Last week in Overdrive’s weekly Pride & Polish video series, A.J. Field’s 1969 Peterbilt 358 square hood's appearance at the American Truck Historical Society’s Annual Convention & Truck Show back in June turned plenty heads.
But his isn't the only ’69 358 in the Field household. His wife, Casey, also owns a rig of the same vintage, though hers has undergone more of a transformation than her husband’s, as shown in the video up top.
Casey’s 358 is also a needenose rather than a square hood. In the 1960s, Peterbilt’s Model 358, introduced in 1965, was the first Peterbilt conventional with a tilting hood. It was available in both the needlenose and square-hood variety.
Casey FieldPhotos by Matt Cole unless otherwise noted
The truck's not unique just for approaching 60 years old, but it also was stamped wrong from the factory, Casey said. “I’ve got the build sheet, and it has 358 on it, but the stamp on this, the serial number is not. It says 352,” a cabover, not the conventional we can all see with our own eyes.
[Related: 1977 Peterbilt 352 was owner's 22nd birthday gift, with custom resto by Peasterbilt]
The finished product, shown here at the 2026 Mid-America Trucking Show, is certainly a looker. The video up top was captured at the ATHS show a couple months later.A.J. Field
Closer look at the styling with hood up.
During the Fields’ now 10 years of ownership, Casey said they “kind of bounced around from shop to shop” until a friend of theirs, Cash Rainer, told them to take it to his shop “and we’re going to do it ourselves,” she said. “From that point on, it took us nine months” to finish the build.
The issue they encountered most often: when the truck was first produced, nearly everything was fabricated at the factory rather than produced on an assembly line, so a lot of what they tried to use for the rig simply didn’t fit.
Among the biggest mods: adding eight inches to the front of the frame to fit a Cat 1693 engine, replacing the Cummins.
The engine’s coupled with a 5-and-4 transmission.
The Fields also dropped the back axle and put an air leaf suspension under the rear.
Rainer helped find an original Peterbilt sleeper from the time period to add -- “not in the best shape,” Casey said, so they had to reskin it.
The back of the sleeper features folded stainless to give it a vintage look.
One of Casey’s favorite features on the truck is the roof-mounted air conditioner box, though it’s nonfunctional. The guts of the original box on the roof were "no good, and finding the parts for the guts is almost impossible,” she said. “So we ended up just taking it to a fab guy” and having it replicated and made out of steel.
[Related: Add your truck to Overdrive's 'Reader Rigs' showcase]
Deciding on a color scheme, Casey knew she wanted green, her favorite color. The truck was alrady green when they got it, a different shade than what it is today. She searched for 358 and needlenose colors online and found the green she wanted.
The interior comes well-appointed after reworking by BMR Custom Interiors in Paris, Texas.
The light brown/tan, too, Casey said, “is timeless, so if this ever gets repainted, anything happens to it, the interior is going to go with it. It doesn’t matter what it is. So I tried to stick with something like that. I love the lighter colors. It just looks so bright, looks so clean and fresh.”
She tried to keep it all as close to period-correct as possible, though the Fields did add some modern comforts like air-ride seats. If she and A.J. ride in it together, they “both want to sit on air ride,” she said.
Field credited a host of people who helped get the build done, including Rainer and her husband, A.J.
New Mexico-based Shane Durkin did a lot of the big fabrication work, along with Flusche Enterprises, including stretching the frame and hood to fit the engine.
For now, Casey said at ATHS in June, the truck is a “trailer princess” because the engine still needs to be seated and some leaks fixed here and there to get it road ready.
[Related: The ultimate Christmas present: A.J. Field's 1969 Peterbilt 358]
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Casey Field: It's a 1969. It's a 358. There's a whole side story to that. It was stamped wrong from the factory, which is totally crazy. I've got the build sheet, and it has 358 on it, but the stamp on this, the serial number is not; it says 352. So that's kind of cool, you know? Fun fact, but.
I'm Casey Field. I'm from Breckenridge, Texas. We have one truck that we run. We have a landscaping irrigation company. So we have one truck that we run trees, rock, sod, all that. But that's, as far as like, we don't own a trucking company. My husband and I just both really love vintage things. Peterbilt happens to be one of those things.
We got it from a guy in Kansas. It originally was from Wyoming, and they did, well drilling with it. It was a day cab. Really, the major changes that we did to it, we added eight inches to the front of the frame to put the 1693 in it, because it had a Cummins in it, and the back axle was dropped and we put air leaf on the back.
We put vintage air in it. The box on the top is just for looks. I love the way that it looks. It did not have a sleeper on it. So, we found an original Peterbilt sleeper and had to reskin it, and it was not in the best shape. But having the Peterbilt and you know, that swoop on the top was worth all the pain and suffering.
The colors, like I said, it was green when we got it, but I love green. It is my favorite color. So we stuck with green, on top of the fact that it was green when we got it, and came up with the paint scheme looking through, I just started Googling 358. Yeah. Or needle nose, you know, and just kind of trying to see what would come, you know, what was pretty era correct then.
And this I saw this multiple times. So that's kind of what we went with. And yeah, TikToks or whatever you would, could find. Yeah.
Overdrive: When I was walking around, I couldn't help but notice the interior. You know, it's immaculate. Kind of want me through the thought process behind that color and just everything that went into.
Casey Field: The color for me is timeless. So if this ever gets repainted, if it ever anything happens to it, the interior is going to go with it, it doesn't matter what it is. So I tried to stick with something like that. I love the lighter colors. It just looks so bright, looks so clean and fresh. So that's kind of what we went with as far as that's concerned.
I tried my best to stay, you know, somewhat period-correct in there. I mean, obviously the seats are not but, if we're both going to be in the truck, we both want to sit on an air-ride seat.
So right now, it's a trailer princess. The motor does need to be seated. It needs to be run. You know, there's leaks and things that are starting to pop up just because it hasn't been, it hasn’t got hot enough to do anything, you know? So we'll have to run it up and down the road at some point. I don't know when that's going to be, but yeah, maybe we can find somebody with a dyno or something and put it on there and get it broke in, but yeah.
