1957 Chevy 4x4 NAPCO conversion...

[the1ted]

This truck came to me in 1985 from a newspaper ad from a local bank that took it as collateral on a failed loan. It was listed as an original 4x4. The story I got with it was a local guy had hunted in Idaho every year and saw this at an Idaho Forrestry Service garage rusting away. After pleading to buy it they finally produced a title and he towed it back to Branson MO.
They did a great interior, paint and chrome but the drivetrain remained untouched. I tore it down to bare frame last year and soon discovered the first sign that it wasn't a factory as I had always believed. When I pulled up the carpet the slot in the tunnel was a rough hack job (literally) to allow for the cast transfer case shifter. More became apparent as I got to the frame mount for the shifter and found the holes literally blown out with a torch for the mount-same thing with the transfer case.
I am new at this posting stuff so I am attaching one image of the frame after straightening and sand blasting I had it powder coated with gloss black. The orange tape is day-glo duct tape I got at the hardware store. If you are like me you know the pain of catching a leg or arm on the mounts that extend out from the rails. The second image is the cast frame shifter mount.