58 Chevy Build

Any questions or suggestions regarding restorations
User avatar
Chev58
Posts: 133
Joined: Tue 05 May 2015, 01:25
Location: Durbanville

Re: 58 Chevy Build

Post by Chev58 » Sun 02 Apr 2017, 11:31

It's now late August 2015 and progress is going at a fair pace, parts are starting to arrive for motor upgrades, gearbox rebuild/upgrade, refurbished parts from blasting/painting/plating etc, time for assembly work to finally begin.
20150826_111944.jpg
Chassis sandblasted
20150826_111944.jpg (113.11 KiB) Viewed 3545 times
20150517_155246.jpg
Original Jag cross member, ready for surgery.
20150517_155246.jpg (103.28 KiB) Viewed 3545 times
20150606_185759.jpg
Chassis mounts fitted & excess bits removed.
20150606_185759.jpg (95.8 KiB) Viewed 3545 times
20150615_185848.jpg
Front suspension parts back from plating.
20150615_185848.jpg (116.05 KiB) Viewed 3545 times
20150913_115740.jpg
20150913_115740.jpg (85.79 KiB) Viewed 3519 times
20150913_174727.jpg
20150913_174727.jpg (58.07 KiB) Viewed 3519 times
20150913_174953.jpg
Nearly ready to fit some wheels.
20150913_174953.jpg (102.88 KiB) Viewed 3519 times
Last edited by Chev58 on Sun 02 Apr 2017, 20:05, edited 1 time in total.
58 Chevy Apache

User avatar
IndianaJones
Posts: 4866
Joined: Sun 23 Aug 2009, 17:39
Location: Citrusdal, RSA

Re: 58 Chevy Build

Post by IndianaJones » Sun 02 Apr 2017, 13:23

Awesome thread, thank you for sharing.
Looks like you found a very good example of Apache to start with, it being a stepside is definitely a bonus. One can clearly see thus far, that a lot of effort, forethought and attention to detail have gone into the project, it is to be commended. It is often that little touches like electroplating parts, are overlooked, or skimped on, and it can make such a big difference.

Please excuse my questions, during the course of this build thread, cause it is one, I will definitely follow closely.

How do you envision the stance of the bakkie when done, having a rake (or raked stance), or are you planning on having it sit flat, or whatever? And how did you take it into account for final fitment of the suspension members?
Could you run the engine, as received from Rocket 88, with the harness & PCM?
Did you fabricate the 4-link parts yourself?
Where did you buy the air-bag system from?

User avatar
Chev58
Posts: 133
Joined: Tue 05 May 2015, 01:25
Location: Durbanville

Re: 58 Chevy Build

Post by Chev58 » Sun 02 Apr 2017, 21:00

IndianaJones wrote:Awesome thread, thank you for sharing.
Looks like you found a very good example of Apache to start with, it being a stepside is definitely a bonus. One can clearly see thus far, that a lot of effort, forethought and attention to detail have gone into the project, it is to be commended. It is often that little touches like electroplating parts, are overlooked, or skimped on, and it can make such a big difference.

Thanks, having looked at a few Apache's before buying this one was a disappointment to say the least, as most are so far rotten and badly repaired/patched in the past - I was just not prepared to spend a year or more just to cut out rust and repair old repairs, so my patience eventually paid off even though many would say I paid too much for her(to which I tend to agree, but I could have had a rust bucket for the same price too and that would have cost me more in the long run)

Q. Please excuse my questions, during the course of this build thread, cause it is one, I will definitely follow closely.

Q1. How do you envision the stance of the bakkie when done, having a rake (or raked stance), or are you planning on having it sit flat, or whatever? And how did you take it into account for final fitment of the suspension members?

Well I suppose the 1st question is what size rims & tires to fit?
I don't like the look of a huge rim with those skinny rubber bands around them, not on an old car anyway. So I went to my tyre guys and collected a few old tires to get an overall idea of what would fill the wheel well nicely and still be practical & functional - so 27" OD was the size to go for.
Then I wanted a nice looking rim to match the vehicle style, so many hrs & web sites later I decided that a set of Lengend 42 Vision wheels were the ones I wanted.
After refitting front clip and loadbin with the 27" sample tire and then raising lowering the chassis on jack stands I came up with (what I think) a nice stance and took and noted all measurements in order for me to position the front & rear suspension correctly, the idea was to have a suspension system fitted in normal operation setup but installed in a lowered position/as needed for the ride height and ultimately functioning like it was intended too.( just lowering from normal position will in most cases lead to some or other alignment adjustment issue compromising the ride quality/safety).
Obviously marking the original axle/suspension center lines was crucial in order to get the new suspension fitting properly in the wheel wells.
20150725_125942.jpg
Stance/tire size mock up
20150725_125942.jpg (64.71 KiB) Viewed 3517 times
So I chose 18" x 9.5 for the rear & will be fitted with 295/50 - 18 tires and 17" x 8 on the front fitted with 235/65-17, this combination gave me the looks, stance and had some tire wall to show and it should still handle well and not give a harsh ride.
After the tire selection, I found an online ratio calculator and determined what diff gear ratio will be suitable for wheel size vz motor/gearbox combination.

Q2. Could you run the engine, as received from Rocket 88, with the harness & PCM?

I could probably have plumbed it all to test run it, but being efi it was just way to much effort to do, at least it was complete barring MAF sensor and a few damaged items from handling(Crank trigger, oil press and a cracked dist cap) plus this being a 1996 motor, who knows how long it was standing or what condition it was internally - rusted bores/seized bearings/ whatever.(more about this later in my story).
20150514_180414.jpg
1996 454 ci Vortec with 4L80E
20150514_180414.jpg (95.79 KiB) Viewed 3517 times
Q3. Did you fabricate the 4-link parts yourself?

A friend of mine actually suggested the 4 link install and as he had made a set of bars for his hot rod build(which by the way he has not gone further than building the basic chassis - more than 2 years ago) so I relieved him of this set, as he wasn't going to need for a while :lol: :twisted: (link arms are based on Art Morrison's design).
The brackets and mountings I fabricated to suite (hope they work 8O )

Q4. Where did you buy the air-bag system from?
The air bags are from Gremeltech in CT.
My reason for air was sort of 3 fold,
1. The Jag I bought to strip suspension out of was also fitted with a 350 chevy & 350 turbo box and it was already laying down lower on the front suspension than jag spec.
Now I decided to use a 454 big block motor on my build with the same suspension on an already heavy pick up, so how many test springs would I have to make/test to get the ride setup correct? = many $$$$$ probably.
Each air bag is capable of supporting 1600+kg @ 9 bar pressure, so I can adjust exactly what I need.
2. The ride quality should be good on air vs springs.
3. What to do with the rear ? as I have removed the leaf system completely - so air it is for the rear.
More about my air ride control later - very cool ;)
20150427_124607.jpg
76 XJ6 being stripped for parts
20150427_124607.jpg (108.2 KiB) Viewed 3517 times
58 Chevy Apache

User avatar
Chev58
Posts: 133
Joined: Tue 05 May 2015, 01:25
Location: Durbanville

Re: 58 Chevy Build

Post by Chev58 » Sun 02 Apr 2017, 21:39

Well now that the front suspension is fitted time for the rear end.
20150604_171358.jpg
9" ford lsd
20150604_171358.jpg (118.74 KiB) Viewed 3510 times
Time for refurb and corrected gears etc.
20150817_215911.jpg
20150817_215911.jpg (94.87 KiB) Viewed 3510 times
20150818_004224.jpg
New gears, clutch pack, springs, bearings and clutch settings torque adjusted.
20150818_004224.jpg (85.26 KiB) Viewed 3510 times
20150818_230329.jpg
New pinion bearing carrier, upgraded to fit the larger pinion gear bearings and fitted with a new universal yoke.
20150818_230329.jpg (69.36 KiB) Viewed 3510 times
20150823_185854.jpg
Some fresh paint for the pumpkin
20150823_185854.jpg (83.96 KiB) Viewed 3510 times
20150824_174015.jpg
20150824_174015.jpg (74.35 KiB) Viewed 3510 times
20150824_175518.jpg
20150824_175518.jpg (88.12 KiB) Viewed 3510 times
20150905_172121.jpg
20150905_172121.jpg (68.86 KiB) Viewed 3510 times
20150920_124547.jpg
Rear end fitted, for now on jag wheels until my new wheels arrive in November
20150920_124547.jpg (73.79 KiB) Viewed 3510 times
20150825_002742.jpg
20150825_002742.jpg (55.36 KiB) Viewed 3510 times
This is what it should look like with the wheels fitted.
20150624_002015.jpg
20150624_002015.jpg (75.95 KiB) Viewed 3510 times
20150920_124528.jpg
20150920_124528.jpg (75.69 KiB) Viewed 3510 times
20150920_124547.jpg
20150920_124547.jpg (73.79 KiB) Viewed 3510 times
20150920_124511.jpg
20150920_124511.jpg (90.24 KiB) Viewed 3510 times
58 Chevy Apache

User avatar
Chev58
Posts: 133
Joined: Tue 05 May 2015, 01:25
Location: Durbanville

Re: 58 Chevy Build

Post by Chev58 » Sun 02 Apr 2017, 22:11

Now it's end September 2015, time to strip the motor and see what horror awaits :?
20150923_195336.jpg
20150923_195336.jpg (89.22 KiB) Viewed 3506 times
20150924_131239.jpg
Bores are looking better than expected, 2 cylinders had very light surface rust.
20150924_131239.jpg (93.76 KiB) Viewed 3506 times
My reason for not cranking or starting this motor over - I did not want to risk doing damage to pistons/bores if there was severe rust in them, the bores still have hove marks visible from the factory as this motor looks like it was never worked on in it's life before, also the previous owner probably could not afford servicing it either the sludge and crap in here was unbelievable 8O .
Some scoring on the crank journals was evident of poor oil changes, so it was sent for polishing and inspection, all good only needs new bearings ;)
The block was sent for cleaning and honing of bores.
20151010_144735.jpg
20151010_144735.jpg (91.15 KiB) Viewed 3506 times
20151019_205341.jpg
Cleaned, honed cyl's ready for assembly
20151019_205341.jpg (83.51 KiB) Viewed 3506 times
20151019_212730.jpg
Crank fitted with new bearings, all miked good clearance all round.
20151019_212730.jpg (98.14 KiB) Viewed 3506 times
Motor mods to be done while it's apart, larger inlet valves, 272 deg cam, comp cam gear set, new valve springs to suit, new hydraulic roller lifters(as 3 where worn and pitted and the oem cam had 3 flat lobes too), exhaust ports opened up by nearly 4mm od and inlets port ramps partially smothed(this is the vortec heads tha GM made to gain torque by adding a swirl inducer into these heads, good low & mid torque, but does not do well for rpm's).
Inlet manifold was matched up to head porting and fuel injectors were up graded(as these sit under the plenum chamber, best to fit now).
Compression ratio was left std +/- 9.6:1, in the event of this motor not performing "suitably" after the above mods, it may get some forced induction to spice things up :twisted:
20151213_153655.jpg
Prepped for paint
20151213_153655.jpg (91.16 KiB) Viewed 3506 times
20151213_163754.jpg
VHT Primer
20151213_163754.jpg (72.32 KiB) Viewed 3506 times
20150921_211424.jpg
Nearly forgot....the sump had to get notched to fit around the steering rack, as I fitted this motor as low as possible.
20150921_211424.jpg (74.42 KiB) Viewed 3506 times
20151213_204922.jpg
VHT chevy orange
20151213_204922.jpg (79.11 KiB) Viewed 3506 times
20151216_001111.jpg
Breathing room is huge on this sucker
20151216_001111.jpg (100.92 KiB) Viewed 3506 times
20151216_162557.jpg
Ready to fit
20151216_162557.jpg (90.72 KiB) Viewed 3506 times
58 Chevy Apache

User avatar
Chev58
Posts: 133
Joined: Tue 05 May 2015, 01:25
Location: Durbanville

Re: 58 Chevy Build

Post by Chev58 » Sun 02 Apr 2017, 22:32

October 2015 was gearbox month.
Stripped down to the shell, cleaned, primed and painted.
20151113_143053.jpg
20151113_143053.jpg (70.05 KiB) Viewed 3503 times
20151113_204132.jpg
20151113_204132.jpg (68.04 KiB) Viewed 3503 times
Contents of the gearbox was shocking, but expected in a way, all the clutches were trash, shift plate was hammered out were the control balls operate.
20151110_175245.jpg
Worn out clutches
20151110_175245.jpg (96.55 KiB) Viewed 3503 times
With the parts list in hand, I ordered a full gearbox rebuild kit, new reverse band, new internal wiring harness and a Transgo HD2 shift kit.
Assembly was time consuming, working between a rebuild manual and the transgo instructions back and forth to do all the correct mods and parts/spring swops, installing gear sets/clutches as needed.
With the shift kit installed, this should sharpen up gear shifts and also prolong clutch life, as these boxes are know to be super smooth shifters at the expense of clutch life.
With some PCM re-programming/tuning later the shift speed & firmness can be set from mild to tire smoking - lets see later :twisted:
So after 2 weeks waiting my parts arrived from Summit Racing and the gearbox was completed and ready to fit.
20150920_160525.jpg
From this
20150920_160525.jpg (83.92 KiB) Viewed 3503 times
20151216_231509.jpg
To This
20151216_231509.jpg (107.83 KiB) Viewed 3503 times
Oh and in the meantime my wheels arrived as it's November 2015 already, how time flies and it feels like progress is soooo sloooow :cry:
20151130_230158.jpg
Fresh rubber and cool wheels
20151130_230158.jpg (106.14 KiB) Viewed 3503 times
58 Chevy Apache

User avatar
Chev58
Posts: 133
Joined: Tue 05 May 2015, 01:25
Location: Durbanville

Re: 58 Chevy Build

Post by Chev58 » Sun 02 Apr 2017, 23:36

Through Dec 2015 and early Jan 2016, I had the propshaft made and did plumbing for brake & fuel lines, mostly tried to hide them out the way by running them in the boxed chassis and leaving a clean and uncluttered underside.
20160114_000552.jpg
20160114_000552.jpg (122.04 KiB) Viewed 3499 times
Also built and fitted the fuel tank into the rear of the chassis under the load bin floor.
20160117_172902.jpg
20160117_172902.jpg (63.39 KiB) Viewed 3499 times
20160117_233737.jpg
20160117_233737.jpg (50.41 KiB) Viewed 3499 times
20160221_185905.jpg
20160221_185905.jpg (112.01 KiB) Viewed 3499 times
58 Chevy Apache

User avatar
Chev58
Posts: 133
Joined: Tue 05 May 2015, 01:25
Location: Durbanville

Re: 58 Chevy Build

Post by Chev58 » Mon 03 Apr 2017, 00:12

Well with me having the chassis rolling and motor and gearbox fitted and some plumbing done, whats left to do?
Yup, BODY WORK :roll:
So I built a mobile trolley for the cab to rest on fr a few months and allow me to move it around also tip it up right to get underneath with ease.
20150801_171555.jpg
20150801_171555.jpg (74.19 KiB) Viewed 3498 times
Step 1 give a a good wash with rotary pressure washer and remove near 60 years worth of dirt.
20160123_174622.jpg
20160123_174622.jpg (75.42 KiB) Viewed 3498 times
Repairs required to cab included L & R cab corners, L rear inner cab mount which was previously fixed by Frikkie die Bra :roll: and all the door hinge pockets were beaten, bent or some how crowbarred into deformation.
Also filled up unwanted holes etc.
20160130_134822.jpg
20160130_134822.jpg (61.37 KiB) Viewed 3498 times
20160130_140721.jpg
20160130_140721.jpg (69 KiB) Viewed 3498 times
20160130_140733.jpg
20160130_140733.jpg (83.76 KiB) Viewed 3498 times
20160131_194740.jpg
20160131_194740.jpg (65.53 KiB) Viewed 3498 times
20160127_185839.jpg
20160127_185839.jpg (77.27 KiB) Viewed 3498 times
20160131_194758.jpg
20160131_194758.jpg (72.21 KiB) Viewed 3498 times
20160130_134812.jpg
20160130_134812.jpg (62.29 KiB) Viewed 3498 times
20160124_173616.jpg
20160124_173616.jpg (86.35 KiB) Viewed 3498 times
Cab mount repair.
20160130_173603.jpg
Rebuilding left rear cab mount
20160130_173603.jpg (83.89 KiB) Viewed 3498 times
20160130_174855.jpg
20160130_174855.jpg (85.09 KiB) Viewed 3498 times
20160131_125459.jpg
20160131_125459.jpg (87.93 KiB) Viewed 3498 times
Now to repair the outer cab skin.
20160201_213658.jpg
20160201_213658.jpg (72.16 KiB) Viewed 3498 times
New sheet made up.
20160201_213734.jpg
20160201_213734.jpg (56.62 KiB) Viewed 3498 times
20160201_213805.jpg
20160201_213805.jpg (80.34 KiB) Viewed 3498 times
And guess what? :evil: I never took a pic of the repaired cab skin :?
58 Chevy Apache

User avatar
Chev58
Posts: 133
Joined: Tue 05 May 2015, 01:25
Location: Durbanville

Re: 58 Chevy Build

Post by Chev58 » Mon 03 Apr 2017, 00:31

Next up, test fit cab onto chassis and fit brake booster and measure up for Vintage air a/c system in cab.
20160221_185844.jpg
20160221_185844.jpg (105.25 KiB) Viewed 3497 times
20160326_190119.jpg
20160326_190119.jpg (83.4 KiB) Viewed 3497 times
I have salvaged a good master cyl/booster assembly from a 325 BMW along with pedal assembly, now to make it fit onto the fire wall :idea:
20160325_171026.jpg
20160325_171026.jpg (59.63 KiB) Viewed 3497 times
20160325_164138.jpg
20160325_164138.jpg (52.57 KiB) Viewed 3497 times
Firewall measured many times and cut once :lol:
20160326_221116.jpg
20160326_221116.jpg (92.02 KiB) Viewed 3497 times
20160326_232807.jpg
20160326_232807.jpg (84.43 KiB) Viewed 3497 times
20160327_005009.jpg
20160327_005009.jpg (88.09 KiB) Viewed 3497 times
Fits like it was meant to be. Pat self on back :lol:
20160327_005022.jpg
20160327_005022.jpg (83.84 KiB) Viewed 3497 times
Now the Apache never had A/C so I found a universal kit from Vintage air and selected some suitable air vents I wanted and the controls to operate, nice thing is, it's all servo motor driven operation and not cable, so the controls are simple to fit anywhere in the cab/dash, but the vintage air units are designed for left hand drive vehicles and that was a problem fitting it on the left side(as obviously our steering sits right side) so I had to make some space by trimming away at the fire wall, which also eliminated the problem of the original one having been drilled with many holes and dented so at least no hole plugging here :lol: and out/off it came.
20160329_184917.jpg
20160329_184917.jpg (90.39 KiB) Viewed 3495 times
20160329_193604.jpg
20160329_193604.jpg (86.21 KiB) Viewed 3497 times
20160329_194426.jpg
20160329_194426.jpg (64.17 KiB) Viewed 3495 times
20160331_203835.jpg
20160331_203835.jpg (94.33 KiB) Viewed 3495 times
That looked so smooth and clean, I had to add a new flat sheet to the brake booster side to make it all look clean, the opening on the fire wall above the engine will get a flat plate over it as a cover and my wiring will also pass through there into the cab, once finished, it will all be smooth and wiring etc will be hidden away too.
58 Chevy Apache

parkerya
Posts: 142
Joined: Wed 13 Aug 2014, 11:05
Location: Cape Town

Re: 58 Chevy Build

Post by parkerya » Mon 03 Apr 2017, 10:04

wow that looks like its all going according to plan. looks great. keep it up
" better to be a racer for a moment than a spectator for a lifetime"

Post Reply

Social Media

     

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 8 guests