The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk What's your breaking point???

Another thread about an old Suburban had me thinking. What's your breaking point!! Where do you start to say "Okay, there isn't enough here to restore so time to update the motor or brakes or whatever!" My current project is my 1952 Suburban. It came with an added 3/4 ton axle. 8 lug in the back, six in the front. So that was enough for me to want to make the same bolt pattern front and back. Plus make it the same diameter rim. Cheapest way is a late model axle as opposed to finding an old torque tube to restore. With a late model axle comes late model brakes. So I might as well go with a better design, disc front and rear. When I had my '49, it had a drum rear and disc front. Dual manual master under the floor. What a pain. So I'm going to hang a master with booster on the firewall. That will probably be where the modifications stop. Unless I can't unfreeze the six, then it will get a V8 and an overdrive automatic, probably all computer controlled. But no mods to the body or interior. ( I'll save the six and run it 'til it blows up!)

I have enough of the interior trim and original stance that I want to save most all of it.

But, if this had been all original, driveline and all, I probably would've headed for a restoration. Easier to refurb when you have all the original parts.

If it had been a hulk, well, I have a Camaro clip sitting in the yard and it would have gotten slammed. Aftermarket interior for extreme comfort, go fast shiny motor, etc.

What's your breaking / saving point??

The only way to find the line is to cross it.

When the (not original) 216 in my '51 blew up, I had no choice but to replace it with a 235. The truck was my daily ride to school; and the rebuilt 235 was cheaper than fixing my 216.

Now, since I've got a '56 (passenger car) 235 in my '51, I might as well give up on the true resto...

I plan mostly stock appearance, with comfort upgrades.
Discs.
383, 200-4r, 4.11 12-bolt.
Better leaf springs & shocks.
Seat belts.

Power steering? Probably not.
IFS? Not yet.

Cheers,
mark.
51 KY 3100

my breaking point is when I have to stop printing the green stuff by the way,,,, I like your collection of bikes... about 20 yrs ago my wife and I decided we were going to starting riding again,, bought 2 bikes just a like,, I think we have about 10 miles on them,, been stored up ever since.Fred

So true!!

Yeah, but think about this! To the average Joe, would he know the difference between a 215 and the 235?? If average Joe came up and said "Wow! Is it all original??" a simple "Yup." and no one would know but you. The only one you really need to impress is yourself. And who says you have to open the hood for anybody!! Smells like, sounds like a six, must be!

Either way, sounds like similar thinking to me. If it's gonna be a true resto then you gotta stay true to it. But it also fits into my world to include and enjoy some comfort / safety upgrades, though I would never call it a restoration. I would just call it my ride. I guess once my ride was altered, I let go of the restoration idea.

Thanks!

Hey ,

these trucks made it this far without
your help how far can they go with it.
do the restore

I have to say that at the end of the day the only thing that matters is that you yourself and only you are happy. I just bought a 49 3/4 ton for the purpose of using body parts to finish off my 49 1/2 ton street rod. I have already gone to the trouble of retrofitting an XJ6 Jaguar front and rear end into the 49 frame as well as putting in a 1973 350, modified with tuned port injection. I have also finished off almost all the body fabrication that is necessary on the 1/2 ton. Then out of the blue comes a 49 3/4 ton, extremely original even down to the paperwork and all I can think about is what a sin it would be to use this truck to feed the hot rod hobby. I keep trying to figure out what the right thing to do is, by asking others what they think is right, but I am coming to the realization that it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks unless they are willing to put their wallet where their opinion is. Just do what you fell will make you happy and acheive your own goal and to hell with the negative opinions of others. You can't take it with you so enjoy it if it's YOURS.

When I have folks asking me "Should I restore my bike?" or "Should I paint my Schwinn?", the first thing I tell 'em is that "Your bike is only original once." You can repaint a bike a million times, but it'll only have that factory paint once. After that, I usually tell them that it is their bike and they can do whatever they wish with it. It's not for me to stand in their way! Maybe it gives them something to think about before they grab a can of crappy paint and do what they will with it. ( Restored bikes bring less value than a bone stock original but much more than a custom or home redo.) I don't mind either way because one less original bike makes my original that much more rarer and valuable AND I have my own bikes to worry about much less worry about some strangers bike.

If I was in your spot with the 3/4 ton, I would probably let it go and not turn back. Especially because I don't have the time or money for a second project. I say second project because I couldn't bring myself to part it as your original intent. Hopefully I could find someone that wanted to restore a truck. But if it were like the guy who bought the 1.5 ton from me and wanted to rat rod it, the money was taken and pocketed. It's his to do what he wants with!!

Interesting question. If I had a nice original I don't think I would modify it but since mine were all junk to start with, serious modifications seem fine to me.

I'd enjoy having an original unrestored stock truck. But I'm not likely ever to be the guy who restores one, nor am I likely to put much money into buying one.

I'm a hot rodder at heart and the only way to stop me is to offer more money than it's worth to me so you can own it.

My true love is period correct hot rod stuff. I lean toward rat-rod or rod-storation, or just fixin' up my truck. Whatever blows your hair back brutha!

Boo

This is probably repetive, but I think it depends on what you have to begin with. If you have a nice solid original, I think it is a shame to cut it up. I always think about something some once said to me: "No matter what it is, we have only a short term lease on it." Nice old originals are hard to find. On the other hand, if it is something that has been neglected badly, and you are saving it from the crusher, have at it. Do your thing.

Personally I'm not into the 100% percent original restoration deal. If I can get one back to looking like a fairly well maintained vehicle would have looked when they were in general use, I'm happy. But then, to each his own way of doing things... Allen

I dropped in at friends place today to see what he was working on.I walked in the door and there stands an original 1927 Ford Modal A totally complete car running and driving still had the wood spoke wheels and everything. I asked why the the car was there and he said the customer wants me to cut it up and build a street rod. I found that totaly ridiculus to cut up a car in that good of shape and still had all the original gear on it.

My breaking point is hinged on my torque tube and how long it can go before losing that seal inside. I went thru that before and rebuilt it with the Okie assembly. However I still crawl under it every so often to check my trans fluid and see if there are leaks at the ball housing. I guess once burned twice shy and still feel it is going to go again. In the meantime I have built up a 57 three speed trans and have the third member of a 57 axle ready to go. Frankly I would rather keep the TT set up as it works fine and that's the way it was meant to be. But with the 57 parts in place my constant concern with leakage to the diff will be eliviated.
Bill

Bill,I'm not familiar with the design inside the TT set up;is there any possibility of an upgrade to a better seal design,possibly a different,tighter bearing and seal,or is there room to maybe double stack seals? (I've used that trick to make worn fork slider bushings last another season or two)I'm wondering why the seals begin to leak. I know one reason is the bearing beside the seal either is worn out or has loose enough clearance to let the shaft run below its centerline or wobble in the seal,damaging the seal lip. Seems to me as long as the bearing clearance is kept minimal and the shaft doesn't wobble,the seal should last fora very long time. I've owned a couple of trucks with torque tube axles on them and never had any trouble with them. I'd be inclined to find one to re-install;I'm sure there's a bunch of them out there for the taking,since they use a lot of space in a hot rodders driveway.
Speed

Speed - good comments. The reason my seal leaked was in my opinion because the bushing was worn to a slight oval shape. The Okie assembly is a steel tube with a new bushing and a seal in it. The front bushing is pulled out and the unit is driven in. I recently started to think about whether I should have put in another seal but it is now done. After writing the above I rechecked the trans fluid and it seems to be normal (bent little finger in the hole and the tip is oil covered). I agree that the TT set up is the way it was designed and perhaps rebuilding that assembly would be a better bet. However for now things are pretty much status quo as they say.
Thanks.
Bill

I've been thinking about this since I replied yesterday. To respond more directly to the question, my breaking point is fixing the same thing twice. At that point I want to upgrade or re-engineer to prevent having the same thing break twice.

Since I'm using these trucks differently than they were really designed for, it's not really a surprise that sometimes the original doesn't work as well as something newer.

You know . . .these things are so rare that if you are lucky enough to have one you can do what you $%^# well please with it. Doing a bone bone bone stock resto is sort of wacky unless you are a museum curator. Close enough is close enough after 40 to 60 years of sitting on this ball of dirt.

Some of these beautifully restored trucks are nicer than when they came out of the factory. Overkill perhaps.