I better reintroduce myself after a 7 year break from the HAMB. I retired and moved from the Denver area back to Huntsville Al . I have spent the past 5 years building a house and slowly getting back to cars. The 58 Fleetside was finished by Paul Atkins for paint , interior and final assembly . Here's a couple of pictures. It's been finished for 2 years and has clocked 56 miles. I unburied her from all the junk, put a battery in her and couldn't get her to start for love nor money. A shot of starting fluid into the Holley 670 and she came to life. Smoked a little and then settled in to a nice idle. After sitting 2 weeks , I hopped in and she would not start again. The accelerator pump is squirting fine but the electric choke isn't working. Hmm. What the heck, tie thermal spring housing is upside down and the the spring is deformed from being forced. I can't imagine that this happened , but it did. 28 bucks later , a new thermal coil and she's adjusted to a nice cold start with high idle cam working just fine. Just let her warm up, kick her over to release and a nice quiet smooth idle. The 348 break in on the dyne yielded a whopping 272 HP. But she's so pretty. smile. She is totally set up for all manners . All this time this past week under the hood has been fun. BUT , I have a problem. The new hood hinges and new hood springs will not keep the hood up Simply too much paint and it's too heavy to stay up. I spent hours on line this morning looking for hood struts . NONE...are Made for 2nd series through 59. So here's my question for input, does anyone here know of a stronger spring than factory or do I have to use a prop ( choking) rod ? sigh, Thank you for any ideas? PS if you look at the engine picture ...I missed getting to share how much effort went into getting an Impala Big Block fan shroud , thermostat housing neck and radiator to all look like it came from the factory in my engine bay. George King Huntsville , AL 256520401 cell
Nice looking truck there. I too have been away from here for a while, returned a couple months ago. Good to see you back.
She came out really nice! That 348 looks right where it belongs. I can’t help on the springs. Did you ho power steering?
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