new here, new truck

[alden]

Hi all, I've been lurking on this board for a few weeks. I just took delivery of a 59 today; the battery is dead at the moment, so I'll hopefully know for sure if it runs in a few hours

Big plans down the road, but for now it's going to be driven basically as-is.

[THE AMERICAN GARAGE]

Jealous of your very nicely patina'd apache! Love the tone for sure! Good luck w/it, my friend!

[OrrieG]

Welcome, nice starting point.

[Daniel U]

Nice find!

[dwcsr]

It looks to be in good shape for being that far north

[alden]

Originally Posted by dwcsr

It looks to be in good shape for being that far north

thanks, but actually it came from down your way. I bought it on ebay from a guy in texas. From what I can tell, it spent most of its life on a farm down there.

[alden]

I ended up buying a new battery but it still won't start. It cranks and cranks, but doesn't seem to catch. If I pump the pedal a bit it might catch once but not in any significant way. I checked the plugs and they're quite black but dry. I'm pretty clueless about these things so any thoughts/tips would be greatly appreciated.

[entourageguy]

Welcome to another 4 lighter. Great start with the picture posting.
Really like the fleetside.
If the plugs are dry give it a little shot of gas down the carb and see what happens. Could disconnect the fuel line at the carb and run the line into a small gas can. Crank the the truck a bit and see if the pump is moving any fuel. If there is fuel then the carb float needle could be stuck. If no fuel then look back towards the pump/tank.

[alden]

thanks for the advice. I pulled the hose and it was getting fuel, but quite rusty fuel so the whole system will need to be gone over. I did get it started after finding that the choke was stuck open (the cable is all rusted up) so once I closed that it fired right up.

another question, what do the factory bumper brackets/license plate holder mount to? at the very least I need to get a plate on there and I figure why not get it the right way off the bat rather than jerry-rigging it and having to redo it.

Also, any advice where to find a rear bumper? I've seen the one from classicparts but I don't want to pay $160 for a chrome model just to strip it and spray it white.

[ezekiel]

After you deal with the fuel delivery issues, I suggest that you take a look at the distributor points.

Make sure to file off all the dark gray oxides on the contact faces. Sure, you could simply replaced the points with new ones but if you just want to see if it will run then this will work temporarily.

Anyways, that was the key for me when I was attempting to start my 59. It hadn't been running since 1979.

[OrrieG]

Original Fleetside rear bumpers are very rare, most of these trucks started life as service trucks with an after market bumper or lift gate. They started reproducing them a few years ago. In the 80's I looked for 10 years to find an original one that came chromed from the factory. I have never seen a painted stock rear fleetside bumper, I suspect they were all a chrome option. FWIW I ran my truck with a white painted front bumper and the chrome back one, I figure you can't see both ends at the same time!

[CAL 58 GMC]

Right on man!!

[northern 85]

Wow nice truck! Welcome from Maine.

[JML55]

Welcome, nice looking truck. New points, condensor , plugs, wires and new gas and she should work like a new one. Good luck.

[nuke1]

nice looking truck you have there, color looks awfully familiar.

[oldblu65]

Alden , got yourself a nice looking truck !

[alden]

Originally Posted by oldblu65

Alden , got yourself a nice looking truck !

Thanks! A few pictures after cleaning it up quickly - still needs a heck of a lot more degreaser





who knows what year this is from, but I think it's staying


Only one wheel has the clips, are the other wheels usable for the original hub (center?)caps?



oh, and some photoshop fun - it'll be a while before it looks anything close to this:

[Texasdeere]

Looks Great!

Let's see an engine shot.

They sell an aftermarket primer rear bumper now for about $100. But you will have to buy the brackets, $120, bolts $20, and a licence plate kit too $35.

I will probably go this route on my 59 eventually.

[alden]

Originally Posted by Texasdeere

Looks Great!

Let's see an engine shot.

They sell an aftermarket primer rear bumper now for about $100. But you will have to buy the brackets, $120, bolts $20, and a licence plate kit too $35.

I will probably go this route on my 59 eventually.

I'll take one later today, it's far from pretty

Who sells the primer'd bumper?

[alden]

Originally Posted by alden

I'll take one later today, it's far from pretty

Like I said, far from pretty:

[Texasdeere]

I am sure they are not the only ones but LMC has one listed in their 55-59 catalog for a 58-59 fleetside.

I have a picture I will post later of a 59 3200 fleetsdside with an original looking white rear bumper.

[1956cameo]

Classic parts most likely will have the primer bumper as well. Plus they advertise on our board, thereby supporting it. Not to mention they are way cheaper than LMC, and from my experiences much more polite.

[Texasdeere]

I buy almost everything for my 59 from Classic Parts. I will check and see if they have it listed.

Here is that picture I promised:

[alden]

Originally Posted by Texasdeere

I buy almost everything for my 59 from Classic Parts. I will check and see if they have it listed.

Here is that picture I promised:

very cool! Thanks for posting that, I'll have to take a picture of the frame rails near the bed so hopefully someone can give me an idea of what all we'll need to mount the bumper once I get one.

[58 gmc]

Welcome to the board, its good to see another 4 holer gettin reborn, good luck with your build.