Commonwealth '58 Apache shop truck

[Jay92]

Hey guys, been here a little while just lurking around and reading builds. Never really commented on much. My names Jay and I'm 23 and work as a robotic weld technician as well as working on starting up my own business selling air suspension parts and custom metal fab/welding/parts. I've got a shop located in London, Ontario where I'm working on my '58 Apache. If you want to check out my website http://www.commonwealthmotoring.com that'd be cool, or "like" our facebook page https://www.facebook.com/commonwealthmotoring?_rdr=p

Anyways onto the truck build. I've had this truck for a little over a year now. Bought it out of Texas in January of 2014 and had it sent to Detroit in October 2014. Most of the stuff I'm posting is from an existing build thread on another forum so it may be a little out of place until I get up to date.

Plans for the build:
Bagged obviously
5.3 vortec with cam, intake, head work, and holley efi (enough for 400ish HP)
T56
4-link
Mustang II front end
Original patina

I've messed around with quite a few cars over the years from my first car which was a 79 Jeep Cherokee, to a couple Subarus, Volkswagens, an old rare Mercedes, and even a $500 Honda Civic. I`ve always been into old trucks and have passed up opportunities to buy something old too many times before. My dad`s first vintage truck was a 1950 Chevy 3100 that we pulled out Kentucky when I was about 12. It was the typical shop truck look. Flat black, red wheels, white walls and some leafs removed to bring it down. I always had a thing for that truck and have wanted something like it ever since.

Here's the truck that started it all


When I was in my final semester of college (January 2014) I decided that I wanted to get a new project since I`d soon have the income to start a major build. Being from Canada there`s not much good old steel that`s affordable so I turned to Craigslist to find a good candidate. I spent weeks scouring listings in the southern states where rust is not common and amazing patina is on mostly everything. I was in the market for a 58-59 Apache. Preferable all there, original paint with sun baked patina, long bed step side and not completely molested. I emailed and texted everybody with a truck that met the criteria, but everything was either too expensive, too rotted, or they didn`t wanna work with helping me ship it to the Detroit border.

Finally one day I stumbled upon the ONE.


All there, original patinaed paint, step side long bed, unmolested orignal 235 inline 6 and 4 speed trans. The only issue was it was in northern Texas and only had a phone number to call. I said screw the long distance charges and gave the guy a call. We talked and negotiated price and logistics and he sent me some more pics of the truck. From what I know he was the second owner and only had it for a couple years. The owner before him died in the late 90's and I believe the truck had been sitting since 1974 since that's the year the plates are dated that came on the truck. The price was right where I wanted it to be so a deal was struck. I sent money via paypal for a truck I had never seen in person to a guy I never met in hopes of owning my dream truck. This was in January 2014. A couple weeks later I had recieved the title in the mail and I was one step closer to owning the piece of old metal.

The pics I recieved from the previous owner









The months after that were filled with finishing school, on again off again with a girl and finding a career. Getting the truck home was on the bottom of my priority list, but never left my mind. I landed a job as a robotic weld technician for a company that makes brakes pedal assemblies for the big three shortly after finishing school. The money was finally coming in and it was finally time to get the old girl home. After a month and half of getting the run around from shipping companies I finally had the truck delivered in Detroit on October 31st. Exporting the truck from the US was a bit of a b**** as the policies had changed since I did it last. Importing to Canada was a breeze.

Pics from the day I saw it in person for the first time. Happiest ever!




So now youve probably read all this crap and you want to see some pictures of a badass bagged truck. Well sorry youre out of lucky. I moved from home to a different city an hour away from my old shop to be closer to work. This resulted in me not having much time for the truck, but finally the time has come. Just this weekend my buddies and I moved all our junk to a new shop that is 5 minutes from my apartment. This means I can finally spend some time on the truck.

The plan
4-link rear and Mustang ii front end
5.3 lm7 mated to a tremec t-56 6 speed
Ford 8.8 out of a Ford exploder
Steelies and bias ply tires (possibly astro supremes at some point)
Stockish interior (bench seat, original gauges, nothin flashy)
Bagged
Keep the body how it is
Do burnouts
Drag frame


I recently purchased a big boy welder after my old 110v lincoln was stolen from the old shop. All the fab work I will be doing myself using my new to me Lincoln cv400 mig welder. Its a big sum ***** and I'm thrilled to start using it.

I figured I'd start this build thread today as I spent most of the day ordering parts. The list of parts I have or have coming are

Heidts Mustang II front crossmember
All tabs and rod ends for 4-link
Jim Weimer air bag control arms
Jim Weimer 2" drop spindles
Jim Weimer big brake kit

Anyways on to some current pics

Unloading into the new shop. You might be able to notice that I pulled most of the leafs out of the leaf packs just to get a vision of it being lower. Shoutout to my buddies Brandon and Madison killin it on the move


With my Yamaha XS400 cafe project that I hope to finish soon


When it was still at the old shop I cut out the rot in the floor and tacked in replacement panels. Then my welder was stolen and I couldnt finish the other side



So that's my story. I hope I haven't bored you guys and girls too much. I'm planning to have frequent updates to keep you guys filled in. Also check out my IG as I post a lot on there too. @jaymarshall