This is how I bought my 58 Apache the engine and gearbox were not mounted in the car there was no drive shaft and no exhaust, when I had all that installed I decided to paint the back of the chassis and put some new wood in the bed of the truck and drive it first. after a few months I decided to replace the flexplate as the teeth were very worn. and because I thought the engine could use some paint I took the engine out and sprayed it in 2k hugger orange and put the engine back after the front of the chassis was also painted in the first instance I would put the cabin and front clip back without spraying,at first I would put the cab and front clip back without spraying, but I changed my mind.I started by removing the paint from the cab. the car was rock solid but this was going to take too much time so i decided to take the car to the sandblaster. when I got the apache back from the sandblaster there were a few small spots of rust that I ground out and welded in new pieces when that was done I could start sanding the epoxy primer first I block sanded the car, then a fuller primer was applied after all that sanding we could finally apply the color i
68AC0A64-ECE1-433F-9467-646ED5EE2CB0 by Sk1989 posted Dec 17, 2021 at 1:41 AM 4905B911-8DA6-4057-B377-50E30DBF29C7 by Sk1989 posted Dec 17, 2021 at 1:41 AM D2CCAAA8-5B99-4C9A-B3FE-D081BC0084E2 by Sk1989 posted Dec 17, 2021 at 1:41 AM EFCB56C9-4F42-4B01-A362-6FCB4987BD13 by Sk1989 posted Dec 17, 2021 at 1:41 AM FB23CE96-1BC6-4317-A472-3C64F6EB6661 by Sk1989 posted Dec 17, 2021 at 1:41 AM this it the truck at this moment
Whew …. that looked easy . I. didn’t even break a sweat during the picture sequence. Good looking truck.
I have shortened the bank's backrest about 2.5 inches so that it does not protrude above the edge of the rear window
Nice touch adjusting the height of the back of the bench seat… never really liked seeing the seat in back window when admiring my truck
thank you I have removed one and a quarter inch from the top part and one and a quarter from the bent part and have removed the springs, this also brings you a little lower in the car
I mounted the steering wheel today, I had already assembled it before but I was not satisfied with the outcome. I have to say that it has become very beautiful now
great looking truck and project. Have you given any thought to moving the gas tank out of the cab to under the bed. I did this on my 55 cause the gas fumes were terrible when the tank was full. Also seems bit safer ...but I too like your color combination..
I have to say that I have no bother from gas fumes after I have replaced the hoses and gaskets on the tank. But that does not mean that there are no plans for moving the tank in the future, the extra space in the cab is often handy and a little extra weight on the rear wheels will not hurt either I would like to leave the tank cap at the current location, so if someone has already done tips here are very welcome.
You are one lucky person. The big back window 58-59's are harder to find & bring the big bucks in America. Enjoy your truck.
I'm going to pull the cab off my truck this summer figured it would take a month atleast after seeing this it's going to be done while i'm eating lunch Whew indeed
yeppers i would leave the cap there to for looks an put a fuel cell under the box with hidden cap when you get around to it,the space behind the seat is great to hold a toolbox,oil,antifreeze, an for me living up north an old winter coat an blanket,tacklebox, fishing rod cause if your stuck might as well go fishing but my truck is daily driver yours looks scared to park at grocery store imho lol Great Job
that's how this project started 6 months ago my intention was to replace the flexplate and in the meantime it has become a full restoration
I'm thinking of connecting a tube to the original ful cap and connect it to the tank under the bed.That's the drawback I ran into,I'll miss using the car daily and being able to park wherever I want or not have to worry about damaging the paint while working on the truck.I guess I just need a new project car to drive daily
I have always liked and appreciated sharp trucks like yours…just afraid I wouldn’t use it as a truck because it’s so nice!
Today I was lowering the front of my truck. The front axle was placed quickly but when I wanted to assemble the Kingpin I found out that there was a difference in the front axles. When I want to install the Kingpin, there was approximately one centimeter space between (0.39. inch) between the front axle and the KingPin. Have several different axes used between 1955 and 1959?
The only difference I know of from 55-59 is between 1/2 ton and 3/4 ton. Here is more info. Edit: After looking closer at the link I sent below, I just saw that there are two different king pin bosses (2-1/8” or 2-1/2”) those years which is exactly the difference you are seeing. https://droppedaxles.com/chevy-dropped-axles-0
Thank you for your help.There are apparently 2 sizes of front axle Only now is how it should be solved. Are there also 2 sizes Kingpin? Or should there be a 1/2 ball bearing between instead of the trust bearing that are now between them?
Pretty sure the bearing is used on the one with the shorter boss. I would have to either ask Sid or try to look back through pics of when I put a dropped axle under my 58. I am pretty sure mine had the bearings which would be needed to take up the extra gap assuming there is only one type of spindle.
I asked Sid and sounds like spindles and kingpins are the same for both axles. The only difference is between a bearing or thrust washer. He mentioned that many times, the kingpins will come with a 3/8” spacer to take up the slack so that the thrust washers can be used with the shorter boss even.