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Old 06-20-2013, 11:27 PM
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HIO Silver
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Originally Posted by Fat Possom
I know, I know... do it myself. Problem is, I have this epic truck but lack the knowhow, initiative, time, or patience to do it myself.

I'm going to start gathering some estimates on a full restoration. I thought I'd ask you all what I SHOULD be expecting to hear.

I don't want to do anything fancy. Just want this old girl to look like she did when she came off the line in 1977.

It's a 1977 F250 Camper Special, 460 v8. Two tone green. Some rust, lots of dents. Most of the trim is there. Interior needs to be replaced. Engine is good, could use a good cleaning, dressing up, etc.

I could buy one already done up. Yes. But I've had her for about 4 years, and would rather pay more and get this one cleaned up.

Most of the pieces are here.

Any idea on what I'd be spending to have someone do it up right?
The term "restoration" and "right" has a wide range of definition so you'll need to be more specific on what you want based on how the rig is intended to be used. There are restorations where it's a nice clean driver and then there are over-the-top RESTORATIONS where every nut, bolt, part, is OEM, NOS, period-correct, and uses no reproduction parts.

After you figure that out, then determine your budget because restoring a truck, especially as a farmed-out project, can easily run $30K to $60K due to labor costs. Does the potential cost match up with your goal?

Lastly, these rigs aren't rare so recouping what you spent and the value of what it could sell for will likely not match up. Will you be okay with that? Or be forever lamenting how much you spent?

There are things you can do to reduce some costs like disassembly, cleaning, and reassembly. That's an easy way to pay yourself at a rate of $90 per hour.... any high schooler with half a brain can turn a wrench and am sure you are capable of doing it too. Think about it... leave the difficult stuff to the pros and do the relatively mundane stuff yourself.

Here's a thread I created a few years ago. It'll give you a breakdown of the required steps and you can use it to estimate costs by system or group assembly.
Dentside Rebuild Guidelines: Step By Step