Darrin Tosh
IDI Hound
I'm on it!..
Gary I know what you are thinking, and I agree with you. It is easier to start with a solid rust free truck, and replace mechanicals as needed, instead of restoring a rust belt truck. Unless you have a Napa Connection.
I spent 3 years looking for the "right" truck before buyng Big Ed out of Southern CA. and would do it again. In the mean time I had the 87 F250 that was a one owner local truck that had been all redone and kept up. When I sold it to pay for Big Ed, It was starting to bubble again in all of the typical spots, but still looked good.
One other thing to remember is that there will be a lot of things that you wont "need" to do, For instance, my truck has over 300K on it, the motor has been replaced at one time with a used one, and I replaced the tranny last year, but the T-Case, front and rear end's haven't been touched, that I know of. I did back brakes last year and did the outside bearings just because we were there. I did change all of the oil when I got the truck, but that driveline stuff will last a long time befor ever needing to be "rebuilt".
It will also depend on how the truck has been taken care of as do what you will need to spend money on. You might be able to find a truck that has had a lot of stuff done to it, New turbo, Rust free body, paint job, 6" lift etc,..but just blew a motor. Sounds familiar hu,..? Scotty... and pick up the truck for a good price.
It will take a while to find what you are looking for but for now you have a great driver untill the right one comes along. Take your time, you will know when it is the right truck.
Darrin
