‘59 Chevy Stepside Rescued

By Mark Whitehead

I purchased the truck last October, after hearing there was one locally stored in a field for 2 to 3 years. My mate Lon Carter took me to view it. It was a sad sight (see photos), but I knew it was worth rescuing.

We towed it round to Lon’s, gave it a wash and were pleasantly surprised how well she came up. Upon closer inspection we soon discovered the electrics were in a terrible state; nearly all wires seemed to be red and the wiring under the dash was melted and burnt. However, with my friend’s help, I managed to get her running. Then it was back to my place where, basically, I ripped her to pieces.

In the past I’ve always paid others to do my projects, but this time I was determined to have a go myself. I’ve got plenty of mates on hand for advise, or to take over if I went wrong. The two main areas of rot were the front of the bonnet and the offside wing. I cut away all the bad metal and replaced it. The wood in the truck bed was also rotten, so that was replaced as well. When the woodwork was complete I finished the surface with about 11⁄2 litres of yacht varnish to give it a nice deep finish.

I wanted to try and go for the original stock look, as best as I could. I knew this truck was a very basic model, more a utility model and didn’t have chrome bumpers, grille or headlight surrounds. The original colour was a deep blue, which I thought this was a bit dull, so to lighten this up I ordered a special mix of Baby blue and chose Polar white for the bumpers, grill and other detailing. The paint was cellulose, which would be easier to use for a first-time sprayer such as myself. I painted inside the cab the same, as there isn’t much interior trim. When I did put the arm rests and seat back in they looked odd, being beige. I tried to order a re-upholstery kit, but we didn’t know what material the seat was made out of, so someone recommended an upholstery dye which you can spray. This was obtained from Frost auto restoration supplies (01706 658619) - and the stuff was really good. I have also replaced the weather stripping and rubber seals with new.

Probably the hardest part was getting my wheels and tyres. I didn’t want cross-ply tyres; neither did I want chrome or alloy wheels. Eventually I managed to locate a set of steel wheels which I had powder coated to match the paint-work. I was struggling to get hold of 10-inch hubcaps in this country, so I went on the Internet, to the USA Ebay.com site and typed in ‘hubcaps’. It came up with hundreds - all really cheap. I paid $11.50 for four hubs and $32.00 air shipping. They were with me a week later.

The engine turned out to be a 305 cubic inch V8 and not a 350ci as originally thought. This has been painted and mildly detailed. I replaced all the lights apart from the two front sidelights. I eventually sorted out the wiring after swatting up most nights. I was hoping to get her finished for this summer as I could have got to a few shows, but unfortunately that wasn’t to be.

I would like to thank Lon Carter and Iain Robinson for advising me when I got stuck, and also the Classic Chevy Club for helping me get a year-related number plate. Hopefully I will get to meet you all next season at one of your meets.