Owned by Bobby Holmes "BH1713" Bolter # 40571 Texas

1958 Chevy Short Bed Stepside Apache

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From Bobby :

When I was about 10 years old, I came home one day and there was a 1945 5-window Chevy pickup in the driveway. My Dad had bought it from a co-worker. My Mom hated it. She never understood why Dad kept coming home with old trucks.

The old truck was running and was fine to drive every day. However over the next year, we would work on it in the spring and summer on Saturdays. We would add a metal bed (we were not top tier mechanics, just back yard ones). We added carpet to the floors and did some light engine work.

I loved that truck and the time spent working on it with my Dad. My friends loved to ride in the back around the neighborhood. I came home one day and the truck was gone. Dad said he sold it to another co-worker. I was sad but not really too upset.

That next Summer, I came home one day to find a 1965 Army green C-10 Chevy short-bed in the drive way. I saw my Dad outside standing next to it. He looked at me coming up the driveway and said, "Ready for a new project?" I grinned and said, "Oh yeah!"

We did about the same amount of work on the C-10 as we did on the '45. However we kept this truck for a few years.

I was 14 then and I learned to drive on that straight six, three on the tree old pick-up. Dad and I went into the mountains of Chattanooga. Dad stopped on a corner on a hill and he made me get in the driver's seat. I was going to have to get it in gear and make a right turn! He said as long as I didn't stall it, he would let me drive it. I drove it for quite a while that day. He didn't realize I had been practicing while they were away.

Our family moved to Florida and when I turned 16 in 1981, the only vehicle I would consider was a pre-1965 pickup truck. Yes, it needed to be one that needed some work.

I found a 1965 C-10 Short Bed Stepside Chevy in the Auto-trader magazine (before the Internet) that was in Jacksonville, FL. It was very similar to the last one Dad and I worked on. Someone had dropped a 327 small block in it. That was a strong motor but it needed everything else.

My Dad and I fixed the body rust, striped the paint down to the metal, and as 16 year olds will do, I added what I thought was a great sound system. We added new headers and muffler system. We had it painted and I was ready.

I sold that truck when we moved to Texas a year later. I was in my 20s then. I got a Trans Am and various other "necessary" transportation vehicles. I got married there, too and I always talked to my wife about the '54 since the day we met.

With my wife's blessing, I started looking for a truck about a year and a half ago. A co-worker had gone to a car show in the Dallas / Ft. Worth area and he found this truck with a For Sale sign. He brought me in the pictures the next day at work. The guy who does the car show has a classic parts business and he was holding on to the truck. We went to look at it; drove it and then came to turns for me to buy it!

So, some 30 some years had past before I got me "new" old truck! It had a solid body, and I believe from VIN searches I am the third owner of this truck. It has had a 350 small block switched for the original engine and the original 3-speed transmission has been replaced with an automatic one. It has been converted to a 12-volt system. Other than that, it is pretty much as it was in 1958.

It was already painted. I did a search on Stovebolt to find out about the color. It is a Kodiak Brown and a Bombay Ivory.

I also found out that I am the third owner.

The previous owner put the 50 tires all the way around. I thought once about going original but with the 350 in there, it is "original" in a lot of other aspects.

To date I have completed the following (well, the local mechanic in my town has completed -- as I am out of practice):

• New King Pins
• All new hoses
• New wiring harness
• Replaced Instrument Cluster
• Replaced Steering column
• Replaced fuel pump

Next up will be to replace the gas tank so that I can use it as a daily driver. It will be more of a run around truck. It won't be my commuter vehicle since living in Texas and not having air conditioning is a little hard to make work!

As everyone else, my wish list includes new paint, tires and a new Edelbrock crate motor.


Thanks,

Bobby

Keep track of the restoration project details in the DITY Gallery and check for new photos to the Photobucket album. Any and all questions welcome! If you post in the forum, others can share in the discussion. Thanks ~ Editor

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