[Kim57]

Been doing a little work on the truck. Found some problems on the way. Seems the more I do the more I find that needs to be done. The cab brace on the drivers side fell out as I was removing some of the rusted floor.Going to replace it with 16 gauge rolled cold steel sheet. Not worried about it looking original with everything else I'm doing so I am saving money buying it from a local guy and having it bent to fit.

[DOUBLEDICK]

WOW kim that fire wall looks good.What about engine room are you going to have to put in a set back section to clearance for the engine?59Fleetside Very nice have you thought about a bed cover for that jewel.Check out page 25 post 365 for a look at mine.Dave while I am under the truck tomorrow I will take pictures of the cables all the way to the drums.The stock cables will work on any rearend so the cables can be had new but the brackets will have to come from a wrecking yard.Dave read the PM I sent you it works the same for the brackets.Gator have you done anything with that 9 inch yet?Streamline55 how is the front suspension coming long?

[dmaggard]

Originally Posted by Kim57

Been doing a little work on the truck. Found some problems on the way. Seems the more I do the more I find that needs to be done.

Man tell me about it. I guess you have to decide at what point your gonna stop or how far your gonna go. There is so much more to do to my truck but I just had to set some priorities. I didn't take mine down like you did, but if I did I'd be fixing everything I could get to. I'm with DD.... where is your distributor gonna go? Mine sits within an inch of the firewall and it's recessed.
Lookin good.
Dave

[SteveC409]

I have been reading this thread for quite some time now and finally decided to jump in to at least let you guys know what a fantastic job you have been doing here. I have a 58 Apache short-bed, big window that I acquired in 1989 and drove it for almost ten years before the clutch gave up the ship along with many other annoying little things. It has a 350ci SMC that has differently seen better days! The truck has been sitting ever since with no real plans for it other than not selling it, but since I have been reading your posts it has gotten me all fired up to do a full resto-rod job to her. Currently I have no way to post some pictures of her, but I will get some on here as soon as I can. I do not want to make this post to long so I will get back to you real soon so that I can contribute to the best thread on the internet.


Steve

[Kim57]

Thanks for the encouragement guys. As far as the distributor goes with the chevelle clip I should have about 3and1/2 inches to the transmission mounting surface. If I have to make some room I'll make a recess at that time. I expect to make one for the trans to fit on the lower section.
Kim

[gator412]

Originally Posted by SteveC409

I have been reading this thread for quite some time now and finally decided to jump in to at least let you guys know what a fantastic job you have been doing here. I have a 58 Apache short-bed, big window that I acquired in 1989 and drove it for almost ten years before the clutch gave up the ship along with many other annoying little things. It has a 350ci SMC that has differently seen better days! The truck has been sitting ever since with no real plans for it other than not selling it, but since I have been reading your posts it has gotten me all fired up to do a full resto-rod job to her. Currently I have no way to post some pictures of her, but I will get some on here as soon as I can. I do not want to make this post to long so I will get back to you real soon so that I can contribute to the best thread on the internet.


Steve

Steve...get off that computer and grab some wrenches! Lets go.... Oh sorry, it is so much fun working on these old trucks with this group of guys here. So have fun and keep us informed on how its going. You should buy a cheap digital camera and start a journal so you can document the progress and sometime setback. Plus it helps keeps us fired up. Take care and enjoy that truck.
James

[gator412]

Hey guys I just updated my journal so new pics are in there. DD I did some more measuring and found the new rearend to be within 1" of the original and the spring perches are within 1/2". I am wondering if I can use the spring perches were they are? I might have to fab a wider plate for them to sit on and weld it on the existing perch. This would keep me from having to cut the old ones off and weld a new on on. Hey all you guys let me know what you think of this idea.

I removed the bed and the cab today. I power washed the frame and the cab. I really got into the cab plenum to get rid of all the dirt and stuff there.
I found rust in the rear corners, which I expected. I also will have to straighten the "step" at the drivers side door. It is bent down a bit.

Kim...looks like your doing a great job on that truck..

[dmaggard]

Gator,
Lookin good. Wish I could have taken mine completely apart. I did get the gas tank out and checked the corners from the inside and they were good to go. No rust. Got a favor to ask. While you have that frame sitting there and taking pictures, how about a shot of the parking brake bracket where the rear cables come together?
Thanks,
Dave

[gator412]

Dave, let me know if you need some other angles or whatever....There are larger pics in my photo album that you can zoom into.

[DOUBLEDICK]

Dave here are some pictures of the cable coming out of the backing plate to the frame,how they mount to the frame,a couple different angles of the main bracket and one of were the parking brake cable bolts to it.Gator buy the 2 inch wide perches and do it right or you will never have peace of mind.You will always worry about that rearend every time you push the gas pedal to the floor.I had a couple of setbacks on the 58.The first was that @~#^&*@# Clear Gears(brand name) cover I paid way to much for cracked all the way around from the deflection of the rearend (burn outs I am sure)so it dripped gear oil all over the driveway but at least it didn't dump all the oil while on the road to Vegas so I had to put the plain old metal cover back on.The second was the rear anti sway bar showed signs of touching the coil spring of the Edelbrock Sensatrack shocks when it has my tools in the bed.To ensure that I would not damage the shock with a heavy load or trailer I decided to turn the sway bar around and remount it.The only complication was because it was mounted were I needed to put the bracket for the connecting sway bar to the frame I had to drill the head off the rivet to the brake line support bracket on the drivers side and move it forward and bolt it down with one of the bolts for the bracket that holds the connecting rod from the frame to the sway bar.It took about 3 hours but now the sway bar can't hit the shocks or anything else.

[DOUBLEDICK]

Here is a picture of the Clear Gears cover.The cracks go all the way around.I also posted pictures of the sway bar now that it is turned around.Wow Gator that is the way to work on the truck.No dirt falling in your eyes,no dropped wrenches bouncing off your fore head,no brake fluid in your face and no metal pieces in your shorts from using the drill under the truck.Dave I think Gator just doesn't like having as much fun as we do Gator on that ford 9 inch rearend you have how wide 2 or 2 1/2 and how big are the drums 10 inch or 11 inch.Did you measure across the bed to see how wide it is between the wheel wells.On my 58 an inch wider worked fine an inch narrower would have put my tires 1/8 inch from the bed

[gator412]

Originally Posted by DOUBLEDICK

Gator on that ford 9 inch rearend you have how wide 2 or 2 1/2 and how big are the drums 10 inch or 11 inch.Did you measure across the bed to see how wide it is between the wheel wells.On my 58 an inch wider worked fine an inch narrower would have put my tires 1/8 inch from the bed

DD - 11" drums 2 1/2" wide.
The bed width at the wheels is 50". Original spring perch 42" center to center new 41". Original backing plate to backing plate 55" new 53" Original drum outside to outside 62" new 61".

Your right about putting new perches on cause it will bug me till I do it. So might as well do it now while it is easy to work on. I need to have the axles drilled out to 4 3/4 pattern to match my front hubs. So I will only have to carry one size spare.

DD I have never seen a clear rear cover. That would look real cool...too bad it broke. Did you contact them about it? Just wonder what they would have to say.

About having fun like you and Dave....this is the FIRST time I have worked on a vehicle this way...so I am going to enjoy it. But now everything is accessible so where do I start? Actually if I get bored I switch to something else that needs work...and there are a few (read many) areas that need it.

[DOUBLEDICK]

Gator they are a little pricey but Curie makes hardened axles drilled to what ever pattern you want.You can get those 2 inch leaf pads from Summit or No Limit.It would be a good idea to read the "straitening a rearend housing"post by Powerrodsmike in the transmission-rearend forum.Gives some pointers on not warping a rear end when welding on leaf pads.

[gator412]

Originally Posted by DOUBLEDICK

Gator they are a little pricey but Curie makes hardened axles drilled to what ever pattern you want.You can get those 2 inch leaf pads from Summit or No Limit.It would be a good idea to read the "straitening a rearend housing"post by Powerrodsmike in the transmission-rearend forum.Gives some pointers on not warping a rear end when welding on leaf pads.

That is exactly what I was doing. Great truck minds think alike! Or are we just cheap?

[DOUBLEDICK]

Originally Posted by gator412

That is exactly what I was doing. Great truck minds think alike! Or are we just cheap?

If you dont brake it or screw it up the first time you dont have to fix it and that is cheaper Its the little things like not seting the pinion angle with the suspension extended instead of compressed.When you dont do it all the time you miss alot of the little stuff.