frame off restore revisited

[jooooooe]

I was looking through the FAQ archives and there was a debate about frame off restores. I have an interesting angle on this, I started a frame-off on a '69 SWB about 6 years ago and am still battling this project. I did a partial restore on a '68 a few years early, a sort of "work as I drive" project, fortunately I'd bought that truck already solid and freshly painted. I just had to finish it, interior, chassis work, A/C installation, etc. About a year ago I was tired of not having an old C-10 to drive around in (since my restore was still in numerous pieces), so I bought a '69 LWB on E-bay and started toying with it as well as the 6 year old project. The LWB truck had some driveability issues that I wanted to fix and the only option this truck had was a horn but I didn't want to just fix these things (such as repairing the original drum brakes) I wanted to go ahead and upgrade as well. So what I did, fortunately the C-10 market isn't like the pre 70's Camaro market, in other words, you can buy a junk C-10 for $150, and I did.... I dismantled the junk truck on one Saturday, blasted, repainted and rebuilt the frame. The junk truck had a power stearing box on it and I upgraded to power disc brakes, replaced the original 6 cylinder 3 speed with a '92 RS motor and 200R4 trans. The frame, chassis dismantle and rebuild took about 5 working days. I rolled my truck into my shop, lifted the bed and body (I lifted the cab and front clip together, not insectioned), rolled the old chassis out of the way and rolled in the new chassis, took about 1 day. Since I opted to install a modern motor and accessories, I've actually spent more time chasing parts, odds and ends, than I have spent working on the truck. If I'd stayed with a original motor set-up I'd been done alot quicker. But either way, this is a frame-off chassis rebuild done buy your average Joooooe in less that 2 weeks. Of course, now the body work has to be done....#*! Always take pictures as you dismantle, and always have an extra vehicle (or 2) around for reference and parts. The junk truck, I salvaged $150 dollars worth of body bolts from it alone, so don't freak out about buying an extra truck for a couple hundred dollars.