The Stovebolt Site Forums Welcome! Welcome Centre 1958 Chevy Apache 3600 NAPCO (LA)

Hello everyone! I’m Scott L from Houma, Louisiana. I’m located about 1 hour from New Orleans and about an hour from the Gulf of Mexico. Down here it’s known as the heart of Cajun Country where we eat really good food. Gumbo, jambalaya and everything in between. Just about everything we cook is served over rice. The majority of our meals start with making a roux which is done by browning all purpose flour in cooking oil. Then we brown onions, greens etc… after that, you can throw any meat, seafood or wild game and it will be delicious.

Below is the story regarding my truck and I wanted to get some opinions before I did any modifications to it.



"Ride is a cross between a tractor and a horse."

I have an Apache 3600 long bed with large back window that is believed to be all original. I’m going to look to see how accurate that is shortly by matching as many numbers I can locate. The motor has approximately 90,0000 miles and previous owner(s) think that’s accurate. I believe it to be totally original. It is basically rust free with a newer paint job. Of course, it has surface rust on the frame and some surface rust on the underside of some body parts (fenders that I want to address but nothing aside from that.
It has the factory installed winch on the truck.

I think the 1958’s came with the NAPCO package. Does anyone know about the NAPCO packages? From what I have read, GM sourced out the 4WD packages from NAPCO during war times before they were able to develop these themselves in later model years. I have yet to find another one like it. If you are knowledgeable of this truck, please advise. If you know the vehicle, and the rarity of it, my questions are before I touch it:

1. Are they really that rare?
2. Will I devalue it if I add some comfort modifications. If you know these 3600,s,they ride like a tractor. I would like to change the springs and shocks (possibly Posies - anyone knowledgeable about Posies or is there something better - that’s about a $2,000 upgrade and a add Vintage Air AC which is another ($2,000) and power steering and brakes. (It’s very hot and humid down here so AC is a must). My intent is to turn it into a comfortable daily driver without ruining the value.
3. Does anyone know the value as is?

This vehicle runs great and everything works. The problem is the ride is a cross between a tractor and a horse.

Thanks in advance for answering these questions before I move forward …

Attached are a couple of pics…

Welcome to the Stovebolt madness. There is no cure!

Just a friendly reminder, you cannot offer the truck for sale outside the Swap Meet Forum.

Ga'll dang, that is one sweet rig. "All original" or not.

Scott,

Since you are online now, you may want to copy and paste some of your questions in the General Truck Talk Forum.

Also, there are two spots to do a Search. I just checked and there are a number of Task Force NAPCO entries there.

Here's a helpful post from the IT Shortbus that has some good info about using the Search features. (If you need it!)

That is a beautiful truck.

Welcome to the Bolt.

Thank you Ms. Peggy! I appreciate what you do for this site! And thanks for keeping in line with the rules. I’ll get it correct soonest.

Thank you for the compliment Burning Tracks!

Nice rig!
GM didn't offer factory 4wd until 1960.
4x4 rigs of that era don't ride that well, even factory built units.

Welcome to the site. Nice truck. You have, what looks to be, a worthy truck (but I say that about all of our trucks). We cant say much about it without realizing all the greased over details. NAPCO 4x4 are certainly more unique than the 2 wheel drives, but I would not trip over the rareness of NAPCOs. It is special for sure, and nice to see preserved, but not 1-of-a-kind special.
We all would be interested to confirm with you the original nature of the truck and specifically the drivetrain. We can do that in the driveline forums.

As far as your mods - You bought the 4x4 for its special nature and it is what it is. As soon as you change that suspension all bets are off. That being said it is your truck and you drive it the way you do, so those choices are yours. If you make long trips and often then it may be worth making it more comfortable. If you like to take it to local cruz ins and otherwise make shorter drives then that should dictate the changes you make. I enjoy driving a mid 60s, 4x4, as is, but I drive it with regard for the nature of the original purpose of the truck. I make some longer trips to be sure, but frequent stops are planned and I dont worry about the music - cant hear it.

I would also be interested in how loud the truck is? Would mods be consistent with the noise I suspect you experience?

Hi Scott,
Nice to see someone else from South Louisiana, I'm in Metairie,about an hour away. I have a 59 1/2tn ., 2 wheel drive, 261 engine, Borg/Warner 5 sp.transmission. Drive it a lot, been driving it for 15 years. You will not get it to ride good, It's an old truck, and you have a 4x4, they don't ride good. Maybe we can get together one day, and compare trucks, There are some car/truck get togethers down here you should try to attend, I see a 4x4 blue, I believe it is a 57 around sometimes, but I think it's a diesel conversion on a later model frame. Next month , October 2-9 is Cruisin' the Coast in Missisippi, Maybe you could attend that, always lots of cars/trucks of all kinds.

Welcome to the 'bolt. Nice looking truck.

Maybe just drive it for a while before making a lot of changes, then make the changes as you have the time.

You Southerners should check in with the Southern contingent. They have a great group. That'll be the spot to see what's going on "in the area" where Stovebolts are gathered!

Peg

I found an article where someone mentioned a few ways to identify a factory installed NAPCO truck. One was if the GVR on the plate is 7,300 lbs, another was the second crossbar is riveted and not bolted. I also read that GM made just shy of 330,000 factory installed NAPCO truck 4x4 truck package. Many of those were in 1/2 ton models. It is not known how many conversions were done aside from the factory ones so I don’t know where it stands in the rare department.

My concern is that I didn’t want to be the one that ruined something that is really rare. My intent was to make it a comfortable driver as a second vehicle, but I would have to make too many modifications for my liking. There are too many vehicles out there that I can modify. I’ll just have to settle for cleaning it up real good, preserving it like it is and using it around town in the winter. I will need to stew on it for a while.

Thanks to all that chimed in…