What is the best order for restoring a vehicle?

[Oren09]

Or, do the bodywork now then he will have a good looking truck which he will appreciate and therefore take better care of/ be more cautious with . I know that nobody plans to get in wrecks but when I get my license and am in the bump I plan on being pretty careful. After all of the work/money that I've already put into it and the more work/money I have planned to put into it the very last thing I want to do is to let my bump get in any kind of accident.

I agree. However, my costly accident was just than...an accident. I was driving the speed limit in my dad's 03 Sebring Convertible. It was raining and the truck in front of me stopped suddenly at a yellow light. I hit the brakes and the antilock did its pulsing thing as I slid under the rear end of the truck. The car drove to the corner gas station but was bleeding green. Airbags didn't deploy and I bent the bumper of the truck. Damage was $6500 in 2008.
And being a truck, it will most likely leave the pavement at least once- and find many branches and a lot of brush.

[Caseys71]

Or, do the bodywork now then he will have a good looking truck which he will appreciate and therefore take better care of/ be more cautious with . I know that nobody plans to get in wrecks but when I get my license and am in the bump I plan on being pretty careful. After all of the work/money that I've already put into it and the more work/money I have planned to put into it the very last thing I want to do is to let my bump get in any kind of accident.

I agree. However, my costly accident was just than...an accident. I was driving the speed limit in my dad's 03 Sebring Convertible. It was raining and the truck in front of me stopped suddenly at a yellow light. I hit the brakes and the antilock did its pulsing thing as I slid under the rear end of the truck. The car drove to the corner gas station but was bleeding green. Airbags didn't deploy and I bent the bumper of the truck. Damage was $6500 in 2008.
And being a truck, it will most likely leave the pavement at least once- and find many branches and a lot of brush.

Also a good point. That sounds like a pretty bad accident with your dad's sebring, glad you came out okay.

[1971ford]

New drivers almost always hit something at some point.

Hey now i've had my license for a year and have yet to hit anything Granted, I'm still a "new driver".
My friend on the other hand has hit everything in town.

[speed bump]

It all depends on what the truck needs and your budget can afford. I bought mine and it needed brakes so I did them first. Once I had that the front end need some parts to make it less scary on the road so I did them. I also did all the tune up stuff it needed (carb rebuild, plugs, cap, wires, points, valve cover gaskets, filters etc). Then I fixed the interior so it was quieter. After that it has been a random smattering of fixing what comes up and making improvements.

The only way I would suggest doing a frame off is if you have the time, ideas, and talent to make what you want in the end a reality. Otherwise you just end up with a frustrating pile of parts.

[bluemoose]

I would suggest getting the suspension, steering and brakes done first. The safety stuff is the most important, a running vehicle that doesn't stop, well...

You need to determine how long you can have it off the road. Brakes don't take too long to do, but if you need to have the drums turned, it could take a couple of days. It also depends on how bad some of the stuff is.

The rear suspension shouldn't take more than a couple of days to do soup to nuts. If you have a press for the bushings, it will go pretty quick, if you make your own bushing puller, it may take a bit longer.

It is also important to consider how far you are going to go while doing the work. Will you be pulling the leaves apart and painting them? Will you just be replacing the wear parts? I have been taking everything apart, cleaning them and painting them. It takes a bit longer, but once it's done, it's done. Plus it is nice once you have things pulled apart to do everything you can so you don't have to pull things apart multiple times.

The front end may take a bit longer than the rear, especially if it is caked with oil, debris, etc.

After this stuff, I would suggest doing a really good tune up and make a punch list of the things you want to do.

It is great to drive a good looking truck, but if it isn't safe and driving well, what's the point. I always think it is funny to see cars that barely run, but have beautiful new rims. Priorities!

Moose

[cdeal28078]

Or, do the bodywork now then he will have a good looking truck which he will appreciate and therefore take better care of/ be more cautious with . I know that nobody plans to get in wrecks but when I get my license and am in the bump I plan on being pretty careful. After all of the work/money that I've already put into it and the more work/money I have planned to put into it the very last thing I want to do is to let my bump get in any kind of accident.

I agree. However, my costly accident was just than...an accident. I was driving the speed limit in my dad's 03 Sebring Convertible. It was raining and the truck in front of me stopped suddenly at a yellow light. I hit the brakes and the antilock did its pulsing thing as I slid under the rear end of the truck. The car drove to the corner gas station but was bleeding green. Airbags didn't deploy and I bent the bumper of the truck. Damage was $6500 in 2008.
And being a truck, it will most likely leave the pavement at least once- and find many branches and a lot of brush.

LIke my pop would say "following too close" Glad you were not hurt. You can be as careful as you want but nothing beats experience. I always drove my truck very carefully when I was young but made a left turn on the way to High School one morning and some dude late for work was passing the two cars behind me and hit my left from fender. He got the ticket and paid for the work on my truck but my dad surprised me when he said it was actually my fault. I asked how. He asked if I had looked in my left mirror before turning. I said "I don't remember". He told me that it was my fault my truck got wrecked because if I HAD looked in my left mirror I would have seen the idiot in a hurry passing everybody in the fog and would not have gotten my truck wrecked.
Safety and Mechanicals 1st like said. Then the pretty stuff
clint

[1971fordcustom]

Mine was a frame up! 13,000$$$ Would of been more but my buddy did not charge me 6000$ for the paint job like he woud somone else! I just bought the stuff he had to have!
It was in his shop for way over a year wile I was putin the goodies on it.

[69rangerf100]

im am currently doing a frame off i have slowly been working on it for 3 years due to lack of funds im doing alot of the work my self. i have been buying the parts that i need or may need to replace the worn out parts or just for the upgrades that im doing. so far im in it for 2,000 and that does not include the cost of the truck which was free since it was my dad's truck which i inherited after his death. i am estimating about another 6,000-8,000 to have it finished