Tips/Tricks/Advice for first time resto
 

Project '67 swb stepside.

There's a lot of knowledgeable minds on here with a lot of experience restoring these trucks. Since I'm about to dive into my first frame off restoration, figured it would be a good idea to get a collection of good tips, advice & tricks of the trade to keep in my back pocket when needed. I'll be dealing with the usual suspects on this truck, replacing rockers, cab corners, some floor, pieces of the fenders, lower door skins, etc. Building the truck to cruise & show, driving here and there. Anyways, fire away with the advice & as always thanks in advance!!

Re: Tips/Tricks/Advice for first time resto
 

RESEARCH! watch youtube, search this site, FAQ's, shop manuals, ask questions. welcome to this forum. Larry

Re: Tips/Tricks/Advice for first time resto
 

It,s pretty simple... Pictures Pictures Pictures.. and bag and tag everything. Get a build book and jot down everything that you do. The more info you collect and write down the better you will be 1 to 6 years down the road...Good luck with your build

Re: Tips/Tricks/Advice for first time resto
 

Welcome! There's so much information available on this site, ya better have a BIG back pocket!

Sometimes I feel like "Bruce Almighty" with the post-its of all the little tricks and tips here.

Good luck with the resto! Remember, you're doing it for the fun... ;)

Re: Tips/Tricks/Advice for first time resto
 

Resto tip No. 1: Start with the cleanest, most complete vehicle you can afford.

Re: Tips/Tricks/Advice for first time resto
 

Luckily the truck is in pretty good shape, guess I'll find out more once I get it tore down. Anyone have some good resources/advice for replacing body panels? That's probably the most intimidating part I'm anticipating.

Re: Tips/Tricks/Advice for first time resto
 

Best advice i can give is to just start reading threads in the Projects and Builds section, follow the ones you like best by subscribing to them, even save them in your folders if you want. Read and absorb as much information as you can, figure out the type of mods you like and how to others do them, what type of suspension manufactures you like, amount of drop if any, gas tank mod if you like, paint, powder coat, best weather stripping, seam sealer, door seals, rust repair, ect. Learn to use the advance search function to find posts or threads of relevance.

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/f...play.php?f=115

Re: Tips/Tricks/Advice for first time resto
 

Don't take it apart until you have all the parts time and money needed to put it back together , Thousands of trucks are probably buried in garages in pieces because a good intention build got delayed for some unknown reason and never got back on track . do small repairs and keep it mobile . Just like eating an elephant one bite at a time .:chevy:

Re: Tips/Tricks/Advice for first time resto
 

That the best advice you could get, couldn't agree more. :metal:

Re: Tips/Tricks/Advice for first time resto
 

I definitely don't have the full budget yet, but I have what I need to strip it down to the frame, get the frame powder coated and update/refresh the suspension. Just going with a static drop, sway bars and may do something with the trailing arms. End result is gonna be building a 383 stroker, roughly around 450hp, so want to make sure the suspension is right on the truck.

Like mentioned, biggest issue I believe I'll have is working with replacing some of the sheetmetal, never done any of that before but know how to weld and all that good stuff. I've watched a few youtube videos. If anyone knows any other great resources with some good advice on cutting out cancer, measuring techniques, etc... please post it up!

thanks again everyone!

Re: Tips/Tricks/Advice for first time resto
 

i see you mentioned powder coating the frame...make sure you have EVERY frame mod done before p c.

have a plan,and stick too it alot of small things that need attention very often get over looked and holds up the build.

time,materiels,tools,parts and effort.

pics,pics,pics...and notes

any $ you are planning too spend on your project double it,it will help:lol:

Re: Tips/Tricks/Advice for first time resto
 

I'm anticipating 15-20k.. I HOPE I don't have to double that. lol

Re: Tips/Tricks/Advice for first time resto
 

What part of S.C.? Several on here from S.C. Have not met them yet.

Re: Tips/Tricks/Advice for first time resto
 

i think most of us would agree that the $ adds up quick even worse when you gotta farm out work or find rust free parts.

Re: Tips/Tricks/Advice for first time resto
 

30, I'm down in the Charleston area.

& midniteblues, hopefully the majority of stuff can be done in house.. so that'll definitely keep labor costs down and more money for parts.

Re: Tips/Tricks/Advice for first time resto
 

buy lot's of zip lock bags and sharpie markers, rubber made totes (organization) bag and tag everything!!! I can't stress that enough!!! I bought a "Basket Case" '71, and even though the Previous owner did a great job keeping most everything together as it came off, I still had a devil of a time identifying hardware and smaller pieces that I needed or were missing.
taking pictures before disassembly will save you a lot of head scratching time, as well and having to ask questions here, although, you will find that most everyone here would be more than willing to take a moment to oblige any request. if you have a "harbor freight" store within driving range, or even buy online, those welding "Butt-Clamps" for welding sheet metal are a god send. you can't have enough them. I bought 20 to start, and bought another twenty after a day, just because they were so handy. A "Uni-Bit" (step drill bit) kind of looks like a "pine cone", those are handy for spot welds, but I bought a set of "Roto-Broach" hole cutters, basically bigger heavy duty spot weld/hole saws... I forget how much they were, but very handy. Vise grip welding clamps, many small ones, but sometimes you may need the bigger ones, even the long reach ones, depending on what you have to repair/replace.

I rented a pressure pot sand blaster, and borrowed a pull behind diesel air compressor from my work (nice to have that resource available) and I bought 600 pounds of crushed recycled glass to blast my chassis and other parts. crushed glass is safer to use than sand, and it's cheap....about .13 cents a pound!!! I think I spent $65-$70 for the glass, and $20 on diesel fuel and a day of my time and got it all done. Before I started, I set up a "Berm" or containment area out of Poly sheeting to capture the glass/rust , etc.... and made a sieve out of a 5 gallon bucket and some window screen to strain the glass from the debris for reuse....worked out pretty good.

I also bought a small "Harbor Freight" Baking Soda blaster, to strip some of the body parts. I'll tell you this, that stuff gets everywhere, but, once I you start blasting with it, you'll appreciate it very quickly.....the spot welds show up almost immediately, and look just as they did going down the assembly line before paint.....you can still see the burn or discoloration from the spot welders in the metal, make drilling them out a cinch. You'll have to read up on using baking soda and the clean up of the surface contaminants, there is a special wash solvent that makes this a breeze, I forget what it was called.....

another tool that would be a worth while addition is a set of Cleco's (spring loaded sheet metal clamps) these you insert into a hole you drill through both pieces of sheet metal and it holds them very tightly together. buy lots of these too.

I'm sure I'm forgetting something, but one recommendation with regards to mig welding wire, use the .023" inch stuff with shielding gas (Argon/CO2 mix) a lot less grinding, (ask me how I know) any way's, good luck with your build!
Ben Smith
:metal:
p.s. I think I have around $15K in my build total, and I did almost everything except the transmission and paint......

Re: Tips/Tricks/Advice for first time resto
 

I'm going to agree with those who have already posted. You CAN NOT TAKE TOO MANY PICTURES before you start tearing the truck apart. Take pictures AS YOU'RE TAKING THINGS APART. You won't remember a couple years from now exactly how the gas lines were routed, and which holes the clips were in, or if those bolts had the nuts up or down.

Bag and tag EVERY. SINGLE. PART.

These two pieces of advice will alleviate a lot of suffering later.

Re: Tips/Tricks/Advice for first time resto
 

Did anyone mention take more pictures yet? I took 400, should have taken 1200-1600.

Here's one tip. I bought an EyeFi card and a cheap underwater digital camera with fixed focus. It takes great pictures. And its waterproof, so you can get it dirty and wash it.

The EyeFi card syncs the pictures to a folder on the PC every day, so after I was done in the shop the photos were already on my PC, and I could name obvious stuff ("Heater box", "Carb", etc). If you took 10 photos of the heater box, name them all Heater Box, it doesn't matter.

I also recommend having shelves organized so you know where to put parts as they come off (space will be at a premium).

I did mine WHILE I was also having my detached garage expanded. Not wise. I had to move everything twice, but then again it helped me know where everything was!

Re: Tips/Tricks/Advice for first time resto
 

SPI Automotive Coatings website has a forum which I have found very helpful concerning bodywork and painting. I am sure there are others also.

Re: Tips/Tricks/Advice for first time resto
 

Get reacquainted with your neighbors, I can't tell you how useful it was to have a helping hand lifting off bed, cab, front clip etc....

Re: Tips/Tricks/Advice for first time resto
 

service it like the manual indicates. then lube every grease fitting, pressure wash it, let it dry out for a few days then lube it again. then get a bug sprayer, fill it with liquid wrench or something similar and spray everything under the body. I say pump it full of grease befor washing it because a high pressure washer will blow water into every nook and cranny where it will dry out in a few days..... unless you emeadiatly pump fresh grease in behind it . It wont evaporate then and will rust everything its incontact with. grease it up untill you see fresh grease oozing out everywhere, then pressure wash it, let it drain and dry, then grease it up again.

repeat every six months untill meanwhile you have collected all the data, literature and manuals for the vehicle.. formulate a plan. focus resources on restoring it untill your sure what your going to do with it. I say restoring it because they hold greater resale value when in this condition and can be resold quickly and easily down the road should that arrise.

invantory what the vehicle needs to be complete and gather that stuff. Used but good parts, correct and date coded, etc etc.

then go back through and invantory what parts are needed to fix whats broken or wrong with the vehicle. gather that stuff together.

at this point if you loose interest, you can brake even on resale.

be sure you have a game plan before you begin to strip it down. Dont do what everybody else tells you. ear plugs in and blinders on. Dont change your mind every time a new edition of some rod rag comes out. Stay focused, maybe on the mechanical stuff first, but really the procedure depends on what you want to do, your skill level and money.

strip it down in increments, photograph and invantory everything, zip lok bags and place all relative parts together,

catolog and organise everything as though you may die tommarrow and your family does not know what you have but must sell it. Plenty of projects end up this way.


take your time on the reassembly, have fun, invite the family to participate, wife and kids. when your putting the cab and bed back on turn it into a BBQ deal.

document every thing. u tube it too.