WAYNE's 58 APACHE BUILD THREAD

[richlandborn]

I first got the 59 1/2 ton truck in Jan 2010 for 1500.00 with motor and trans. I made a rookie mistake of buying with excitement and found that the truck was filled with bondo and rust under a backyard paintjob. So I found a 58' 3/4 ton in Grand Junction, CO for $600.00 which had all the parts I needed to fix the 1/2 ton. After doing a little reseach and some coaching from my father I am now gonna restore the 58 and use the 59 as a parts truck for what i dont have on the 58.

[richlandborn]

On Saterday I got a little sanding done on "Mater" (my trucks new name) the front end. One great thing about the Army. We have a 33 bay Auto craft shop with 2 paint booths and a tool lending desk. Its great and to be able to work in a dry heated garage is a plus. Also I have ordered a new cab corner the only one that was rusted through on the 58. Should be here on Wed cant wait...

[OrrieG]

I learned my body work skills at the Ft. Hood hobby shop in 1972. It was overseen by an old school body man who believed in lots of hammer and dolly work and very little plastic. I learned on a VW van and while they look like a box, have very few straight panels, every thing has a curve to it. I spent a lot of time on the mechanical side of the shop too, did lots of tuneups and rebuilds for guys. Since it was in the middle of no where, rodding was a big scene there. My daily driver was my first 64 Chevelle, a friend and I had a 69 Nova we raced.

[richlandborn]

Good ol' fort hood I was there for 2 years. Killeen is huge and so is copperas cove. That blace really blew up when they had 4th ID and 1st CAV there. Auto craft shop there was great however the EPA did away with all the body bays and paint booths. What a shame. Fort Carson has one of the few paint booths left in the Army.

[OrrieG]

When I was there it was 3 body bays and one very rudimentary paint booth. Most of the time I had the place to myself and the old guy. Kind of like a 4 month personal training course. Funny that I cannot remember his name. I had over 200 hours in the van body to get it to primer, then another 40 blocking it before the final paint after I got out of the service. I was at Bliss this summer at the ADA museum and it is about 4 times larger than when I was there in 70 and I guess getting even larger with the new armored division coming in. I can only imagine what Kileen is like. I lived in a trailer south of town about 10 miles out and now the area is subdivisions, I could not find the old place on Google earth. When my kid was born we moved into town to Harker Heights.

[kalirodding]

Looking good. Same thing happened to me also. I bought a 59 to build for $180 and turned out to have way to much rust, should of known for that price, so I bought a 55 for $500. The 55 turned out to be a solid truck, so I'm building that one and 59 is a parts truck.

[richlandborn]

UPS Ship track has cab corner enroute now. Cant wait to get started on wed also damn primer is expensive. Cost me 200 for just reduce hardner and primer hower there is a corosion protectant built into the primer. Cant complain about that. The guys down at dales paint and body are awesome in Colorado Springs. I will be going with International Blue for final paint once i reach that step.

[richlandborn]

Cleaned up the gauge cluster today. Not going to use it..... anyone need one it works.

[kalirodding]

Put me down for it

[renegade6]

Fort Riley has a great body shop and paint booth at the Auto Crafts shop.

[richlandborn]

So with some help from my buddies I got the bed off with a cherry picker and sanded the rest of the cab. I got my cab corner in the mail today however i ran out of time to put it in. So I have The hood and doors and the interior of the cab to do tomarrow. Im whooped was there from noon until 7:30 at night but I made some progress. Yeah I heard the one at riley was really nice. I have heard also that Fort Bliss has the nicest one of all.

[richlandborn]

So I had a crash course in welding today. i welded in the new cab corner.... Had some issues with the way the new corner is stamped. It didnt wat to fit just right but I bent it up a little and got it to fit in.

[richlandborn]

Try this pic again

[richlandborn]

So I got some more sanding done on the hood and front fenders. Sanding sucks but its worth it in the end. Im really thinking about just changing it from manual and going to a 700R4 Transmission. What do you guys think? Also I wonder why it puts small pictures on here now instead of the larger ones?

[OrrieG]

I'm running a th350 and loved it in the backcountry. You can ease into the throttle without breaking the tire loose in cruddy stuff. Mine has a pretty aggressive shift kit and with the 203 low range I ran out of nerve before I ran out of climbing ability. The new trans will give you a overdrive which I may swap to in the future if it turns out the 350 engine does not like to be wound as tight as the 283 I had in there. Auto is also nice around town. Can't speak to mileage differences, my truck consistently got around 14 mpg with the stock 3 speed, granny four speed and th350.

[richlandborn]

Orrie, Yeah im not sure what I want I would like to drive down the highway with overdrive not too sure yet. Got some more cleaning up on the truck done and rejuvinated my first batch of parts. Hope to shoot some primer soon

[renegade6]

Looks like you need to weld in some of the nuts that hold your hinges on.

[blackdiesel]

better put them in a cage. or no door ajustment. but I bet you know that.

[richlandborn]

No didnt know that....This is my first build Im a retard when it come to knowing what right looks like...Think I better buy a manual or something. I did get some more done today sanded some more of the cab and shot some primer. Taking the fenders hood inner fenders and radiator support to get sandblasted my fun meter is pegged out on sanding. I gotta save some elbow grease for block sanding.

[OrrieG]

Buy a factory assembly manual, best $20 you will spend. I have found lots of things that were missing on my truck. Also other good information, like all the hidden places they caulked them to keep the squeaks down and water out. And also the sequense for assembly. And the answer to questions like, what kind of nut held the door in place, or what is behind that place I am drilling a hole in. Or what parts were in the V8 engine RPO. Also wiring diagrams and detailed dimensional info so you can tell if your frame is straight or been hacked. Plus I just like to look at the drawings, knowing that they were hand drafted with ink. That is how I learned to draft and have great respect for the technical drafters that figured out a lot of that stuff from the engineers sketches.

[addicted2dunes]

Originally Posted by OrrieG

Buy a factory assembly manual, best $20 you will spend.

I bought one..... it was awesome for the three days I saw it...... then my damn dog pissed on it and ruined it!!!!!!!!

[richlandborn]

LOL thats why you dont let you dog read....Duh!

[richlandborn]

Im ordering the manual right now cheapest one 39 on brothers

[richlandborn]

I got onto Brother's and ordered the V-8 Conversion Mounts and transmission. They are on sale 4 99 bucks they were 170 for the entire kit. Also Orrie I ordered the Factory assembly line manual and the patch panel for the dash. I have a giant hole in mine. Hopefully by next friday i will have everything back from the sandblaster and I can really make some progress towards driving this thing one day

[OrrieG]

Originally Posted by richlandborn

LOL thats why you dont let you dog read....Duh!

Mine is lazy, I'm pretty sure he watchs TV when I'm at work. I must have gotten mine on sale, checking the prices have gone up.