some real nice before and after pics of a frame off resto
 

This shop in San Antonio does some real nice work.
Here's the link to the resto pics:

http://www.jefflilly.com/71%20TRUCK/71truck/page.html

That 71 is pretty sweet. Look;s like they do killer work..

That's an interesting restoration. It looks like they went to quite a bit of trouble to get the engine bay looking pretty bone stock and then they went to the trouble of eliminating the heater/AC box. Outside it's all pretty stock except the bed wood.

Looks like a pretty high $$$ restoration to me.

Very interesting and illustrative of what can be done with these trucks given the determination, cash and time. Definitley inspiring. Thanks.

WOW! very nice restoration!:bowtie:

That is definitely very cool to see people who do such wonderful work...(drool)

If anybody here is old enough to remember the musclecar boom of the late 80s early 90s, Lilly was the premier restorer of stupid premium cars for all of the rich speculators. Cars like 1 of 1 Hemi Dodges and stuff. He has no competition. I can hardy believe he wasted is time on one of these trucks.

I sure dont think that was a waste of time! if someone had money he had the time, sure is an interesting dual exhaust setup he went with though

Scroll through their site a little more. I like the part where the cheapest resto they've done is $45K. I wonder what it cost to resto the '71 in the photos? SC

Super restoration.............wonder how long it took from start to finish....

Times are tough all over I guess.:rolleyes:

Why so negative? :confused: The truck sure does look "purdy" and we should be glad of the diversity of the people who appreciate these trucks. Young, old, rich, poor, Texans, non-Texans, and on and on and on...:flag:

No CPNE, I looked all around the site and it said the cheapest project they ever did was 45k. It's pretty unusual for someone to spend that much money on one of these trucks. Hell, they did a Karmann Ghia too. Hard to swallow that kind of coin on a VW too.

When I was in high school, muscle cars came on real strong for all of the rich speculators. They bought up all of the rare and unusual cars and had wallet busting restorations done on them. Then, the market collapsed and they lost their tails on them. I remember seeing all of the Lilly restorations in the mags back then.

My point was he does multi hundred thousand dollar jobs all the time. Dollar wise, 71 longbed trucks aren't worth much compared to those cars.

I'm sure Reggie Jackson remembers the boom-to-bust car market very well. He was one of the more publicized celeb's that lost his shirt on the car collections.

I misunderstood the "spirit" of you post. I agree with you, but I think when you start spending "stupid" amounts of money on ANY vehicle, it's not a dollars and cents descision, it's an emotional one and it boils down to what you like. So the diverse vehicles being restored doesn't suprise me in the least. A client is a client from a business standpoint.

FYI, when I was in high school, the big 3 were building these muscle cars, and they went for under 5K:D

exhaust
 

I love that exhaust! Just now decided what I'll be using on my resto. I'm just kinda bored with the same ol duals out the back. My '68 has single 3" that exits out behind the drivers rear tire. My '71 GMC will be getting this treatment with the dual exhaust into a single dual in and out muffler, both pipes exiting the same side. I'm excited!

very sharp looking truck,, but looking at the before,, it wasnt too bad in the first place.... and on $$ to restore,, look at project copperhead.. I'm sure the price tag there is way up

As far as Copperhead, I am doing a lot of the same stuff to my truck (Almost exact except for the 572 big block) Mine will be around 20K to 25K. I just don't see how you can put that much into a resto unless you are buying all NOS parts or spending crazy money on a big block or blower.

Over the years we have done some 25-30 thousand dollar restorations but most are between 10-15. With the cost of dipping all the sheetmetal and media blasting the frame,front end and rearend, rebuilding the motor,trans and rear, new or restored parts etc and using PPG products it adds up quick. Most customers have close to 5 months and 8000.00 in the project before you ever start bolting it back together, just finished parts scattered between 3 buildings we occupy. They get a sick kinda "will it ever be done" feeling and want to inspect every invoice and part to justify the money spent to their wife. Then bang in 2 weeks all the parts are on and their driving their new truck with a big smile as they drive off into the Florida sunset and we begin another one. Will it ever end? I hope not.