My 58 Apache Stepside

[opiesilver]

Hi all,

I thought I would post a few pictures of my project. The first few pics are of the truck as I bought it. The next few were from about a month later after I stripped it down. A good friend is helping with this, actually he's an old school custom restorer who is just as interested as me in getting this truck done right. I don't think he agrees with me 100% on how I want to do this truck but he's teaching me a ton along the way.

The history of the truck is that it was originally sold in Arizona to a farmer who used it for about 20 years, parked it for 10 years, then sold it to a guy in California who always meant to restore it but never got around to it. It sat in a barn from about 1988 until this year. His kid started to do something with it then lost interest. Unfortunately the original motor and tranny are gone as well as the seat. Had I been able to get those I would have restored this truck to as close to original as I could. However, since I don't have these and don't want to hot rod it and have a SERIOUS dislike of ratrods, I'm going to turn this into a comfortable daily driver that just looks old. I was given a 64 Chevy C-10 frame but have decided to go with an 1987 to 1990 Chevy Caprice chassis instead. I want comfort, handling, modern disk brakes, slightly lowered look (not slammed) and cheap to maintain and/or buy parts. The wheel base and track are almost a perfect fit without having to mod the frame. The only thing I don't like is the tall kick up over the axle on the rear. Might consider lowering it slightly but will probably just change the bed height instead. It may be a truck but it wont be used as a truck again.

[opiesilver]

Oh and BTW, that kid I referred to seriously messed up a few things on it. Before he got his hands on it there only a few little dents but the kid hit the truck with something behind the rear drivers door and messed up the body work a little. OK, a lot but nothing that isn't fixable and most of it has already been fixed. I'll try to get some update pictures posted this weekend.

[OrrieG]

Good starting point, mine is an original AZ truck too. Based on the time it took me to fix that same area on the drivers side I would recommend you find a good donor and cut in the complete new corner. Getting that vertical ridge and compound curves was a real challenge for me,especially up by the gas filler location. That metal looks really stretched (got to love ball peen hammers for body work). It will help with the door alignment too.

[hsdropout]

I am curious as to what you used to remove paint on the cab? Paint remover?
I am at a point where I need to decide whether to sand blast body parts or go another route. Blasting & coating is the quick and easy way but comes with a pretty good price tag.

[OrrieG]

Aircraft stripper to get the big chunks, then 80 grit on a DA sander and 3M purple disc on air tool. On the cracks and crevices I used 80 grit sand paper wrapped around the appropriate thickness popcicle stick, hand hewn to size. When you use the stripper make sure you power wash it out of the cracks, if it stays behind it can cause problems with paint adhesion later.

I have always worried about blasting warping stuff, and it leaves behind a residue in the crannies that needs to be removed. And I have a lot more time than money. And my wife uses the stripper for her furniture so it is one of the tasks she helps me with.

[hotrodrookie]

Welcome! Cool looking project you have there. Im very close to Folsom, I still have my original seat from my 59 in the back yard, its ratted out as far as the upholstery goes but the frame is all there. You can let me know if your interested.

[opiesilver]

Originally Posted by hotrodrookie

Welcome! Cool looking project you have there. Im very close to Folsom, I still have my original seat from my 59 in the back yard, its ratted out as far as the upholstery goes but the frame is all there. You can let me know if your interested.

Yeah I'm interested. Not sure if I just want to take some measurements or buy it off you. I've been thinking about how comfortable it would be versus something a little more modern out of the junk yard. Give me a PM and maybe I could stop by tomorrow afternoon or Sunday.

[opiesilver]

Well, I've been doing this the hard way. Thought about having it sand blasted but the lowest quote I had for doing just the cab, minus the doors, was $450. So instead I've been using 4" flap disks, http://www.harborfreight.com/4-1-2-h...isc-97692.html and 2 and 3 inch fibre disks http://www.harborfreight.com/pack-of...set-99978.html. I just love Harbor Freight being on the way to work.

[opiesilver]

In the corners I been using anything I can wrap sand paper around to fit in there.

[Mr GMC]

Welcome, another member close by. I drive through Folsom on my way to work in Orangevale.