[Bentwheelbob]

Sorry for this, but I am pretty jacked up and need to share a few pics. I have idled the 455 project for the summer because I am at the point of doing the driveline transplant and I would prefer to keep the car on the road this summer. The project will restart this fall. In the interim I have been doing needed work on the Cuda. I have finished that and have decided to start in on my 1959 Chevy Truck.

The truck is a cream puff with 37,000 miles. All original with one repaint. Original seat and floor covers, original wood in the bed. The drive train is a 235 inline 6 with 3 speed on the column. I have owned it for 11 years and never had the first problem. I have decided to replace the ring and pinion to increase its' driveability and redo the brakes on all 4 corners. Mission creep set in and have also decided to replace the bed wood and clean up the rear frame.

Me and My Pal Dave started tearing it apart today and were amazed at the originality and what great shape everything was in. The truck clearly has never seen salt as there is little if any corrosion. Much of the frame still retains the original paint, I believe the shocks are priginal, and believe it or not it still had the original wide white spare tire. We removed the bed and degreased and power washed. I almost don't need to break out the sandblaster, but will anyway. Here's a few pictures of the rear frame before cleaning. Thanks for humoring me. I cannot find a Chevy truck site near as good as this site. That's a credit to the members here.

[Bentwheelbob]

Here's a few pictures after degreasing and pressure washing.



Note the yellow inspection paint mark on the differential

[Stuart]

Nice! Pretty remarkable condition for truck that old.

[Deadhead]

That's a West-By-God beauty Bob.

I love that body style.

[cuz68]

Now that is what i call a very nice truck, That has been taken care of.

[Baron Von Zeppelin]

Very Incredible - very

[goatless]

Wow! That thing is clean!!! Almost seems a shame to put fresh paint on it at this point.

Amazing to see how spindly that frame looks compared to that of a modern half ton.

[Alvin]

Cool. Thanks for sharing this with us!

[Bentwheelbob]

OK, a bit of a ramble. Went to Mecum for a few days with My Pal Dave and we had a blast. A few comments. Got to meet NJSteve and that was nice. He was working his car like a carnival barker and it paid off. Congrats Steve. Saw the yellow 1972 Lemans GT 455HO and thought it was very poorly done. Basic stuff under the hood was wrong and there was overspray all over the trunk opening and trunk. Big disappointment. Only bid to $80K and no sale...not sure if anyone was really bidding. The castilian bronze formula was very nice on the exterior, but $42K??? One beautifully done Formula, but they spent $80K doing a non-original restoration and nobody appreciated it. Non-stock color and painted underhood like a Mopar - body color; block and valve covers painted charcoal gray. Bid to $35, but the seller couldn't bite the bullet. Didn't buy a car, but wish I had bought the grey Firebrid Esprit. All original including paint. RAIII. Nice car. Sold for only $13.5K. Kicking myself. I did buy a Pontiac neon sign and it is now my avatar.

More on the truck....I've got the rear of the truck stripped down to the frame rails. The surprises keep coming relative to condition. I'm not sure how many have seen 1958 date coded shocks, but this thing still had the original shocks. Lots of original paint on the frame and driveshaft. I believe the e-brake cables were original too - they even have grease fittings to keep the cables lubricated. Here's a few pics...

[Bentwheelbob]

Here's pictures of the 1958 shocks. The truck is a 1959, but as best I can decipher the date code on the shocks, I am guessing January 11th, 1958. Seems early for a 1959 truck, but...?










Thanks for humoring me in this non-Pontiac thread.

[GT182]

Beautiful truck Bob. Amazing the shape it's in after all these years. Yer one lucky fella.

Just because it's not a Pontiac, it doesn't mean it's not worthy of appreciation. I sure think it's worthy of sharing.

[Alvin]

Originally Posted by Bentwheelbob

OK, a bit of a ramble. Went to Mecum for a few days with My Pal Dave and we had a blast. A few comments. Got to meet NJSteve and that was nice. He was working his car like a carnival barker and it paid off. Congrats Steve. Saw the yellow 1972 Lemans GT 455HO and thought it was very poorly done. Basic stuff under the hood was wrong and there was overspray all over the trunk opening and trunk. Big disappointment. Only bid to $80K and no sale...not sure if anyone was really bidding. The castilian bronze formula was very nice on the exterior, but $42K??? One beautifully done Formula, but they spent $80K doing a non-original restoration and nobody appreciated it. Non-stock color and painted underhood like a Mopar - body color; block and valve covers painted charcoal gray. Bid to $35, but the seller couldn't bite the bullet. Didn't buy a car, but wish I had bought the grey Firebrid Esprit. All original including paint. RAIII. Nice car. Sold for only $13.5K. Kicking myself. I did buy a Pontiac neon sign and it is now my avatar...]

Congrats on your Neon Poncho signage score.

Your comments on the various cars reminds me of the major diff of seeing these cars on HD broadcast and magazines vs seeing and inspecting them in person. Some of the seemingly creme puffs can turn out to be real junk under the paint...

Even inspecting them in person is no guarantee.

Know someone who shared with me they paid $70,000 plus for a "banner" car last year @ nationally televised auction only to find it "was sculpted" "body wasn't bolted to the frame" "floor panels didn't exist - were made from tar and matting" etc. "We checked the car out, but never put a magnet to it due to it having been a long term step-by-step feature build..." "The only body panel that was reusable was the roof..." This all from someone in the business of buying, selling, and building street and race cars for a long time.

"As Is" and "Buyer Beware" come to mind. Thxs again for sharing.

[mike nixon]

Great looking truck! One of my favorite body styles.

Re the date on the shocks, they were probably bought in advance and sat on a shelf that long. They look a lot like the ones I remember under my Ih.

Mike

[Bentwheelbob]

Moving forward slowly...

The item that started this whole project (beyond boredom) was a desire to change the rear gear to a more highway friendly ratio. The gear swap has been finished. Surprisingly, for a 1950's Chevy truck there are very few gear choices. This is a common issue and a source of surprise on this project. There are many more aftermarket parts available for 1972 Pontiac A-body than there is for a 1959 3100 gm tcuck.

Anyway, the swap to a 3.38 gear is complete. if anyone needs a prestine 3.90 gea. let me know. Here are pictures.

['ol Pinion head]

Quickly noted the big fender spears but couldn't figure if it was a '59 or a 57, till you confirmed it was a '59. Clean looking truck! Hard to find the higher ratio gears for cruising. Have a few nos gearsets for these but none that are high ratio. Did you get the gearset from Fentons, believe they were the ones that had the high ratio's repro'ed.

['ol Pinion head]

A trick that I figured out in the mid 80's to knock the revs down behind the early straight 6 Chevys so one could drive them out on the interstates was to pick up the mid 60's 3 speed OD trans out of similar age Chevy cars & trucks. These were built with an electric activation overdrive (Ford & Rambler used these too, but they are different, cant remember exactly how though)

The 3spd electric OD's are a direct swap behind the early '60's straight sixs & should be in a '55 2nd series through '59 3100, they were avail in Tri-Five cars & poss the 3100's. The first one I hooked up we used a toggle switch to the solenoid. In the '80's & early 90's I used to pick these up from several longtime trans shops that had them out back collecting dust. The most recent one I pulled it myself out of a '65 Biscayne with a 3.55 12 bolt. Must have had a 4bbl 327 in it originally (original engine was gone). Grabbed both the rear & the trans & chrome plated overdrive lever. One of these day's I'd love to have a custom cab '55 2nd series or 56. always wanted one of those two as a kid, but Dad didn't want an old truck leaking on the driveway.

[Lightfoot]

Originally Posted by Bentwheelbob

Here's pictures of the 1958 shocks. The truck is a 1959, but as best I can decipher the date code on the shocks, I am guessing January 11th, 1958. Seems early for a 1959 truck, but...?

I don't claim to be an expert but my theory would be that code signifies: November, First Week, 1958.
At least that would make more sense to when your truck was built.

Love that truck. Wish I could find a 60-61 in that condition.

[Bob Dillon]

Very nice, but I think you're making a big mistake by not just shining it up and driving it (or showing it) as a survivor.

[Keith Seymore]

Very nice. Subscribing.

As far as a Chevy truck site, have you tried http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/

Similar format to what is here and also comparable in terms of the level of activity (and passion) - at least on the 73-87 forum, which is where I hang out.

K

[Bentwheelbob]

Originally Posted by 'ol Pinion head

A trick that I figured out in the mid 80's to knock the revs down behind the early straight 6 Chevys so one could drive them out on the interstates was to pick up the mid 60's 3 speed OD trans out of similar age Chevy cars & trucks. These were built with an electric activation overdrive (Ford & Rambler used these too, but they are different, cant remember exactly how though)

The 3spd electric OD's are a direct swap behind the early '60's straight sixs & should be in a '55 2nd series through '59 3100, they were avail in Tri-Five cars & poss the 3100's. The first one I hooked up we used a toggle switch to the solenoid. In the '80's & early 90's I used to pick these up from several longtime trans shops that had them out back collecting dust. The most recent one I pulled it myself out of a '65 Biscayne with a 3.55 12 bolt. Must have had a 4bbl 327 in it originally (original engine was gone). Grabbed both the rear & the trans & chrome plated overdrive lever. One of these day's I'd love to have a custom cab '55 2nd series or 56. always wanted one of those two as a kid, but Dad didn't want an old truck leaking on the driveway.

OPH - I got the gear set from Randy's R&P. I have seen some articles on the OD transmission and have been considering making that swap if I can find one. When I get to that point I'll probably have a few questions for you. I'm going to switch back to the 455HO install in the fall and once that's done do the cab forward on the truck.

Here's a few more pictures of the reassembly. The e-brake cables and brake lines are original.