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GM Chevy Restoration Kit

Latest Update: September 2011
Talking about this Tip in the Forums

This Tech Tip is almost ten years old. It's been updated several times thanks to continuous input from Bolters. Ah, the beauty of a living document.

Originally General Motors offered a "somewhat decent" restoration kit for FREE! Given that was ten years ago, we were pretty excited to get any kind of information out of GM. Most of the technical data sheets were fair to poor quality copy, but it had good data and it was FREE. However, when GM started charging $50 for it, well, it wasn't so exciting any more.

When you called GM, you would specify the year of your truck, and some of the information they sent included color codes, vehicle highlights, wheel tire specifications, transmission and suspension, standard equipment list, brake information, vehicle features, engine specifications, list of options and standard equipment list, trim package, exterior and interior dimensions, engine options.

This kind of information is invaluable for your old truck but it is now easier to obtain ... and we have another FREE source -- two actually!

Keith Hardy has been asking folks to send their Restoration kits to him so he can include them on the Chevy Manuals Project site. Check his site first if you are looking detailed information about your truck. As of this date, he has Chevy cars and truck restoration packages from 1928 through 1959. If you have something you can share with him, please support his effort ... he is still doing it for FREE (isn't that a great word?)!!

Joe "Joe H" Hand and Woogeroo sent along a link to the GM Heritage Center -- another FREE resource:

"Over 800 Chevrolet Information Packages are now available for download free of charge. These packages contain basic specifications and equipment availability for most Chevrolet vehicles from 1913 to 2007. You may also purchase individual printed copies of information kits for all General Motors brands.

These are pdf files and some can be quite large. I looked up 1949 just as a test and it was a 53-page copied document in pdf format. Cletis checked out several years and reported that it seemed to be the same information as the original GM Restoration Kit but better quality as pdf files.

If you are stumped when you first enter the page, Tim "tclederman" Lederman suggests to scroll down to "Chevrolet Trucks (All Models Not Listed Below)" (those are newer trucks). Click on the word "Show" at the end of that line and it will list trucks from 1930-2000. Unfortunately, pages are still missing in several manuals. However, any of these manuals are a must-have for any owner.

HELLOOO CANADA --

Not to leave out Bolt Brethren to the north, Bill "Squeeze" LePage sent us the link for Canadian GM production. Best we can determine - not FREE, but a nominal charge. Bill got his information from GM Canada long ago and was impressed (enough) with it.

Besides the truck technical data, GM Canada also additional services for identification and tips for importing or exporting your old truck.

Vintage Vehicle Services

The restoration of vintage vehicles requires a special degree of knowledge. By providing unique vehicle-specific production information for Canadian produced or Canadian sold GM vehicles, regardless of production location, we hope to pass along that knowledge.

We can provide proof positive identification for your vintage car or truck, including special options that will make your car or truck more valuable.

Our vintage vehicle package provides the option content of your vehicle. Information includes:

• original paint colour and interior trim colour
• production/shipping dates
• quantity of same model produced for sale in Canada
• original engine number through late 1960's (if available)
• original selling Dealer and location (if available)

This information is combined with Engineering Specifications for your specific year and vehicle line to provide a comprehensive package of production information for each car or truck.

Option details are available from 1964 to the present for most vehicle lines. Available information from 1946 to 1964 is limited to:

• colour
• trim
• production/shipping dates
• engine number
• quantities produced for sale in Canada
• selling Dealer (after approx. 1957)

Only production numbers are available prior to 1946 (sorry, nothing from 1939 to 1945), except for Chevrolet where Engineering Specifications are also available.

We can help identify engine numbers, and offer assistance in locating the parts you need to restore your GM car or truck to its original form. An original equipment car is much more valuable than a clone.

If you are interested in purchasing a specific vintage GM vehicle that was originally produced or sold in Canada, you should be aware of the authenticity of the vehicle before you spend your hard-earned cash.

We provide same-day call-back service for those who are contemplating making a purchase but want to make sure of what they are buying.

Call us with your Vehicle Identification (Serial) Number toll-free (in Canada) 1-888-467-6853, between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. EASTERN Time. (Outside Canada 1-905-440-7689).

A nominal fee applies for the research service.

We can also help you with the documentation required to export your used GM vehicle to the USA or overseas, and to import a GM vehicle to Canada.

We have a Tech Tip on Crossing the Border into Canada from 2008 by Randy Jewers and John Milliman. John took a 1951 up to Randy back in 2008. There is some helpful information there. But it would be smart to check with GM Canada to be sure this information is still up to date. (And then let us know so we can update our end!)

Now how do we find the GMC stuff!!!

-30-

OLD TRUCKS ROCK!