Originally posted by koolkar:
any big, or smallblock should bolt up, as the truck has side motor mounts. the final ratio of the trans is 1:1. or direct, unless it was a special order, or has been rebuilt to overdrive. (yes, you can do that with the 5 speed).
Any idea how much it would cost to do a conversion so fifth is an overdrive gear?
ought to make a killer tow truck.
just missed one locally that was set up with a 500 holmes on it. they cut it up.
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Thats a shame. These vintage of trucks have so much personality about them...I really like the late 50's trucks and the 67-72 chevs/gmc's...I don't think GM has come close with any other body style.
Originally posted by Mike B:
Hi Kris,
The "Spartan" name was first used on the 1958 Heavy Duty trucks, Apache is Light Duty and Viking is Medium Duty. The 1958/59 truck can be easily identified by there dual headlights, 1957 and back are single.
Ok, truck is definitely a 58/59 then. I had a '59 Apache 1-ton SRW cab truck that I fixed up to sell...only paid $100 for it but the body was so far beyond repair that I couldn't do anything for it, so I let it go to someone who was going to use the drivetrain for their '58 street rodded apache. Any particular differences between the 58/59 spartans?
The model numbers were also shortened starting in '58, so your Model 100 is the same as a 1956/57 Model 10000 or 2-1/2 ton Heavy Duty.
The only engine option for the 1958/59 100 Series trucks was the 348 V8 rated at 230 hp with 335 ft lbs of torque. This engine shares the same bellhousing bolt pattern as all other Chevy V8's so droping a 350 in shouldn't be a problem.
The 100 Series is a conventional Cab, the 50, 70 & 90 Series are the Low Cab Forward (LCF) models.
Ok...out of curiousity then, would this cab have the same body mounts then as the apache (light duty) trucks since it isn't an LCF?
Any idea how hard it would be to throw on an 80's GM 1-ton chassis (I kinda have an appreciation for disk brakes and power steering) - around here they aren't hard to find completely rusted out but still running and usually have descent drivetrains too
The Cab and Chassis will weigh between 6000 and 7000 pounds complete. You didn't mention the wheel base length and if there was a body on it so this is just a rough guess. Your truck should weigh about 500-600 pounds less without the motor.
Ok then, it should be fine on my dads 22' gooseneck tandem axle trailer behind our '89 V3500 crew cab. Kinda suprised that a truck that big doesn't weigh much, if any, more than my '72 Cheyenne/20 2WD in street trim (6000 lbs according to vin plate)
A truck of this size will need a BIG wrecker body to look right, something like a Holmes 600 or 650 with a 15-20 ton capacity.
If the body isn't much/any wider than the regular apaches, I'm having fantasies of putting a standard long wide bed on it...I love the look of huge pickup trucks, though this one would probably see plenty of road time pulling trailers too.
Some pics of whats been giving me ideas:
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http://www.speedyoldtruck.com/images/bigt1.jpg[/img]
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http://www.speedyoldtruck.com/images/bigt2.jpg[/img]
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http://www.speedyoldtruck.com/images/bigt3.jpg[/img]
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http://www.speedyoldtruck.com/images/bigt4.jpg[/img]
