can't make it too nice though!!!

jp

 

wish i was posting finished pics of this truck but i have not touched it since nov. last year , my buddy ended up going back to work at a real job and doesn't want to work on cars after work any more and i am still struggling to come up with useable work space to get this project going again. !! i just keep buying parts and getting amped to start working on it again !!
jp

 

ok as much as this sounds ridiculous it's a deceision i had to make,.....the apache project is getting wrapped in a tarp and set aside so i can work on my 27 T coupe it has been over two years since i sat in a HOTROD with stupid horsepower and a motor that blocks nearly all of your forward view and i'm jonesin' so i have officially decided its time to start on my 27 coupe altered strip/street car .i can only do 1 at a time both financially and especially space wise so it has to be this way! i will do a seperate thread once i start getting some pics !

 

please post the thread to your 27 build here, so we can follow along.
good luck.

leonard

 

Very very nice.
Good to see you are making the best of a "not so cool" situation with the seller...
Will be a top contender when done.
Cheers...........

 

Great job so far man!

 

nice truck, im about to lower my '59

 

just getting started on my 59 swb fleetside, big back window. i'll be watching your progress.

 

Great thread and I'm about to start work on my '58. Any progress?