'58 grocery getter

[nail pounder]

Good evening all, I'm sitting in the garage looking through this forum, just killing time basically & I figured I'd start a build thread on my truck. It won't be as exciting as a frame off or s10 swap so don't get your hopes up. To be honest I'm not sure where I'm going with it, but because it's mostly original I'll keep it simple. I've always liked the TF body style, especially the Apache's, I think it's the dual headlights on each side, the grill and definitely the fleetside for me. Anyway, they have always been out of my budget, but I have consistently looked at CL for deals, or "the deal" rather for a few years. Gotten close to buying a rolling chassis once, and another time a "complete truck" but it was all taken apart. Well in Jan this year i found my truck. It was a one owner truck, passed away and left it to his daughter. She stored it for 15 years then had her mechanic got it running. It proved to be too much of a project for her so it sat another 5years until she sold it to me. Since I've gotten it we've mostly just cleaned it up and given it some TLC. It's a 3200, got a 235, 3 on the column and unfortunately it was repainted in the 70's so its not a survivor truck, but it's still cool. Here's some pics of when I bought it. More to come.

[nail pounder]

Since the lady told me it was stuck in gear, first thing was to PBblast the linkage. Got that worked out and picked up an air filter. Took it for a ride and the rear end was howling something fierce. Drained this sludge out, put in the new and it quieted right down. Also noticed that it was sitting crooked, driverside rubber support was gone so put that on the to-do list.

[mphudak]

Good looking 58! Looks pretty clean.

[Kim57]

Real clean looking truck.
Kim

[_Ogre]

4 eyed long wide bed, what's not to like about that?
grrrr, sexy!!!

possible old government truck with that aqua paint
nice that it is 1 owner and stored for 20 years inside

[nail pounder]

Thanks for the compliments. I'm a fan of long beds too Orge.
I decided to do the cab supports first, then one thing led to another. Cleaned it all up, used POR15 on the floor, didn't have any rust through or even thin areas. Sanded everything and shot some primer on it. I used some krylon rattle can flat black on the dash and column for now. I'll paint everything eventually, once I'm 100% sure on colors. Fixed the sender unit while I was at it. It had a hairline crack in the float so it was full of fuel and always read empty.

[nail pounder]

After getting the interior back together, we've (my daughter and I) have stripped paint and rust encapsulated wheels, picked up some repop hub caps, installed the visor, replaced hoses, installed thermostat, chrome tips on the exhaust and adjusted the brakes. The gal I bought it from had a new master installed and front disks.We noticed that the brakes were grabbing, after a little research I learned about the importance of free pedal so after adjusting that we were on the road again. We've also done some sanding, banged out a dent in the Dr side fender, and one night we got bored so we painted the spears white. This winter when it cools off I'll start the body work and think about paint. We are leaning towards turquoise with Ivory spears, roof and visor. But that's down the road so for now we are just enjoying the truck.

[ptc]

Welcome in.... looks like a good ole truck to just enjoy with your daughter!

[nail pounder]

I haven't posted in a while, but I still check in here and there.Thanks to the folks on this site, we established that my truck had a motor/tranny swap at some point in its life. I replaced the motor mounts with 55-57 car mounts and hope to be driving this weekend. My dad sent a belated birthday present, headlight bezels, what a difference some chrome makes! Been busy with honey -do list, we have a boy due in Oct so most of my free time has been gluing down hardwood floors. The 58 has made a good work bench though.

[ChuckDriver]

Cool truck!

[nail pounder]

Today was this first good drive I've done since I got it. Every other time has been short lived, always found something fix on it. With the new clutch and motor mounts it's super smooth, no chatter, so we ran it down the hill and back, 18 miles round trip. About 56mph it sounds like I'm rapping it out. I need to get a tach, but needless to say we found nothing new to work on. Still has a funny chirp coming from the tranny (I think) under load. I was running 50 up a pretty good hill and that's when I heard it. Smelled like burning oil too, but that may be just crud burning off. Anyhow, it was 80° outside and I ran it 50-55 for about 30min, no heating up or anything. Dogs thought they were going for a ride too. But if I broke down the last thing I need is two cattle dogs to keep track of.

[Kim57]

Congrats on the successful ride.
Kim

[nvrdone]

any ride any distance is allways good. specially with no breakdowns. congrats

[nail pounder]

Thanks, and yep, any successful drive is always a good one. I'm hoping to eventually use this as my daily, my office is 16 miles from home, no freeway driving, speed limit is 55 on the highway so I think I can pull it off.

[spectral]

Love the Aussie blue dog

[nail pounder]

It's been a couple months and we've had a few changes around my house. Unhappy with the drivability of the 235/3spd I began motor shopping. I found a deal on a 350/700r4 so I pulled the trigger. I had just finished the floors at our house and I still had a couple weeks before our baby boy was due, so my buddy and I yanked the motor and then...my boy came two weeks early! All is well, mom and baby are healthy doing great. The grocery getter is still motor less but I'm back at it now. So here's a few pics!

[nail pounder]

We introduced our newest pack member Colt Montgomery to everyone, and he has been cattle dog approved! Big sis Tabby is really into taking care of her brother, she is such a big help to us. He is 3 wks old as of Sunday, a family friend came and snapped some photos for us this past weekend to send to all the relatives. We used my 66 C20 in a few of them. Now that we are settling into our new routine I'm finding a little time here and there to get some things done on the Apache.

[Kim57]

Nice pics.
Beautiful baby.
Kim

[Marshy]

Congrats on the family and having a really nice truck. The shape you west coast guys find these trucks in makes us east coast guys sick.

[LEEVON]

Congrats on the little Guy! Big sis looks like she is ready to help, so you can get back out there and fire up that small block.

[nail pounder]

Thanks for the comments. Never enough time to do everything I need to do, and with a new baby it's even busier. Wife says I need to rest sometimes, but I figure there's plenty of time for rest when I'm dead. I scraped about 5lbs of dirt and grime off the frame, inner fenders and leafs, then power washed it. The cross member for the motor is temporarily set in there. Hope to mock up the motor, take a driveshaft measurements this week, then pull it all out and paint the engine bay before final assembly....

[dug224]

Great truck!! Tagging along for the build. dug

[II_Slow]

Dude you're miles ahead starting without a rust bucket, good find!

[nail pounder]

Thanks! Yep, both of my trucks have had minimal cancer, and although I'm still a rookie at this, I did learn a ton of do's and don'ts when I did the 66. After work yesterday we mocked up the motor and trans. Looks like it's going to be a nice fit. I need a smaller diameter pully and its little tight on the driver's side but the manifolds should work, HEI is fine. Looks like the master cylinder is just barley out of the way of the cross member, (forgot pic)I know I like to see pics when I'm reading through builds so here's a few from yesterday.

[Marshy]

I'm envious of the truck and your outdoor garage. Nice weather and nice view. Damn.