I purchased a 1959 Apache 3600 from Utah, its been a dream truck of mine, and thought it was time to try to bring one back. Since Im a captain, and away right now, it will sit until I can get home to make a space for it in my shop, and then it will sit some more until I head to the shipyard for the summer. For now its trying to plan my attack, and get as much input as possible. Here are some pictures. Both front fenders need replacing.Back of the cab is good except the common bottom corners, which I will order patch panels.interesting 2 sets of springs, I****ume its an overload, although it has surface rust, the frame is solid, and I don't see any bad spots.8 lug, obvious wheels put on for transportyou can turn it over by hand, so it isn't frozen, has a layer of farm much, I****ume covering the engine.No radiator.Original key, attached under hood on emblem post.lower door hinge rotted, as well as floorboard, only spot I see so far.passenger, lower hinge, not as bad as drivers side, but has to be repaired. Over all I am pleased, other than the obvious rust holes, it all seems solid, drip rail looks great, with minor rust, no rot.
So thats the truck, my plan is to do the brakes, and steering first, then see about whether to rebuild the engine and*******, or replace them. Clean up will happen first, then tear the whole thing down and sandblast the frame and chassis coat it. Some of the questions and ideas that I would like feedback on are, for brakes, I am thinking of going with the hydroboost conversion from brothers, has anyone done this?For power steering I am thinking of the compact series conversion from Brothers as well, anyone used this? For the radiator I am thinking of using a Desert Cooler, but even though I am planning on starting by keeping the manual*******, I am thinking of using an automatic in the future, can I use the Automatic one for now, just create a closed loop on the******* cooler and fill with oil? What are your thoughts on that? I want to go with an under bed fuel tank, This being a 3/4 ton, has anyone done that with one, and what tank did you use?
Not much different than the 57 one ton I built a few years ago, and just sold. Here are a few ideas,****uming you want to build it as a useful truck, that you can occasionally drive on the highway, etc and still do work with. I kept the front stuff all stock, I replaced the bushings in the steering gear, and made sure all the other parts were in good condition, ie king pins, spring bushings, shackles, tie rod, etc. I rebuilt the stock drum brakes up front, and the master cylinder. I replaced the rear end, and springs, with those from a 1980s Chevy 3/4 ton suburban. I also used the suburban gas tank. I put a 59 fleetside bed on mine, it would look natural on a 59, it looks a little out of place on a 57, but not bad. The one ton had 5.14 gears in back, yours probably has 4.56. The rearend I installed had 3.73, which let me cruise at 70+ mph, but still could get moving easily with a load using granny gear. I installed a mild big block, you could probably get away with a mild 350. The 283 that you have now would be kind of underpowered if you change the gears...and if you plan to do work with the truck at modern speeds... see the build thread of mine, there is some camper stuff in the middle that might distract you, but most of the rest of the info is useful.
Thanks Jim, I trust your judgement, been reading your advice to others, and a driver is exactly what I want. I plan on replacing or rebuilding all mechanicals. I do actually have a big block in another project vehicle, that I thought about grabbing, and I'm sure you are right about the gearing, hadn't gotten to the point of checking if it could be changed, this is the oldest vehicle i've had. Since I have no bed, its either find one, or build one from reproduction parts, and unfortunately they do not make the fleetside parts, I could be wrong though. Being in South Florida, doesn't seem to be the area to find them, I'm hoping that I can find one between here and South carolina, where my brother lives, to be able to pick it up, because I'm afraid shipping will be too much. I had not seen your build, thanks for sharing, and hope you don't mind when I steal any of your ideas. I'm trying to learn from others so I don't make the same mistakes, or at least reduce the mistakes that I make.
...just run a standard trans radiator, if you go automatic later just mount a cooler along side the trans on the frame where it'll get airflow, works great and keeps more heat away from the radiator. good luck with your project.
Thanks rusty1, thats something to think about, I like the cleaner run with it all in the radiator, and if its a problem later, I can always change to an auxiliary mount if there is a problem, and it being a brand new modern built radiator, should cool just fine. Thats my thinking anyway. I also plan on adding AC later and am going to have to deal with that system. Glad you mentioned it though, I looked at vintage air, just now, and it may not work so well with the desert radiator, I need to do a little bit more research.
I put one of the cheap (under 200) chinese aluminum radiators in my 57 suburban. it has the trans cooler in it. Seems to work, and I painted the front black so it doesn't look too bad...
Thats good to know Jim, what size tires and rims are you using on your 57, does it have 8 lug, I have to get those as well, and need to know the size. Erik
I swipe the rims/tires off the 57 to put on the 80 C20 I bought cheap to replace it...they're 235/85r16 load range E (I spend more on the tires then I did on the C20...or the 57 for that matter). Wheels are 16 x 6.5ish. The offset of the wheels is an issue, the later stock Chevy wheels won't clear the steering linkage on the early trucks...so you need to find something more like a trailer wheel. It's not easy to find something that fits and looks good. Although another solution is to use bolt on (high quality) wheel spacers on the front. Also, the later rearends that have decent gearing are a bit wider than the original, so you have to deal with tire/bed clearance. Figure it all out ahead of time before you spend money on wheels.
Looks familiar... Everything that's bad is available from multiple sources. My 56 3200 series had the added benefit of the drivers side door hinges being welded to the cab and to the door, a piece of dog chain welded from door to cab to keep the door from opening too far, etc. What are your plans for it ? Suspension swap, rear end swap, etc. Mine is getting a rear end from a 4x4 S10 which is about the right width and disc brake conversion installed on the stock front axle. Keeping the upgrades to just what it needs to make it safer and more enjoyable to drive. Mild 350 with a TH400 trans.
I saw that auction. That truck looked too cool in that field. Looks like an old Military truck. I like this picture so much I saved it as my wallpaper.
Good info from squirrel, & I agree with keeping the original stuff. If you want to drop down the nose a little, Sid can drop your 3/4 ton axle. (link below). An 8-lug dropped axle - too cool. I also ditched the original rear end & installed a 60's GMC dana 60 3.54 posi Your dash is uncut (rare), & you have the deluxe heater I'm a big believer in using stock/original parts - drum brakes, manual steering, etc. My drum brakes had no problem slowing down my truck from 120 (when I had my 455 Olds). You really dont need power****ist with drum brakes. Disc brakes you do tho. As for the******* cooler in the radiator, it does take up some space / voulume. Probably ok if your engine will be a small-block with less than 350 HP. Anything more, or a big block, I would go with a seperate trans cooler. http://www.droppedaxles.com/
wow nhbandit, that is like deja vue! When you see what patch panels that they sell, pretty much shows how its going to be unless you are in Arizona. I'm going to wait to order the panels, until I can tear it down and see exactly how big they need to be. I have already realized that although they have parts available, when you live outside of california, they cost an arm and a leg in shipping. Both my front fenders are damaged, the drivers side really is beyond repair, the passenger is fixable, good news is I found one on ebay, original which is half the cost of a new one before shipping.
Tjet, I agree with the original to a degree, and thats why, if the place I use, broward powertrain, can change the gearing on my diff, I would rather keep it. Brakes and Steering, I prefer to update. Originally these trucks did not cruise around at 70mph, I would rather have overkill, than just enough. I originally thought of freshening up the 283, and I still may, although probably going with a 350. Good to know about the drum brakes, may just stay with them to start with. I'm not looking to drop it at all, I actually plan on using it as a truck, and maybe you don't lose the ability to carry weight if dropped, but I have no experience with that.
I doubt you'll find gears for that rearend with a better ratio than 4.56. They used the same gears in the 3/4 ton and one ton trucks for many years, up to 1972.
It's good to start with an original (driving) vehicle so you can have a baseline of how it was. You will discover what you can live with & what you can't. I personally like factory minimalistic feel of manual brakes, steering, stick-shift, & tube radios. Engines are a different story though. It needs to move quickly when requested to I chose a dropped axle because it's reversible with no permanent modifications (no frame cutting) - & you keep the super strength of an I beam axle.
Jim, I think you are right, just figured I would ask before deciding what to do. I have a 14 bolt laying about my shop that I got with another project. And I have a 1972 chevy k20 project that I picked up that has problems, that I may be stealing that rear end.
Should be able to find 4.10's from a later HO-72. I have heard rumors of 3.73's, but have never seen one. Look for trucks that had auto trannies.
ordered 4 rims, trailer, supposedly they will fit. The rims they threw on to move it aren't on well, and I'm going to flat tow it to my shop about 10 miles away. I'll put some rubber on it, and it will be good for now. I have also been thinking of the drivetrain. I love to drive a manual, but in south florida, its such stop and go traffic, that I'm leaning toward using a TH-200-4R Transmission, and for an engine, a crate 350. Figuring that the .67 fourth gear, would really help with the stock rear end. Also scored these seats , second row, out of a 2013 toyota sienna, brand new all leather for $189, I think I can make them work, I like arm rests on the chair, and like buckets instead of bench.
Looks a lot better! Made some brackets, and mounted a tow bar to the frame Quite a big difference from what it came with Lights on , ready to go. 10 miles to my shop, early sunday, and luckily no cops to hassle me. In front of my shop In the shop, waiting for me to get home and start on her. Sure glad to get it out of prying eyes and stupid questions.
Like those wheels and tires what did you use and where did you get em??? I've been looking around and can't find much???
I have the 59 3/4 ton that im working on it is all stock beside me starting to update things i kept my truck a stick shift and put a tko 600 trany with the .64 od. Still working on truck so not sure what rpms ill be getting i know i have a 4:11 rear end and with the 17.5 split rims and 33" tall tire ill upgrade this thanks to all this info on wheels but in past at 65mph with stock granny******* i was taching 3200 rpm just if you want modern gearing tko looks to work real good on the apaches also had to get the mid shift kit cut the drive shaft. Get the floor cover from brothers and stick is a lokar fouble bend fits right on the bench seat Sent from my LGMS631 using H.A.M.B. mobile app
There are disk brake conversions available for the 8 lug front end and drum brake conversions for the rear to run bigger rear brakes. I can get the part numbers this afternoon when I get home.
One of my projects years ago was a 58 3/4 ton Chevrolet step side I bought from a old guy in the Ballard neighborhood of Seattle. It had been a former NAVY truck, and was grey in color, and had roof mounted clearance lights. Someone had installed a 55, 4 barrel, 265, V-8 engine in it at some point. I should have kept that truck, it was in really nice shape. There's a vendor in the HAMB classifieds selling 3.38:1 rear end gears for the 55-62 trucks, although I'm not sure of which rear end they're for (if there are differences between the 1/2 ton-3/4 ton models). Might look into that. I am Butch/56sedandelivery.
Are you going to upgrade or use the original brakes? This is my 59 Apache 3200. Can't see it well because my garage is extremely tight (had to let air out of the tires to get it in.) I've got a fresh 283 to set in it. Semper Natare EDIT: I was referring specifically to the master cylinder. Are you going original or are you going to upgrade to power brakes? There is an aftermarket set up with a nifty 8" booster that tucks nicely into the frame. It is reasonably priced but IF the original master is sufficient.........? I had a 65 C-10 and it wasn't too bad as I recall. Don't have experience with anything older than that. Maybe someone will chime in that is an expert (of sorts.)
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