My 1981 Cheyenne was a beater, and I knew it. But my theory was that I was going to redo the truck anyway, so why spend the money on something nicer? The interior was a great example of the problem. It was past the point of restoration, which meant that the only option I had was to replace everything.
My 1981 was equipped with a 305, but my goal was to find a 350-equipped truck that had more performance potential. After owning the truck for a short time, I decided to sell it.
Take an organized and methodical approach to truck restoration; it saves you time, money, and frustration later on. Restoring any vehicle is a massive undertaking, and without proper preparation, it can quickly become an absolute nightmare. Starting off randomly and arbitrarily pushing forward is no way to accomplish anything, let alone a restoration project. Before you actually start the restoration, you need a solid plan as to how you’re going to tackle the entire restoration, estimate cost, accommodate a cost overrun of 20 percent, and set a budget. Within a restoration plan, you set specific tasks and accomplish them in a timely matter. Before you start, create a list of what you need; that way, you can make sure that your budget is on track. Remember, you also need the correct tools to perform high-quality work.
Before you dive into your restoration, you need a complete plan and budget so you can save time and money. Without one, it’s easy to lose your way and the truck restoration becomes a decades long project.
The key, as it is with any big project, is to plan out major sections beforehand. Divide each portion of the project into individual components, then work it down from there. For example, you could organize by area: cab, bed, engine, etc. Or you could organize by the type of work you’re doing: rust repair, bodywork, paint, mechanical. Whichever method of organizing your restoration you choose, it’s absolutely critical that you have a consistent and methodical system to keep it on track. If not, you can squander time, parts, and money. Often, it comes back to haunt you in the end.
One of the easiest ways to sort things out is to list, in detail, exactly what you plan to do to the truck, something like a mission statement. If you’re doing a full restoration, plan out the project. Some things can be done simultaneously, particularly if you’re farming out the work; the interior (at least some of it) can be done while the truck is being painted, for example, but others must follow a very specific sequence, otherwise they aren’t done correctly, if at all.
You’re still in the early planning stages here, but the system sequence generally goes like this:
1. Disassembly
2. Rust repair
3. Bodywork
4. Paint
5. Engine/transmission
6. Suspension, brakes, steering
7. Interior
8. Electrical
9. Final Assembly
Of course, some things can be done whenever you want. If you’re experienced at engine rebuilding, you could do that at any step of the process, and just wait to install it once the truck is painted. The interior, again, is a matter of timing. In theory, you can do it right away but keep it stored safely somewhere until final assembly. You don’t want to have that nice, new finish ruined with body filler dust and overspray.
The key (and let me just hammer this one home) is taking the time to dial in exactly what you want to do and how you want to handle it. To do that, you must be organized; I can’t stress that enough.
Spreadsheets and To-Do Lists
You need to comprehensively organize all the procedures and parts required to complete the restoration. This is a mammoth undertaking, so it’s not going to be cheap. But if you’re not organized as you go about the restoration process, you spend more money in the long run. With Microsoft Excel, Apple Numbers, Google Docs, or another program, you can build a spreadsheet that tracks your process.
For example, each component can have its own line on the document, with a checkmark as it goes through each phase of restoration. Or each phase of the restoration can have its own line, and the components receive a checkmark. It’s up to you how it’s organized; just make sure that it is.
In case you don’t have any idea where to begin, here’s a starting point: Set up a basic spreadsheet that has columns for priority, task, budgeted cost, budgeted hours, actual cost, and actual hours. Before you begin the work, fill in the first four columns; that add up the budgeted cost at the bottom of its column, and add up the budgeted hours at the bottom of its column.
This gives you an idea of what you expect the whole project to cost and how long it will take. Then, as you go through the build, you can track your actual costs and actual hours. When you’re finished with one phase, you can compare the two columns, which should give you an idea of where you are at in relation to the next phase.
Using a spreadsheet has a number of advantages for organizing your restoration, but one of the main ones is tracking cost. Over the course of your project, whether it takes years or months, you’re going to pick up parts here and there to fix things. Those parts cost money, and it’s easy to forget all of the little things that you buy along the way. Nuts and bolts, for example, are often just a few dollars here and there, but they do add up. Having each purchase and part, no matter how small or seemingly insignificant, on a spreadsheet allows you to see the running total of the actual costs involved in the process. If you put together this spreadsheet before the build begins and include estimates of what you need, you can compare notes later to see how much (more or less) you spent. That information will help you with future projects and budgeting them properly.
Another popular option is to use David Allen’s book Getting Things Done as a guideline. The phrase, “getting things done,” or GTD, is a way to determine what you need to do and when. Depending on the level of granularity that you want to use, your project list can have multiple nested projects and tasks, with estimated times also included. By the time you have things mapped out, you should have a solid idea of how long your project will take to do. If a day arrives when you want to do something but only have a set amount of time, you will know what you can and can’t accomplish.
The key to the GTD system is that granularity, so don’t be afraid to really dig into things. Although the resulting to-do list is quite large, it allows you to budget your time efficiently and ensure that you don’t forget anything along the way.
Several computer applications are also available for both mobile and desktop devices that you can use for GTD, so search around to see what suits your needs best.
Choosing the Level of Restoration
Determining