'58 grocery getter

[Kim57]

Engine looks good.
Cute pooch.
Kim

[ptc]

Well welcome NP - first time I have seen this so excuse the tardiness! -- truck is looking good and taking shape... congrats on another youngin' - we need more of them good country kids in this ole world. I see you're down there near Temecula area? -- we got an office in that area - we'll have to get together when I get my '57 roadworthy and make it down towards a Brothers show...

[nail pounder]

Thanks everyone for the comments and compliments. Mine is nothing compared to most of these builds, I'm impressed with the talent on here. Not much progress since my last post, but everything is sitting where it's supposed to go, Im just waiting on a smaller pulley. PTC, yeah I'm about 12 miles from Temecula, Fallbrook is a little more rural & has a small town feel about it. I'm from Colorado, and lived in Truckee, CA for a while too, Fallbrook is about as close to "country living" as we could get and still be close to work.

[Nut Case]

Nail Pounder

Great Family addition, that is so cool another little gal.

The thread is fun and informative

Are you swinging a 28 oz checker face long handle?

Keep on keepin on

NC

[RockinKees]

Congratz with the little Man!!
Nice family pics!

Oh, by the way, nice Apache too
I will follow your build if you don't mind!

[nail pounder]

Thanks for the comments. Got my new pulley today so I'm on it tomorrow after work. Nut case, i have an arsenal & all have axe handles. In my teens & 20's I liked the heavy swingers, in my 30's I preferred 21-24oz, in my 40's arthritis is kicking in & I prefer to use my pencil, paper and computer(estimates) but when I throw my bags on I reach for my heavy for old times sake & show the youngsters how to work. Then I go home and take a bunch of ib profin. Rockinkees, thanks man. I dig your long bed too. No time to mess with mine today but by this time next week I should have it all welded, painted & back together. I'm still trying to figure out (I posted a question in the general area) the best way to hook up alt and hei. I used to have a gen and dist. I'll update when I make some progress.

[nail pounder]

Progress has been slower than I hoped, just not enough hours in the day to do everything I have to do. My buddy and I got it mocked, welded, painted and back in for good. I dropped off the driveshaft yesterday to be shortened etc. Still got a bunch of stuff to bolt on but the heavy lifting is done!

[Kim57]

Looks good in there.
Kim

[Dan in Pasadena]

Another HUGE congrats on having a son. There's noting better than children, not even old trucks.....but sometimes its close! Ha ha.

Your truck is looking good. You're making good progress. What you're doing reminds me of how my truck started before it started sliding down the "slippery slope". I have enjoyed every minute of it though, except writing the checks of course. Looking forward to watching your progress. Maybe I'll see you at next year's Brother's show?

PS: Your cattle dogs morphed into a giant German Shepherd, either that or the Shepherd ate the cattle dogs!

[nail pounder]

Thanks for the compliments and congratulations. Kids are awesome, but I must admit that I forgot about the sleep loss in the infant stages! I have seen your build Dan, looks like you jumped in with both feet! Zeeba is my buddy's shepherd, she's always trying to photo bomb, my truck is at his place here in Fallbrook. He's been coaching me, as this is my first engine swap. I picked up the driveshaft today after work but didn't install it. I spent most of my time installing the Lokar shifter, it took much longer than I expected. To be honest, I'm not sure if I'm going to be happy with the floor mounted shifter, seems to flex the pan quite a bit. For now it's going to stay, I'm trying to get everything done so I can drive it straight to the muffler shop and then home. I'm anxious to get it back in my garage where I can work on the other things at my leisure. Here's some "before" pics from today, I forgot to take "after" pics, I'll snap some tomorrow.

[dug224]

Great progress. Engine bay look really good.

[RockinKees]

Nice update.
What a difference on your enginebay!!
Looks great!!

[ironadict]

Swinging by to check it out. Very nice work nail pounder! interested to see how you end up liking that lokar shifter.

[Dan in Pasadena]

Originally Posted by nail pounder

...I have seen your build Dan, looks like you jumped in with both feet!...

Not quite intentionally, but yeah... My situation is moe like the guy tiptoeing near the edge of the pond, his foot hits a slimy rock and he falls in over his head!

Then he's committed, or SHOULD be!

[nail pounder]

Thanks for the comments and compliments.

Whatever it takes Dan! I'd like to blow mine apart but I'm taking the "one piece at a time" route.

I've been able to squeeze in a couple hours here and there and checked a few things off my list: battery tray, driveshaft, shifter, carb, TV bracket, throttle return bracket & valve cover gaskets. Still need to run hoses for fuel, brake booster, trans & radiator. Install accelerator pedal & cable, positive & ground cables, hei 12v and clean up wiring, elec choke and fluids. Probably a few other things I can't remember, BUT it's getting closer. Sorry for the poor quality pics, I always forget until it's after dark.

[nail pounder]

I finally got everything hooked up on Friday. I still need to tidy up the wiring and remove the abandoned ones, but my daughter and I took it for a short drive! No exhaust yet so I was setting off car alarms everywhere. If the local shop is open tomorrow I'll take it in. Merry Christmas to me. Hah. I'm a little concerned about my TV cable setting, I set it to be fully extended at WOT, but at closed it seems to have a bit of slack. Probably need to post in the general area.

[nail pounder]

Put the chrome overflow tank on today and switched the black air cleaner for the chrome but I can't decide, I'm leaning towards chrome for now. Got the exhaust ran to my existing mufflers (for budget reasons)but they are almost too quiet, still sounds like a V8 though. Glass packs will be in my future. And I drove to the local tranny shop to get their opinion on my TV cable, I had reset it pretty tight since my last post but the trans shop loosened it about 2 clicks and it is definitely smoother. I was pretty paranoid about having it too soft due to all the burnt up trans threads I read on the internet. Hard shifting is better than soft I guess but I'm happy with it now. My daughter and I did a little romping on it, burnt some rubber and cruised 60mph no problem. Still haven't got it to the freeway yet. Maybe this weekend.

[Kim57]

The chrome looks real nice.
Kim

[Advanced Design]

Awesome thread...it is good to see a truck being enjoyed and getting some thoughtful updates!

[68Gold/white]

Keep up the great work!!! With the family and pickup!!!

[nail pounder]

Happy new year! Thanks for the comments. Had some extra time today so I cleaned up the wiring with that black automotive conduit and removed all unnecessary BS. My dad is out here from Colorado visiting the grandkids (& us), he likes the shiny parts too, so chrome it is...

[nail pounder]

It's been a while since I updated, I always forget about the "build thread", but I have been working on it as time allows. I had rebuilt my vacuum wiper motor but it still sucked so I installed an electric. I was having a problem with boiling my fuel so I added a carb spacer, problem solved. Then I still had a vacuum leak so I ended up replacing the brake booster/master cylinder. Leak fixed and brake response is much better. I had some nasty arthritis that had been bothering me for a few years so I had arthroscopic surgery on my left shoulder. Feels so much better, and I can actually sleep through the night! So I think I'll schedule the right shoulder this winter. Bought some lowering shackles for the rear(not installed yet) and I think I'm going to pull the trigger on a Sid's drop axel for the front. If anyone has opinions on his axels I'd love to hear it. I also found a deal on some vintage slot mags with tires on Craigslist, 15 x 8.5 & 15 x 7 x 3.5" back spacing that I need to polish up. I've always had a thing for slot mags, I figured I'd try to sell the 31" tires to offset the cost a bit. Once I get the stance I want I'll figure out new tires, I still have the original wheels with repop hub caps on it now. I made some bed wood but haven't decided on the finish yet, I did a bunch of samples but can't make up my mind. Took the family to our local car show, & my daughter, son and I also went to the good guys show in Del Mar a while back. Last but not least I've decided to start stripping paint and shoot some epoxy over the summer, I used those polycarbide disks and I'm impressed. It's still going to be a tedious process but they are pretty quick and clean the steel up nicely. I do have some rust pits to deal with though. I posted the question and got some good responses, I think I'll be getting a small media blaster or gun of some sort. Anyhow, enough chit chat now here's some pics.

[nail pounder]

More pics.. wood samples, rust pits, bleeding brakes and test fitting the new wheels.

[Anderson 57']

looks good! i personally like the most contrasting wood, but what do i know...

[nail pounder]

Baby steps, but progress is progress. Haven't decided on bed wood, but I like the contrasting one(s) as well. I'll probably use it as a truck so something that hides damage is better. I ordered a drop axel from Sid's drop axel but he's 8-10weeks out, and I have the 2" drop shackles for the rear. Just trying to plug away. I really need to spray some epoxy primer but it's been too hot, I've had a bad experience with painting in higher temps so I'll just keep stripping. I think I'm going to order a new front bed panel, mine looks like it's had a bunch of bricks or something thrown against it.