58 Apache short bed rebuild
 

Just a little background information for anyone interested.

I bought my truck around 2 years ago as a pretty much complete non runner. I decided then that it would be a full strip down and rebuild to my own liking. I've always wanted an american pick up for as long as a i can remember and this one came up for sale fairly local to me, which is a big bonus considering there aren't many options for classic American trucks in the middle of Scotland :lol: I decided to start a thread as I've now made some reasonable progress, still a long way to go but slowly getting there and have overcome a few obstacles already. This is a my first American truck so a pretty steep learning curve but thanks to the web and various forums and wealth of information out there it's been an enjoyable one, other than the cost but you can't take it with you :D

It's a 58 short bed Apache with an Impala sub frame, something that's not without it's own problems. Anyway i'll post up pictures and feel free to comment, good or bad. Calum

Re: 58 Apache short bed rebuild
 

Overall the bodywork was in pretty good condition with solid doors and panels although the cab corners have succumbed to some rot. During the strip down i started to find some shall we say interesting modifications

Re: 58 Apache short bed rebuild
 

Once the cab, front end and rear bed were removed I had it brought back to my own garage to start the chassis strip down. First thing was to power wash the whole thing to see what i was dealing with It had a standard 350 which turned out to be a 4 bolt mains which suited my plans to make a 383 out of it and also had a TH400 transmission so from that side of things i was happy. I eventually managed to find out through guys on here that the front end was from an impala and not a Camaro as I had been led to believe, not a standard swap but it was all i had to work with. I decided that i wanted to use ride tech air ride so while waiting on delivery of the parts started to modify the rear end.

Re: 58 Apache short bed rebuild
 

I decided to make my own rear chassis legs, I used 4mm steel and cut them using a plasma cutter then finished the shaping by hand then welded them up on the bench prior to fitting to the chassis. Looking back probably not the quickest way of doing it but after plenty of measuring and re measuring I got it to work and all square

Re: 58 Apache short bed rebuild
 

The welding on the front sub frame was functional but not very pretty and as it turns out not welded very squarely either so I decided to reinforce all the original welds and re weld after i had cut and re aligned the front end

Re: 58 Apache short bed rebuild
 

Having taken delivery of the air ride I realised that the 4 link wouldn't fit as designed due to the axle having a cast diff casing, so to over come this I made up mounts and a cross member to enable me to fit the top arms in reverse. I could have built a frame over the axle but due to wanting to keep the profile as low as possible i decided to go with what you see in the pictures.

Re: 58 Apache short bed rebuild
 

I had ultimately wanted the truck to lay flat when parked but due to using the Impala sub frame it won't be as low as had originally wanted but still pretty happy with it. You can see the height of the side step with the suspension fully compressed

Re: 58 Apache short bed rebuild
 

With wanting to box the chassis i decided to go with making a new middle cross member as i think it better suits the overall look plus it's a lot stronger than the original

Re: 58 Apache short bed rebuild
 

I put additional reinforcing on the rear x member just to be on the safe side, better to have it and not need it than the other way around :)

Re: 58 Apache short bed rebuild
 

Currently working on building the engine back up with scatt forged crank and 6 inch I beam rods, wiseco pistons and arp fasteners. The block has been machined +30 and i have done all the clearancing on the bores for the 383 crank and it will have a small weiand 177 blower on top to help things along.

Re: 58 Apache short bed rebuild
 

Scotty

Wow! Looking at your work and your shop, I can deduce that you are very seasoned, and not burdened with hesitation.

I say "overkill is underrated" Well done, I'll be following along.

Keep on keepin on

NC

Re: 58 Apache short bed rebuild
 

Excellent project! Good luck.

Re: 58 Apache short bed rebuild
 

Nice build. Good luck and keep the pics coming.

Re: 58 Apache short bed rebuild
 

Thank's for the kind words. Not new to turning spanners or should i say wrenches :) but completely new to American trucks. I work at sea and get home in a few weeks so hoping to get some work done, hopefully finish off the chassis work and get the motor built, then i will do the first of many pre builds to make sure everything is where it should be. Nothing worse than having to do the same job twice.

Re: 58 Apache short bed rebuild
 

Wow, you have done a lot of work! Frame looks good.

:uhmk:

Re: 58 Apache short bed rebuild
 

Thanks man, a long way still to go but getting there. Just finished reading your build, fantastic looking truck and really love the dash, would love to try something different on mine but options are limited this side of the pond. That new frame looks immense as well.

Calum

Re: 58 Apache short bed rebuild
 

Very nice chassis fab work! Your engine set up sounds pretty cool too. Tagging along for the rest of the build.

Re: 58 Apache short bed rebuild
 

Hi Doug, hoping to get the chassis work finished once i get home, i still need to cc the heads after i change the valves to lower the compression for the blower i'm hoping the extra 4cc should be enough. Then i'll get the motor built up :). I'll post as I go.

Re: 58 Apache short bed rebuild
 

Engine machining always fascinated me and I haven't done any myself in 30 plus years...CC'ing the heads will be interesting and hopefully you will be able to show a bit of the process.

Re: 58 Apache short bed rebuild
 

Your build is looking good.

Re: 58 Apache short bed rebuild
 

Very nice build.
Kim

Re: 58 Apache short bed rebuild
 

Thanks, making my way home after 6 weeks at sea so hopefully get some work done once I get home. Hopefully before the chaos of Christmas kicks in 😄


Calum

Re: 58 Apache short bed rebuild
 

Well not much happened last time home, certainly not as much as I would have liked but what can you do? First time home at Christmas for 5 years so made the most of it. :ennyd: :b69:

That said, I did manage to complete all the welding on the chassis bar any small brackets etc I will need along the way but structurally it is solid, I found a few cracks in the factory welds on one side of the front sub frame so they got repaired as well. Decided to beef up the mounts for the 4 bar link and definitely think it was the way to go. I also realised that I had cut off the original mounting on the frame for the brake pedal, thankfully i didn't throw it out and was able to modify it to enable me to use the underfloor power brake assembly that i bought. The 2nd last picture shows a gap in the chassis and a difference in height, this was cut and welded flush as you can see in the last pic.

Re: 58 Apache short bed rebuild
 

Here are a few pictures of the cracked welds, nothing major but glad i found them at this stage in the build.

Re: 58 Apache short bed rebuild
 

And the beefed up mounting point for the four link. I also managed to dress up all the welds on the axle casing ready to be blasted and painted

Re: 58 Apache short bed rebuild
 

I also realised that I screwed up when i bought the drop spindles. The problem being that I ordered drop spindles for a disc brake upgrade not realising that the wilwood kit i bought required specific spindles :cuss::censored: gutted to say the least but these things happen. I relieved some of my disappointment by building up the discs and hubs and once they are on the truck the heartache will all be forgotten lol

Re: 58 Apache short bed rebuild
 

Nice looking brakes. frame looks good also.
Kim

Re: 58 Apache short bed rebuild
 

Subscribed! Man, you're getting after it. Assume with 6 weeks on the job you have a few weeks around the house. Great job. dug

Re: 58 Apache short bed rebuild
 

Yeah 6 on 6 off but the 6 off feel like 2 lol
It's slow going but every little helps. Back at sea now until the start of March so nothing more going to happen til then but hopefully looking at getting the motor built as i was waiting on some parts but they should be there by the time i get home.

Re: 58 Apache short bed rebuild
 

Well things have been progressing slowly, finally got all the parts to complete the engine. It's now built and sitting back in the chassis to enable me to see how everything lines up etc.
New spindles arrived with new arms that I'd thrown out thinking I had no need for the old ones, lesson learned there, nothing gets binned, sold or given away til she's back on the road.
I had issues with the heads I bought having only 64cc combustion chambers and being built for a blower the compression was too high even with the 22cc pistons, so I bought new dished valves which increased the chambers to 68cc and did some work on them to get them up to 70cc so at least it wont blow up now :D I did the first chamber and when I was happy with it I made a template that I transferred to the rest, slow and pretty monotonous but I'm happy with the end results. Also polished the exhaust ports and cleaned up the inlets then matched the inlet gaskets and the blower manifold.
Stripped down the transmission to find the casing is completely wrecked at the output shaft, just something else to add to the list of things that makes me think this truck just doesn't want built. Casing is so worn that it can't be machined so had to buy another

Re: 58 Apache short bed rebuild
 

Some pictures of the finished heads and engine

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So I went to fit the steering arms I had bought for the new spindles and true to form they wouldn't fit cleanly so I had to grind them to fit. In doing so I felt there wasn't much meat left so I decided to build up the outside with weld, I found out that the arms could be welded as they were cast steel and not cast iron. Every days a school day :)

Re: 58 Apache short bed rebuild
 

After all the grief I have had I thought I was done with nasty surprises but nope, no such luck. I've realized the rear fenders are from the later trucks up to 66 and when I went to strip the front clip down I found it had been welded and brazed together and to top it all off the drivers fender is actually made up of 2 and loads of body filler.

But the icing on the cake has been the fact I have fitted the fender to see how it looks and the front wheel is miles off center, something I never noticed before stripping as it was in a barn when I bought it and never even thought to look or check and just went ahead and pulled it apart. So the front sub frame will need cut and moved forward. This truck is really testing my patience but it wont beat me lol

Re: 58 Apache short bed rebuild
 

Slow going 1 step forward 2 back ha ha.

Between waiting on parts and the summer holidays in the Scotland, not managed to get much done.
I had a little confused episode when i fitted the cab in place to see how everything fit after the chassis work and the back body was 2 inches further back, i measured and re measured and measured again and after a LOT of head scratching i'd fitted the front panel of the bed the wrong way round.:banghead:
It had been so long since i stripped it that when i put it together again for mocking up i just assumed the rolled edge went to the outside just like the sides, lesson learned pay more attention to the pictures :lol:
With that sorted i fitted the front end only to find the front wheels had never been centred in the arch so i went about re cutting and extending the font and it looks so much better. This really is a learning curve and a half. Attachment 1682688

Attachment 1682689

Re: 58 Apache short bed rebuild
 

I managed to source another original unmolested dash so the dash is out now as well. I'll address all the firewall issues while it's out. It's needing way more welding than first anticipated. It's getting a new roof, floor, firewall repairs, step and inner and outer lower hinge pockets as well as the usual cab corners.

Having parts shipped from the states takes time and money but will definitely make all the difference instead of fight old rusted out metal.

Re: 58 Apache short bed rebuild
 

Hey

Your life sounds like it's running parallel to mine not the same issues, but just as frustrating, as well as odd!!

Strong work, great problem solving skills.

Keep on keepin on

Nut Case

:hh::hh::hh::hh:

Re: 58 Apache short bed rebuild
 

Yeah it's been frustrating to say the least.

There have been times i seriously questioned keeping going with it, it was like the truck just didn't want to be built lol

Hopefully seeing some head way now though, looking to get the motor on the dyno and run in soon so it's ready to drop in when the trucks ready.

Re: 58 Apache short bed rebuild
 

That is going to be one bada$$ truck!!! What color have you decided on?

Re: 58 Apache short bed rebuild
 

Thanks man, I certainly hope so :D

Colour is still a way off and not firm on anything as yet but got some ideas.

Final colour is such a huge thing to decide as everything is affected.

Re: 58 Apache short bed rebuild
 

I think we forget how easy we have it over here - there's usually decent sheetmetal to be found within a short driving distance, or worst case you can mail order repop stuff and have it in three days. You guys across the pond have to really be committed. But I'll bet the wow factor of having a bad ass, classic 50's American iron makes it all worth it. 58 Chevy with blown V8 = Priceless!