First in-shop shots of the 61 Apache

[GMCNUT]

Hey guys - wanted to share a few shots I sneaked while at my body man's house yesterday - There is a "Father's Day" type story on this truck below, so if you have some free time, like old truck stories and want a little fun reading
See what you think....

I got a call from a local wrecker driver last Fall who said he was being paid to remove 20+ vehicles from the pasture and down in the woods behind an older gentleman's house, and carry them to be crushed, but that he had heard I liked old trucks and wanted to know if I would be interested in a 1961 Apache w/ factory 283 V8 and factory Cast-Iron Powerglide all still in it and untouched. I asked what he wanted and he said "I am asking 900.00 on Craigslist but if you will come get it TODAY you can have it for 400.00 cash"
I hung up the phone and was on his doorstep in less than 20 minutes. He still had it hooked up to the wrecker and after a short verification that is was a real "MA" suffix and date coded 283 engine and drivetrain, I paid him on the spot. He was so happy to get the 400.00 bucks he offered to haul it to my house 20 miles away for free! So we spent the weekend tuning it up and doing brake work the engine fired right up - the original generator was still on it and it didn't work but this truck turned out to be a less than 100,000 miles original (and thought to be 1 owner) truck that runs like a top. This is the same 61 Apache you see in my Avatar picture.

Parked it in my garage over the winter and "played" with getting stuff to work; headlights, taillights, wipers, and to my surprise nearly everything worked - even the accessory Driver's side spotlight. So enter the wife - she was less than happy that I now had a new "friend" to play with because women want 100% of your focus to be on them, the house, and their agenda in general.
However, through the evenings of going out to the garage to "play" with my new toy, my cotton-topped 3 yr old son became fascinated with it - he wanted to roll the windows up and down, pretend to steer it like a race car and flip the spotlight on and off a million times. He even offered to help me "paint it" back Black by adding Black electrical tape to the sides where it was dented, scraped etc....
So seeing the father-son fun we are having with it, the wife begins to warm-up to this truck being here, despite its ugly half-rusty / half Black painted appearance, and then she really gets nailed - he starts asking Mommy if he can go to the garage to play with "his" truck....so he claimed it. Seeing his young interest in the thing we we decided to restore it this Spring to "semi-show / clean driver" condition. Not so nice you can't touch it with anything but white gloves, but a frame-off job intended to be driven and enjoyed on weekends and local shows and swap meets.
So the truck was Black when I got it, but Black is so hard on the pocketbook due to the intense blocking required to make it look as good as other colors, we decided to let my son choose one of the factory colors, so I pulled an original 1961 Chevrolet Truck color chip set out and and since Red is his favorite color, he picked the Cardinal Red over Cameo White combination.

Here are the first pics of the truck as its nearing completion - I cannot wait to load up my Son and go for a ride in "His" new Red 61 Apache!

[Rich 5150 69]

Nice job and story...it doesen`t get any better than that...looking forward to the rest of the progress.

[tincan1966]

awesome looking truck!

[jocko]

your son chose wisely! That's going to be beautiful!

[chad64chevy]

thats awesome! my two yr. old son and 3 1/2 yr. old daughter like to help with my truck every now and then!! every time i have parts delivered they say is that for your truck, i want to see!

[Dinos63]

Nice!!

[ChiefRocka]

Great story

[markeb01]

Great story, thanks for sharing. The truck is really beautiful. I don’t know what I like it better, the outside or that floor. That thing is immaculate!

[likaroc13]

cool story for sure! and the paint looks nice....are ya'll cleaning up the frame too? i noticed you mentioned frame-off

[MusicMan70]

Love it! Any before pics to share?

[GMCNUT]

Originally Posted by likaroc13

cool story for sure! and the paint looks nice....are ya'll cleaning up the frame too? i noticed you mentioned frame-off

yes - we started to leave the frame and drivetrain dirty because we wanted to drive it, but after seeing the work he did on the paint, we just couldn't so that is the only reason its a frame-off. I will have some shots of the newly sandblasted frame and engine shortly - it just came back yesterday

[GMCNUT]

Thanks to everyone for your comments above - I will post more as we move along. I was too stupid to take any real "before" shots but will look and see if I saved anything...

[Captainfab]

What a great story and a beautiful truck

I see a few holes in the bedside, do you have the custom side trim for it?

I'm looking forward to seeing more of this truck.

[LostMy65]

The story about your son choked me up a little with a smile.
It's amazing how these trucks create family bonds.
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[C-10cutty]

Thanks for sharing.

[GMCNUT]

Originally Posted by Captainfab

What a great story and a beautiful truck

I see a few holes in the bedside, do you have the custom side trim for it?

I'm looking forward to seeing more of this truck.

Wow, have you got a good eye! My computer screen is so crappy I can't even see the trim holes in my own pictures....anyway, yes, its a custom cab truck and I have the full set of stainless side trim to go back on it. Cannot wait to add that back on.....my side trim set is not perfect so if you have pieces for sale, do let me know - they might be nicer than mine.....