Poll : How are you buiding you truck?

[BP68]

Just wondering how people are going about building their projects. Are you doing all work yourself? Just farming out parts of the build? Too broke to continue right now? (Been there) Have a buddy who does bodywork? Or paying out the wazoo to have it done for lack of time/know how?

Personally I am trying to do as much as possible myself with help from a buddy. One area I have very little knowledge about is paint/body. And boy is that frustrating. I am currently at a standstill waiting my turn at my bodyman's shop. I am getting a great deal because I have been helping out and because he is friends with my Dad in law. However, he admits he stays too busy between a full time day job, and the side work at home. I sure wish I knew how to do paint and body. It is no fun waiting on someone else to get a task done.

[68chevy68]

100% all me. I did have a friend make me a filler panel for my dash. I don't have a brake or know how to use one. Other than that, It is all me. Thats why its not done.....lol

[LockDoc]

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I do almost all of my own work. I do have a friend that likes to do body work so I trade him help on his mechanic work for some body work. I am going to try and paint the '70 myself though. I also like to go to the local salvage yard and scrounge parts I can use. I consider myself pretty lucky, I have a lot of tools and equipment I have purchased over the last 20 years. That definately makes it easier. I have a lot of respect for guys that do most of their own work with a minimum amount of tools.

LockDoc

[odog]

I'm trying to do all my own work. Couple guys from work help sometimes, I think its an excuse to drink beer and get out of the house for them though. I don't know how to paint, but i am trying. I do my own stuff, but it doesn't mean its right. But it works

[stllookn]

I don't pay people to play golf for me and I don't pay them to work on my truck...I don't care how ugly either one gets...LOL!

[EyeH8the24]

doin all mine myself with a little help from friends,but we always swap out work ,my biggest problem is TIME!

[Mordachai]

Originally Posted by EyeH8the24

doin all mine myself with a little help from friends,but we always swap out work ,my biggest problem is TIME!

heh, my biggest problem is time as well.
Got to work to pay the bills and fund the truck project, doesn't leave much time to work on the truck.

But I do/can do almost all the work myself. I have painted before, but will need to buy a nice spray gun when I finally do get the truck primed for paint. Before that I have to cut out the rusty spots and weld in new patches.

But I did make the wild 1 piece front end in my Avatar all by my lonesome in my driveway! What I'd give for a real shop!

[whatnow123]

Other than the front end alignment and windsheild install, I have done all the work.

[Richard8971]

Short of the windshield install and interior, I have done everything myself. However I am one of those who people pay to restore thier rigs.

Given the cost of body/paint work these days, I sure as heck know I wouldn't pay to have it done!

D

[ChevLoRay]

My parents gave me the money.....

Seriously, Dad died last February, and the proceeds from the estate are the source of my funding. Kinda odd, thinking about it like this.

But the past 9 years have found me doing things for the kids (all 5) and that meant that I didn't have them for the truck. So, the estate money lets me pay someone for what I can't do...body and paint.

We all have our talents and our limitations. Recognizing which ones are worthy is not always easy.

[haysonj]

I love the mechanical part of it but because of the special paint I wanted I had someone else do that but I disassembled and reassembled the truck for him.

[bad6772]

I do all my own work...especially all the paint and body work...but there are some mechanical things i either, ask alot of questions...or try to get a freind to help...im one heck of a tool hoe....lmao

[wibilly]

doing it all! right now i'm building my engine, that includes my own machine work. so far i've learned to use the boring bar, honing machine rod machine and played a little with the crank grinder- polisher. knowledge is forever my truck is my school

[John Fabris]

On my blue/white 67, I did most of the work. The things that I farmed out were
1. Media blasting of all sheetmetal.
2. Rebuild of 7004r tranny
3. brought new 350 from Chevy
4. Final paint (blue/White).
5. Full exhaust by a local muffler shop.
6. Subtle custom cloth interior by shop.


Everything else I did (or had to quickly learn). Pretty much all of the details that I did not know, could be found on this website.

[Chevyholic]

I try to do as much myself as I can. I've only owned my truck for just under a year and have no prior experience, so I'm about as green as they come. Since "whoa" is more important that "go", I will farm out brake work until I get a little more experience, and so on. I'm enjoying the experience. My goal is to get this all down by the time my son is old enough and I can work with him on these old trucks.

[chevy one]

I try to do 93% myself. This is why I built a 30' by 48' shop out back. I have a 24' by 14' paint booth that takes 1/4 of my shop space. Just last month my uncle who is also an enthusiast, shelled out the cash for a 4 post lift for the shop. Wish I had the lift 20 years ago, might saved my back problems that now haunt me now. The only thing I cannot do is stitch the interiors. My wife love to sew, just need the heavy machine for her to do so. In the past I have sub out the exhaust but now with the lift I will be doing that myself. This is my passion bringing old Chevy back to life. Will continue to do so, as long as my body will let me. The main thing that holds me back is that old thing called cash flow, still looking for that money tree out back. Seams to evade me most of the time.

[LSGarage]

I'm doing as much of the work as I can. All of it by myself. That's why its been in the garage for 15+ years. When a family thing comes down my truck date gets cancelled. I have made some progress the last two years since I retired though. Everyone in my family continues to ask the same stupid question though. . . Why don't you just buy a new one?

[70cst]

Since I am mechanically challenged and I have two jobs I don't have the talent or tools to do the restoration myself and with my two occupations it leaves me little time to work on it even if I was able. This being the case it is being brought back to life by a restoration shop. My hats off to those who have the ability and talent to do the work themselves.

[OldCreek]

Everytime I pay someone to do a job for me, whether its on the truck or house, I think about how much I have to work my job to pay for it. So, I try to do what I can!

[SactoJim]

I've done most of mine myself except the things that I didn't have the equipment or expertise for (short block, seat restitch, tranny rebuild, fuel tank build, rearend rebuild).

You feel a huge amount of pride when you can stand back and look at a finished project that you did from the ground up.

[fnoblitt]

even by doing most everything i can myself, it's still costing lots of money. i replaced the rusted out body parts my self, but i'm not patient enough to do the finish block sanding, i paid for the machine work on the motor but i perfered to put it together my self. i had to pay an alignment shop to press in all the bushings and joints. the sandblaster i got from matco tools has paid for it's self over and over again. i'm over 1/2 way there

[Bob 68327]

Doing it all myself !!! can't afford to pay anyone else to do it !!!!!

[HomerJ]

Originally Posted by OldCreek

Everytime I pay someone to do a job for me, whether its on the truck or house, I think about how much I have to work my job to pay for it. So, I try to do what I can!

OldCreek,

I do that, too - but with a little twist. I guesstimate how many hours it would take me to do the job. I then multiply the number of hours by my regular hourly rate at work. If I paid myself at work to do the job, and that number is higher than the cost of a professional job, I strongly consider the professional route. Another factor that I consider is my ability to perform the work and/or having the tools and equipment to do a satisfactory job. Needless to say, there are some things that I choose to do myself where my formula doesn't indicate that it's cost-effective.

For example, I am going to have my 700r4 built professionally. I know that I could do it myself, but with my busy schedule and limited knowledge of auto trannys, the time to complete the build would be very long. Also, my confidence in my own work (being I have never rebuilt a transmission) would weigh heavily on my mind. If that work ended up not being as good as it needed to be, how much will it cost to either try to fix it myself or to have a professional perform the work the second time around? Finally, I consider all of the above and imagine that the work I did was not right or not good enough. I ask myself "what is it worth to me (in dollars) to not have to deal with all of those headaches and have confidence in my transmission?". If that number is more than it costs to have professional work performed, I generally have the pros do it.

I salute those that can do all of the work themselves. I envy you for your free time and owning (or being able to borrow) all of the tools and equipment to do it all.

HomerJ

[70C10Step]

I am doing 80% of my build. I have to get some things done by a shop when it comes to machine work or painting... Other than I plan to do all the work...

[corn]

Most of us do what we can & will have to pay to have the other parts done. I wouldnt look down on someone who doesnt have the resources to do it them selves, tools, time or talent. I havent paid to have anything done on my truck so far & hope that I dont have to. Too broke for that...