Stovebolt.com Forums The Shop Area The HiPo Shop Shop bid to build my ‘51 streetrod truck

From my own experience, fixing a rusty old truck will nickel and dime you to death. Fixing rusty panels has doomed my project to corner ir the shed purgatory. Yes. I do have buyer's remorse. If I had to do it all over again, I would buy a running and driving truck and enjoy it, regardless of the condition.

In your situation, a chassis and new cab might be the way to go. After you get over the sticker shock, it may save some money and time in the long run.

"...fixing a rusty old truck will nickel and dime you to death..."

Yeah , I started out with "Let's just make this bucket roadworthy so I can enjoy it." - now I am in the "How did I get in this deep?" zone.

Reminds me of a single panel cartoon I saw in a magazine years ago -

A man is standing at the counter in an auto parts store. He looks tired , greasy , frazzled. In his hand is a radiator cap ; he is showing it to the parts guy.
The frazzled guy says "I need everything except this for a 1965 Ford Fairlane."

Sir, You should walk away from the $30K estimate from the professional shop to hot rod your '51 1/2 ton. Why? A shop is in business to make money and you already think it's outrageous to charge so much. Think about this hobby and how people are consistently drawn to it & everyone wants an iconic '47-'53 GMC/Chevrolet truck. Heck it even made it as a postage stamp! You need lots of money to play this game! Keep your '51 1/2 on the road & work more jobs to create a budget specifically to fund this passion we all have. Thanks Chuck. V/r, Nick

I agree with most of the responses. After working on mine for the last 5 years doing a little at a time and being no where close to done I have $10K in parts not counting the countless hours of labor. I am not even doing any of the upgrades he quoted. Mine is 90% original. No suspension or drivetrain upgrades. No new gauges, gas tank, air conditioning or anything else. Just think about the hourly rate for labor minus parts cost and you will spend a fortune. Good luck finding one with all the work he has quoted for much less. Most out there are priced higher. Maybe you could work a deal with him to purchase one of the trucks he is currently working on and take yours as a trade to reduce the cost.