Anything you'd do different ?

[Trevor]

So you've rebuilt/restored a truck (or more) and learned a few things in the process ...

Is there anything (minor or major) you'd do different if you had the chance to go back and do it over again ?

[BossHogg69]

I would've had a better plan laid out for body and paint instead of just throwing a huge heap of cash at it, and I would've used some of that money to get the engine that I really wanted from the get go. My paint turned out super nice, but cost a fortune. Then the engine I had built dropped a valve and ate itself, so now I'm building what I should have built the first time around. I keep telling myself it will all be worth it in the end, but the hard truth is that I could've built two totally badass trucks for what I've spent on this one.

The main thing is just have a plan and stick to it. I made WAY too many changes along the way to 'upgrade' this or that, so I ending up buying parts twice. This is the enemy of builds that take a few years to complete. Every time something new and cool came out, I told myself I just had to have it.

"Perfect is the enemy of good", so the saying goes.

[joeydurango]

Number one thing I'd change: Remember to multiply my original cost estimate (for any job, full restoration on down to changing the fuel filter) by at least 1.5. Maybe x2. Sometimes even more... hell, I can't remember a time that my original estimate has been correct.

[waco]

I totally agree with BossHog69 about making a plan & sticking to it. I personally am in the process of a chassis swap for my 70 GMC 2500 to 4x4. I spent about a year planing & another 4 years after that gathering parts. I now have 2 complete trucks & 2 rolling chassis's for my main parts. This is the last truck I will own, so I only want to do it once.
Make your changes in your plan not in your build.
Andy

[67chevy_hotrod]

Have a plan and stick too it. Also label anything that's not obvious, bag and tag it. Nothing, and I mean nothing is more frustrating then having to go to the hardware store searching for something that's probably in your pile of nuts and bolts, and spending 48 cents on it. But also make sure you enjoy it!

[dazza]

Don't add up the receipts!

[mike16]

yea, Id buy a ford next time.

Yikes! Just Kidding

[In The Ten Ring]

I'm not done with my truck yet but I have already noticed some areas I could have done better.

1). Keep a "work journal" where I log what I did each day and how I felt about it.

2). Kept a better record of costs, receipts, etc.

3). Not painted anything in the engine bay gloss black as I think the original color was more of a satin black.

4). Put in a better fuel shut off valve (I'll have to redo that part this spring).

That's about it. I haven't gotten too far along actually.

[flashed]

I love my truck as it is but I would probably buy a finished truck next time .

[SeniorVerde]

Similar to a work journal, make your own manual as you go.
I've got into the habit with my trucks and Jeep that I've built. You have to when you deviate so far from stock; Be your own Haynes or Chilton, make sections (electrical, engine, brakes...)
You aren't going to remember that the calipers are from a '73, and that you switched to a Ford style starter solenoid after the headers cooked the last two, and that Camaro steering wheel horn button is a totally different set of parts. And what brakes do I get now that I'm running a Ford 9" rear?... Oh , and U joints, those are different now.
Write down part numbers or what year you need to lie to the parts counter guy to get the right parts.

You know you've got it bad when you start modifying the manual

[mcbassin]

Originally Posted by In The Ten Ring

I'm not done with my truck yet but I have already noticed some areas I could have done better.

1). Keep a "work journal" where I log what I did each day and how I felt about it.

2). Kept a better record of costs, receipts, etc.

3). Not painted anything in the engine bay gloss black as I think the original color was more of a satin black.

4). Put in a better fuel shut off valve (I'll have to redo that part this spring).

That's about it. I haven't gotten too far along actually.

I like the work journal idea. People often ask me how much time it took on mine. I just say 5 years....I have no idea how many hours though....1000s probably

[Trevor]

Yup, I'm all for being diligent with records, it's a lesson I'm learning right now.
I took my truck apart thinking "I'll record this and that and I can just remember the rest ..."
but at that time I was planning to start putting it back together in the next year or two. It's finally going back together not a year or two later, but a decade or two !

My tip(s) would be;
(1) take lots and lots of pictures, of everything, a hundred pictures would not have been too many.
(2) bag and label everything, the few extra minutes of time I'd have spent labeling things better would have saved me countless hours of 'research' and frustration trying to figure it out now.

[davepl]

I would have taken way more photos during disassembly. I took 300, should have been 1000. Detail shots of how things go together/come apart.

I also would have kept the TH400 and been done with it, since the overdrive transmissions have been a huge cost and frustration for me.

I would have found a better way to organize fasteners. I bagged and tagged everything, which was fine, but I can't tell you how many times I had to flip through every darned bag looking for what I wanted.

I did keep a journal, and when I was done, I typed it all in so I now have the complete set of assembly and disassembly steps for the entire truck!

[dazza]

Even though I have close to 10k photos, I still wish I had at least wrote down a few notes on a daily basis.

Now that the truck is almost complete... I've got some photos to sort!

[87Skier]

I would check and double check every part, and not half-a$$ anything. All the stuff I've done thinking that will work, has come back to bite me later on and it is always so much more work later on.

[Billhilly]

Don't EVER consider converting to RHD a good idea!!! NEVER!

[46stude]

Start with a truck you REALLY want to build up.

I was looking for a '63-'66 longbed when I found my '72. I grew up riding in a '71, & had an uncle that had a '72 this color scheme, so I had a soft spot for these trucks. I owned a '68 years ago that was the biggest POS I've ever had. This one's been a PITA, too.

Don't get me wrong- I like my Cheyenne. But GM's quality control on this body style sucked, bad. They feel like riding in an aluminum can. Some days, I really regret not staying on the hunt for the truck I really wanted.

[Matt Cramer]

If you're going to do an LS swap, get the motor and transmission as a matched set. This will save you the trouble of trying to mate the old TH350 to an LS... then a year later when the TH350 dies, swapping in a 4L60E anyway.

I converted the stock tank to an in-tank pump to see if it could be done. It can... but it's noisy and the cab still smells like gasoine. An in tank pump would have been a better idea if the tank weren't in the cab.