Hot Rods Official 1959 Chevy Apache Build Thread

Dang.. "you got solid floors". I gotta pull layers of old street signs and hot water heater tin off mine. I laid cardboard in the floor and plasma cut some 18ga steel out to the templates.

There's a 58 in Atlanta on craigslist, lots better'n mine, $3500

 

i like the sanding disc idea. i just bought myself a round of air tools a few months back. best shit i own hahha. whats your plans for the floors ? carpet, rubber mat ? bare steel ?

 

Yeah I lucked out on the floors. I've been following your build and I doubt that the 58 in Atlanta is better than yours with your sweet paint job. You are doing all of your patches yourself, that crap is hard work, keep it up.

 

With the sanding disc you need to wear some kind of mask so you can breathe, that stuff gets in the air and then coats your lungs. I agree about the air tools I need to start collecting shop equipment like drill presses, etc. since I have the room for it now! As far as the floors go I am going to finish stripping the floors (harder than it sounds), remove all of the snapped off bolts, spray it with black paint (maybe something like POR15), Then I may consider throwing down my Dynamat knockoff material on the floor, then it will be some jute matting maybe, then black loop carpet. Before all of that I may shoot the entire interior in gloss black so everything matches. Something classy.

 

Yeah, rust dust is lethal...you'll want more than just a basic doctors type mask.

Sounds like my plan for my interior, except that it will all be shot in the same dark pearl green that I shot on my wheels. I'm thinking some cream tuck-n-roll to tie the cream into the color scheme.

 

Still looking good Scott! It's really coming together now.

 

Seats are a bitch to keep clean... I was going to go with tan tuck-n-roll, but decided against it for that reason alone. Looks great, but hard to keep clean. Love that green btw, looks good

 

Thanks Eric, yours is almost finished too! looking forward to hearing it!

 

Well I have been working on the truck on and off. Not a whole lot of progress that is picture worthy, just stripping the floors. I will apply POR15 after I am done with getting the rest of the rust out of here and fixing holes that I need to fix. Overall this truck has some pretty solid floors, just minor surface rust... I also went down to the uphostery shop today and finished my headliner, worked on both sides of the seat cover. I have all of the pleated stuff done, the pattern cut out, and the beading sewn onto it, so I am just waiting to finish the sides. I will finish it up next time I am down there and get the seat all back together.


Here is a sneak peak of what the upholstery is going to look like! (I am stoked)

Oh and I tested the seat out in the truck the other day... 1000 times better than the old one, super comfy, and I have more leg room and dropped the height down a couple inches.

 

For this reason alone I'm going to need to go back and follow your seat build so that I can get the same end result.

 

Lookin good dude

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Well I went ahead and worked on the truck for several hours trying to clean up the floors and the rest of the cab in general. I will have to fill the holes all around the back window, it looks like someone had a gun rack up there at one point in time and a CB radio on the roof. Also, I need to start working on plugging holes in the floor/firewall/roof and patch what I need to patch. I will also continue stripping the interior of all paint because whoever did it, didn't do it correctly, so now I have to fix it (some jackass painted over rust). Once I get this a little more complete I will go through and POR15 the floors in this thing and get it a little closer to being comfortable to drive in.

 

They just drilled holes in the roof for a cb? And good progress man

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Thanks!

Yes they did, you can actually see the 4 mount holes for it in the second picture, dead center, closest to the front windshield. They bondo'd the holes too and they are mishapen So I am going to have to hammer and dolly this thing back into "shape" and then weld up the holes... Then, when the rest of the paint is stripped I will decide if I am going to remove the front windshield in order to shoot the interior in a gloss black. Then the interior will go in.

 

Moving along now Scott, looking good! I think removing the front windshield will be the better option in order to shoot the paint, IMHO.

 

Yeah i saw the 4 holes, i wasnt sure if they just drilled right through the roof or what. Gloss black is gonna look sick, thats what im painting my interior as well

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Looking good. +1 on the windshield R/R for a cleaner job. You will also. Have a chance to cure some rust under the weatherstrip that won't creep out on you later.

 

Well I had a pretty good Christmas filled with car parts, a new camera (same color that I am going to paint the truck) and new tools. I use every tool in that garage to its fullest, so its nice to get some "replacements". I finally got a license plate bracket, regular seat belt, and sun visors for me to upholster. I went ahead and installed the license plate bracket and wired it all back up. Here are some pictures

 

I just bolted it up for the picture

 

Just remember, POR15 is a product that is made to encapsulate rust. If you have sanded down floor that is mostly bare metal where you have removed the rust, it will peel up within a year or 2. I did this on my 67 GMC build and it came up in big flakes. You'd be better off sanding it with something aggressive and spraying some lizard skin down to seal the metal and help with sound deadening. Or use some epoxy primer to seal it up.

 

Funny you said that. I got about a half inch hole right in the center of my 59 roof. Looks like an old cb antenna hole. Just noticed it last week and I've had the truck for bout a month now, lol

 

Thanks for the info dubie. I was considering lizard skin too. I thought they corrected that problem with peeling though. Is it still a major problem?

 

The only way to get rid of the issue is to use a metal prep to etch the metal so it'll receive the POR15 with better adhesion. POR15 also sells that product along with a marine clean to wash it all down before applying the coating. I've used their products quite a bit and am thoroughly impressed with it's performance on rusty metal. I used it on my fender wells to keep them sealed and semi gloss chassis black. It looks like under coating but it'll never wear out or flake off of the rust. Great for rock chips

 

Re: the POR 15 and clean metal...

yeah it will flake off without the extra product.
I think its the best rust lipstick money can buy and works as advertised... on rust.
but I think the key is still prep.
Inside the fenders of my 58 gmc someone used tar as the sound deadener about 30 years ago and after grinding and sanding and everything but sand blasting there was still residue in the pores and even epoxy primer flaked off those areas after 9 months.
Once I talked with my paint rep and realized reducer would take it off (but it would take a gal at least $$$) I borrowed a tankfrom a friend and sand blasted them @ about 40 psi. I will say that was some damn fine clean metal under that tar!

Now, I blame the tar for the flaking 'in that area' cause everything flaked except the tar, but I've had the POR stuff flake everywhere else that wasn't rust.

More disturbing was when I found rust under filler in places I didn't know had filler! If I'd of chosen to just sand the old paint and reshoot it, never finding that filler...
I wouldn't trust anything but bare metal as a base and I don't believe anything sticks to bare metal like epoxy primer.

 

Well at least you know that its there! You have a pretty nice truck, love the picture that you posted of it getting towed

 

Thanks for your input Avanti, I appreciate it. I will just keep on sanding/stripping until I am ready for that step and then just make a decision

 

So you usually use the stuff that has the zinc in it that coats the steel then you apply your POR15? You think that would do the trick?

 

you wash the surface down with the marine wash they supply. Then you spray on the etching liquid which will give the metal the tooth it needs to grab onto the POR15 coating of your choice. I've done this with a new stainless steel sink, coated it in fire engine red and the thing is bullet proof. It's held up to scratching, dropping pots and pans in it and detergents have had no effect on the finish. Are you planing on putting carpet or rubber flooring over top of it?

 

sound deadner, jute padding, then black carpet.

 

Ill agree with these other guys, i wouldnt use the por after all the work youve done on the floors. Even with the etching step it just doesnt seem to hold as well as it does on the rust. My dad had great success with the frame on an off topic truck that was rusty. But nunerous times weve tried the etching on cleaner metal and it didnt last as well.

Btw sweet xmas gifts. Plate bracket is cool! Also how the hell do you upholster visors ? Seems tough lol

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