58 Apache short bed rebuild

[Joe Pass]

Damm,,,that looks great

[Kim57]

Looks very cool.
Kim

[dsraven]

that looks awesome. intimidating for others at the traffic lights I bet when cruising starts.
how does the steering,oil pan etc fit? everything have enough clearance? I like the firewall. will you be able to fit a wiper motor in there somewhere?
keep posting pics, they're great motivators for the rest of us slow pokes.

[Scottish58chev]

Originally Posted by dsraven

that looks awesome. intimidating for others at the traffic lights I bet when cruising starts.
how does the steering,oil pan etc fit? everything have enough clearance? I like the firewall. will you be able to fit a wiper motor in there somewhere?
keep posting pics, they're great motivators for the rest of us slow pokes.

Thanks for the comments guys, everything seems to fit nice, hoods going to be close but there's a 1 inch spacer on the carb i can take out if i have to, steering is a flaming river unit that bolts on and seems to fit nice, the steering will no doubt need adjustment but i think it should clear the headers ok. I'll get into that once im happy with the tin work which is still a long way off as the gaps are really bad but nothing time and the welder wont fix (I hope) Test fitted the dash and wiper motor and there is loads of room. I'll post up more once i get something to report.

[_Ogre]

needs more motor

[Scottish58chev]

It’s as much motor as I could get

[Scottish58chev]

New dash is in and decided to sort the front of the frame to enable me to fit the radiator support.

[Scottish58chev]

Started to address the door gaps after I got it as square as I could. I also repaired both lower hinge mounts on the doors, they were badly cracked so I drilled them all to allow the weld to penetrate. Both doors were pretty much the same.

[Scottish58chev]

I radiused the front of the cab door and I’m happy with the results.

[Joe Pass]

Cool ...gaps are a lot of work....I added 1/8" wire to the door edges to mine to even them out....all in the details,,,,,
Great work

[duramax55]

hi nice work will be a nice ride once done. I would like to know where you got your end for your triangulated bars on your rear end? I am sure they are cheaper than good Heim joints. Keep up the great work.

[Scottish58chev]

Originally Posted by duramax55

hi nice work will be a nice ride once done. I would like to know where you got your end for your triangulated bars on your rear end? I am sure they are cheaper than good Heim joints. Keep up the great work.

The mount is made using the 2 outer mounts that normally get welded to the frame legs that came with the kit that i bought from ridetech

[55 Chevy Dave]

Very cool build. It's going to be a great looking truck when it's done!

[Scottish58chev]

Originally Posted by 55 Chevy Dave

Very cool build. It's going to be a great looking truck when it's done!

Thanks, it’s a labour of love and hate at times lol slowly seeing progress and every bit done adds to the finished truck. I had a rendering done and that’s on the garage roof and it keeps me motivated 😃

[Scottish58chev]

Build is moving slow but steady.

I'm bad for forgetting to take pictures as i go and only remember after the fact. I've rebuilt the th400 trans and the back axle so they are good to go.

I borrowed a friends engine stand and combined with my own i made brackets to fit the front and back of the chassis and will use them as a rotisserie when the time comes blast and paint it, i'll take pictures and update whether it works or not lol.
Engine is back in place for the 4th or 5th and definitely not the last time, to make sure i had good clearance with everything now the cab is all welded up and bolted down. The steering column was fitted and i found the subframe had to be cut for clearance due to using a flaming river power steering kit, so it will need welded once its all stripped again.
Repaired the trans cover as it had been butchered and I started building my fuel tank but my tig broke down and is away getting repaired.
I'm now back at sea for 5 weeks so things are at a standstill until i get back in April.

[Scottish58chev]

These last few pictures are as it sits right now. Trying to get as much done as i can with regards brackets and where everything will be placed that way i can strip it down and get the chassis blasted and painted.

[Scottish58chev]

Continued work on the fuel tank after getting my welder back

[Scottish58chev]

Fitted drain and made sender flange

[Scottish58chev]

Drilled and tapped flange then welded onto the tank

[Scottish58chev]

Lastly I made mounts for the fuel pump and fitted brackets for securing the tank to the chassis. I’ve still to clean up the tank and pressure test it for leaks.

[dug224]

Enjoying all the high quality work!!

[Kim57]

Very nice work on the tank.
Kim

[Joe Pass]

Wow.....

[OrrieG]

Nice fabrication work...

[Scottish58chev]

Finally got the tank pressure and leak tested. Had 2 pin holes to weld and I also had to weld the inside lip of the sender flange as it was leaking through the screws. I also had to add 2 small o-rings to the sender unit as it was leaking past the bolt and no matter how much the nut was tightened it still leaked. After all the tweaking it’s now good to go. Just a shame it will be so long before it sees actual fuel