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Restorations can be very expensive and as anyone who has done this before will tell you, mis-steps are highly probable and can be very expensive. Two things that impact that phenomena are determining your Restoration philosophy, and determining your level of expertise at the onset. Decide right away how much of the work you are willing to do versus how much is going out to be done by someone else. Write these things down and determine a course of action right away. Several things impact good decisions at the onset. For example:
1) What are your expectations for the finished truck? A concourse show truck? An occasional parade and occasional weekend driver? A Solid Daily Driver?
2) How fast do you want this truck to go? Newer vehicles this isn't a big factor, but on the Advance Design series, the top end of a stock truck is arguably about 50 miles per hour.
3) Does Preservation enter in to your decision making process? Better paint process, stainless hardware, stainless bumpers, etc, more solid engine and drive train choices, etc.
4) How much of this are you doing yourself? Painting, Welding and Fabrication and Machine Shop Skills will save you a lot of money.
There is much to think about before embarking on the restoration of your truck. Be realistic in your expectations and your understanding of cost. The most important thing to remember is do NOT put a time frame on this project. Let it take however long it takes to fully address each subsystem. You will get very frustrated if you start putting time limitations on your project. Something worth mentioning again.. Truck Restoration is not a cheap hobby. A fully restored perfect condition show quality stock truck as of this writing is going for about $35,000 at Auction. A Resto-Mod version may go for a little higher. You will spend more than that to get that truck to the point where it sells for that much. For most of us, it is a money pit and not a money maker. We do it for the love of the hobby, not for the financial gain. Use the Notebook mentioned in Tip 1 and reason all of this out. Do a walk-around inspection of the truck and write down everything that is apparent to you and be assured that list will get longer as you get deeper into it. Ask all the questions that you need to ask to fully understand each subsystem as you organize the steps required to move forward in an organized, thoughtful process.
Bonus Tip! Lots of very talented people over at Stovebolt.com when you can't find what you are looking for here. Use the vast resources available to you. Check out the resources page here:
http://devestechnet.com/Home/Resources
and all over the Internet as well as some very important finds in your local area. Don't forget to write it down in your Notebook!
1) What are your expectations for the finished truck? A concourse show truck? An occasional parade and occasional weekend driver? A Solid Daily Driver?
2) How fast do you want this truck to go? Newer vehicles this isn't a big factor, but on the Advance Design series, the top end of a stock truck is arguably about 50 miles per hour.
3) Does Preservation enter in to your decision making process? Better paint process, stainless hardware, stainless bumpers, etc, more solid engine and drive train choices, etc.
4) How much of this are you doing yourself? Painting, Welding and Fabrication and Machine Shop Skills will save you a lot of money.
There is much to think about before embarking on the restoration of your truck. Be realistic in your expectations and your understanding of cost. The most important thing to remember is do NOT put a time frame on this project. Let it take however long it takes to fully address each subsystem. You will get very frustrated if you start putting time limitations on your project. Something worth mentioning again.. Truck Restoration is not a cheap hobby. A fully restored perfect condition show quality stock truck as of this writing is going for about $35,000 at Auction. A Resto-Mod version may go for a little higher. You will spend more than that to get that truck to the point where it sells for that much. For most of us, it is a money pit and not a money maker. We do it for the love of the hobby, not for the financial gain. Use the Notebook mentioned in Tip 1 and reason all of this out. Do a walk-around inspection of the truck and write down everything that is apparent to you and be assured that list will get longer as you get deeper into it. Ask all the questions that you need to ask to fully understand each subsystem as you organize the steps required to move forward in an organized, thoughtful process.
Bonus Tip! Lots of very talented people over at Stovebolt.com when you can't find what you are looking for here. Use the vast resources available to you. Check out the resources page here:
http://devestechnet.com/Home/Resources
and all over the Internet as well as some very important finds in your local area. Don't forget to write it down in your Notebook!