Agreed. I tried both the frame swap, then ifs route and, let me tell you, you need some skill. I have since acquired said skills, but after building one truck to nearly stock standards, and having put over 1,300 miles on it, I’d still lean toward doing your truck mostly stock. I read somewhere (most likely here) that the best frame for your truck is the one it is sitting on. 😉 Weird.
I second the recommendation to keeping it mostly stock and I‘ll use myself as an example.
I bought our ‘52 3100 truck (complete truck mostly stock) in February on 2019 thinking I could wrap up the mechanical issues in one year then get to doing the bodywork the next. I had it running and driving by March, one month later, but once I looked into why it didn’t stop very well or why it felt like I was trying to heard cattle driving it down the road or why the engine didn’t maintain oil pressure or why the drivetrain was makIng noise, did I realize how much mechanical work it was really going to take. At this point, my block is at the machine shop being fully re-machined, my transmission has been rebuilt and I’m waiting for a replacement bell housing and rear axles. It seems with every issue I tackle, I’m opening up a can of worms.
Fox’s timeline for restoring a ‘mostly stock’ truck in three years is spot on. I’m hoping to finally complete the mechanical issues by next spring.
Once you get one restored truck under your belt, you will have gained the skills to tackle your next project, the old truck on a modern chassis. Good luck, you have us fellow “Stovebolters” to learn from and lean on!
