Projects 59 Apache - Lifelong obsession

My son and I got it in, then I smacked it to help seat it, and knocked it out. Forgot about the locking strip. I have read the way to go is to put the rubber in place, then fit the gl*** to the rubber. The pita is the rubber wants to twist and the corners. If you have any advice, I'm all ears. I've done several front windshields with no problems, but this has been a deal.

 

You Tube, look up 'rear window installation', or 'rope installation of truck windows'.

 

Thanks Mike. The rope got it in first time, going to try the other way. I lived on base housing at Castle AFB when I was a kid in about 1970.

 

I've had a few guys now ask about how I did my gauges so I snapped a few more pics:

I started out by looking for a set of 2" gauges that had a complementary font and needle sweep to the stock gauges in the truck. I purchased an Autogauge by Autometer 3 gauge set. I ended up using the voltmeter and oil pressure gauge. I did not use the tempature gauge as it is a capillary tube style. I may add an electric temperature gauge in the future if I find one that matches.


I carefully cut the Autometer gauges apart by cutting between the gauge face and the gl*** with a small cut-off wheel on a dremel. Then I drilled out the rivits that held the stock ammeter to the tin backing plate. This is the volt meter mounted beside the stock temp gauge. The Voltmeter uses the mounting studs as positive and negative so I used the plastic insulators from the gauge to keep the studs from touching the stock tin mounting plate.


The text on the Autometer oil pressure gauge was lower on the gauge face than the voltmeter so I had to trim a bit off the top to make it fit and have the pressure increments centered in the cluster.


I also had to clearance the stock cluster just a touch for the oil line fitting to fit ( just to the right of the lower mounting hole )

Here's what it looks like from the back:

And the finished product. I painted the pointers metallic green years ago with Testors model paint because they where so sun beached, so I painted the new gauge needles to match. All you have to do is slide a piece of paper between the needle and the gauge face and carefully paint them with a small brush.

 

Super. Thanks. I think you saved me a some money.

 

Rad thread man! Great story too! I wish I had taken the time to take more pics during my build and make a thread.

 

I made some more progress this past weekend. After spending a few nights with my angle grinder with a wire brush mounted on it, I quickly decided it was going to take me forever to clean up the entire frame. So this weekend I took it to a DIY sandblasting place and it only took me 40 minutes to do what would take hours with the angle grinder. Getting the frame out from under the cab was a bit of a chore however as I had to remove the rear end to get it out from under the cab, put it back in to haul it to the sandblasting place, then repeat the process when I got back home.

 

I know how you felt when you found your truck. You couldn't stop thinking about it. You had to have it.
I walked past this at last year's Cheaterama car show. I was hooked.
I'm not a impulse buyer, but I asked the owner if it was for sale. It would've been sold on the spot if the owner was willing. But he won't let it go. I don't blame him.
I thought about this truck for months. Such a cool design. I especially like the short box versions.
Your gem is looking good!

 

Thanks beebing! I can see why you were stopped in your tracks. That's a nice looking ride. I've been obsessed with my truck for almost 20 years now!

 

Any progress? Just found your thread and really enjoy it.

Ryan.

 

Hi Ryan,

Thanks for checking out my build.

I just finished cutting the frame down to shortbox length and cutting out one rusted crossmember. I still need to box the rails and weld in a new crossmember. Slowly making progress..

 

The snowball effect is in full force. Even though my progress has been super slow I decided that this time around I was going to build exactly what I wanted. Once the clip was in and I spent some time staring at the stance and proportions, I decided that I wouldn't be happy leaving the truck as a longbox.

I finally have some progress to share: First I leveled the frame side to side and front to back, then I made some legs that bolted to some existing holes in the frame to keep the two pieces of the frame supported after I cut it in half.

I then used a carpenter's speed square to draw two perfect 45 degree parallel lines on the frame. I clamped a piece of flat metal to the frame to use as a guide for the plasma cutter. Once the cuts where made, I cleaned them up and beveled them for good weld penetration with an angle grinder.

I had the frame stick welded together by a professional welder with a fish plate on the inside for additional strength. The crossmember located under the cab is located further back on a longbox and mine was rusted through in a few spots. I decided to cut it out completely and build a new crossmember out of 2x4 box tubing moved forward to the shortbox location. I boxed the frame from the back crossmember up to where the legs of the camaro clip start. I painted the inside before I tacked the boxing plates in.

I still need to put a c-notch in the new crossmember for driveshaft clearance and fully weld in the boxing plates.

 

I would say that's a Giant step forward. Nicely done!

 

My slow project plods along..

I have this whiteboard hung up on my garage wall with a To Do list and the photoshop I did of what I want the finished product to look like. I've tried to plan out each step in logical order and cross it off as it is completed.

I crossed two more items off the list: "Box Frame/Camaro Clip" and "Replace Cab Crossmember". Nevermind that it is 2017 and that I haven't finished the 2016 list yet. Seeing all the items crossed off reminds me how far I've come..

 

Pic of the completed boxing plates and replacement crossmember. I plan on it sitting decently low so I notched the crossmember for driveshaft clearance.

 

Been a while since I have posted. I got the cab mounted back on the frame, mounted the master cylinder, then cut a hole in the floor for access. I first welded up a frame out of some 1/2" square tubing then plug welded it to the floor, I then cut the hole 1" smaller in the frame so I could fold the sheetmetal over the square tubing. I cut a simple cover out of some 14 gauge sheet metal. this way I should be able to easily access the master cylinder from inside the cab.

 

Press on. I use a piece of a glove compartment (piano) hinge for the m/c cover.

 

Thanks for the encouragement belair. I'm now working on cutting the inner fenders to fit around the A-arms

 

Almost finished with the inner fenders. I spent way to much time taking them off, t******* and putting them back on but I'm happy with the result. I wanted the inner fenders to fit the clip as if it were stock.

I shaped the cut around the A-arms to match the wheel opening on the outside of the fender. I did the straight cuts with an angle grinder and the tight curves with my dremel.

 

Did some garage cleanup.. Put the truck on dollys and spun it around so I would have more room to work on building the core support and bumper mounts. Threw the seat in it to see how it looks and to make some more floor space in the garage.

 

Looking good and cool you still have it, over this past 4th of July I tried buying back the 59 I drove in high school and sold right before leaving for the Army 30 days after graduation, but no dice. The same guy still has it since 1984, I did have a 59 short fleet while in the Army but sold that one before moving to NY in 87, the only two 59's I've owned.

 

Thanks for checking out my build swade41. I'm looking forward to getting it back on the road again. Should be a huge change over stock suspension and the inline 6.

 

The last 55-59 I did was a 58 with camaro clip, it's still around not missing a lick. I recently bought a 57 that I think I'm just going to do the Posie's spring package on, disc brakes and svc.
Here's that 58

 

Wow! Nice truck. Very similar to what I am hoping to accomplish with mine. Was the camaro clip done in the blended into the frame style or the stacked frame style? What kind of paint did you use? I plan on a satin black and gloss white paint scheme again but using paint this time so it doesn't fade and chalk out the way the primer did.

 

I blended the frames together, much better look than the stacked frame, I believe the paint is hot rod flatz black, it was done by the current owner.
What it started as and during

 

A long overdue update. I finished the mounts for the core support and the bumper brackets. For the core support I used the recommendation from Lux Blues "Camaro Clip in a Day" thread and repurposed the original camaro subframe mounts.

The Camaro subframe swoops out at the front, wider than the original frame. I found if I swapped my bumper brackets side to side I could keep the bumper brackets at the camaro width but fit the stock holes in the 59 bumper.

 

Got everything mocked up for the first time. Hung the front sheetmetal and bumper and eyeballed where I want the rear ride height. I still need to do the rear 4 link and figure out the mounts for the engine/trans but seeing it look somewhat like a truck is a major motivator.

 

Glad to see another update, but the images aren't loading. Is it just me and my Android phone?

 

Hmm.. it works on my computer but the images don’t show up on my iPhone either..

EDIT: I re-uploaded the last couple of images vs a media album embed. Can everyone see the pics now?


Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

Random but lux blue post is closed what was your main measurement to get the clip wheel base correct !??? I know they say measure from the center of the shock hole on the clip .. but to what do you measure it from