If you had a "Do Over"?

[Sgt.Booya]

Couldn't find anything on a search directly in relation to this, but thought this might be an interesting thread.

Since hindsight is 20/20...... after completing your projects or even halfway through is there anything you've learned from experience that you would:

1) Do different?
2) More efficiently?
3) More cost effective?

Newbie, hoping to benefit from you're experiences, mistakes or general words of wisdom.

[ChevyDude]

Definately for me....I would have taken the cab off the frame and sandblased or bead blasted the frame. It would have been so much easier than the way I did it.

[Longhorn Man]

ummm... no delivering pizzas.



turned into this,

[Chevrolet4x4s]

Originally Posted by Longhorn Man

ummm... no delivering pizzas.



turned into this,

........When did that happen.....Did you repair it....looks only sheetmetal core support etc damage.
Shane

[Longhorn Man]

That, or woulda gotten divorced a loooooong time ago.

[matthufham]

bondo over rust and creative repairs suck, from previous owners. cut out the rust, and repair it with metal and a welder, no rivits, no glues, no overlapping panels covered in bondo. do it the right way.

[HeavyD]

Would save and buy a good truck with a good body. Bodywork is wayyy more expensive then just spending more on a better truck to start with. The GMC I just sold needed a new box, doors, front clip, floors, rocker panels, cab corners, cab supports, tailgate...not worth it. Unless there is sentimental issues attached or a person just really wants to have a challenge, don't start with a rustbucket.

[see ten]

Originally Posted by HeavyD

Would save and buy a good truck with a good body. Bodywork is wayyy more expensive then just spending more on a better truck to start with. The GMC I just sold needed a new box, doors, front clip, floors, rocker panels, cab corners, cab supports, tailgate...not worth it. Unless there is sentimental issues attached or a person just really wants to have a challenge, don't start with a rustbucket.

Hear Hear!!!

[woodchip]

Never started .

[Sgt.Booya]

ChevyDude I've been following your resto on this site, you're right it probably would have been easier to do it in a different order but at least your explaination seems logical...by the way I really like your truck........SWEET!!

LonghornMan, good god!!!!! That's a crying shame, holy crap! Hope you're OK brother.

HeavyD........unfortunately, that seems to be the first lesson I've already learned....of course you never seem to have the money or patience when you need it

What about lowering?? Would you go right to air bags, static drop or combo? Front disk brake conversion......swap from newer truck or get conversion "kit". Has anybody "acid dipped" a cab to bring it to bare metal? Just throwing a few ideas out there.

I know this is a wide open topic, just sort of looking for the smartest and dumbest things you've done?

[ChevyDude]

Originally Posted by Sgt.Booya

ChevyDude I've been following your resto on this site, you're right it probably would have been easier to do it in a different order but at least your explaination seems logical...by the way I really like your truck........SWEET!!

Thanks Sarge!!! I really didn't know I was going to get this involved in this truck...but what the heck...I'm in it now!

[shelby987]

That's a loaded question.....rust sucks......manual drum brakes are HORRIBLE!.....BUT......I like to tinker, and I guess it all depends on what you want out of the truck.....the goal is for it all to cost the same as buying new what I want the final product to be.....every time I turn my wrenchs these are the words I hear echo in my head "if you don't build it, is it ever really yours"
not to put down those who buy their toys.....congrates! Don't have the $$$ to do that myself, but I enjoy having something to wrench on anyway.....and the lay-a-way plan is best for me!

p.s. if I could, I would buy a built project, and a rust bucket.....but would I ever get to the rust bucket?

[Rokcrln]

Lets start at the begining, I have wanted a 71-72 SWB 2wd since I was 13yrs old. I bought everything else growing up even a 71 4x4 blazer because the price was right but never the SWB. That is till the week after I got Divorced and said to my self I deserve one and she hated lowered trucks. So the first one I went to look at was 100% complete and looked great. Went for a test drive, it drove and road great and when we hit the big rail road tracks it did not make a sound not even a squeek. So $7K later it was on my trailer headed home. Soon as it got home I built installed an air ride kit (keep in mind this was over 7yrs ago) and drove the cr@p out of it. Then I wanted to put in an AOD and keep on driving. One thing lead to another and one week later it was in bags and boxes down to a bare frame. That is when I noticed why he was in a hurry to sell it. Under the bondo the cab was ready to fall off the floor from so much rust and the motor ended up being a 305 not 350 like I was told. So I found a great cab and went to work on all kinds of things and 7 years later it has been moved 3 times and is still in boxes for the most part and has not seen the road since that last trip up the driveway 7 years ago.

So would I have changed anything you bet. I should have bought the Truck instead of the RING and gone crusing for a girl that liked that kind of thing. 4yrs later I found that girl and 1 truck,1 70 2wd blazer, 71 Bronco, and a Full tube chassie rockcrawler she just wants to know what we are going to work on next!

Kevin
LFD Inc.

[cableguy0]

I would have scrapped my truck and started with something that didnt need every single body panel and a cab and bed.Many thousands later my 72 is going bye bye. Donating its engine and trans to an 85lwb thats completely rust free.I have pretty much lost my @ss in my 72 and came to reality and decided i might as well part it out before i buy anything for it

[JAMESCHURCH13]

Originally Posted by Rokcrln

Lets start at the begining, I have wanted a 71-72 SWB 2wd since I was 13yrs old. I bought everything else growing up even a 71 4x4 blazer because the price was right but never the SWB. That is till the week after I got Divorced and said to my self I deserve one and she hated lowered trucks. So the first one I went to look at was 100% complete and looked great. Went for a test drive, it drove and road great and when we hit the big rail road tracks it did not make a sound not even a squeek. So $7K later it was on my trailer headed home. Soon as it got home I built installed an air ride kit (keep in mind this was over 7yrs ago) and drove the cr@p out of it. Then I wanted to put in an AOD and keep on driving. One thing lead to another and one week later it was in bags and boxes down to a bare frame. That is when I noticed why he was in a hurry to sell it. Under the bondo the cab was ready to fall off the floor from so much rust and the motor ended up being a 305 not 350 like I was told. So I found a great cab and went to work on all kinds of things and 7 years later it has been moved 3 times and is still in boxes for the most part and has not seen the road since that last trip up the driveway 7 years ago.

So would I have changed anything you bet. I should have bought the Truck instead of the RING and gone crusing for a girl that liked that kind of thing. 4yrs later I found that girl and 1 truck,1 70 2wd blazer, 71 Bronco, and a Full tube chassie rockcrawler she just wants to know what we are going to work on next!

Kevin
LFD Inc.

Dude not only are you like the meanest Faber. on this site your also an inspiration. Good luck in new love and old trucks. Peace.

[Orange]

I wouldn't have spent so much on paint and body - or (aka) I wouldn't have made my truck look so nice.

Sounds kind of crazy I know. Now I want just an old truck, kind of like I had, but somewhere in between nice and rough. It was almost perfect before I started. Could have slapped some flat black to it and been done almost.

Go for the big block if you don't have matching numbers. (I do...)

[wakeboarddrumma]

I would have had a manual, and rebuilt mine down to the frame, but mine is just a daily driver for me being 16, so i don't care.

[longhorn70gmc]

Originally Posted by Sgt.Booya

Couldn't find anything on a search directly in relation to this, but thought this might be an interesting thread.

Since hindsight is 20/20...... after completing your projects or even halfway through is there anything you've learned from experience that you would:

1) Do different?
2) More efficiently?
3) More cost effective?

Newbie, hoping to benefit from you're experiences, mistakes or general words of wisdom.

1) DO DIFFERENT: I would have kept my motor running when I rebuilt it in the longhorn back in 2001. Now, I can only hope it will come alive again when the time comes.
2) MORE EFFICIENTLY: I would have kept the 68 3/4 lwb and used it for parts for the longhorn and sold the Camaro and 78 duelly to have more money for the longhorn. It would have bin done sooner. I am almost to the end now.
3) MOST COST EFFECTIVE: I had free run of a Junk yard in EL Centro CA. I could of snagged alot of bed and undercarrage parts back then and saved alot of money.
I have enjoyed the chase of the parts! The knowledge from the people here has been a blessing!
Respectfully

[ratfreak88]

do different? not use motor mount frame brackets from a 77 c10 to put my BBC in my 72 c10, moved the motor too high and too far forward which means having to move tranny c-member and different drive shaft

[dwaite72lnghrn]

I would have done the body work myself. I farmed it out and have been disappointed since. 2 years and rust and paint bubbles everywhere. Problem was I talked to the old man and not the son that did the work. I would have been ahead of the game with a maaco job every 3 years than the job I got.
The thing you have to think about is what you want and how that falls into your needs. I have found that body work has become a great stress reliever, So if I look at the time only as means to the end I will loose my shirt. If I add my time as therapy I am ahead of the game.
edit: To do it right have a running vehicle and count on having it apart for 1 or more years. Plan on having it in pieces and think about the cost before you take the first panel off. Realize you will have a major chunk of you cash flow tied up in it and never get that out of it for 15 years. So many trucks are torn apart that will never be put back together and sold as a loss.

[Tropical Snowstorm]

If I had it to do over, I would have just put a big pile of cash in the front yard and light it on fire.

Nah... I would have more patience though. My truck was my first venture alone into the automotive and hot rod world. I always wanted a 72 cheyenne, so as soon as I could afford it, went out and got it. I thought it would be cool to have a hot rod truck, you know... tow a boat to the lake, run 13's, and get a lot of looks. In retrospect, I should have just kept it the nice clean truck it was and buy a Camaro like I eventually did anyways. I just ended up doing a lot of stuff twice because now I just want a truck, and I had a stroker motor and a trans with too much converter. Live and learn I guess. At least I had a low 12 second Camaro for almost nothing after swapping the drivetrain from the truck into it.

[wibilly]

stick to your plan or it will cost you unnessary time and money. ask me how i know.

[hgs_notes]

I should have left the hotter cam in and used a stall converter when I switched to the automatic. It's not as much fun to drive now. So I think I'm going to build a 383 stroker for it (with a stall converter).

I should have learned more about body work before I had someone do it. Not that I would have done the work myself, but because I would have known what needed to be done and done right.

I've had my truck for over 20 years and it was my dads and his dads before. During that time, I've learned about different things I like in a truck, technology has changed, parts availablity has changed, my family has changed, I've moved about a dozen times, been in the navy, etc, etc, etc.

My point is that I don't have to many regrets. Have I done things wrong or made mistakes, you better believe it. But at the time, I did what I could afford, or what was neccesary, or the classic "it was a good idea at the time". Most of us don't have the option to have our trucks thrashed over a week like in Overhaulin. We can't let our trucks sit at some body shop for months or even years so the body guy can work on it between other jobs. We can't use up both sides of the garage because the chassis gets one spot and the parts get the other (wives etc would like to park inside, especially if you have inclement weather, ie. Minnesota).

The kids on this board are great. They have the enthusiasm us older guys used to have and the huge advantage of boards like this that just weren't available back in 1985 when I graduated high school.

Some of these guys won't admit it, but they probably regret sitting and reading every post here and replying all day long when they should be out cleaning the pile of parts out of the bed and off the hood, clearing a path out of the garage and just work on it enough to take it for a ride.

HG

[Blue85]

I woould have found a frame, a cab and a title and built from there instead of spending 2000$ on a truck and then only using the cab and frame

[69ride]

I agree on the body comment. I f I had to start over I would have started with a good straight body