Educate me on what it takes to restore to stock

[AJLChase]

For those of you who may or may have not seen my past thread about a 67 pick up I had purchased that is 100% stock I am asking what is required to be considered a legit restore of a original pick up? Does that mean taking all of the parts that were originally found on the particular vehicle to be found and restored to like new or is it o.k. to replace with a NOS part or repop part? I am unsure of what is considered a resto and where it varies by authenticity or does it make much difference and who does it make a difference to? Many parts on my truck are solid and not totally rotted,cracked,busted or missing. But some are. Just need to know if I should rework them all or is it o.k. to purchase new?

[turp mcspray]

Kinda depends on what your ultimate goal is for the truck. Are you going to keep it to drive and enjoy? Or do you plan to restore and sell? NOS parts are hard to find and expensive. If you have a jainer truck and a fully loaded bb super etc. they will take basically the same amount of time and money to restore, but the fully loaded super will deffinitely be worth when finished. No offense to any truck lovers out there (I am one as well) but these trucks just don't bring the kind of money that a car, say a Chevelle, Camaro,etc, would bring when finished, but could take just as much time and money to do.
If it was me I wouldn't waste time or money searching for a bunch of NOS parts. Even if it is the fully loaded ultra rare example of a truck, I wouldn't expect to EVER recoup your cost from a complete resto.

[vectorit]

I have been restoring my 68 burb back to as original as I can, and it is a slow, frustrating and expensive road to travel. I am doing it soley for personal reasons, so it being the way it was when it came from the factory is my thing. Growing up in the burb, it was used and used hard. So if my Dad upgraded something, which was usually not to noticeable then I did the same thing. I am doing it to make me, and only me happy.

If you want to go that route, which I kinda prefer to keep things as original as posible (Mainly for the simplicity of it all). Rebuild what you have, and replace the OEM part with a repro or another used part that you can rebuild. I don't think it's such a big deal, since as long as it looks good, drives well, and fits your pistol then go that direction. These trucks are not that uncommon, so doing a concours grade resto is over the top I think. But cool to look at none the less.

If my burb didn't have the sentimental thing about it, I would have upgraded the whole drive train and kept the exterior stock. Since I love the way it looks just the way it came from the factory.

Key is I think, is do what makes you happy.

[mclairmo]

I've restored Camaros and Mustangs and I believe that a "restoration" is a very broad term. If going for full points at a show, then only NOS will do for a concours resto. if you just want to restore it to look and function as original, then reproduction or replacement parts as found at Autozone are fine. I would do things like buy a cheap replacement voltage regulator that looked similar to my original and paint it like the oem. ork, instead of the parts store orange heater hoses, I would go to the dealer and buy the black heater hoses. Not an exact match to the original but looks basically the same. You can do a stock restoration on a budget if you go for the stock look, rather demanding GM or NOS only. Nobody will complain or ding you for it, especially on a truck.

[PanelDeland]

There are as many opinions on what a resto is as there are people.If you're talking true resto then you need the factory chalkmarks on the firewall,all parts should be original or date code correct,and any rust should be replaced with NOS.
Then you have the folks who want to drive their resto,they think it's ok to upgrade to disc brakes,power steering and A/C.
If you're talking the first the guys who go to great lengths to get it factory correct are the Vette restorers.Keep iin mind the cost of a concours class resto could probably buy you 2-3 very nice drivers.

[71 super]

As others have said what do you want to accomplish? I am one who thinks that your truck is a great candidate for a nuts and bolts restoration especially if you have documentation for the truck. It always depends on how much money you want to spend and what you want to do with the truck. As far as NOS parts vs. repop parts, many of the "judges" at shows especiallythose who judge trucks have no clue as to what is correct for them and can't tell the difference anyway. My 71 is aprox. 90% NOS parts and some of the repop pieces are actually better than the GM original pieces. An example is the NOS rear chrome bumper I replaced a Tri plus bumper with. The chrome on the Tri plus is much nicer than the GM piece but the GM bumper has the "sticker". One last thought NOS parts are addictive and will run the cost up much higher than you can imagine and many buyers can't tell the difference nor do they care. Definitely develop a plan for the truck's direction and stick with it ask questions and think before you buy. Many people have lost ther butts because they buy and change their minds selling stuff off cheap in order to go in a different direction. Good Luck!

[AJLChase]

Well, my issue is this. When I think of a 67-72 I think of the lowered,fancy paint job, big motors, roll pans and big tires and chrome rims. That's what I've always been after when wanting to purchase or thought about them. The only reason I've even considered restoring this to stock is because all of it is pretty much stock and except for the body in pretty good shape. If I did restore it to stock, I'd never drive it as I would feel like I'm taking my Mickey Mantle baseball card to batting practice with me. Also, I would be looking to sell it...but my mind has changed a bit as the first replier had stated there's not a lot of value monetarily in buying a stock truck of this year and it could easily pay out more then it's worth. So, I don't know.

There are definite things about the truck that are not my style, but then it's the whole "Wow, this is how it looked the day it left the dealership." So, I was unsure what route to take with it. I've got time on my decision but wanted to hear what went into a authentic resto.

[turp mcspray]

I don't want to discourage you from restoring your truck. Just trying to point some things out to hopefully help in your decision before you get to deep into it. If you have never done a complete nut and bolt resto you probably have NO idea the amount of work involved. On average if you have a rust free vehicle, to dismantle every nut and bolt, repaint, refurbish,etc, there is aproximately 1000 hours of work to do. If you have to fix rust, do lots of bodywork or modifications that is in addition to those hours. I used to think 1000 hours was an insane amount of time...untill I did a bunch of them and found that number to be right in the ballpark. If you want to sell later, you will be in for a surprise unless you do eveything yourself and your time is worthless. I have seen way to many people fall into this trap and it is not a good place to be.
I'm doing a frame off, everything type of job on my blazer and I plan to drive it in the woods. It will also sit outside everyday. But that is how I want it done and I know going in that I will NEVER come out, should I decide to sell it. At this point I say that I will keep it forever but forever is a very long time.

[mclairmo]

Originally Posted by AJLChase

Well, my issue is this. When I think of a 67-72 I think of the lowered,fancy paint job, big motors, roll pans and big tires and chrome rims. That's what I've always been after when wanting to purchase or thought about them. The only reason I've even considered restoring this to stock is because all of it is pretty much stock and except for the body in pretty good shape. If I did restore it to stock, I'd never drive it as I would feel like I'm taking my Mickey Mantle baseball card to batting practice with me. Also, I would be looking to sell it...but my mind has changed a bit as the first replier had stated there's not a lot of value monetarily in buying a stock truck of this year and it could easily pay out more then it's worth. So, I don't know.

There are definite things about the truck that are not my style, but then it's the whole "Wow, this is how it looked the day it left the dealership." So, I was unsure what route to take with it. I've got time on my decision but wanted to hear what went into a authentic resto.

I would restore it to stock (but do not use NOS parts) and then lower it with rims. Save the stock suspension and rims/tires so that it can be returned to stock if you want. Don't do any permanent mods and keep everything else bone stock. Stock trucks that are lowered with sweet rims are very popular now and will always be in style.