How long did it take you to build you truck?

[BP68]

Hey all,
I was just getting discouraged on my 68 build. It seems like it is taking forever. Going on 4 years 7 months, planned to be finished this December 06.
Still no body on frame, but getting close, and should see paint on firewall in the next couple of weeks.

I was just wondering how long it took some of y'all to finish yours.
Pls include a before and after pic if you have time.

Thanks

[jmking9]

I know what youre going through. Ive been working on my 72 for what seems like an eternity (3 years)It would go so much faster if these weren't all these incoveniences like work, wife, etc getting all my time instead of the truck. But Ive been making good progress recently. So dont give up i think the majority of us are in the same boat.

[71SWBChevy]

Going on a year and a half and just have a rolling frame, you can check out the link in my sig if you want. I am hoping to be finishing up this time next year but that is probably a little optimistic.

[RSRXION]

2 years invested in my Mach 1 that you see in my avatar. I paid a professional to do the ground up rotisserie resto. Much of my time was spent trying to find just the right parts for the build. Don't give up, don't half ass it and don't get in a hurry. It'll be worth it in the end. Good luck !

[trkklr77]

im 2 months in and almost done. but im easy to please and not after any thing nice or extreme, it looks like hell and will look like hell for a long time, but it will go fast and will all blur together anyways.

all i have left now is
rear axle,
drive shaft,
update wiring for hei and newer alt,

the rest is just nit picky crap.

[trkklr77]

Originally Posted by trkklr77

im 2 months in and almost done. but im easy to please and not after any thing nice or extreme, it looks like hell and will look like hell for a long time, but it will go fast and will all blur together anyways.

all i have left now is
rear axle,
drive shaft,
update wiring for hei and newer alt,

the rest is just nit picky crap.

welp, time for a recap. im 99% done on the wiring and everything else has been taken care of. 4.5 months anit too bad for a no motor,tranny, susp, drive axle, truck. i had a few issues dealing with the starter and tranny but life caused delay that dragged things out for a while.

any way here are some motivational pics

[trkklr77]

inside for now

[HuggerCST]

Originally Posted by BP68

Hey all,
I was just getting discouraged on my 68 build. It seems like it is taking forever. Going on 4 years 7 months, planned to be finished this December 06.
Still no body on frame, but getting close, and should see paint on firewall in the next couple of weeks.

I was just wondering how long it took some of y'all to finish yours.
Pls include a before and after pic if you have time.

Thanks

The world may never know! I started on mine 6 years ago, made some progress, (engine, suspension, cab), but money and time held me up. I've been collecting parts and working on it whenever I can, and finally have 99% of the parts, and some time to work on it. My goal now is spring/summer of '07. I read somewhere that the average is four years for people that do their own restorations.

[al's71gmc]

We spent about 3 years on my son's truck, but most of the work was done in the last 4 months. I got a chunk of $$ to buy most everything we needed and then we spent ALOT of time working on it. My paint/body guy turned it out in 3 1/2 weeks, so that helped. We had the $$, the time, people helping, and great tech support from this site. Keep after it, and post progress pics. Set reasonable goals and timelines for yourself. Best of luck to you. It will be worth the wait!!

[67chevy2wd]

I wouldn't worry about having a planned time to have it done because I have found out you can't meat it doing it yourself. I got my 69 in the fall of 04 and only almost have the rust fixed. I thought it would be done by now 8 month ago LOL. I lost interest for a whole 7 days off and that hurt big time, and then you take into account all the time I helped around the farm I didn't have as much time to work on it as I thought. Now it is cold out so I am done until spring . It has been fun and I just keep dreaming about the day it will be done and the heads I will turn

[nandress]

Originally Posted by BP68

Hey all,
I was just getting discouraged on my 68 build. It seems like it is taking forever. Going on 4 years 7 months, planned to be finished this December 06.
Still no body on frame, but getting close, and should see paint on firewall in the next couple of weeks.

I was just wondering how long it took some of y'all to finish yours.
Pls include a before and after pic if you have time.

Thanks

Never, ever get discouraged!!!! Keep in mind, the journey is half the fun for some of these projects. Yes, at times it seems like nothing is happening and you will never see the end of the tunnel. But I guarantee, you will never kick yourself when it is finished...you will always regret giving up on it!

If your current goal isn't attainable, reassess the situation and set a new goal. My dad and I wanted to start our engine for the first time last weekend, but realized that we would be taking a short cut on plumbing if we did and decided that it would be better to wait a couple more weeks. In your case, if you don't finish your project this year, by late next year you can give your truck its 40th birthday present in style!!

Oh, and in my case: I got my driver's license in 1990 and got to thinking about what we could fix on the truck each time we did an oil change. In 1992, the bed came off and the project started in earnest. Count those years, and you will see that I have never given up. My dad is the most impatient person who has been consistently discouraged with our pace all this time, yet in December we will be damn near finished. And that is the happiest thing to realize.

[abadsvt]

I have a question for everyone who has taken more than 1 year to build. How often did you or have you worked on your truck? Has there been a big delay trying to scrape up the money to buy the parts you need to advance? Or have you been working on it a couple times a week and at least 1 day on the weekend? Just curious.

Josh

[nandress]

Originally Posted by abadsvt

I have a question for everyone who has taken more than 1 year to build. How often did you or have you worked on your truck? Has there been a big delay trying to scrape up the money to buy the parts you need to advance? Or have you been working on it a couple times a week and at least 1 day on the weekend? Just curious.

Josh

Are you kidding...at least 1 day on the weekend??

You should mean at least once a month!!!! It may sound nuts, but sometimes you have to step away from your project for a while to clear your head!! And saving up to buy a part is a fact of life, my friend!! But if you feel you must always be accomplishing something, spend a little time sitting on a stool looking at it, and you will feel much better!!

[Billla]

Originally Posted by abadsvt

I have a question for everyone who has taken more than 1 year to build. How often did you or have you worked on your truck? Has there been a big delay trying to scrape up the money to buy the parts you need to advance? Or have you been working on it a couple times a week and at least 1 day on the weekend? Just curious.

Josh

I work on my truck at least once a week, and the barriers are:

• Space; I need a working garage for other short-term projects and I have a long-term Corvette rebuild going on at the same time. This means I have about 1 stall for work...and even that needs to be available sometimes for maintenence on other vehicles.
• Time; I have a day job
• Money; My '72 does take a back seat to other projects, so it doesn't recieve a lot of my "garage money"
• Help; I always hoped as my kids got older they'd be more interested in cars, but hasn't been the case. There are a lot of things that take 2 people, and I don't have a "car buddy" to help with most of the time.

I'm comfortable with the pace

[wibilly]

mine would have only taken a few monthsif i never found this site. i planed on just making it safe and dependable and look decent but!!! now has 4 wheel discs ,40 gal sub. fuel tank ,van tilt tach dash all new seal bearings gaskets all front end parts, new two tone paint the list goes on and on. i'm closing in on 1 year with no work on it for the last two months. time to gather more marbles. i tilll have two months workand thats treating it like a job working on it 60 hours a week i have gathered some parts needed for three more trucks cause one truch wont serve all my needs 4 probably won't eather cause now i'm hooked

[67ChevyRedneck]

I bought my truck in September 1996. So a good 10 years Drove it the way you see it for a long time. Started a mild "at home" rebuild in Feb. of this year. Here's where it's at as of 2 weeks ago.

[sleepyboy]

Going on 3 years..hoping to be done in a year. New motor,trans, read end 5 bolt posi, tilt column, door solenoids, digital dash, lowered, exhaust, 1 peice windows..NEEDS paint next...

[centsless]

4 months,$7000.00,three trucks, every day from 4pm til 10 pm, all day on weekends. Bought most of the parts at once,drove to SC for another truck to use the bed, had a lot of help. My dad did the bodywork,his work did the paint, I did the disassembly and re assembly with some help from friends and family. And of course, it would not have been at all possible without the help and support of my wife. She took care of my 4 children and the household stuff while I played in the garage.

[weasle]

Hang in there. We all know what you're going through.

[lpaine]

Well, I'm hoping to get my swb 68 done by my 50th birthday (I'm 44 now) and right now it's just a collection of parts. Hang in there, remember it's like eating an elephant, one bite at a time.

[John Fabris]

It took me 7 years to go from this, (not running when I got it)



to this, (and I still don't have the interior done)



Just ahng in there and break the truck project down into many small goals/Tasks, and list those task on the wall, and just try to do one or two tasks at a time....

[speedracer]

My vette took 2 years to go from frame to show winner. And my truck will be 10 years and counting on Nov 5th

[Yukon Jack]

Here is before and after.







I'm still not done yet, still little things to do, one being designing and having a front bumper built.

Once I got into tearing the truck down for a BBC swap and then completely tearing the truck down, it took me about 3 years to get it to where it is now. Unfortunately I rarely get to work on my truck for more than an hour or two. I usually get out to the shop only after the kids are asleep and house stuff is done. When I'm deep in a project I might get out 3 times a week but there are often times when weeks go by without being able to pick up a wrench. When you are doing a big project, that makes them take forever!

I don't try to make a schudule cause that just causes frustration. These truck projects have definitely taught me to be patient!

[john]

I took one year from start to finish. The cab was the only thing I didnt remove. The transmission was the only part that wasnt gone through.

[bryanw1968]

Don't sweat it. People do projects in different time frames. That's just the way it is. I know people that will get something and not drive it til it's done. I on the other hand have been driving a working project for over 6 years. I never seem to have $10,000 and 6 months straight lying around so I just do a little here and there when I have the time and money. Plus, you might get bored if you busted it out too quickly and didn't have money to start another project. Consider yourself lucky to have a project. A lot of people either will never have a chance to get one nor the aptitude to complete one if they did have one. All in good time.........

Here is my non-finished project that I have easily dropped $14k into!

http://public.fotki.com/bryanw1968/