1958 Chevy ½ ton utility.
Robert Covington, Chehalis, Washington
This truck was built for the Tacoma Fire Department. It served as a “Fire alarm electrician”. It was assembled in Oakland and the utility body was made at the McCabe-Powers plant in Oakland. The tailgate has “Bodies by Powers St Louis”. St Louis was the location of the parent company.
The person I bought it from was the second owner. I found it in Puyallup and drove it on the trailer using the hand brake to stop it, the master and wheel cylinders were shot. Got it home and the gear shift broke off the steering column. I had the brake components and a universal floor shift put in, thanks to my trusty and knowledgeable neighbor, it now runs, stops, and shifts. I have removed the doors the seat and have started the process of filling the holes. I have found that most of these trucks have the same rusted out places, top of lights, behind and in front of the doors. The worst rust is in the doors. The bottom of the passenger door is gone. I am not a perfectionist so I am using the 3M Bondo products; bondo jelly, bondo glass, and bondo body filler. I have also covered a large hole on the driver’s side floor with sheet metal and roofing tar. I am interested in getting this truck on the road by spring and drive it.
I have found the utility box is extremely useful. At first I wanted to get rid of it and get a pick up box, now I am keeping my utility as it is 4’ x 8’ inside which will allow me to haul most everything I want, plus I have lockable storage. The one thing I am going to do is cut off the top of the utility box so I can stand up and also haul tall stuff.
http://s653.photobucket.com/albums/uu258/58Utility/2008truck009.jpgI have a question; how come I see no Utility’s for sale or even a picture? I see none on the various websites dealing with old trucks. Were utilities that rare?
