MEET THE TRUCK

March 2003

Well, the search is over! 

I looked at ads all over the country to get a feel for what I would spend time physically inspecting.  Although I looked at many ads, I only checked two of them out.  After a while you start to see a pattern in the ads.  Here is how I would sum those up:

1. Restored - these vehicles were fully or partially restored.  Out of my price range, and some of them sounded too pieced together for me anyways.
      
2. High on Crack - these trucks were just overpriced.  They may be holding a collectors item, but the condition they were in did not justify the money.
      
3. Reasonable - these trucks seemed to be in okay condition and the price was fair.  Some of the work may be questionable, but may not matter due to the work I plan on doing.
      
4. A Good Deal? - these are trucks that I thought were under priced based on the ad descriptions.  Either the owners didn't know what they had, or they were desperate to get rid of them.

I narrowed it down to 2 trucks, and both had qualities the other didn't.  I settled on this truck because it was closest to stock, the body was in better shape, and my "gut feeling".

THE JOURNEY HOME

Although the truck is drivable, I decided to trick my friend Rich into helping me tow it across town.  Although it has a new clutch and transmission, I just can't seem to get it to leave gear smoothly (I was 16 the last time I drove a column shift.  Also, the inspection sticker had expired.)  No biggie, I'll just rent a 2 wheel dolly from U-Haul...

Saturday, March 22nd comes and after some discussion with Rich, we decide it would be best if I just drive it home.  If we run into a problem, we can then track down a dolly.  This works well for both of us - I was too lazy to rent a dolly and Rich didn't want to pull it because he was having some brake problems.

We get to the seller's house about noon.  They seem to think we are crazy to want to drive it.  Besides the fact that it is raining and the windshield wipers don't work, I don't see the problem (I ride a Harley full-time, so some water on my "windshield" doesn't bother me).  Do they know something they haven't told me?

I jump in the truck, activate the 2/55 AC (crack the windows), and the truck starts right up.  Cool!  Off to a good start.  I find first gear easily.  Cool! Still off to a good start.  Okay, out the driveway and then only 24 miles to go...

After a couple of blocks, I've got the gear shift down pretty good - although first is really hard to find.  Rich is following me and the only problem I'm having is that the steering has a lot of play in it.  We are taking surface streets to be on the safe side.  After a couple of miles, I think that I better pull over for some gas.  I forgot to ask them if there was gas in the tank.  We stop and I treat her to some premium gas.  It takes about 8 gallons, so I didn't need to stop after all, but better safe then sorry.  I jump back into Rusty (this name came to me as I was driving her) and she won't start.  Okay, I admit that I left the lights on while I was filling her up, but come on, the battery should have survived that!  Rich breaks out the jumper cables and we are back on the road again.  Cool!

We are making good progress and I've got the gearing down pat!  Cool!  About 6 miles from home, I lose Rich in the traffic.  Rusty doesn't stop on a dime, the streets are wet, and I seem to hit every light on yellow.  I can't believe that Rich ran as many as he did.  Anyways, no biggie, we are almost home and she seems to be running strong...

I'm about 2 miles from home and I'm talking to Rusty.  I'm telling her that all she needed was some TLC.  She is shifting smooth and running strong.  No bad fumes, no sputters, no nothing.  Then, she starts to sputter like she is out of gas.  I push in the clutch and give her a couple of revs and let off the clutch and she starts to sputter again.  So, I push the clutch back in and coast into the nearest parking lot.  Ironically, this happens to be a car dealership and the sales people start to come out of their dark corners, slobbering to get to me.

Windows rolled back up for safety, garlic laid out on the dash, and large wooden cross in hand, I call home to see if Rich is there yet.  Sarah says no and ask where I am.  I catch her up to date and tell her to have Rich call me when he gets there (Rich doesn't believe in cell phones).  About 20 minutes later I get the call from Rich and tell him where I am at.  (Rich being the good guy that he is had tried finding me by making a few routes that I could have taken and that is why he got to my house so late.)  Rich shows up and we give it a jump and I get back on the road. 

I get about a mile down the road and I am starting to wonder about this horrible noise that is emanating from the front.  Shoot, I didn't check the radiator.... kinda sounds like the fan, but more like a tire.  I pull over, leaving the engine running and as I reach to put on the parking brake, I notice that it is already engaged.  "What now?" ask Rich.  I continue on with my story about the radiator and check the fluid level - it's full.  I say, "Hmmm, that is strange."  I jump back into the cab, disengage the parking brake and make it home.

Once in the driveway, Sarah and Taylor come out to see the truck again.  Sarah says, "Wow, and I thought it looked bad in the dark!".  I say, "Shhh, she can hear you!"

FURTHER INSPECTION

Now that I have Rusty in my own garage, I've had the time to give her a good going over.  Sarah was asking some questions that I didn't have the answer to, so we looked them up together.  The first thing we did was get the VIN number and the info from the door post.  Upon investigation, we where able to determine that the interior was the Standard Grey and the exterior was "Pure White".

Now, those of you who have really been paying attention, you will have noticed a conflict by now.  The title of this is "1958 Chevy Truck Project", but the truck ad was for a 1959.  Well, based on the VIN number, Rusty is a '58 with '59 fender emblems.  To verify this, I did some extensive research!  I compared the truck VIN to the title VIN and they were a match.  Not only that, but the title clearly list Rusty as a '58.

As I mentioned earlier, I've tested the battery and it is fine, so I will be looking for a new alternator.  I also need to get Rusty inspected and that is going to require a wiper motor, horn, and wiring work.  To make her a little more reliable, I want to fix the suspension, steering, and shifter.  Most of this should be straight forward work...

I've inspected the body and I am happy to report that she is in very good shape.  Everything seems to be surface rust, with the exception of one area above the passenger side headlight.  There are only minor dings here and there.  There is also a "crinkle" on the driver's door.  I would ascertain that this is from the door hitting the fender, but it lines up nicely, so maybe this was fixed previously.  All in all, she is mechanically sound and the body is in excellent shape.

Let's move onto the start of the project.