I have a '63 F100 with a 292 (and the wonderful crossover pipe) that I am seriously considering having a frame up restoration done on, has anyone had this done to their truck? What pitfalls should I be prepared to face? I’m in the service and don’t have space or time to attempt it myself.

<O Thanks, Hank

 

Hank, Welcome to FTE and the 61-66 forum, the nations truck stop.

Pickup restoration is a train load of work, make sure you have the time, the place to work and the tools to work with before you start, or you can end up with aonther unfinished project.

There is plenty of info in the archives of this forum and the search feature should be working again soon.

good luck

John

 

If I get your question right, you want to pay to have someone else do the frame up restoration and want tto see if others have gone this route. I haven't, but could only imagine that this comes with a hefty price tag. You may want to do this in phases. Define each phase to be done and have the work done the same. You may find that you have more time and space to do some of it yourself later down the road.

Thanks for your service

 

It is far cheaper to buy a restored truck than to have yours done. If you can't do it yourself, you will spend at least 3x what a restored truck goes for (which right now is only going to be around $10-15k for a nice one).

 

I also would like to welcome you to our 61-66 FTE Forum. Thanks for what you do for us in Uniform Hank, We salute you for it.
As for restoration by others, the problem with that is finding the right "others" to do good work in a timely manner which you can afford and are willing to pay. As a former big time restoration & custom automotive work specialist I'd tell you another big pitfall will be finding a reputable technician/ shop that does good work and has integrity too.
There are a lot of shops around but finding the good ones is tough.

Check their customer base for references and a look see at some of the works' quality. Ask how their experience went with the shop. See if they feel thay got their $$$$$$$$ worth. Ask if the shop/ tech gavce them a time line & stuck to it, or better yet wrote some sort of agreement or contract that they both agreed to and that held up to the end of the deal. Also have a number in your head before you enter into a deal, that you can live with for the whole job.

As John said above, a restoration, espacially a major "frame off/ up one" is a bunch of work no mater how one looks at it. Then there are always the unforseen, pre-existing, conditions, or undetected damage, wear, and "faulting" that shows up. Make sure you handle that fairly. Try to pick a shop or technician that really has a passion, as well as a good level of knowledge and skill that applies to our "Slick 60s" FoMoCo Trucks.

If you don't feel comfortable and confident then DO NOT COMMIT! Keep on searchin' and most of all, regardless of all else CYOA or CYOB because there's nobody watchin your back but you. We can try to help from a distance, but you will be the one there.

Again Hank, thanks for what you do, I salute you and I appreciate you & your team mates. We'll be here for you just like you're there for us.

CIAO FBp

 

Gentleman,
Thank you for your input, I greatly appreaciate it. I will definitley do my homework prior to making a decision.
Hank

 

Hank,check to see if your base has an auto hobby shop.when I was in every base I was at had one.They had heated garages,tools,and was staffed with by a mechanic for advice.If you could do part of the work you would save yourself a bundle of cash. Larry