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55 to 59 chevy truck owners

935K 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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#1,853 ·
What red color do you recommend?

Hi

I am about ready to paint my 59 Apache stepside. I want to paint it red. I believe the original color for red in 1959 was cardinal red. I don't want that orangey red color look though. Can you suggest any awesome red colors to paint it? Thanks for help...Jay
 
#1,857 · (Edited)
Not sure still on Paint color...

I am kind of leaning towards the Cardinal Red which is one of the original 1959 colors. After seeing a couple of truck pics online I didn't see that much orange in it but when you look at the color chip at the body shop it looks like it does have orange in it. I am trying to restore my 1959 Apache Stepside Shortbed to as original condition as I can. The dodge Viper red and Victory red look like great colors of red but it might be too obvious that its deviating from the original look. Currently they have the front end off at the body shop, and I am having the 235 engine cleaned and painted. I was thinking of swaping the engine out for 327 but that will have to wait as there are other things that need attention such as the speedometer doesn't work and a couple gauges. Blinkers weren't working that great either as they would come on half the time. I am just trying to get the body work done for now and have it painted. I will also need to paint the interior. It's currently bread truck gold and black. I kind of liked the silver interior color like on the Clint Eastwood movie Bridges of Madison County. I still have to get that shock mount fixed too. I did have the seat redone with a kit from LMC truck and it turned out nice. Thanks for the suggestions.
 
#1,858 ·
Progress Step by Step

Here are a few pictures of what I've been working on the past two nights. My steps were long bed, and I needed to shorten them to short bed dimensions. It has been easier than I thought it would. Still have a little more welding and grinding to do, but they're turning out pretty good.
 

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#1,860 ·
still researching...

After more research I discovered you guys were right..Viper red or Torch red may be the way to go. Also, someone said something about Dupont RS 911? Does anyone know about that? Thanks It's weird from pics I looked at with Trucks with Cardinal Red exterior some definately look orangy red and some don't.
 
#1,861 ·
57halfton said:
I like Ogre's saying Easy Peasy.
when my wife asks if we can do 'this?', i tell her all it takes is time and money. :spank:

talk about easy peasy cutting; this is where my bed stands right now.






my daughter is getting married in 3 weeks in our back yard. all family is coming, i'd like to have it ready by then. at least painted and installed on the truck. the details finishing can come later.

it's killing me to have my truck drivable, but not be able to drive it. i hear gravel hitting my glass and paint when i drive it.
 
#1,865 ·
Im going to change the mufflers on my 57 this weekend. A couple of weeks ago I found a super deal on Craigs list for a pair of NOS Corvette side exhaust pipes like I have on my Corvette. So I put the new pipes on the Corvette and I am going to cut the chambered muffler off the old pipes and put them UNDER my pickup. I will post pics later.
Gene
 
#1,866 ·
Your really making progress Ogre...keep plugging away ,it wont be long now..Love the tail lights,and I see you got your hinge problem solved .....building things like that is a great example of what old school is all about...you got an original thinking mind ...
you ever get that glazed over look of confusion when explaining to someone what your gonna do????
I saw your dash and it gave me a million ideas for mine....
 
#1,867 ·
dbm
that glazed look would be my wife's look everyday :confused:
i apologize for giving you a million ideas, just 1 good idea could add a yr to your project
check out fiberglassforums.com if you need more ideas/time added to your project
should have painted in the next couple of weeks
 
#1,868 ·
Heres a couple of pics of the chambered exhaust pipes i'm going to put on my pickup. I was going to do it today and had everything ready to cut the old exhaust off but I checked the gas for my mig welder first and found that there wasn't much left. So decided to get my tank refilled before doing this. My luck I would have ran out of gas before I was done.
 

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#1,871 ·
Thanks Gene, honestly, they turned out better than I expected. The bed is 3"-4" longer between the rear of the fender and bumper than a stock short bed. I've been debating whether to shorten that area for quite a while. I like the subtle difference the extra inches make to the profile, and it amuses me to make some tweaks to the truck that only a few people will notice.
This evening I worked on removing the middle stake pockets. When I shortened the front of the bed I eliminated the front pockets. I'm waiting on the rear pockets until I decide what I'm going to do.
 

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#1,874 ·
i don't work. except on my truck and the lawn...

i help my friend who owns a performance shop out, in exchange i get shop space.
i did his electrical/mechanical setup for a couple of shops pro-bono.
i got als/ lou gehrig's and i was disabled 8 yrs ago, got bored and started on my truck.
i was able to do the frame at my shop with the help of many and an engine hoist.
when i started on the body, he let me into his shop.
3 hoists, muffler shop w/cnc mandrel bender, welding fab shop and of course a paint shop with paint booth.
i did everything to my truck but paint. the pic shows our painter mike
 
#1,875 ·
Truck Show

The wife and I attended the Brothers Truck Show in Yorba Linda this morning. It was about 30 miles from the house. Truck ran great; I’ve been slowly bolting everything down so the rattles are going away. I re-installed the sway bar yesterday. We comfortably ran 70-75 on the freeway. The show began at 8:00 AM. When we exited the freeway at 8:04 Am, there was a line of trucks waiting to enter. We sat in line for 25 minutes before we got inside, slowly inching closer. The truck ran cool the entire time we were in line.
The Brothers show is held every year at a campground. We were able to park under a nice large tree for shade. There were many nice trucks there, and we met some great people. Unfortunately we had to leave before it was over so I could fly out to Salt Lake City this afternoon. I’m posting from my Motel right now, so no progress this week.
 

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