Where do I even start?

[Thatguywithaneye]

Pictures of the truck:

https://imgur.com/gallery/XcHVF

So I inherited this truck and I really want to do a restoration on it. My grandfather restored it back in the 90s and now he wants me to have a go at it. As he got older the trucks condition declined and it lived at our cabin for a majority of my life. Its the 72' Sierra Grande with the 350 in it. I'd love to do as much of the work as I can, but I've never tackled something like this before.

It runs and drives, but it could definitely use a tune up. I bought an haynes owner manual and I have some other books to. I just don't even know where to begin. How much is this going to cost? I have about 15k to put into it.

Any suggestions for first time restorations would be awesome!

Thanks.

[In The Ten Ring]

OMGosh, you are me! I have almost the exact same story, except it was my dad's truck and it's not nearly as nice or as optioned as yours.

OK.....let's break this down.

1). It runs and drives. That's pretty huge.

2). So what do you want? You typed "tune up." If that's all you want then you could be looking at as simple a thing as new spark plugs and maybe a points check. You could be looking at as complicated as a gas tank "renew," new fuel lines, and carb rebuild, new spark plugs, points check, new spark plug wires, new battery cables, new radiator, new hoses, etc. *None of this is very hard to do (I've done it all alone, just with help from this site).

3). You have some body rust, especially around the tool box, and the tool box lid isn't straight. You could be looking at significant body panel repair (welding and painting) which will be expensive.

You've got to give us more info. Do you want to get rid of the rust also?

*Love the story, truck, and paint.

PS: I could view all your pics on that link, you might want to change the privacy settings.

[Zeroman]

Like Ten Ring said, if it drives that's a huge plus.

There are countless newbies who want to tackle everything at once, and most of those restorations end in disaster. Not saying yours would, but most do.

Make a list of the things you want to accomplish. Then prioritize the list based on safety, cost, and time required to accomplish.

The major items on the list might be engine, transmission, differential, fuel system, braking system, cooling system, suspension, power steering, electrical system including gauges.

Do a search on the Forum for the Service Manual for your truck, and download it. It's in pdf format. It will be a wealth of knowledge for you.

Everyone wants their truck to look good, but a solid drive train, and braking system, is a solid must.

In the "looking good" categories would be condition of the paint, rust issues, missing trim items, lens replacement, panel alignment. The rust and paint issues can be very expensive, so try to hold off on these until the truck is mechanically sound.

The interior seems to be the place where people try to make things look good first, but resist the urge. You need a solid foundation for your truck first. Just like building a house...if the foundation is bad, the house will eventually fall apart.

I would make sure the motor and transmission are in working order.

As you stated give it a tune up....plugs, wires, distributor cap, points, etc.

Do a complete fluid/filter replacement...motor oil, transmission fluid, brake fluid, differential fluid, coolant, fuel filter, power steering fluid, etc. If you can, do not just drain and replace fluids such as coolant and power steering, do a flush of the system.

Once you get the drive train working properly I would address the braking system...replace brake pads, shoes, drums or rotors as needed. Make sure it stops because a truck with all GO, and no SLOW, is not a good thing.

You can source parts for these trucks from all major auto parts stores, online vendors like Rockauto.com, and the vendors who cater to these trucks exclusively. Figure out the parts you need before you need them, do your research on price and availability, and you can save a great deal of money. I utilized a bunch of coupons from places like Advanced Auto, O'reilly's, etc. You know, like "Save $50 when you buy $200", coupons. Vendors always seem to have sales around holidays. I saved tons using these sales.

I created a spreadsheet with a "Need To Do List" including a list of the parts I needed, a "Want To Do List", again with the parts required, along with best price and vendor listed. Then, if a coupon, or sale, came up I was able to determine if I could save additional $ using that sale, or coupon.

This spreadsheet also kept my budget for my build, and showed me when I was letting the budget get out of hand...which it definitely did. Like I always say, "I'm a professional adult, I know what I'm doing."

Hope this helps.

Just remember, your truck is YOUR TRUCK. Do what you want to do to it. Take it a far as you want to go. There a Forum Members who have spent thousands on their trucks, and those who have spent just hundreds.

Go out and make it your own.

[In The Ten Ring]

Zeroman really got into it there, and all true.

Do you have a place to do this sort of thing? Do you have your own garage that you can devote to this? You also need to be able to store body parts in your house.

I realize that sounds nuts but it happens. My garage is rather small, so I have had NOS parts, repainted parts, the grill assembly, repainted fenders (fenders are not small or light) in my house. At the moment I have a few parts in boxes plus two rear fenders (stepside) in my house. The fenders take up 2/3 of a bed. I have three repainted body parts at my parents' house in their garage.

I live alone so I can do this......

[franken]

Change all the fluids. Oil, rad, brake, trans, diff.
Fix the brakes
Rebuild the front end.
Fix engine oil leaks
New tires.
Fix the tool box.
Check the floor, cab corners, rockers for rot.

[Thatguywithaneye]

Originally Posted by In The Ten Ring

OMGosh, you are me! I have almost the exact same story, except it was my dad's truck and it's not nearly as nice or as optioned as yours.

OK.....let's break this down.

1). It runs and drives. That's pretty huge.

2). So what do you want? You typed "tune up." If that's all you want then you could be looking at as simple a thing as new spark plugs and maybe a points check. You could be looking at as complicated as a gas tank "renew," new fuel lines, and carb rebuild, new spark plugs, points check, new spark plug wires, new battery cables, new radiator, new hoses, etc. *None of this is very hard to do (I've done it all alone, just with help from this site).

3). You have some body rust, especially around the tool box, and the tool box lid isn't straight. You could be looking at significant body panel repair (welding and painting) which will be expensive.

You've got to give us more info. Do you want to get rid of the rust also?

*Love the story, truck, and paint.

PS: I could view all your pics on that link, you might want to change the privacy settings.

That’s awesome man! I appreciate all the feedback. I will definitely start with those things. I’m looking to do the full restoration and I have a guy who can do the bodywork and the paint. I just gotta get it up to par mechanically! Thank you for all your help.

What’s your trucks story?

[PanelDeland]

Step back. Start with a Plan. You need to know what the truck needs and plan on how to get there. Start with the runs, drives, Stopping is a high priority, steering and reliability. Make a plan so you have a guide to stick to and don't do things that may be "out of sequence".

[In The Ten Ring]

Originally Posted by Thatguywithaneye

That’s awesome man! I appreciate all the feedback. I will definitely start with those things. I’m looking to do the full restoration and I have a guy who can do the bodywork and the paint. I just gotta get it up to par mechanically! Thank you for all your help.

What’s your trucks story?

My truck's story will blow you away....actually three men were killed in my truck, by police and SWAT during the bank heist it was involved in.



OK I have seen "Heat" one time too many. Seriously though, a high speed chase and police had a role in me coming to own my truck.

When I was about 10 years old my father sat down next to me holding a Walther P38 pistol. He said "your brother gave your mother and I a lot of trouble with drinking, smoking, and probably even some drugs. I tried the rough way with him but beating him half to death didn't make him stop so with you I will try something different. If you can make it to 21 years without ever drinking, smoking, dipping snuff, chewing tobacco, or trying drugs of any kind including pot, you can have your choice of this pistol or my 1972 Chevy truck...if your brother doesn't want it. I still feel a need to give him the chance to get the truck." (My brother moved out when he was 17).

See the first car my bro ever had was a 1969 Ford Torino GT 4 speed he bought off a used lot with the money he had saved delivering papers. He was 16 at the time. Dad and my uncle put a 351 Cleveland engine into that car. Well my bro started drinking (he was a functional alcoholic for decades) around age 12 and he was drunk driving coming home from work in that car when local PD tried to pull him over. He said "I shifted down to 2nd gear and those blue lights just faded away."

Problem was county deputies had set up a road block and an officer was standing in the one open lane. At 120 mph my brother wasn't stopping, he said "I figured the cop would move and he did." The cop had to leap for his life as my brother would have run him down. He so screwed up their road block it took some time to catch up with him and he had hidden the car by then. He figured "they don't know who it was" but they did know the car....the next day he tried to sneak back home but "cops came out of the woodwork" and pulled him over. He was a rough guy, carried a billyclub, shank, brass knuckles (and used all these fairly often) and they lined up the felonies on his hood. He ended up threatening one of the cops and resisting when one of the locals slapped him.

Fortunately for him (attempted murder of a police office is a serious charge) they "gave him a good workout" as that department was known to do back in those days (and my brother deserved a good workout, he could have killed someone running from the cops like that). They so bruised him up mom got a great lawyer who "got those 6 felony charges reduced to a speeding ticket" and that was that. He paid the speeding ticket and the first officer to chase him invited him into his living room and asked "just what the hell do you have under that hood? My Dodge 440 couldn't touch you!"

So that is how I came to own my truck....dad bought it new off the lot in 1972 and he couldn't control my brother's bad behavior. Also my brother was driving it and it had a bad ground, causing all the lights to come on when you hit the brakes. He demanded dad take the truck back. So I have the truck now.

In case you are wondering, I never had to lie to dad. I have never tried any illegal drugs, not even pot, ever. I didn't taste alcohol until I was 23 and I had a brandy on an Airbus 340 at 37,000 feet over Saudi Arabia. I tried a cigarette for the hell of it when I was 22. I don't smoke and I drink very rarely. Oh and that brandy I had was a big mistake! Back then airlines treated you like you were somebody and that stewardess had the hard stuff. Not having a clue what I was doing and not wanting to look stupid I just blurted out the first drink name that came to mind (from a movie of course). "Give me a brandy!" Geeze.....I guess that's why the airlines gave you orange juice

[Thatguywithaneye]

Wow thank you for the tips!! I really do appreciate all the help. You can see why this is overwhelming, but this definitely helps to slow things down to a manageable place. I really like the spreadsheet idea so I think I’m definitely going to try that! I have all of the receipts from the previous restoration Too.

Do you know if a leaky transmission is common on these trucks? My grandpa rebuilt the current transmission 3 times because it kept leaking and it still does. It just loses all the ATF in a week or so.

Originally Posted by Zeroman

Like Ten Ring said, if it drives that's a huge plus.

There are countless newbies who want to tackle everything at once, and most of those restorations end in disaster. Not saying yours would, but most do.

Make a list of the things you want to accomplish. Then prioritize the list based on safety, cost, and time required to accomplish.

The major items on the list might be engine, transmission, differential, fuel system, braking system, cooling system, suspension, power steering, electrical system including gauges.

Do a search on the Forum for the Service Manual for your truck, and download it. It's in pdf format. It will be a wealth of knowledge for you.

Everyone wants their truck to look good, but a solid drive train, and braking system, is a solid must.

In the "looking good" categories would be condition of the paint, rust issues, missing trim items, lens replacement, panel alignment. The rust and paint issues can be very expensive, so try to hold off on these until the truck is mechanically sound.

The interior seems to be the place where people try to make things look good first, but resist the urge. You need a solid foundation for your truck first. Just like building a house...if the foundation is bad, the house will eventually fall apart.

I would make sure the motor and transmission are in working order.

As you stated give it a tune up....plugs, wires, distributor cap, points, etc.

Do a complete fluid/filter replacement...motor oil, transmission fluid, brake fluid, differential fluid, coolant, fuel filter, power steering fluid, etc. If you can, do not just drain and replace fluids such as coolant and power steering, do a flush of the system.

Once you get the drive train working properly I would address the braking system...replace brake pads, shoes, drums or rotors as needed. Make sure it stops because a truck with all GO, and no SLOW, is not a good thing.

You can source parts for these trucks from all major auto parts stores, online vendors like Rockauto.com, and the vendors who cater to these trucks exclusively. Figure out the parts you need before you need them, do your research on price and availability, and you can save a great deal of money. I utilized a bunch of coupons from places like Advanced Auto, O'reilly's, etc. You know, like "Save $50 when you buy $200", coupons. Vendors always seem to have sales around holidays. I saved tons using these sales.

I created a spreadsheet with a "Need To Do List" including a list of the parts I needed, a "Want To Do List", again with the parts required, along with best price and vendor listed. Then, if a coupon, or sale, came up I was able to determine if I could save additional $ using that sale, or coupon.

This spreadsheet also kept my budget for my build, and showed me when I was letting the budget get out of hand...which it definitely did. Like I always say, "I'm a professional adult, I know what I'm doing."

Hope this helps.

Just remember, your truck is YOUR TRUCK. Do what you want to do to it. Take it a far as you want to go. There a Forum Members who have spent thousands on their trucks, and those who have spent just hundreds.

Go out and make it your own.

[Thatguywithaneye]

Originally Posted by In The Ten Ring

My truck's story will blow you away....actually three men were killed in my truck, by police and SWAT during the bank heist it was involved in.



OK I have seen "Heat" one time too many. Seriously though, a high speed chase and police had a role in me coming to own my truck.

When I was about 10 years old my father sat down next to me holding a Walther P38 pistol. He said "your brother gave your mother and I a lot of trouble with drinking, smoking, and probably even some drugs. I tried the rough way with him but beating him half to death didn't make him stop so with you I will try something different. If you can make it to 21 years without ever drinking, smoking, dipping snuff, chewing tobacco, or trying drugs of any kind including pot, you can have your choice of this pistol or my 1972 Chevy truck...if your brother doesn't want it. I still feel a need to give him the chance to get the truck." (My brother moved out when he was 17).

See the first car my bro ever had was a 1969 Ford Torino GT 4 speed he bought off a used lot with the money he had saved delivering papers. He was 16 at the time. Dad and my uncle put a 351 Cleveland engine into that car. Well my bro started drinking (he was a functional alcoholic for decades) around age 12 and he was drunk driving coming home from work in that car when local PD tried to pull him over. He said "I shifted down to 2nd gear and those blue lights just faded away."

Problem was county deputies had set up a road block and an officer was standing in the one open lane. At 120 mph my brother wasn't stopping, he said "I figured the cop would move and he did." The cop had to leap for his life as my brother would have run him down. He so screwed up their road block it took some time to catch up with him and he had hidden the car by then. He figured "they don't know who it was" but they did know the car....the next day he tried to sneak back home but "cops came out of the woodwork" and pulled him over. He was a rough guy, carried a billyclub, shank, brass knuckles (and used all these fairly often) and they lined up the felonies on his hood. He ended up threatening one of the cops and resisting when one of the locals slapped him.

Fortunately for him (attempted murder of a police office is a serious charge) they "gave him a good workout" as that department was known to do back in those days (and my brother deserved a good workout, he could have killed someone running from the cops like that). They so bruised him up mom got a great lawyer who "got those 6 felony charges reduced to a speeding ticket" and that was that. He paid the speeding ticket and the first officer to chase him invited him into his living room and asked "just what the hell do you have under that hood? My Dodge 440 couldn't touch you!"

So that is how I came to own my truck....dad bought it new off the lot in 1972 and he couldn't control my brother's bad behavior. Also my brother was driving it and it had a bad ground, causing all the lights to come on when you hit the brakes. He demanded dad take the truck back. So I have the truck now.

In case you are wondering, I never had to lie to dad. I have never tried any illegal drugs, not even pot, ever. I didn't taste alcohol until I was 23 and I had a brandy on an Airbus 340 at 37,000 feet over Saudi Arabia. I tried a cigarette for the hell of it when I was 22. I don't smoke and I drink very rarely. Oh and that brandy I had was a big mistake! Back then airlines treated you like you were somebody and that stewardess had the hard stuff. Not having a clue what I was doing and not wanting to look stupid I just blurted out the first drink name that came to mind (from a movie of course). "Give me a brandy!" Geeze.....I guess that's why the airlines gave you orange juice

Wow that is a crazy story! So cool to have a piece of your family history. My parents gave me a similar deal, but they offered to pay my tuition. Never got into drugs and alcohol because of it.

[gearheadperkins]

awesome truck stories.. cant beat them .. Tranny leaks in my experience are typically the rear sear where the driveshaft goes, or around the dip stick if its an auto..

[clay68c10]

Common to have the shift shaft seal leak. I’ve seen folks not replace it on a rebuild. Also speedometer housing seals.
If it’s losing that much fluid, you may have a bad sealing surface somewhere.

Cool truck. Definitely get it to reliable driver status and then worry about making it pretty.

[Myoldtruck]

i cant add to much to an already good list given. But I will add, oil the emergency brake cables ( ask me how i know this one). crawl under the truck and check the rubber fuel line, and replace it. Check and replace all rubber fuel lines under the hood, If your going to replace the fuel pump, only use a a/c delco pump. Cheap pumps leak sooner or later, mine was very soon.

Use the best quality brake pads and shoes you can find.

Drive and stock pile parts, install some parts and continue to drive.