1958 Chevy 1/2-Ton Utility

Owned by Robert Covington "58 Utility" Bolter # 22842 Chehalis, Washington Talking about this truck in the DITY Gallery

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From Robert :

This Chevy Task Force utility truck was built for the Tacoma (Washington) Fire Department. It served as a “Fire alarm electrician.” It was assembled in Oakland and the utility body was made at the McCabe-Powers plant in Oakland. The tailgate has a plate that says “Bodies by Powers St. Louis.” St. Louis was the location of the parent company.

The person I bought it from was the second owner. I found it in Puyallup and drove it on the trailer using the hand brake to stop it -- the master and wheel cylinders were shot. I got it home and the gear shift broke off the steering column.

I had the brake components and a universal floor shift put in, thanks to my trusty and knowledgeable neighbor. It now runs, stops, and shifts.

I have removed the doors, the seat and have started the process of filling the holes. I found that most of these trucks have the same rusted out places -- top of lights, behind and in front of the doors. The worst rust is in the doors. The bottom of the passenger door is gone.

I am not a perfectionist so I am using the 3M Bondo products: bondo jelly, bondo glass, and bondo body filler. I have also covered a large hole on the driver’s side floor with sheet metal and roofing tar.

I am interested in getting this truck on the road by spring and drive it.

I have found the utility box is extremely useful. At first I wanted to get rid of it and get a pick up box, now I am keeping my utility as it is 4’ x 8’ inside which will allow me to haul most everything I want, plus I have lockable storage. The one thing I am going to do is cut off the top of the utility box so I can stand up and also haul tall stuff.

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