The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk New to forum, seeking advice on 37' pickup

I ran across a full restored 37' 1/2 in the LA area. The vehicle is completely restored, with some added pieces and parts, bumpers, turn signals, wide whites, simple audio system. Paint work is excellent. Interior is restored and updated. Engine and suspension is 100% stock. Considering doing the MII front end, 350, auto and drive line / brake upgrade but wondering on the affect to re-sale? The truck looks fantastic and would be a great cruiser, just not a fast one. Looking for a little advice from the "Pro's" before I jump in. Purchase price in low 20's.

My opinion. It would be a shame to butcher a restored, running truck with original components. There are plenty of worn out hulks lying around to butcher. Pull one out of a pasture and build it your way.

Ditto- - - - -resto-mods are like belly buttons, noses, and other bodily orfices- - - -everybody's got one, and some of them are pretty stinky. Anybody who butchers up a running antique to make a rat rod or a resto-mod needs to be slid down a 50-foot razor blade into a pool of alcohol!
Jerry

Thanks guys. Appreciate the candor and advice.

X3. It's only original once. You own a piece of history, don't ruin it.

well said, I agree.

I love the resto-rods...but I love the ORIGINAL even more. If I ever run across one like you found I'd keep it original and do what cletis suggested..... and you'll be surprised how much attention you get for the fact it is original.

As an owner of a '37 that is "mostly stock", I completely agree with the others. I have been to many car shows since buying and finishing the restoration of my '37, about 10 years ago. I have not seen a single other like it. I have seen many others that have been modified, most were nicely done. But, none were like they were or close to the way they were back "in the day". To each his own, but IMO, it would be a shame to modify a truck such as that described.

I'll probably get eaten up for saying this, but here goes:

I see no reason why you can't build what you want. On this site that is not a popular opinion though. A restored truck to me is as useful as a screen door on a submarine. I appreciate a restored truck and enjoy seeing one, but for how I use my vehicles it would never leave the garage, and that's just not okay.

There are "opinions" on this, but from my experience this is what I've seen: The modified truck will not change your re-sale value much and it may go up, but you'll probably lose what you put in at the purchase price you're considering. Perhaps not though, if it's done well a nice mild custom in the 30's can easily go for somewhere in the 30-50K range (up here). From the market up here I know that restored vehicles may be listed for the same values, but in my experience (that being in the Alberta market), they're much harder to find a buyer for. Nice mildly customized vehicles up here sell MUCH faster than restored vehicles, as there are just more buyers interested in something that they can drive wherever they want at whatever speed they want, than are interested in something that is the way it left the factory. That's just the truth.

If you have a nice customized vehicle that appears relatively stock otherwise, there will never be an end to comments about how you should have left it stock. The thing is, those people weren't there with cash in hand to buy the vehicle, and they certainly don't own it or in some cases they didn't think the vehicle was worth the effort beforehand.

Ultimately you have to be happy with the decision, and that's all that matters.

46,

You won't get eaten up here. And you see in the Gallery stories, all types.

And have you read this? As the FAQ states, on-going commentary.

Peggy

Thanks Peggy, I've seen all that. My comment was more based on experience on the forum

Thanks again. Still on the fence and have not pulled the trigger on the truck. Here's a quick pic.

'37 Chevy truck

Nice looking pickup. I like those artillery wheels.

Like someone mentioned above....I've been driving my "resurrected" 37 for years to drive-ins, cruises/shows and have never seen one at the time I atteneded. I also have seen only two or three remotely close to where I live. However, the ones I seen that were full rods the guys were pretty much like me. Had very little to start with but still saved a piece of true Americana metal.

...if you only seen what I drug home!!

I don't think anyone here ever said that he shouldn't build his truck the way he wants. In fact we preach the exact opposite of that here.

The way I read the question was that he had located a truck that was ALREADY RESTORED and was thinking about modifying it. And the majority of the responses were of the opinion that this particular vehicle should not be carved up, but rather he should locate a lesser truck and build THAT one the way he wants it.

That is a beauty.

i know that truck, it used to belong to my friend Javier before he sold it to "cartoon" nice truck

Got to pondering the numbers and a wild guess as to what would seem to be a reasonable estimate as to how many of this model might still be around as an "original or restored" example. I know; some might wonder don't I have anything better to do...well frankly at the time, no.

As I recall reading, there were about 64,000 of the '37 half ton models built. Of that number I'd guess (at best this is a s.w.a.g.) fewer than 10% are still around in any form, "original", restored, modified, or parked as parts vehicles. So my guess would be about 6,400 survive in any form. If, and it would at best another s.w.a.g., based on anecdotal experiences, and observations, there are maybe fewer than 1,000 of these models left in "original/restored" form. So keeping one such as the OP described and posted the picture of would seem a "good investment" in preserving history.

All this and a saw buck won't buy a small coffee and stale donut, but it did pass some time while "waitin on a woman".

That's true, I just read a lot of posts (including the one below) talking about how important it is to preserve the truck in stock restored condition. However, if no one is willing to put up the money to buy it and preserve it in the condition, I see no problem with tastefully modifying it to preserve the character and some of the original look but make it more drive-able. That was my thought, I hope that's clearer.

If I had one that nice the only thing I would do is get rid of the 4.10 gears and install some 3.55s so it would be better on the highway.

Bought it! Now the big decision. Oldmemoriesscc, it is the same truck btw.

good buy roadking..you wont regret it do it the way you like..some like the original look, the ratrod, the hot rod looks a combo of all?

Nice buy! Now that it's yours, it's all up to you!

Thanks for the help and opinions. Super excited. Will post updates as I progress.

Gear it with the 3.55 sets available or change out the transmission and rear axle for a newer one, both options will not hurt the resale value since most will want to drive faster anyway, plus you really won't be able tell its been modified. You can always change it back since no major work will be required.
It will ride like a truck with the four leaf springs, but you can soften it a bunch with spring liner and removing a few leafs. You can also improve the steering with a 41-46 gear box and a little work on the steering column, this will not show either since the gear boxes look almost the same. The newer box slows the steering ratio and adds roller balls for easier steering.

Mine will run all day at 70 mph with a little 250 inline 6, so a 350 is not really needed for highway use.

Forgot to add that mine has disk brakes on the straight axle. I wanted the front brakes to match the late model rear axle so I went with disks, other wise I would have used the OEM brakes. Both types in top shape will stop equally as well, the drums just won't do it as many times in a row due to heat build up.

Good looking truck!

Joe

I love the original look and don't plan on changing it. My mods will be the the drive train, tranny and possibly steering/rear end. And of course audio, that's what I do. I just want some extra sauce under the hood and the ability to drive around the state. My goal is to do nothing that can't be retro'd back, if possible. Again, really excited. The forum looks like a solid group of passionate wrench's and enthusiasts.

If you want extra sauce under the hood and still want to be able to put things back should consider finding a 261 to put in.

Its your truck do whatever you want with it.


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