Stovebolt.com Forums The Gallery 1955 - 1959 (Task Force) Trucks 1959 Chevrolet Apache 32

1959 Chevrolet Apache 32
Owned by
John Lucas
South Omaha, Nebraska


I already had a couple of long term Chevy truck projects in the works when I became anxious to have something I could enjoy now. So, I started searching on line for a driver. Here is my ’59 Chevrolet Apache 32 that I found on ebay. After speaking with the seller several times on the phone I ended up winning the bid.

The truck happened to be in Lemmon, South Dakota which is about 600 miles from where I live. Fortunately, for me the seller offered to deliver for a reasonable fee.

I was told that the truck was originally from Chadron, Nebraska and after purchasing it the owner had the body work done, had it repainted and supposedly only driven it in parades. He assured me that it was running great the last time he started it, but that it hadn’t been started in a while. I told the owner not to mess with it as I’d rather get it running myself. Upon delivery, I also found out that it had no brakes. Okay, so it needs brakes I thought, not a big deal. That's something that I can do relatively easy. So I paid the man and off he went.

Later that week I found that the 235 was locked up. After freeing the stuck engine, replacing the bent push rods and rebuilding the head I discovered that it had little to no compression. Instead of a costly rebuild, I replaced the engine with a sweet running 235 that I found for a reasonable price on craigslist. I then swapped out the master cylinder with a newly rebuilt one from Classic Truck in Riverside, MO and replaced the tires with a set from one of my other projects. I also replaced the gas tank.

I have been interested in Chevy trucks since my teenage years. What’s odd is I’ve always thought the ’58 and 59’s were ugly. These days, I think they’re cool as heck and I now own 3 of them.

Someday I may replace the wood bed and I also picked up a 283 out of a ’66 Chevelle that just might find itself at home in my Apache 32.

But for now, I’m just going to enjoy it as it is.


John

Nice truck and interesting background story.

Like you, as a young man I thought the 58 and 59 year trucks were not very eye appealing. Now that I’m more mature (old), I love their distinctive headlight arrangement that sets them apart from the other Task Force trucks.

Looks like a fun ride!