Hi yall. I'm Jason, or DWB/Dirty White Boy. I live south of Dallas in Midlothian. This here is my 61 Apache 40 that I've named "Jesco". I picked it up about a year and a half ago, barely running and no brakes. It's got a 261, an SM420, and a giant H110 axle. Got a big old Garwood PTO winch too.
There ain't a straight body panel on it, but the rust is minimal. And it's got character too. Character that only a mother'd love!
I've tried to figure out what it was used for in it's past. At some point, I believe it was a dirt track wrecker somewhere in Oklahoma. I assume, because I found an old score sheet in the tool box. I imagine it was also used in the oil field too. Looks like it had different spots for 'gin poles.
I went to work on just about everything at once. I ditched the original 18" wheels for some 19.5"s from a newer C3500HD. Rebuilt the rear wheel cylinders and cleaned up the shoes/hardware. Got rid of the junked Hydrovac and put in a CPP booster/master/clutch master cylinder kit. New brake hoses. Two of the three hoses were swelled closed!
The 261 was stock and unmolested, as far as I could tell. Except for the attempt to weld up a crack in the exhaust manifold. I got my 'lil brother to reweld it, but it warped in the process, despite preheating and clamping it down flat.
So I decided to use some parts that I had been accumulating. I put on the Clifford intake, some two piece headers that Pops got me for Christmas, a Q-Jet, and the HEI distributor. Oh, and I found a cool 4bbl oil bath air cleaner that looks right at home on it.
I had my 'lil brother weld up some exhaust for me using two 30" Smithy's. Sounds pretty cool. I need to do a little tweaking on the carb and possibly put more timing into it as well.
My latest big project was the rewire. I got a kit from AAW. It was quite intimidating at first, but turned out to be pretty fun. It's nice to have all the electrics working, and most importantly, safe.
My next project will be swapping out the H110 for the Dana 80 in the backyard. After that, well, something with the front end. I haven't figured out if I want to swap in a 5/10 lug P30 front suspension, or go the other way with an I-beam front suspension out of a C3500HD. I love the ride of the torsion bar suspension, but it's hard enough to find one-ton parts, let alone 1.5 ton parts. There is a difference, too.
After that, I'm toying with the idea of running a Detroit. I'd like to do a 6V53. It'll be snug. It'll be a while before I'm ready to tackle that.
It's a fun truck, and for the most part, been fun to work on. It's not fast, thanks to the 6.17s, but I get there in style. I'm definately looking forward to putting some miles on it.
Oh, here's a few pictures I took from this weekend-
http://i1118.photobucket.com/albums/k615/dirtywhiteboy79/3137095f.jpghttp://i1118.photobucket.com/albums/k615/dirtywhiteboy79/0b703b9b.jpghttp://i1118.photobucket.com/albums/k615/dirtywhiteboy79/4fc7b14a.jpghttp://i1118.photobucket.com/albums/k615/dirtywhiteboy79/e5d87f31.jpgI hope yall like it. Not too many of these 40s around.
