The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk 1958 Apache needs revival - need advice

I’d like folks to respond with what steps they would take to get this 1958 Apache back on the road again. Thanks in advance for the replies.

I met a guy today who needs advice. So I’m asking these questions on his behalf. He owns a 1958 Apache short bed step side. He is retired military and the truck was his grandfathers. The truck was a daily driver 10 years ago but went into storage.

When in storage, the fluids were drained. He wants to freshen everything up and get the truck back on the road.

The coolant system needs flushing and there is probably rust in there. There is some scale rust at the water neck.

It has the original but freshened up 235ci. The engine is not running presently and has not been cranked in 10 years. It was running just before storage. Then he installed a new head gasket but hasn’t run it since. He remembers having difficulty getting the engine to run just after the head gasket change. He can’t remember what research he did to be sure he torqued the head bolts to spec properly. He has already poured some oil down the spark plug holes.

So basically, he has an older restoration that only needs 3 things to be a driver again. It needs the cooling system freshened up, the engine running, and a thorough inspection of the brakes.

Remove the valve cover and pour a bit of oil over the rockers prior to trying to start it. Crank it with the plugs out until the oil he poured into the plug holes disperses some. Clean all the battery attachment spots, positive and negative. Push lots of new brake fluid through the system until it is completely new fluid everywhere. Flush the cooling system with CLR and add water not antifreeze until he knows he’s not going to have a cooling issue or pull the head. New points, condenser, rotor and cap. Plugs and wires wouldn’t hurt.🛠

With the truck in that long of storage, I'd replace all of the brake lines. The brake fluid wicks water out of the air and allows it to settle out in low spots, causing the steel lines to rust from the inside out. That's why the Master and Wheel Cylinders are always pitted on the bottom surface...

The lines are cheap and easy to do...two guys could knock it out on a Saturday easy.

Be safe!

Mike B

Fuel system will need to be check out as well. Tank probably has rust in it. He could use an "auxiliary" tank to get it started (assuming the fuel pump wakes up), but will eventually need to address the tank.

So speaking of magic, watch me pull this Tech Tip for resurrecting old iron out of your hat ....

Presto!

Thank you. Thank you very much. I'll be here all night. Try the linguini...

(fade to orchestra fanfare ... exit stage left ...)

I’m again reminded of the TechTips section. Sorry I didn’t look there first. Good reading there too!
I appreciated all the feedback too. He sounds capable of doing the tasks ahead but back surgery has him moving cautiously. He should just get on with it. Clean out the cooling and fuel systems and fire it up. I suspect he wasn’t able to start it (10 years ago) because the timing is off.
Thanks again for the good advice. I’ve passed along the advice to him.

I used some stuff from the FLAPS called Blue Devil or something like that for cleaning out my radiator and coolant passages on my '57. I couldn't believe how much rust and crud came out. It ran much cooler after that.

Since it has sat for ten years I would polarize the generator to be certain you don't damage a bunch of electrical stuff.