First post - and questions, of course!
 

Hi, this looks like the place I have been looking for: A bunch of zany guys with great taste in trucks!

After much searching, I found and bought a 1983 C10 in the configuration I wanted. There seems to be little rust, but there's bound to be more I can't see. I want this truck to last for the long haul. What is the most efficient way to ensure it doesn't dissolve beneath me sooner or later? What is the minimum cost for a frame off restoration if I'm looking for functionality and not competition?

Thanks!

Another 83 hitting the road. Frame off is gonna cost you. I've got more than $4k in mine and it stills bad. It will take years too. I've been working on mine for 3+ years.
I say a good restoration is be close to $10k. I'd rather spend the $10k on one of these old pickups than pay over $25K for a new one.

Welcome to the board.

I have heard that spraying diesel all over the bottom of the truck keeps it from rusting. My friends grandpa uses oil that they spray on the roads on the bottom of his 77 from day one. Its amazing how solid the truck is. Its best not to drive the truck in the winter if they salt the roads. If they do make sure ou go to a car wash and wash everything underneath

Welcome friend
 

Yeap if ya got the cash do it G hit on the head IMO around 10k.

Welcome to our addiction :) G is right a good not show quality frame off will run $10K with quality parts installed. Don't go cheap on this you'll regret in later.

Thanks for the responses, guys.

I was in the bookstore today, and was reading a book on restoring old vehicles, and it mentioned a frame-on restoration for people who weren't interested in show.

The author said it was much, much cheaper and just as good at keeping it from rusting.

Any experience or thoughts on this? Also, I would like to add AC to my truck. I know on newer cars I can just get the condenser, evaporator, compressor, etc. from a junkyard and bolt it in, weld the piping, and go to a shop and have them charge it. But upon reading a restoration of a 60's musclecar, I saw it had a different firewall for AC and non-AC models.

How interchangeable were Chevy C10's?

Thanks again