Full Frame Off Restorations

[Dustmaker65]

I am sure the numbers will be higher than I was thinking....But, how many of our members have done more than one full restoration of a 67-72 Truck?

Reason I am thinking about this, is that I have been buying a few projects that have been stripped down to a bare frame and then never touched again. I understand not having the funds to build one to show quality, but back to a driver at least???

Do any of you guys that have completed more than one of these have a checklist that you use to start re-assembly? Maybe that would help some of the members to complete a started project?

LOL...maybe I need that checklist for myself, as I have 4 right now that is stripped down.

[Grumpy old man]

A checklist ? ,No not really what I do is continually buy "the good deal" trucks the failed projects and like just this past week Ol Rusty for $500 a 68 V-8 shortbed with a good title (she came with a 6) .I build 67's and I keep a running parts list in my head everytime I go to look at one of these "good deal" trucks to see exactly what is there that I need and what there is I can sell that is still in good condition .to recoup my $500.and still have all the parts I needed off of it .Let's look at Ol Rusty for an example .

Truck and cost to bring it home---------------------------------------$600.00
Removed rusty sheet metal and scrapped ---------------------+$ 76.00
Sold cab and short bed frame --------------------------------+$650.00
Sold radio delete /heater box /seat belts /seat/dash -----------+$340.00
________
+$1,066.00
So On Ol Rusty Not only did I recoup my initial $600.00 but made $466.00 and I kept the drive line the manual cross member /suspension a full set of 15" 4 nub wheels and a 12 bolt factory leaf spring rear I needed for another truck and a ton of extra good factory parts and pieces for free. The clear glass is still good and I gave that away for free to another member close by (good Kharma) And Ol Rusty will live on Cab/frame and title as a ground up resto mod build in NC

When you start adding up all the good saved parts your way ahead towards your build from just 1 rusty old junk truck that was actually in much better shape than she looked in pictures . So as far as a check list start with your stash of free parts and go from there with the good solid frame as your starting point . ANY FRAME UP project should start with a clean painted frame ( how many times do you see someone start bolting thousands of dollars of suspension and wheels on an old rusty frame ? )after that it's one part at a time with the initial goal of getting it rolling first and installing the systems one at a time Brakes/fuel/electrical before you start hanging sheet metal on it

All Mechanical /suspension/brakes/electrical first it's a lot easier to work on when it moves under it's own power
then start hanging and fitting sheet metal
glass and interior should be last .

The problem I'm having now is parts trucks I bought a few years back are now in better condition than many I see being restored today after just a few short years and I'm having to go back out and find trucks like Ol Rusty to use for parts to rebuild my "parts trucks" It's an addiction ! The hardest part of all of it is deciding what to save and what to sell off At this point I'm already hoarding parts for trucks I won't drag out of the barn for years .and if I don't get to build them the next owner will have all the hard to find parts tucked away in the dry stored cab ! It's better than money in the bank !

[Trevor]

Yeah a checklist definitely would have been handy especially on the first one (a '65 when I was 15, and yes, I did most of it allllll by myself and what a great learning experience it was !)

I've thought about writing a checklist, including a rough time estimate for each portion, but the problem is it would be a gargantuan time-consuming task, and if broken down into every single task, it would likely easily be a thousand plus items long.

I tore my "they'll bury-me-in-it" (so it has to be Perfect) '71 apart 15+ years ago, took every thing that wasn't welded together apart, but because of resources like the assembly manual, scads of info. on the web, and especially this website - I have absolutely zero worries about putting it back together.

The nicest thing about these trucks is how incredibly simple they are.
So just like the foundation of any building project (house etc.), start with the frame (the 'foundation'), pick an end and build ...

The frame - part 1: After cleaning, removing any brackets I won't want, inspecting, straightening anything that is less than perfect, I've always started with the easy end - Rear suspension;
trailing arm bushing install, trailing arm to cross-member install, coil-spring install, rear-end (carrier rebuild; ring gear, then pinion, then lash adjustment until perfect) then carrier install, then axle bearings and seals, then backing plates, then brake cylinders then brake shoes and hardware then parking brake cables then axles install, then cover gasket then cover, then rear-end to trailing arms, then shock brackets to trailing arms then shock install then rear-end brake lines, then brake hose to frame ...

See the problem with a check-list ? The above paragraph is a woefully incomplete list of a small portion of all the steps involved in one of the simplest parts on the entire truck.

[Dustmaker65]

Ya, that's a list...lol

My thought is-
Frame -
Rear suspension
Rear end
Rear brakes
And so on...

[volksworld]

lots of things get taken apart and never go back together...usually after they finally realize just how long and how much cash its gonna take to complete, and sometimes the realization that it'll be worth less than they have in it when it's finished...throw in a person getting sick or injured or having to relocate and the odds of it going back together drop even more....as far as an order for reassembly, half the battle is what you are capable of doing yourself vs what you have to rely on other people to do...and also your definition of a restoration....are you painting everything with por-15 and a brush, spraying it with urethane, or sandblasting and powdercoating?...detailing an existing engine,doing a full rebuild, or dropping in a crate motor or an LS conversion? will it be stock or a hot rod? how rusty is the cab? will you be welding in rockers yourself or sending it out? is the truck a keeper or something you think you can make money on? are you gonna try to paint it yourself or send it to a "real" body shop thats too busy and sticks it in a corner and ignores it for years? will the body and bed be painted on or off the chassis and by who? so first you better come up with a game plan of what you're trying to do and what your budget is before you can figure out a logical order of progression

[davepl]

I've done it two ways: drop it off and pick it up and write a check, and touch every fastener yourself. Neither is free nor cheap, though the "write a check" way is about 5-6X as expensive overall, I found.

Depends on what you mean by restoration. In my latest case I negotiated a flat fee for paint at $20K. So I sent them a prepped, powder-coated frame with engine and so on (just like the brochure picture) and a cab and a bed. They sent me back a painted and assembled truck for $20K (assembled of any major components that touch the paint, like the grille surrounds). That price ranged from $17K to $25K in the quotes I got locally. Paint labor is expensive at a quality shop - you can likely do better being that thing they dabble with when they have free time, but I didn't want to do any time in "paint jail" in the corner of a collision shop.

If not monetary, time and organization (or lack thereof) kills a lot off I think. You get down to a frame and then what? Hopefully you start painting/powder-coating and installing suspension bushings, but some people seem to get stuck at that stage.

[Spartan]

I think about this from time to time...
mainly because i see a lot of "restored" trucks in my search for original paint trucks.
members here i couldn't tell you how many, but quite a few.

Ask yourself what a frame off is to you. apparently to some it means black spray paint to cover the rust, some LMC parts and a quick flip. If it actually means taking everything off the frame and bringing it (and very part afterwards) back to factory spec (which isnt diamond quality) thats where projects die. a person thinks one thing and reality is money, time and motivation changes. once the motivation dies then its officially an unfinished project for sale.

Alot of guys will say "I got a truck for (your low price inserted here) and sold some parts for such and such amount. Thats all well and good but it takes time to part automobiles out. if your time is free its still a hobby, but if your time has value then its a job and that needs to be figured as well.

I started with the frame on my first build. then suspension etc...
It took about two years longer to finish than I planned because to me a restoration isnt bolting on a bunch of new parts, its renewing each and every factory part back to factory (in some cases not possible like rotten rubber). NOS Jeep parts were pretty hard to find before the internet and the repops in the catalogs weren't even close to oem. When I missed my deadline there was a few months where I felt likwe I just wanted to get that truck out of my shop - in pieces or not...
Long story but I stuck with it and learned a few things the hard way. I look back now and am glad more for the journey than the finished project. Now when people see the jeep they say "wow, nice jeep" and look past the house I built...