Hi Brian,
I'm generally in favor of building oddball trucks for a couple of reasons.
Generally, they're cheap and not rare, so it's no great tragedy if you lose
interest mid-project. There is still an informality about old trucks which
invites you to knock yourself out without offending others interested in
these vehicles. Contrast this with the reaction you'd get if you wanted to
swap a 4x4 chassis into an early Corvette. You'd make a lot of enemies real
fast.
I think I'd be inclined to restore a couple solid half tons to stock before
I tackled the project you've outlined. You really learn a lot doing a stock
resto, and even though it has more than enough work to keep you occupied,
you are less likely to get permanent burn out half way through. Don't give
up the dream, but refine it by doing a couple of more conventional things
first. Your results will ultimately be better for the exercise.
Finally, when you get around to doing the project, I think it would be very
respectful of the inherent merit of these trucks, which, especially in the
larger sizes, are getting slowly but steadily rarer, to make sure that you
are not trashing a good restorable stock truck, but are rather bringing one
back that is already on the way to the boneyard. This should be cheaper for
you, but in addition, it will keep the restorable ones from becoming
extinct.
Regards,
Grant S.
54 3100 (mostly all there)
54 3100 (mostly not there)
55 1st 3100 (mostly rust)
Los Angeles, CA
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