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55 to 59 chevy truck owners

937K views 3K replies 212 participants last post by  DOUBLEDICK 
#1 · (Edited)
My name is Richard Johnson and I am building my second Apache truck.I drive this truck every day and am doing everything I can to make it a pleasure to drive and still be a good work truck.I like modern drive trains and stock body and interiors.I am looking for other guys that have and drive these trucks to talk to and share Ideas and designs for custom made parts with.I have sent private messages to a few people on this board and only one person responded.At his request I sent him pictures of my custom sway bar mounts so he could make some for his truck.Without sway-bars these trucks are no fun to drive.I am curious to see what others have done and share ideas.
 

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#855 ·
I have a couple of 10 day vacations in August so I let the 58 sit out front and made my self a new grill for when I am out camping.I like to go for a week at a time and I do all the cooking when I am out camping.I call it the FRANKEN GRILL because it is a monster.It is 14x38 with a 3 inch back splash.I made it that big so I can just set it across the 36 inch fire rings at forest service camp grounds.It looks like the 58 will just have to wait till I am done vacationing.
 

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#857 ·
Are any of you guys working on your trucks or are you just on extended vacation like me?It has been so nice up here I have been spending my off time hiding in the mountains.Here is me and the family kicking back in the shade.I should of brought my fishing pole.I took this picture from my chair in the stream.I will be back to working on the 58 in a couple of weeks when the kids go back to school.Hope you are all enjoying your summer as much as I am enjoying mine.
 

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#859 ·
I got the 58 on the driveway but that is all.Last night I was talking to my friend that built my transmission and he thinks the ring clip that holds the 3-4 clutch basket in place failed and allowed the basket to move back.If that is the case it will be a easy fix.I will be taking him the transmission on September 13 and picking it back up on September 28 :thumbup: I have been working on the 68 this weekend.If I put much more work into this thing I am going to have to start a thread for 67 to 72 GMC and Chevrolet trucks :thumbup: so far I have rebuilt the carter AFB,installed proper throttle return springs,replaced the rocker arm cover gaskets,installed a chrome air filter,put a chrome vent in the rocker cover,replaced the fuel pump,replaced the rusty gas tank,rebuilt the starter,replaced the rear brake line from the front cross member to the splitter at the rearend,replaced the seal in the rearend,replaced the shift boot,replaced the brake rod boot,replaced the clutch rod boot,installed a gas pedal,installed a choke cable with stock replacement knob,installed a stock cigarette lighter,hooked up the tach and hooked its light into the dash lights so it can be dimmed with the dash lights,replaced the broken drivers side mirror,replaced the missing defroster hoses,installed all new locks in the doors the glove box and ignition,and installed all the stock brackets to hold the stock jack and handles in their stock locations :sweat: I am on vacation this week so I am headed off to the mountains for some more camping.the 58 will still be there for me to start on when I get back.I hope all you guys are well and enjoying your project trucks :thumbup:
 
#862 ·
Hey everybody, it's been a while since I checked the thread. Hope everyone's well. School started 3 days ago. It is a little rough without AC right now, nearby in Memphis it was 107 degrees today. So far everything is going pretty well with the truck since the wiring job.

I do have a bit of an issue with pinging since I put in that Unilite distributor. I burn midrange gas (89 octane). The only time it pings is in 4th gear going about 60 mph, when I need to give it a little extra gas to go over a hill or something. This is at about 2800 rpms. I have fiddled a little bit with adjusting the vacuum advance but it still pings. Maybe I just haven't gone far enough with it, I don't know. I appreciate any suggestions, this is probably an easy question. DD I remember coming across one of your old posts about a similar problem but I can't seem to find it now.

Good luck everybody!
-Matt
 
#863 ·
Need motor mount suggestions

Well to make a long story short I have two 55' second seris a 3100 and a 3200the 32 is all original and in the best shape, the 31 is a parts truck that I almost got hosed on when I bought it on e bay, I now have a nice 350 / TH400 o to make ithe 3200 roll and I need to get your thoughts on the motor mounts, then I have to do something with the brakes too, I enjoy this site and all the post I hope to be able to help one day
Later Bo
 
#864 · (Edited)
Matt on the Unilite distributor use a timing light to see what your total advance is.It should be 52 degrees or less(You will need to put one of those stick on timing tapes jegs part #720-1591).With the timing light on give it some gas and run it up to about 3000 rpm(you only need to raise the rpm till it stops advancing) and see what your total advance is.With a small allen wrench inside the vacuume advance tube you can adjust were your vacuume advance stops.After you find what your total advance,if it is too much you can let the engine idle and see what the timing is at idle,then pull the vacuume line (be sure it is hooked to manifold vacuume not ported vacuume) and adjust it to subtract a couple degrees at a time.Just reattach the vacuume line and use the timing light to see how much you adjusted it.If you dont use a timing tape just subtract 2 degrees at a time till you find your engines sweet spot.Congradulations on the sucsessful rewire job.Glad to hear you are still driving that sweet old truck.Chesapeake I use a bolt in crossmember from brothers trucks.Classic parts has a better price on it right now.They are easy to install and the motor mounts will fit a big or small block Chevy.I also used one of their transmission crossmembers.Post some pictures when you can.We love to see those pictures.
 

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#865 ·
This morning before I left for school I had a little extra time, so I turned the distributor and retarded the timing a couple degrees, now the pinging is almost gone and runs a few degrees cooler. Right now it feels pretty good...I'll try to pick up some timing tape and mess with it some more this weekend.

My Metals class at school this year is two hours a day now, but we can't work in the shop until we're done reviewing the easy stuff (seems like forever). It's hilarious when people don't know how to measure things. People start saying stuff like "Two feet 34 and a half inches." First on the list of parts I want to make is a new shifter handle. I'll try to post a picture of the one that's on there now once I find the cord for the camera. You'll see why I want a new one.

-Matt
 
#869 ·
I ordered the engine/ trans mounts from Brothers today. I will need to hunt up a gasket set or two, but as for the motor mount I am wondering if anyone has ever hung one in a boxed frame and bolteds the flanges to the mounting tubes instead of welding as I think this would make it right easy to drop the oil pan if one had to do so
 
#871 ·
The stake bed for your truck was probably not factory.If it is a long wheel base truck the 8 foot step side will bolt right back on.If it is a short wheel base truck the short step side or the Cameo bed will bolt right on.The fleet side bed is available in short or long bed and will fit too but it was available in 58 and 59 only.
 
#872 ·
That's where my battery is going. I'm making up a bracket that will let me drop it down to service. I need to get a battery with side terminals like that.

I was having a problem with dust and worried about when I paint, getting it on everything so I spent the day putting up a temp spray booth. I put some eye screws in the ceiling, then ran a piece of polyestor rope around the area. Finished off with 4 mil plastic clamped to the rope. Worked better than I thought it would and at a cost of about 50 bucks. I can take the plastic down and reuse it when I'm ready to do more spraying. This will keep dust and paint off of everything including the walls.
 
#876 ·
I finally got around to pulling the engine and transmission out of the 58.The good news is no metal in the transmission oil pan,so the transmission is not grenaded.The bad news is when I poured the oil out of the engine oil filter it looked like it had a bag of glitter in it.Looks like I have to pull the 427 apart and see what is wrong.It is balanced and blue printed so I sure hope it is a cam bearing and not a rod or main bearing.I will post pictures of my progress later.Right now I am going to go check out a car show.
 
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