Hello all, I've been looking around the board looking for information for the past few years but haven't posted at all. I just started working on my truck again this year after a 10 year hiatus through college. My 1958 Chevy truck is the first vehicle I ever bought when I was 15. I brought it home and started restoring it. It was in rough shape and ended up turning into a bigger project then I was ready for, so it sat with the frame and engine painted until after I finished college and could afford to work on it. I then started acquiring parts from ebay and swap meets all over the east coast. College is about 5 years ago and it's still not on the road. I have made 2 goals for the truck this year. Get it running by this weekend after 10 years and be driving it by the 4th of july. I'm close to my goal. I have all the wiring, brakes and underside done. The motor's turning but not firing quite yet. I still need to run exhaust, brake lines, and get some front glass in it, redrill the cut-down long bedsides for proper rear fender placement, get the body to line up better, and get it running. Anyways, thanks for all of the information I have taken from this site and I hope to start contributing my lessons learned. Thanks again Edit: truck is running the original 235 straight six, with the 3 spd on column. I have no plans to swap motors, going to do a HEI conversion to the distributor, 4" dropped axle, wide bias whites (G78's), maybe a T-5 swap after I get sick of the 3 spd. I replaced the red fiberglass fenders with steel ones, I got a new grill and rear fenders this weekend that haven't made it on yet. The patina, the motley sheetmetal, and the prices written on the sheetmetal will stay for a while at least. It's got a hell of a story and each piece has a great memory. I can't wait to take it for my first drive since I bought it.
good thing you don't have a 1959 apache otherwise we would have a problem with our forum names lol. Welcome and look forward to seeing your progress. Let me know if you have any questions
Welcome from So.Cal, good choice in your truck. I'm currently working on a 59 Chevy Longbed fleetside. After about 2 yrs of wrenching I'm about to paint the ol' girl maybe this week-end or next. Keep us posted on your progress.
Thanks for the welcomes everyone. Update: Still not running. Wiring all done. Waiting for the starter to rebuilt... should be done tomorrow. Starting to run brake lines. Still looking good for July 4th. Hopefully it will be purring like a kitten tomorrow night.
Welcome, and cool story. Just got my 57' 3100 running, and what a feeling. A couple of my buddy's are also working on 58' and 59' Apaches!
Still not running. Making progress though. The 235 had a smaller cap distributor in it and wasn't getting a great spark. I wanted to replace the cap and rotor but the cap was smaller, slightly smaller in diameter and the new replacement cap didn't fit. So I pulled the dizzy and had put one in I had from a spare motor. The new cap and rotor fit the replacement dizzy. I installed it with the engine disturbed instructions. The spark is much better with the correct capped dizzy, but the truck still won't start. I'm pretty sure the timing is right. I am getting spark. I'm getting fuel, maybe too much. The #3 plugs are wet. The #1 plug is dry. The carb is squirting fuel down the motor, and now I have a pool in the intake. The carb is leaking from the butterfly rod, so I think I might have a float issue. I got a kit to rebuild the carb and I'm going to get some new plugs. Rebuild the carb, and new plugs and give it a shot. I haven't checked the compression, but it blows my finger off the spark plug hole and sucks my hand to the top of the carb when covered. I have a tester, but I don't think it's a compression issue. Also I have just a short downtube on the exhaust while I am waiting for my Waldron's exhaust to come in. The truck ran 10 years ago for about 5 min before I stripped everything down and started restoring it. New wiring. New resistor. Any other suggestions for a FNG, that I might be overlooking? Getting pretty frustrated over the last few weeks trying to get this thing fired up, but I'm sure learning a lot about trouble shooting the 235. Thanks!
point gaps, rocker arm gaps, distributor not in the right spot. Would you happen to have a parts fender for your apache
I have 6 front fenders and 4 rears. What are you looking for? Only 2 of each are nice pieces, the others have rot in various areas.
Well.... Lots has happened over the last week. 1) Got the rebuilt starter back. 2) Rebuilt the carb. Still leaking slightly, but I think the carb surfaces are warped... tightened the %&$@ out of the bolts and it seemed to help. 3) Swapped the dizzy for the "correct", bigger capped dizzy. Got way better spark. 4) Double checked the timing. 5) Checked compression... 50-60 psi.... not the 130-135 psi the book calls for. I'm hoping this goes up once she runs for a bit. I'm not expecting miracles, but I expect everything to wear in a bit and seat better. 6) Got the radiator. Got some plugs to bypass the heater core. The motor is still not running, but it is very close. Everytime I crank it over, it fires a little better. I keep dialing in the timing each attempt. I am pretty sure a big part of the problem is the compression. The second issue now, after about a week of cranking, probably 20 attempts to start, is that the starter began to make a grinding noise it appears that it has begun to not engage entirely in the flywheel. I have been told by some more experienced buddies that the bendix has crapped out of the starter and to return it to the place that rebuilt it. It tried to start it fine a whole bunch of times than started to not mesh easily into the flywheel all of a sudden. It worked then it didn't. So I'm down again while I wait to get the starter back. The 4th of July deadline is coming quick, I am going to run brake lines tonight. Hopefully the exhaust comes this week. Also, I remounted the rear fenders in the proper location. The bedsides I got were a longbed cut down and the fenders were about 2.25" too far forward. I mounted the steps, and located the fenders, redrilled holes, remounted. All done and looking good. Down to the wire.... Pressure makes diamonds.
Update: There was a problem with the starter. It would back out enough from the flywheel to spin and grind on the tip of the pinion gear of the starter. I took it back to the place I got the starter rebuilt and they shimmed the armature from backing out internally. The truck started on the first try. I'm up and running. Next is the brakes lines. I couldn't find the rear T-block for rear axle anywhere. Found it on American Classic Truck Parts. Still hoping to get it on the round by the 4th of July.
I am in same spot as you, except I just reused mine. No leaks fortunately. How much did you pay for that T?
Here's mine. Almost everthing I know about vehicles I've learned from this truck. I love these trucks! Good luck with it.
Cool project! I'm about to start on a '57 truck for a customer. Its a pretty nice older build, bright yellow, with a mild SBC and automatic. I'll be swapping in a 6.0 from an Escalade, 4L65E, C4 Vette front suspension, and a narrower rear...along with a lot of other details (power brakes, all new lines, rear discs, AC, new wiring, etc). We're leaving the interior and exterior looking vintage...no dechroming, body mods, etc.
The lastest news is that I met my goal of 4th of July to drive the truck down the road. Actually made it by July 2nd. I still need to finish the wiring to get all the lights and turn signals working. Also need the windshield installed and get the paperwork handled. It felt great to drive the truck for the 1st time. It ran great after I figured out the shift pattern and it turned out that the starter needed to be shimmed internally. Truck fired right up after the starter was taken back to the rebuild shop. Starter worked again for another 2 weeks then started grinding. I verified the numbers on the block (thanks hamb) and it's a 1958 block and the starter is the foot pedal style. I pulled the starter again and it was missing a whole tooth. Checked the flywheel and it looked fine, no missing teeth or burrs. Now the starter is back at the rebuild shop. I got a call from the shop and there is a problem. The starter I brought has a spiral shaft and all of the bendix drives they are getting in are all for a straight shaft. The rebuild shop is telling me that the starter is supposed to have a straight shaft. That when they originally rebuilt the starter 2 months ago the drive they ordered came in for a spiral shaft. Now they don't know what to do and they are telling me that they might need to get a whole new armature with a straight shaft to get it correct. To further complicate things I also have a 235 in the garage from a 1956 chevy car with and auto that has the solenoid style starter. The rebuild shop asked for me to bring in the starter for them to see if they could you the parts from the solenoid starter in the foot pedal style. Upon opening the case of the solenoid style it has the same spiral shaft armature, both the same part number. The rebuild shop is telling me that the armatures in both are not correct for the model starter. I'm not buying it as the starter in the 1958 shop manual clearly has spiral shaft armature. Anyone know where to get a bendix drive for the foot pedal style starter for me to get this issue put to bed. I think the rebuild shop is out to lunch on what parts go in this thing.
I would agree with you on the shop not knowing what they are doing. can you find another place to have it rebuilt?
I found the T-block from American Classic Truck Parts. They had a bunch of odd-ball stuff I couldn't find anywhere else either. I was really happy with how quick I got their stuff too. Will order from them again. **** I am in no way affiliated with them *** --> I don't know how the hamb is about non-sponsor stuff...
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