The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk '58 Apache A/C

Can anyone tell me if air conditioning was a factory or dealer option for a 1958 Apache 3100? My wife would like to have it as we plan to drive our restored truck and not have the truck become a Trailer Queen. Me, I want to keep the restoration as authentic as possible. As always, I appreciate the feedback.

John

Hello, JOhn,

I do not know about 1958 A/C.

You might find information on accessories/options in one of these documents:
http://www.1954advance-design.com/chev-specs/1958-Chevrolet-Truck.pdf
https://www.classicparts.com/1958-Sales-Brochure/productinfo/04-544/
https://www.classicparts.com/1958-Accessory-List-Price-Schedule/productinfo/04-330/

A/C not offered for trucks until the 60's, but available for cars after about 55, so you may be able to fake it .... good luck finding a period correct setup tho, I suspect modern aftermarket units are what you'd be looking at, not very "authentic"

Bill

I put a Vintage Air unit in my 57. I needed a heater anyway, so just went for the whole thing. You can use your existing heater controls to operate the unit. It works nice!

I used Vintage Aire in my '62. Unit went in well and does a great job. Only complaint I have is minor. Compressor mount is high on the engine and prevents the use of the factory air cleaner. I have a SBC in my '62.

I will be fabricating a mount that is a lot closer to the era factory mounts for the SBC. That will move the compressor out of the way. Not sure how that translates to the Stovebolt 6's.

Lots of good information. Thanks immensely.

One new question. If I do go along with AC for our '58, will the 235 have enough power to operate an AC system? may be an obvious answer, but I want to turn over all the rocks I see, if you know what I mean.

It will do it but you may not like the drop in performance.🛠

Hate to let some of you know you are wrong. But here goes ..I have a 1958 cameo with dealer installed Chevrolet Cool pac a/c. It was a first put on Chevy trucks in 58 though 59. In 1960 the black Under Dan unit was redesigned to a white plastic case under dash model also called coolpac. Made by Chevrolet it had the same compressor as the Cadillac along with a valve that bled high pressure side to low side to regulate temp. I have the reprint service manual for mine. Thing is besides mine in 16 yrs in the hobby and on Internet I've only seen one other 58 with it. I bought a recently available rebuild kit for the above mention high press bleed off valve from Curtis at classic auto air company in Fl He has been working on vintage caddy a/c restoration for 40 yrs and had only seen or heard about a handful of the 58-59 apaches with a " Chevrolet Cool Pac". After flushing and new oil and coolant upgrade. Mine works now after waiting for a chemist to come up with a product autible for the valve rebuild diaphragm for 10 yrs. I haven't mastered the photo add on this site and am usually on my iPad. My truck was built in California and was a heater delete truck as the under dash unit prohibited the use of standard heater. However I've modified bothe to allow the heater to fit I'm sure not May were sold as they were trucks after all and a/c had as mentioned above were only for luxury cars to that point. Agin 1858 first yr offered for Chevy trucks. Not sure about Gmc. The coolpac logo has cool pack by Chevrolet and bow tie embossed on in cab unit If anyone who wants picture of unit and under hood and service manual (1958 ) IM me a email or I can send by text. I'll try to upload here as well if I get on a PC. Classic auto air 81 251-2356

I'm guessing this is a V8 truck ?

Yes. 283

To stay period close to period correct you could use an early Chevy II under dash unit. It has the Bow Tie emblem and the case angles off on each side to direct the air towards driver and passenger rather than having a ball diffuser like modern units. Google Chevy II factory under dash a-c to see lots of pictures. They are very compact and cool a pickup good.