That's awesome for building a custom truck!
CK5
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Sacrilege, building race trucks from classics
- Thread starter SpeedlabDan
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- bulge fenders
the body will sag about four inches when you take the rocker boxes out.
Being from NJ and cutting apart a rust free appearing Oregon Suburban, that once I dug into wasn't all that rust free. Fixing rust is a ton of work, that being said fix what you got, repair as you go, would not recommend disassembling it and trying to do it all at once.
the cost will always outweigh the final product, but it will be yours that you did what ever you end up doing.
Being from NJ and cutting apart a rust free appearing Oregon Suburban, that once I dug into wasn't all that rust free. Fixing rust is a ton of work, that being said fix what you got, repair as you go, would not recommend disassembling it and trying to do it all at once.
the cost will always outweigh the final product, but it will be yours that you did what ever you end up doing.
I have to agree with obijuank5...with the prices those are going for you could sell it, take the money and pay for your complete build while preserving a really nice 1st Gen.
Bottom line, it's your call but I'd have to look at the dollars and "sense" side of things!
Same place I'm at, I've considered it but I don't think they'll come o
Time is money... Gotta make sense of that haha
dont do it....we all know there aint no prerunnin in NJ and the tallest "mountain" is a landfill
I'll jump that landfill
I say keep or sell the first generation.
find a basket case like Papa Smurf and build your dream trophy truck or start over with a full fiberglass body like someone else did on here.
I haven’t owned one in seven years but I keep an eye on them and it seems like they are definitely becoming collector vehicles more and more. The days of finding a good shape running vehicle that isn’t a piece of shit for a couple grand are over. Your truck is going to increase in value more and more over the next few years but a heavily modified vehicle such as the one you put the picture up of will sort of top out unless it has historical value. Basically, you have an investment on your hands. I would find a decent beater with the knowledge that even just to get it running reliably you’re going to have to put work into it and fix some of the body stuff. Look at what @Deuling did with his. If you are going to be changing the suspension all up and sticking shocks through the floor and running cage mounts through the floor what does it matter if you have to fix some floor rust? Rusty fenders? Who cares if you are going glass.
That said, it’s your vehicle so you can paint it pink with green polka dots and light it on fire if you want.
find a basket case like Papa Smurf and build your dream trophy truck or start over with a full fiberglass body like someone else did on here.
I haven’t owned one in seven years but I keep an eye on them and it seems like they are definitely becoming collector vehicles more and more. The days of finding a good shape running vehicle that isn’t a piece of shit for a couple grand are over. Your truck is going to increase in value more and more over the next few years but a heavily modified vehicle such as the one you put the picture up of will sort of top out unless it has historical value. Basically, you have an investment on your hands. I would find a decent beater with the knowledge that even just to get it running reliably you’re going to have to put work into it and fix some of the body stuff. Look at what @Deuling did with his. If you are going to be changing the suspension all up and sticking shocks through the floor and running cage mounts through the floor what does it matter if you have to fix some floor rust? Rusty fenders? Who cares if you are going glass.
That said, it’s your vehicle so you can paint it pink with green polka dots and light it on fire if you want.
Collectors items and antiques are a funny subject like that. Really they're only worth as much as someone will pay for them. That being said, you are correct in that they are increasing do to popularity.
If I don't plan on getting rid of this or hold on to it until nobody is interested in it the collectablity doesn't matter.
For that matter if I'm not goin to build it I may as well do a full restoration. It would be cheaper but I got out of the restoration business. That word seems like such a waste to me.
If I go fiberglass I'll be starting back even farther and I'll have to build the entire thing from scratch.
I do see your point however and that's exactly why I started this discussion.
If I don't plan on getting rid of this or hold on to it until nobody is interested in it the collectablity doesn't matter.
For that matter if I'm not goin to build it I may as well do a full restoration. It would be cheaper but I got out of the restoration business. That word seems like such a waste to me.
If I go fiberglass I'll be starting back even farther and I'll have to build the entire thing from scratch.
I do see your point however and that's exactly why I started this discussion.
I think like this, I own my vehicles for life and don't plan to sell them, so I don't care what their value is, I sometimes end up selling for one reason or another, but I never consider the value when I am considering any modification big or small
That's exactly how I feel about it. I'm not building my truck or anything I have for someone else. After all all the parts would be saved if restoration is needed. For that matter, not nos but all and I mean all tin for this blazer is reproduced at this point. These trucks have actually been completely reproduced 100% from repop body's.
I think some of the most badass rigs anywhere are the NORRA 1000 race rigs. All built from classics. They just look amazing to me.
https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=Vintage+Trucks+Open+Norra+1000&FORM=RESTAB
https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=Vintage+Trucks+Open+Norra+1000&FORM=RESTAB
I have that carry all saved somewhere lol
We've cut up a few perfectly good trucks to make other things out of them. My K5 is one and if I had to do it again I'd stop at some point when it was a full body K5 and then build a buggy. That way I'd have a buggy and a K5. But at the time I didn't have the resources to do that and full tube chassis weren't all that common so what we did with my K5 kind of made sense. It doesn't anymore, things have changed.
I've also regretted cutting up the original "cheap truck" version of Cousin Willard to create the green-then-orange version. It was a total beater that we started carving on because we didn't know exactly where we were headed and cutting the rust out couldn't hurt it but in the end we used part of the frame and part of the cab and the rest was all from other trucks. We could have started with just a frame and cab and still had the good running beater truck as a viable truck to use rather than a pile of worthless parts.
In your case I feel like any race car/prerunner truck worth it's time to build is going to use very little of a stock vehicle and you would probably be well served starting with something pretty crappy if you even start with a vehicle.
I've also regretted cutting up the original "cheap truck" version of Cousin Willard to create the green-then-orange version. It was a total beater that we started carving on because we didn't know exactly where we were headed and cutting the rust out couldn't hurt it but in the end we used part of the frame and part of the cab and the rest was all from other trucks. We could have started with just a frame and cab and still had the good running beater truck as a viable truck to use rather than a pile of worthless parts.
In your case I feel like any race car/prerunner truck worth it's time to build is going to use very little of a stock vehicle and you would probably be well served starting with something pretty crappy if you even start with a vehicle.
I tend to agree there is a line and I don't want to lose the firm of a full body truck. It needs to retain its original shape. A "tribute" if you will, more of a faster version of the original utilizing moder suspension techniques.
Retaining the strait axle already limits the pre runner type performance of today so that considered I think a good looking Era correct prerunner is attainable without ruining a good truck.
I really wish I had the time to put into building a truck from scratch. If I thought it could happen in my shop in a timely manner I would 100% build the chassis myself and put a fiberglass tub on it. Problem is I feel it would tie up my small shop for at least 5 years and I just don't have the resources.
Another thing is if it's buld from the ground up with an aftermarket glass tub it's no longer a truck. It's a buggy.
Retaining the strait axle already limits the pre runner type performance of today so that considered I think a good looking Era correct prerunner is attainable without ruining a good truck.
I really wish I had the time to put into building a truck from scratch. If I thought it could happen in my shop in a timely manner I would 100% build the chassis myself and put a fiberglass tub on it. Problem is I feel it would tie up my small shop for at least 5 years and I just don't have the resources.
Another thing is if it's buld from the ground up with an aftermarket glass tub it's no longer a truck. It's a buggy.
The price on that 72 body is really good. If you look at some of the other parts on that website, it is clearly US Body Source stuff - all copied directly from their page. https://www.usbody.com/Pages_Trucks/67-Chevy.htm. I wonder if that 72 body is manufactured by artfiberglass and they're re-selling some others.
Keep in mind that while rust repair is very time consuming, it will take more time to cut and fit the fiberglass parts to the truck. And you still have to paint. But the rust won't come back...
I went through this with my truck, I'm teetering on a slippery slope. I'm two shocks away in the front, six in the rear and geometry to go fast. Few weeks of work I could race Norra.
I ultimately decided I couldn't drive it comfortable on the street and I'll do some leaf springs, air bumps and good shocks in the rear and be done. I'll probably add some type of engine cage to tie into the frame more and brace the rear.
I ultimately decided I couldn't drive it comfortable on the street and I'll do some leaf springs, air bumps and good shocks in the rear and be done. I'll probably add some type of engine cage to tie into the frame more and brace the rear.
Spoke with Steve on the phone an hour or so goin over options I'm definitely not counting patriot out. Their first Gen is sweet if anyone wants to see it in action, video can be found on insta @patriotchassis
