Vintage 1959 Chevy Apache | Restoration Highlights & Owner Interview

I'm here today with Don Aldridge, proud owner of this 1959 Chevrolet Apache pickup truck. We met Don and saw this beautiful truck and we had to learn more and we knew you would be interested in it too. So Don, tell us more about your truck and what makes it so special and just kind of walk us through this beautiful build. Well, number one, I saw it for sale on the side of the road and I just really caught my eye right away. And so I was fortunate enough to be able to purchase this thing and that was like three years ago. And what's really special is the chassis on this thing. It's a 1979 K5 Blazer chassis and it's, which allows me to have power steering. It's got power steering, it's got disc brakes up front and it's really, and the high performance engine that has in it. So it's got a 383 stroker, right? Right. That's a crate engine from Summit Engine made by Blueprint and the previous owner had that put in and just recently we, my good friend of mine, Milo Bennett, rebuilt this engine. We put a roller cam in it. And he races cars, right? That's right. Yeah. He's part of the joint venture racing team. And so he really knows, he knows his engines and he, he built this thing from the ground up and it's just only been on the road for a couple of weeks. We did this as this past winter and it's only been on the road, not even really broken in yet. Well, what I love is I was driving behind the truck this morning and Don was on the way to the studio and this thing shakes the ground. I mean, it rumbles and it just really, it's not just a beautiful, flashy truck. You can back it up. It's got a three, a newer three speed in it, right? Right. It's a, while the engine was being rebuilt, I, I purchased a new rebuilt transmission. It's a, it's a turbo 350, which is very popular. Yeah. There's thousands and thousands of those out there. And it's, uh, I put that in at the same time I put a four shifter in it instead of the column shifter. So I really enjoy that too. I haven't seen the engine yet, so let's take a look at what you've got going on here. That is, that's beautiful. You know, having this engine out allowed me to paint the engine compartment, paint the engine and just did all the little things that I couldn't do with the engine in it. So that was kind of a blessing that was out of here all winter long. Yeah, you did a great job. After I purchased this thing, the first thing that I did to it was, uh, I installed a Holley Sniper AFI electronic fuel injection system, uh, super easy to install. And I did that myself and it's, uh, I've never regretted that since I've done it. And also, uh, the brake system was pretty tough on it. It was hard to stop, stop. So I did some research and I ended up putting a hydro boost brake system on it. And so that's, uh, that's another thing that I've never regretted doing. It's got an Edelbrock, uh, intake system on it. I put that on there and we rebuilt the engine, Milo Bennett, uh, rebuilt this from the ground up pretty much. And it's got a, uh, comp cams, uh, roller, roller cam in it. And it's all, uh, top of the line parts in it. Uh, all the bearings and bolts and everything is, uh, is the best that you can buy. So Don, obviously your truck has a very custom bed. So show us the details of what you've done here and tell us, uh, just tell us what makes it so special. Well, number one, I have all this Oak that I've been hanging on to for 40 years. And I, I decided to put the Oak flooring in here and I decided to go a little bit step farther and put some drawers and the hatches, the compartment in here, but I planned all the Oak and put channels in it and I'll show you here. Should I grab this side? Yeah. So anyway, this gives me some extra storage here and pull those out. And also built the hatches here. They, that gives me extra storage there. Very cool. Did you ever do cabinet work or trim work? No. It's always been kind of a, just a hobby for me doing woodworking and stuff. Yeah. Wow. Well that looks great. Thank you. Wow. Very cool. Well Don, thank you so much for showing us your 1959 Chevy Apache. I love your truck. I know my dad would love it. This thing's absolutely drop dead gorgeous. And make sure you guys like, subscribe, comment. If you have any questions, drop them down below and make sure you don't miss the next episode of IGM Auto. Thank you, Don. All right. Thank you very much.