Should I start a clinic… or a TV show?

I have to tell you this, the mere fact that some of you have mentioned that some of my ‘restoration’ stories had you feeling like you’d like to learn about this sort of thing, has been very gratifying. Maybe it’s the old ‘teacher’ in me, or simply the fact that I like sharing what little knowledge I’ve picked up over the years, but I’d really love to be able to teach this stuff to anyone who cared enough to learn about it.

In my minds eye, there’d be 3-7 ‘students’, maybe 2 or 3 additional ‘advisors’, and we’d all work together like a team to restore some old project vehicle. Start to finish, top to bottom, one crew, one restored vehicle. Man, what a way that would be to make a living! Combining two of the things I love doing, sharing what I know and building cars, and then making a living in the process… I know I’d be having a grand old time!

I think it’d make a great TV show too! In the same vein as ‘American Chopper’, “American Hot Rod” and “OverHaulin’”… only with amateurs, not professionals, doing the work. Of course there’d be trouble, mistakes and a lot of ‘guidance’ along the way. I personally think it would make for better shows overall as well.

I mean it’s wonderful to watch the likes of Coddington’s crew, or Chip Fosse and the gang build, or rebuild, a vehicle. But, wouldn’t it be even more fun to see the mistakes, how to avoid them and how to recover from them? I think so.

But, then again, no one is knocking on my door asking me to put something like this together. If they did, I know the computers would be going ‘cold iron’ and I’d be warming up the shop tools!!

Well, enough of that fantasy and back to the realities of restoring an old truck.

I thought I’d share a bit of the overall plan with you folks so that as it’s moving along you actually have an idea where I’m headed.

The concept is to build this truck in such a way, that on an initial glance, it looks like an old Chevy pickup that’s just in real nice shape, on closer inspection however you’d notice some subtle differences, like the altered ‘gas tank doors’ that weren’t available in 1978. If it was running you’d hear the rumble of a 350Hp V8 (also not available in ’78) just different enough sounding that you’d know the factory didn’t ship it that way.

As you looked at her some more you’d notice that the ‘graphics’ on the truck are unlike any you’d ever seen, familiar, yet unique. You’d see some other unique features as well, driving lights built into the front bumper, backup flood lights inside the rear bumper as well.

If you opened the hood at night you’d be surprised at how well ‘lit up’ the engine compartment was, especially considering you couldn’t actually ‘see’ any lights.

In short, I’m hoping to build a this truck in such a way that other car nuts like me, and even a many ‘regular folks’, will notice it’s a little different, but most will just notice it’s in really great shape for an older truck.

Y’all will be the judges as we move forward; I’ll be looking at your comments on the photos I post as we progress to see if I’m actually achieving my goals!

Also, I’ve been asked in emails how much I’m anticipating this project will cost in total. I can’t give you an exact number, as there are a lot of ‘soft costs’ like electricity and some shop supplies, but I’m budgeting about $5,500 for parts and materials. That includes some new sheet metal for the front of the truck, a virtually complete new interior and all of the “junkyard gems” I’ve picked up. It will also cover the complete performance rebuild of the motor and transmission, new brakes, brake hoses, shocks and any steering components we might need.

The $5,500 does NOT include final paint work. I’m still torn between doing all the paint myself and doing only the interior and the engine compartment myself and shipping the body off to a shop like Macco for the finish paint. Depending on what I finally decide to do, paint will add another $500, to $1,500.

So worst case, I expect to have about $7,000 tied up in what essentially will be a new truck. There’s no possible way we could have replaced this truck, with another one, in comparable shape (when it’s finished) for twice that amount of money. Then there’s the sentimental value the truck has to my wife…. Pretty tough to place a ‘cash’ value on that ‘eh?

So here’s where we are, same place as the other night. Last night I ended up working until very late, and tonight, well, ‘Cindy’ is rolling through and the weather is a bit too ‘iffy’ to be out on the side of the garage cutting out ‘donor’ pieces. So, tomorrow I work from home, and if all goes as expected, I should be able to start back in on the truck between 2:30 and 3:30pm…. If I get where I expect to, the fender wells for the bed will be repaired, as well as the rusted sections in the bed, and I’ll be ready to hit everything with the sandblaster and a coat of POR-15 before putting a coat of primer on it and flipping it over to clean up and rust-proof the underside.

Again, thanks for stopping by, and as always I appreciate you reading and commenting on what you see here!