So I am having a moral dilemma on the restoration of my truck. Back story of the truck is
here if you want to read about it. I have been tinkering with it over the last few years, got it running, rebuilt the brake system and got the hoist to lift the bed. I have decided that since I am still young (42) I want to do a complete overhaul of the truck. I plan on ditching the dump box and install a flat bed with removable sides, while keeping the dump bed hoist. Basically a frame off restoration but not to show quality. All fresh paint, rebuilt motor and transmission, new tires, new wiring, the whole nine yards. I want this truck to start and stop reliably and want to drive it once or twice a week during the warm months and use it to get hay, straw and get animal food from the farm store.
But, in order to get it to that spot it is going to need A LOT of body work. I'm not too concerned with the chassis and drivetrain, it's all pretty pretty solid and all there, with exception of some rear leaf spring brackets. My main concern is the body tons of rust and missing metal in all the usual spots. The rear cab corners are gone, passenger side looks to have been hit as it's pushed in. The front fenders eyebrows are toast. The cab steps are barely hanging on and the front cab corners are partially missing and both door bottoms are blown out. Also most of the glass is cracked.
I'm thinking of buying another truck with better sheet metal and replacing all of my bad metal or possibly even doing a complete cab swap. I am not confident with body work and don't really have the desire to get good at it. I think I could save a ton of time and labor going this route. Also my truck needs a new set of leaf springs and new spring shackles. I have seen trucks with no titles for a few hundred dollars to old grain trucks at auction selling up to $5,000.
Here is what I am looking at for new parts:
Rear Leaf Springs - $1,500-$2,400
New Rims - $1,700
New Glass - $800
Patch Panels - $500
My main question is when does one truck stop being a truck and then become a different truck? If you know what I mean.
The truck has sentimental value, otherwise I would just dump it and get something cleaner to restore.
Any opinions?
