I am thinking of restoring an older pickup with my 12 an 9 yr old sons as their first vehicles. There are a few reasons, but mainly time spent with my kids working on it and the knowledge they would gain in working on it. I dont want that to be them in 10 yrs.

I am not an expert by any means, but am pretty handy. I farm and have a large shop with 90% of the tools I would need. I know a good body shop guy. He would be hired for the body work I don't feel comfortable with (finish and paint). He even has a 74 c10 long bed I have looked at. Haven't got to price yet, but it may be the one, but still looking.

My biggest concern is getting $15,000 in and not being able to finish.

Am I crazy? Talk me out of this before I take the dive and get the truck to start on.

I would love to find someone on here that could guide me. I know I am far from competent enough to finish this right now, but I am hopeful my knowledge can grow during the project to the point I can finish it. I am also not naive thinking it will be easy. I know there will be challenges. I just hope I can overcome them.

I think its a great idea. The time with your sons will never be replaced or forgotten. Just make sure you and both of them have the time and are committed.

Commitment I dont think would be a problem. Time on the other hand it hard to measure.

Excellent idea about working with your sons on this. Many lessons will be taught especially patience. Commit to small tasks at first and that will help the kids build mechanical skills. I won’t attempt to talk you out of it as it can create strong bonds. I’ve restored a 69 Camaro and the last project I assisted my dad with was a groundup restoration on a 1972 BMW motorcycle. Great memories made with dad.

I think that would be a great idea,what make and model are you going to be working on?

Time with the boys will be well worth a 15000 piece of junk

+1

Set a budget. Then multiply it by 2.

I would be silly to think I’ll ever get out of my truck what I have into it. It’s a long term investment in that way. But it also holds sentimental value and there will be very few trucks like it when I’m done.

I suspect yours will too.

I am looking at a 2nd or 3rd gen c10. mainly 3rd gen. It fell it would be better to get into the later 3rd gen if I can find it. Parts and info seem to relatively accessible on the chevys. Apparently they are popular restoration vehicle, so harder to find.

I dont like the look of the fords unless it is way, way back. The 70's and 80's fords dont look good in my opinion. Not opposed to a dodge, but haven't really looked for one.

I thought about a car of some type, but doesn't fit my oldest son as well as a truck. Same body shop guy has a thunder bird that had an engine fire. It think that would be cool if its still there for my youngest son.

forget tha "budget" part, never works out anyway...........question 'em in non-cholent kinda way on what appeals to 'em... it will be well worth it ta all involved...

early to mid 70s cheby, parts abound and are pretty cheap, easy to customize if you go that rte.

had a 76 cheby K2500 that I put a bunch of money into and drove it till the wheels fell off, great truck

I have redone two old corvettes and have one sitting in the garage now. I wanted to do some other vehicle with one of my grandsons, but got no indication they were interested. I get the impression that today’s kids really have little interest in old cars. They want new, modern, quite, and clean, not old, loud, antiquated, and unreliable, all things that most old restored cars are. I would give it a try, but be prepared on finishing the project by yourself, for yourself. Just my opinion.

Read...This......Book!............TRUCK by John Jerome

It is entertaining and very informative concerning your project!

I’d love to find a ‘72 Chevy half ton long bed in blue and white. My dads truck that I grew up in! I saw one that looked just like a few years ago. I wasn’t financially prepared to buy it

[align:left][/align]Find you a 67 to 72 half ton, short bed( wide bed if you can find it) Chevy. There is a good chance you can get your money back on one of these plus nearly every part is still available either OEM or after market. My son and I did a few S-10 trucks but we were converting them to V8s and that may not be what you want. The last restoration my son did by himself. It was a 67 Camaro and he sold it for 60K but it was show quality.