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Restoring 1950's Chevrolet Pickup
I'm 15/f. I would really love to buy an old Chevrolet 3100 (from the early fifties) and restore it. I'm talking about buying an average condition truck (probably around $10,000, from my research) and replacing the engine, paint, and redoing the interior (seats and such). I'd also like to chrome the grill and all that good stuff. Initially, money isn't a problem for me, and this is going to be a long-term project. My problem is that I want all the decisions to be made by me, but I don't know the first thing about restoring a car! I've been looking in the classifieds, eBay motors, and various websites to get an idea of what I want, but once I do buy a truck, what happens next? I'm willing to put a lot of money into this because I want it done right. My dream truck is a cream-colored 3100 with a chrome grill, new engine, and revamped interior (not like on Pimp My Ride or anything, just new seats, new dash, etc.) If you know anything about restoring cars from this era (late 40's-early 50's) please help me out! My father is a diesel mechanic, but I want to "surprise" him with my interest in cars. Thanks :)
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I don't have too much experience with car restoration, but me and my dad are in the middle of restoring a Dodge Charger, and FYI... a lot more work than you think at first.
Depending on the condition it's in, you're probably going to have to take apart the engine, sand the rust off, clean out old oil, etc. This is by far the most difficult part because there's so many little pieces that you have to keep track of and remember where to put back. :) If there is no engine, you're probably going to be looking at around $1500 to $3000, depending on size, power, etc. If I were you, since this will be your first restoration, find a car with a decent engine. It's alright if you have to replace a few of the parts, but I would not recommend tearing apart a whole engine on your first go around. Pain in the butt. Find one that it's in good condition or needing few repairs.
Then, you have to get the seats reupholstered, which depends on the kind of stitching you want and the fabric. If you can, I try to keep the interior as original as you possibly can (by original, I mean same style / look, you don't have to keep the original fabric haha). This will make the car a lot more valuable for resale down the road. Then you have to get the interiors recarpeted if they need it, fix radio, gauges, transmission, mechanical stuff, blah blah blah. Then it's time to get the body repainted. If it's super rusty, take apart the body first, sand them down, then have it painted.
But my advice? Start small. Find something that needs minor or only aesthetic (paint, interiors, etc.) repairs, and has an engine in good condition. It's a big job, even for people who know a lot about cars. Or, you can get something that's a little bit more work, and surprise your dad by restoring it together! That might be fun for both of you, and he'll appreciate you wanting his expertise. :) Good luck!
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Well considering the body of the truck is going to probably have a lot of rust, that is the first issue you will need to tackle. You will need to find where the starting point for the rust is and tear from there. After that you will need to definently do alot of body filling, fiberglass, and welding. For the engine bay do the same as the rest of the body. You also might want to get a new hood, wide-body fenders, etc. That will probably be a lot of money in itself since the truck is older.
The best trick in finding a truck you want for a great price is to search around for someone that doesn't know the worth of what they got. Someone could have your truck and only be selling it for say $5,000 just to get rid of it. Since you said you don't know much about restoration on an older vehicle you are going to defiently need some help on this. People train for years in auto body, so you are going to need to know the tricks of the trade, which is something you cannot learn overnight. So if you know anyone in your area that could work on the car with you or atleast let you sit in and watch then that would be a good idea.
Now when it comes to costs of things, to have stock seats covered is usually $2,000. Then comes carpet, steering wheel, guages, dash, door panels, headliner, seat belts, trim pieces, rims and tires, paint, body filler, primer, fiberglass, welding materials, engine, transmission, new suspension, brakes and rotors, exhaust, and anything else needed to make this truck totally and fully restored.
Now to save yourself some money, your best bet is to find what parts on the car you can salvage or have repaired. Unlike a newer car, an older car is going to be more expensive for newer, restored parts so the prices will be pretty high. So have someone determine the condition of the interior, exterior, engine, transmition, that kind of thing. You can save alot of money this way.
All in all, restoring a car is a very long and tedious job that is going to take a lot of hard work and determination. So stay focused and always look for deals in saving money. Just make sure to get help with this restoration. In the end I'm sure your dad will be proud. Best of luck and if you need anymore advice on this or any other question you might have, note my inbox back.
~Sherah
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well the first thing you're gonna want to figure out is do you want a street rod, rat rod, hotrod, or just a sleeper truck? because the vintage car world when it comes to engine swapping you are almost certainly building the thing to be a race vehicle. and when building a race vehicle you have to consider the following things. as there are different types of them.
street rod: traditionally a big engine up front, high performance transmission, active rear suspension but an almost stock interior and sound system.
rat rod:interior totally swapped out for light weight, chopped bodypanels for light weight, big engine, tuned suspension, and another high performance tranny but coupled usually with a light weight driveshaft, and a hurst semi auto shifter.
hotrod: very traditional idea. big engine, blown, bored, tuned, (much like the ratrod) but with the interior and soundsystem being tuned to modernday settings as with thesuspension and transmission being done up with modern day components to give the car a much smoother and nicer ride.
sleeper: keep everything looking stock, everything. the truck looks all original, the interior and exterior are as well. but the engine, transmission, and suspension are all tuned for power and performance. so when people see it, it looks original, but in actuality it's fast.
now the engine options for something like this are vast. you can select from ford, chevy, or chrysler engines based on what you want. but the thing is each style of vehicle will have different engine options. but i'm gonna stick with chevy so things stay simple.
street rod: chevy 302, chevy 305, chevy 350, chevy 396. and the transmissions would be the 350 turbo tranny and the 400 turbo.
rat rod:chevy 427, 454, 572. with the turbo 400, or 700R4
hotrod: all the engines of the ratrod but can also use the following. chevy LT1, chevy LT5, chevy LS1, chevy LS2, chevy LS7, chevy LSX. coupled with the 700R4 or 4L60E transmission to make things complete.
and the sleeper can use any set of engines i've listed. it's pretty much whatever you want it to be. it's essentially a one off idea not following any sort of form just free to be.
a restoration is going to be costly, take a long time, and in the end be something you did yourselfi've done a couple of them in my time, and they are a longterm relationship. it's like having a wife, but she demands more than most women and costs a lot more too. good luck.
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