Hot Rods Official 1959 Chevy Apache Build Thread

Im not really happy with it either, but i already have about 600 into the new steering, so if it works I am probably going to stick with it. I saw your post and thought it was very informational, thanks for posting it. I may dabble in that area later down the road

 

I used these numbers from the other hot rod forum to find what I needed, thanks for posting Rude Dude!

 

I just got my steering column from the machine shop at work, everything looks good. I just need to sleeve everything. and put her back together. I am feeling a lot better so I may work on the truck tonight.

 

You can still use the steering box and pitman arm that you have now, you will need the bolt on Speedway steering arm-$39.99, and a couple of weld in tie rod slugs-$9.99 each. A piece of 1 1/4" x .120 wall round tubing or a custom made tie rod from Speedway and you are good to go. I drove my dad's truck again a while ago, and it is truly a different truck now.

 

Well despite being down and out in a lot of ways I have been taking my time with the suspension. I had to cut the exhaust to get the tie rod to fit right, so I will have to rework all of that to move it out of the way. I am just having a little trouble with the pitman arm position, but I will toy with it to try and get it right. It also took me forever to track down the right bearings for the drivers front suspension. I have everything tightened down there and will be adjusting my steering components very soon. I got my ididit floor mount for the bottom of the column too. more pictures to come soon of my finished steering column and the reassembly. Here are a few for starters

 

Great work Scott. It's all coming together now!

 

Thanks Eric! I just got the pitman arm and eveything adjusted correctly, so now I need to just make sure everything is tight and drop it back on the ground. I am going to need to rework the exhaust AGAIN so that will be fun.... I am going to drop off my steering parts off at a machine shop since the one at work didn't do the job correctly (welded stuff on crooked). So today I am going to work on the power steering pump and how it mounts to the front of the engine to hopefully get that in line so all I have to do is put the column back together and be on my way.

 

Well I got some stuff back from the machine shop and started putting the column back together and salvaged parts from the broken column. I also eye balled the wheels and got it pretty close so I may not have to get it aligned right away. I lubed everything else up and fixed the gear box and pitman arm so that everything functions smoothly. Soon this week i will have this thing ready to roll. I also am halfway done with fixing the exhaust to clear the tie rod. A lot of work getting done at a slow pace... more to come tomorrow. Also a before and after shot of the steering column length

 

Well I got a lot accomplished on the truck today. I mocked up the driver's side exhaust, have it partially welded, but ran out of welding gas when I started to get it finished. I didn't get a chance to get to the passenger side, which is the harder side to do.

I also installed the steering column to mock up the steering shaft and get it cut to the correct length. I will need to drill a hole in the frame for the tie rod end to support the steering shaft and then after that is accomplished everything just gets easier from there.

Here are some pictures

 

Great progress! On a funny note, kinda, I can see that I'm not the only one having issues welding up the firewall. That sheetmetal is just a bitch to get clean welds on. I'm like you, I see how clean your welds are on the steering shaft...mine are clean on heavier gauge metal too, but the thin, lite stuff...just a bear to weld.

 

It would help if I could reach it lol. Yeah they look like crap so I am going to cut them off and clean it up

 

Oh, I'm not poking fun...didn't mean to sound like that. It's just that I know exactly what you're going through.

 

No I understand. I can get a decent weld on a lot of other things just not. When I am one arming it basically blind lol. I hope to get my column completed today and my steering shaft and tie rod installed. Anyone know of a shop that is open Sunday for mig cylinder exchange?

 

Nice! Coming together alright. I swap my bottles at Tractor Supply...even on Sundays.

 

Well I worked several hours on the column, got the bottom bearing installed (had to shorten the shift tube) I need to work on a couple other things too... for some reason the top of the column started moving around, I need to work on it some more, but have it all together ready for the steering wheel, but have a feeling I am going to have to take it back apart in order to fix my issue. I spent a lot of time working on my angle of the steering shaft and cutting my inner fender, I also drilled my hole for the tie rod to support the steering shaft. Cobra bits rule. I will hopefully finish up a majority of this tomorrow. Here are a couple of pictures.

 

They won't refill mine unless I bought the tank from them... I originally bought my tank from praxxair, but have swapped it out multiple times at a local VW repair shop and do not have that one anymore. Anyway, this is the first time I went to Tractor Supply, they had a decent refill price, but I am not looking to get raped by them for a "new" cylinder when mine is current on its inspection and is good to go, just empty

 

alright I got my mig tank filled at airgas up the road about 15 minutes, so that was good. 24 bucks out the door isnt bad for a 3 foot tank. I welded up my drivers side exhaust and need to grind a couple things down and reinstall that side. I have to start on the passenger side here shortly. I fixed the issue with the steering column, a minor hiccup that turned into me tearing the whole column back apart, fixing a couple things and putting everything back together. I currently have my steering column installed, need to bolt it to the firewall, need to fix one bolt hole, I am waiting on one steering u joint to fix my steering shaft, need to finish up my passenger side exhaust and then I am driving. I plan on knocking a majority of this out today. Pictures to come

 

Well I have found how I am going to fix my steering shaft. I mocked it up with some of my old parts and some new parts. I went through and welded up my drivers side exhaust and bolted it up, worked on the passenger side, and got tired of working on it so I went in. Here are some pictures

 

Well I finished my design and it works great. I need to weld everything else together and she is read to drive. More to come.

 

Well I took care of a lot of things and need to swap out the bad gas I have in the tank for some good gas. I then need to tune this thing in and take her down the road, hopefully to the car show this Saturday.

 

nice! Be careful on the test drive

also...on the dimmer switch, does the blue wire go to the center terminal?

 

I will be very careful.

I will check on the dimmer switch, I have a rebel wire kit not stock wiring, do you have the same? I can probably tell you what goes where since the wires are labeled.

 

Oh...I have no idea how Rebel does it, but I noticed the wires are the same colors as original, but the blue wire was not on the middle terminal.

 

I will try to shoot a picture for you jim, I am really sorry, but my camera broke and just got a new one today.

On another note I roughly timed the engine a little better and took her for a spin. the steering works great

 

okay after several weeks of not working on the truck I decided I was in the mood to take some crap from it. I went out and just wanted to start on something small so I finished up the tach wiring and tried to start the
Apache and now it doesn't want to start..... booo.... so at least the tach wiring works. I then decided to work on getting the other bed LED installed for the third brake light since I didn't want to open that back of snakes regarding the engine not firing. I worked it around with a brass rod and a body hammer and then took an adjustable wrench to straighten things back out since the hole was previously closed up (or waaaaay out of shape). I have it now to the point where I can almost slide this bed LED in and start on the wiring. Here are some pictures

 

I straightened the holes out on mine by rolling a piece of pipe, with a slightly smaller diameter, around the edge of the hole. If you do this long enough to heat up the metal, you can stretch it ever so slightly to fit your tail lights. Or, if you have a socket that's big enough, but it on a 6" extension and give it a couple taps with a hammer to round everything back out

 

Good lookin Apache. Can't wait until you wear out the rubber on it so we can see it in wide whites.

 

Here are a couple shots of the bed LED, I think it turned out better than I was expecting; just some hit marks that chipped the epoxy primer. More to come soon. The truck warms up at about 1000 RPM, but I need to tweak a couple things to make sure it is correct before going through and using the timing light.

 

All good points, I couldn't do any of them because of the way it was pinched off originally, However, this is good advice. Thanks!

 

Thanks! It's getting there, I can't wait either!