I think I scored ¿

[nail pounder]

New guy here, I've been part of the 60-66 forum(I have a 66) for awhile but I found something I couldn't pass up. The ad read 58 truck, 4000$ obo. After after few emails I was planning to see a 58 Apache longbed, small window. The lady was super nice, around 60yrs old. Her dad bought the truck new, parked it in during the 70's gas crisis, but then it sat untill he passed away in '95 leaving it to his daughter. She apparently put in in storage for 15 years and then brought to her home with the intention of fixing it up. I believe she had a friend work on it, but never quite got what she paid for out of him I did notice a new master brake cylinder/booster under the driver side cab? They work fine but I dunno how to check the fluid? I've never seen that but then again, I've only worked on my 66. Short story long, I told her how my daughter and I restored the 66 and wanted another project. She loved the father daughter idea and said 3500$ and take it before I change my mind. She's not sure of the mileage, it says 29568, but thinks that's the original milage. She gave me the original owners manual and some items she had, weather strip, felt for windows etc. The engine is clean for a 58 yr old truck, but I'd like to hear any feedback, and I'm sure I'll be asking alot of stupid questions. 235 I6 purrs like a kitten, 3 speed on the column is OK, after some PB blaster on the linkage, reverse and 2nd are finicky. Some surface rust and a couple dents but nothing major. Anyhow, on to some pics!

[Az. Hank]

Nice find

[Daze57]

v nice indeed !

[Foot Stomper]

Yup, you scored! Very nice find!
The exterior color doesn't match firewall color. Not nit picking...curious if you know why?

The toe steps on the box side look aftermarket but very well done, nice idea!

[nail pounder]

Original color was the blue you see on the firewall. She said her dad had it painted a long time ago for unknown reasons. Here's some pics, dif, trans & motor with a #? How can I tell if numbers are matching? Anyone know what gear ratio these had? Sorry, ignorance is not bliss.

[dubds10]

Nice find & actually priced decent & accordingly. The VIN will tell you if it's a 6cyl truck for sure, but I don't believe you can tell if anything is #'s matching for that year. Not that it really matters on these trucks anyways lol

[pvienneau]

Super find and deal. I'm envious. Don't ever give up they are out there.

[Advanced Design]

Very nice find for sure. Basically from the original owner and a known history. To me that is always interesting.

What are your plans for the truck?

[nail pounder]

According to the vin it is a 6. I'm just wanting to learn more about this truck. I'm not sure of plans yet, clean it up and see what I'm working with, drive it around town and then decide. The spings look shot maybe 2" till it hits the bump stops up front and 4" out back. I was looking at the lowering springs last night as an inexpensive upgrade and lower ride height.

[Russell Ashley]

Nice truck, and a great price IMO. In one pic I see what looks like dual exhaust. Does it have a header and true duals? I never noticed this before, but those long bed fleetsides sure have a lot of bed behind the rear wheels.

[nail pounder]

Stock manifold, stock everything. They split the exhaust mid way back. It looks like a recent job. Can't be more than a few years old. Schloooong beds for sure.

[_Ogre]

both trucks are very nice
to check the mc level, slide the floor mat over,
there is a rubber plug in the floor to check the mc

[Kim57]

Looks like it's in great shape.
Kim

[Janky59]

The rear diff. is likely a 3.90, a very common ratio for the I6 and 3 speed. If it sounds like it's turning about 3K rpm at 60 mph it's a 3.90...or higher!
The clearance of the leaf springs to the bump stops sounds about right though.
Good luck on the project.

[mr48chev]

That is a nice truck and I'd say you did get a deal.

On the white paint, white was and most likely still is the cheapest paint at the paint store and a lot of trucks got painted fleet white over the years simply because the paint job cost a few bucks less than going back to the original color. The other thing is that the general thought was that white hid minor flaws that other colors emphasized .

[flashed]

Nice truck ,Im in to see what you do with it.

[RockinKees]

Nice truck!
Great find, I'll follow along!

[roger55]

Yes you did score. That's the same price I paid for my '57 long bed back in 2011. Looks to be in similar condition to the way mine was.

Check out my build thread. You might find that interesting as you dig into yours.

[nail pounder]

Thanks for the compliments guys. I'll check out your build Roger, I'm sure I'll need some advise along the way. We had a busy day yesterday, cleaned her up, then messed with the 3 on the tree linkage last night. It seemes to go through the gears now, but I haven't taken it for a drive yet. Hopefully today after work

[Task Force Era]

Definitely a pretty good score. Truck looks really solid. That's the most important part!

[OrrieG]

Good score, get it running and enjoy it. Minor rust at the seams can be cleaned up with CLR and clear sealed. Bed can be replaced in place. If it does not run, do a search on this site using the box above there are a number of threads relating to getting the engine running and other stuff (brakes, electrical, etc.) to check when bringing them back to life. Nice candidate for a running survivor.

[pvienneau]

Get it running and drive it for a year then decide what to do with it. I say keep it original as possible. I bought my bed at MAR-K and was very satisfied with the product.

[nail pounder]

Ok, so I fixed the linkage (I think). I didn't change anything just adjusted. So on the column, 1st and 2 are both down, reverse and 3rd are up. Is that correct? Also it whistles at speed? There is no air filter on it, the oil bath is lost, any suggestions on an air filter? I only drove it around the block, just enough to go through the gears. I can hear the carb suckin air but can't tell if that's the whistle as well.

[Foot Stomper]

I'd say your whistle is very likely your carb... Get a filter on it ASAP.

Your shift pattern is a little wrong.
It should be:

Reverse is at top with lever pulled towards you.
1st is straight down
2nd is up thru the neutral gate, then up to top
3rd is straight down.

Now I should mention you don't have synchro into low. You'll have to make a full stop to shift there without grinding.

[1project2many]

So on the column, 1st and 2 are both down, reverse and 3rd are up. Is that correct?

Many years ago I put a trans from an I6 equipped 1955 3100 into my V8 truck an ended up with the same shift pattern. The 2/3 shift rod ( bieive it was 2-3) was attached to a bellcrank on the bellhousing so the linkage moved the opposite direction from the shifter.