The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop Fired up the little beast today

Fired up the old 58 Chevy pkup today for the first time in nearly two years. A fresh battery, cleaning of the points, and some fresh gas and she fired right up. Will have to kit the carb, but she sounded good to hear.

Will be taking the rear axle out to replace pinion bearings, and seals.

But while I had it running, I noticed one head bolt missing on the very back on the driver side. Now I got to find one of those. Engine still ran solid. Got the front left wheel locked up and the left rear wheel locked up so will have to work with them to move it.

If you know of a head bolt, I need one. The engine is a 261 straight six.

Forgot how much I missed driving her.

Sent pictures. What is a 58 doing with a 261? Is there a story behing this?

The original 235 wore out many years ago. It had already been rebuilt once and was bored .060. I was told the machine shop couldn't bore it any more. The only way to save that engine was to sleeve it. The expense of that project killed that idea.

I bought another 235 that was supposed to be in good shape, but after installing it, foundout it wasn't much better.

I had rebuilt a 261 for the local school district and installed it in a 1960 48 passenger school bus. They used this bus as a spare, and sold the bus. They kept the engine because they couldn't get the money out of it they had invested.

I made a deal with the school to rebuild a 318 Dodge engine and place it in a van in exchange for the 261. I put the 261 in ole blue and been happy ever since.

The 261 had a new cam, lifters, rocker assy, new pistons since the block was bored .040 over. The crank was ground to .010 and cleared both rods and mains. The head was redone with the hardened valve seats installed since unleaded gas had made its appearance.

I rebuilt this engine in 1981. Installed it in my pkup in 1984. The engine sat on a stand in the school shop after I removed it from the bus so they could sell the body.

The pickup was bought in 1962 by my grandad, my dad got it when my grandad passed away, and a few years ago it was give to me. I have done all the work on this truck since I was big enough to turn wrenches. And we have been doen the road a time or two.

Currently my brother and I are working to get it road worthy again after being parked for a while.

He would like to drive it some, and since he and I had the same grandad, I thought it would be the right thing to do. He'll do some work on it while he drives it, then it will go to my son when he gets older and has settled down so it will stay in the family.

I'll have to see about pics, it's a little shy around cameras since it had a wreck and had another front end put on. I'll see if it will pose for me.

What a history. I am certain someone will have a head bolt to send you.
Good luck.

Hi Roy Rodgers. I met some of your neighbors at last months swap meet in Fort Worth. They had a good cab, doors, and miscellanous stuff for sale. Nice folks. Reasonable prices, too. I told them I needed some rims (either 15 or 16" and hub caps for my 53). They said they had 4-6 good trucks would bring what I needed to Decatur. Nice folks out there in Ranger. I wish I would have met them before I bought this nasty rusty truck I have now.

They also talked about a Cadillac AD. Said it was the only one of its kind. They are a family of body people. Maybe you know them.