Commonwealth '58 Apache shop truck

[jaws61]

Wow your doing a Great job and i'm loving your build!! I've got the same plan but i'm not going with bag but coils with my truck, not as low too and the 5.3 for now as well till i find 6.0, I"m going to be running the M2 front end and planning to find a T56, if i can ever find a deal.. $%#$% they are pricey... Even more that all parts are in US dollars . I'd like to know where you end up placing the engine mounts in the chassis so i've got a idea where to put mine..
I"m actually just north of you by the way as well. I"m up in York region, Ontario and a few years older than you too...lol
Thanks and PM too if you want..

[Jay92]

Originally Posted by jaws61

Wow your doing a Great job and i'm loving your build!! I've got the same plan but i'm not going with bag but coils with my truck, not as low too and the 5.3 for now as well till i find 6.0, I"m going to be running the M2 front end and planning to find a T56, if i can ever find a deal.. $%#$% they are pricey... Even more that all parts are in US dollars . I'd like to know where you end up placing the engine mounts in the chassis so i've got a idea where to put mine..
I"m actually just north of you by the way as well. I"m up in York region, Ontario and a few years older than you too...lol
Thanks and PM too if you want..

Thanks man

As for the t56 you should check out LS1 Tech forums (if you havent already). Theres usually some good deals on there.

The motor mounts I used are a prototype version of what I'm going to start selling soon. Essentially with these mounts I welded two tubes to the bushing housing and then to the M2 crossmember. The tubes are pretty much centered on the crossmember. I can get some pics to explain for you, but it was very simple. I set the engine back pretty far just to get as much of the weight centered in the chassis. I think the front most cylinder is equal or just behind the front axle centerline. Which from what I know helps to lighten the steering some.

[Jay92]

Had a good weekend at the Speed and Custom show in London. Conveniently the show was held just down the street from our shop so travel time was minimal. Had a crowd around the truck for the majority of the weekend. Lots of questions and lots of people touching the paint/rust to see if it's real ahaha.

Have a couple Iphone pics for you guys to check out until my buddy sends some over that were taken with a real camera

This is the first time it's been fully together since I've started working on it


Thanks to Tangent Car Care for the use of their trailer for the 2 minute drive to the show







Now with the show done it's time to break it all down, final weld everything, paint the frame and power coat everything else. After that it'll be about time to get it running and driving.

[pugs]

looks great. how far are the front wheels tucked in from the fender lip?

[Jay92]

Originally Posted by pugs

looks great. how far are the front wheels tucked in from the fender lip?

The're spaced in quite a bit at the moment. Probably about 3" although I havent actually measured. Planning to run a wheel with deeper backspacing to bring em out a bit more. it`s also cambered quite a bit at full drop so that makes them appear to sit in more.

[Kim57]

Looks good.
Kim

[jaws61]

Thanks for all the information! That helped totally were to put the engine If i got any more questions i'll ask you and i'm happy to have some one that doing it also if i run into a issue.. Thanks and the truck looking great! Now we just need out of the ice storm!!

[dug224]

Man, great build. Keep the photos coming. dug

[lower50's]

Hey Jay at the car show did you go check out the pinstriper's? Petts Pinstriping is a friend of mine. He will be striping my truck soon.

[Jay92]

Originally Posted by lower50's

Hey Jay at the car show did you go check out the pinstriper's? Petts Pinstriping is a friend of mine. He will be striping my truck soon.

I did a quick walk through at one point and meant to go take a good look at everything later on, but completely forgot. There was definitely some talent there.

Thanks for all the love guys

[mooseknuckles]

very cool build!

[Jay92]

After 2 years of looking I finally found an original seat for the truck last weekend. Found an old guy not too far from me that had Chevy truck parts from 1950-1972. Ended up coming home with a car full of parts for my truck and my buddies '66 C10. Aside from the seat I've been working on small things like getting LS harness stripped down to run standalone.


My buddy and I finally started work on his C10 last weekend. We'll start a build thread on it when it gets a little further along. It'll be a very similar build to my truck: 6.0L LQ4, 4l60E, bags, 4 link, custom rear back half and all that fun stuff. Here's a couple shots of the work getting done and the rear back half I fabbed for him. Similar design to mine, but a whole lot easier to put together with integrated crossmembers.





And a shot of the locator plates that keep the frame sides square with eachother. The crossmembers lock in in the same fashion

[Kim57]

Looks good.
Kim

[lower50's]

Nice!!!! Did you get a good deal on all the parts?

[CRGRS 66]

Subscribed! Love the 50's chevy's, had a 57 when I was in high school.
Be sure to post up a link when you start the thread for the 66

[Jay92]

Well after working on the C10 for some time I'm back onto my apache. It's back down to the bare frame (minus the bed) to get all the little things done to the chassis and get it ready to paint. Also grabbed an LS1 for the truck for next to nothing. It already came fitted with a large cam, ported heads, valve springs, and head studs, so it should make some decent power. New block hugger headers came in as well and fit no problem.


Aside from tear down, I've been making some parts hear and there. Made up an aluminum fuel cell and started fitting it in the rear frame. I have yet to get some pics tho.

Made up these motor mount gussets yesterday and got them welded in. I think they look pretty rad


And welded. Should be good enough for the 450hp I'm shooting for

[Jay92]

Originally Posted by lower50's

Nice!!!! Did you get a good deal on all the parts?

Thanks Lowers! I think we paid about $300 together and came home with a car full of parts. I was happy

Originally Posted by CRGRS 66

Subscribed! Love the 50's chevy's, had a 57 when I was in high school.
Be sure to post up a link when you start the thread for the 66

Thanks! Will make sure to get a build thread going for that truck soon.