The Stovebolt Site Forums The Parking Lot Tons 'o Fun New Youngin' with a '59.

My name is Anthony and I'm 15.
Look what we bought.
That and its a 4-speed and an Inline 6.
http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s71/countryboy13_2007/displayImagephp.jpg
http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s71/countryboy13_2007/displayImagephp2.jpg
For my introduction thread go here:
https://www.stovebolt.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=598576#Post598576

Hi Andrew, welcome to The Stovebolt!

We love 1-ton's here, though I'm going to struggle a little with that F in your screen name... Actually I have fond memories from many years ago of a '76 Ford F250 4x4 with a 428 that belonged to a friend.

What are your plans for the Chevy?

My name is Anthony, not Andrew, But, hey, we all make mistakes.
We plan to restore the Chev.
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We also plan to restore the F-350 one of these days...
428s Didn't come in any HighBoys.
Someone swapped it in, they bolt up to C-6s and NP-435s (Manuals) as they are FE blocks, same block as the 352s,360s,390, just different strokes,bores.
428s came in Mustangs for the time in '68.
That's most likely were that 428 came from.

Sorry about getting the name wrong. I'll blame it on being old.

If I knew where the 428 came from I no longer remember. I'm sure the truck came from the factory with a 360. But that guy was always having motor trouble and collecting spares.

Back around the same time I had another friend with a Shelby Mustang GT-500 KR that had a 428 in it. That one was original.

And while I'm happy to offer help on restoration I'm more the hot rodder type, so you'll be reliant on others for accurate details of what it was and needs to be as you restore it.

If you haven't already found it, you'll appreciate the information available in the Restoration Pack.

Yes a 360 was an option. As was a 390 and a 460. A 428 was a option in Mustangs in '68.
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The Chev is gonna take work just to get up to driver status.
We've never restored anything, so I don't know if we're gonna go for the factory style or the hot rod style. I wouldn't mind dumping a 383 stroker in the '59.

Restore or Restoration are words that have been misused a lot. Strictly speaking it means to return to original or in this case factory condition.

Not everyone agrees and you often see trucks advertised as 'restored' with a long list of modifications. My own preference is to respect the meaning of the word and distinguish between restoration and various types of modifications.

I call myself a hot rodder but the modifications I seem to go for most are better brakes, modern transmissions and basically stock newer bigger motors. My 1-ton project is all about safely pulling my trailer.

You might find it useful to sit the people who comprise 'we' down and have a long talk about how the truck will be used once it's finished. That should go a long way toward determining what kind of modifications really make sense or how stock it should be. And it gives you a chance to think through what it will cost though these projects always cost more than expected.

A true and faithful restoration is likely rarely driven. A radical hot rod is also rarely driven. If you are going to drive this truck you'll probably end up somewhere in-between.

I guess I'm a cross between both. I would want a nice clean body with factory everything but dump a radical engine with a blower and a radical cam and bore and stroke the thing, I would drive it of course, what's the point in restoring a truck and putting thousands in it if your not gonna drive it.
The F-350 has a special cam in it already, and it has a lopey idle, everyone always comes over to me and says "That thing runs like [censored]" well they don't understand that a truck with a special cam idles rough and smoothes out at 70+. (Which, this truck does do that)
Sorry for going off into talking 'bout the F-350.
Take Care,
76F350

I'm the wrong guy to answer that question because I'm a fan of driving them. But if you look around at car shows there are lots of radical motors that get driven on and off the trailer.

Not many people build a radical blown motor and drive it regularly on the street. You may be the exception, but you'll probably also learn why so few do it.

I agree with Steve on this one (well on lots of other stuff too)
If you want something to drive everyday and look pretty original otherwise then stick with newer stuff and keep it mild.
A "radical" engine with blower plus other "radical" stuff doesn't add up to a good driving usable truck according to my math.

Don't get me wrong, you should build the truck however you like just so long as it suits your needs and desires, don't build it to please anyone but you.

I like blowers on my engines too, but it's got to be a diesel

Grigg

I think it's that fuel preference thing where we have the biggest and most durable area of disagreement.

My wife's daily driver has a turbo-charged motor, but it burns gasoline.

It's a VW Jetta and on a recent trip I made better time, got better mileage, and carried more people and stuff than I did making the same trip in my Corvette a year or two before. I can drive the Jetta faster because it blends in. The 'vette going fast is just asking for a ticket.

The Jetta proves to me that the concept can work on a daily driver. But it's not radical, was built by a company that spent piles of money creating a product they can stand behind, and its less than a year old and still getting serviced as part of the purchase price.

I have a friend who has a '40 GMC panel with a blown stroker small block. He does drive it but the last time I saw it he trailered it to his hotel and drove from the hotel to the car show.

It;s very fast and I love the whine of the wide belt drive, but he finds it impractical to drive it much.

There are blower kits on the market designed for a variety of purposes. Or at least there used to be kits, I don't recall seeing any advertised recently. The ones I remember fell into two broad categories.

The first was for big pickups used for towing. I suspect those have left the market because most people wanting to tow are now using Diesel. Those kits were engineered to make a big gas motor like a 454 pull harder without sacrificing drivability.

The other was for cars like my Corvette. Some guys can never go fast enough and a blower on an already fast car will make it faster. I don't have a feel for how those affected drivability because I don't recall ever seeing a car with the kit. I do know that service would be more difficult because that blower would further crowd an already very tight engine compartment.

The point I'm trying to make is that the more radical your motor the less pleasant the truck will be to drive. The more radical the motor the more likely it will have a high idle, making it difficult at stops and in parking lots. It is also likely to run hotter making it harder to cruise car shows or other events. The more radical the motor the more time you will spend (and or money) keeping it serviced. And the more radical the motor the more likely you are to break parts.

It's your truck and I always encourage people to make their own choices about how they build their own stuff. Just think through how much you are going to want to drive it and where you are going to want to drive it so you are sure you're building a truck that will satisfy your expectations.

We have a Diesel with a turbo.
I'm not going to make the Chev a hot-rod, my dad is most likely gonna just rebuilt the Inline-6 and keep it mosty orginal.
The Ford already has a hot motor (not the orginal 390 that came in it, it came from something with an automatic) so we're just gonna do the bodywork on that and make both both 'em daily drivers. Or work trucks.

I like a truck that can earn it's keep!

I agree 150%.
That's why EVERYTHING we own is 1-ton or larger...

Update:
OK so we went over and visited the '59 Chev.
And yes I got pictures. ( Its pouring rain right now and we're on the freeway backto the house. I'm on my phone right now, I don't have internet on my computer, so I gotta find a way. A friend who can photobucket it for me. (Maybe someone on here)
OK, anyways let's get back to the truck.
We popped the hood, and my dad tryed to turn over the engine. Wouldn't budge (that means the engine is siezed) which means we're gonna have to rebuild the engine, also, it has no radiator.
Some things I learned:
Truck has 3 tanks, 2 saddle tanks and a tank behind the seat, truck has a gun rack, (Just like my Ford had one when we bought it, and so does the Chev)
The truck has a generator, rather than a altinator.
The truck most likely is a 12 Volt system.
The truck has a foot starter.
OK, Guys, when I get home I'm finding a way to get pics on here...
I'm excited.

These things are all original on a '59 so they add up to a good sign the truck has not be modified much in the past.

Modifications are not all bad, I just prefer to make my own rather than dealing with someone else's.

OK. Here are some pictures:
http://i742.photobucket.com/albums/xx67/76_SCS_Lover4/SatDec12021738PST2009-1.jpg
http://i742.photobucket.com/albums/xx67/76_SCS_Lover4/SatDec12022034PST2009.jpg
http://i742.photobucket.com/albums/xx67/76_SCS_Lover4/SatDec12022256PST2009.jpg
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For more pictures, go here :
http://742.photobucket.com/albums/76_SCS_Lover4/
I look forward to your comments & concerns.
Thanks,
Anthony.

Your pictures aren't working. Please try again.

John

Anthony, I can feel your excitement like it was yesterday. And it was 51 years ago. My then brother-in-law gave me a 1955 Dodge with a 318 v8 and auto tranny (push button shift on the dash). I disassembled the entire vehicle and reassembled it but never got it running. Your project sounds very practical and we look forward to hearing about and seeing it.

Sorry I moved the pictures here:
http://i742.photobucket.com/albums/xx67/76_SCS_Lover4/59%20Chev%20One%20Ton/

Hey guys, Instead of starting a new thread in here, I'll just use my intro thread.
I'm not entirely sure if this is a 235 or a 261.
Can you guys tell me?
http://i742.photobucket.com/albums/...%20One%20Ton/SatDec12021738PST2009-1.jpg
One of my friends tells me bigger trucks got 261s...
I hope its a 261, you need the extra power. Thanks in advance.