The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk Chevrolet Restoration Kit -- new info

I just got off the phone with the Chevy people, checking to see if our information on our Restoration Kit tech tip was correct. The lady (Margaret ... what a lovely name - ) was very helpful.

She gave me a breakdown of what is in a kit. She also gave me some addition phone numbers to call for other stuff.

Generally, she said when you request a KIT (not a PACKAGE), the information includes:
lists color codes

vehicle highlights, wheel tire specifications, engine specifications, transmission and suspension, standard equipment list, list of options, trim package, brake information, vehicle features, exterior and interior dimensions, engine options.

There is another number for "New and Vintage Vehicle" for both Canada and United States -- 905-440-7689. She said these people can help you with getting a vehicle across the border.

She also gave me the phone numbers to the GM Heritage Center (586-276-0693 and 586-276-0691). I'll give them a call to see what I can find out. I think what they have in the HC so far is mostly vintage CARS and not trucks. (So, we should call on a regular basis and eventually they may start putting some STOVEBOLTS in there !!)

So ... what I'm looking for for the Tech Tip -- has anyone recently received a Restoration Kit from Chevrolet? Can you give any additional advice or guidance to make it easier for someone else making the call for the first time? Do you need to give your VIN (I forgot to ask that)? Should you just tell them the year and not the model? Does it matter?

I did get the information on the "tracking". Once you call the main number
1 800 222-1020, you need to hit #4 for customer service. Then #4 again for "other questions." Then you'll need to punch in your phone number (when prompted). Not sure why they need that ... but it may help on their end.

Anywho. Any insights will be helpful.

Thanks,
Peg

Hi Peg,I called for a restoration kit and gave them all the info (year,make,model,vin) for my '53 6500 series truck.What I received was a kit for a '53 car.I called back and gave them all the info again stressing "this is a Two Ton Truck!!!" The second time I got a lot of good info,specs,pictures,phone numbers for clubs,specialty shops and publications.I believe it depends on who answers the phone since they are just loading info to see what spits out.
I then went to Office Max and had them put it into a spiral binder while I waited.It costs a small amount of money and makes it easy to work with.Hope this helps!

Got my '56 3100 kit yesterday, just needed to supply them the VIN and my name & address. I got what gtow69 got, which surprised me because the lady I talked to had no idea what I was asking for. Put me on hold 5 times to go ask someone. GM customer service called me last week asking if I was happy with my experience. Told him I hadn't received it yet and of my 1 hour phone call trying to get it ordered. It all turned out ok, very interesting reading.

When I called, I gave them the year, model, VIN and mailing address. I received the packet about 3 days later, and it contained a lot of useful information.

The restoration packet I got for my 38 included both car and truck information. It also included information on GM approved restoration parts suppliers. They require the correct VIN for your vehicle.

the package I got from GM Canada for a CDN truck included all the usual info on the truck models [nothing on cars], but also included the exact day of production and the dealer that sold it - it was a special order panel truck to be used for an ambulance, so may have had more recorded

Bill

Well, wow. Very interesting.

Has anyone WRITTEN to them to get the packet? I wonder if that experience was any different.

As (when) I get time, I might like to address this GM Heritage Center. Perhaps we can encourage them to intervene in some way.

If nothing else, the more folks that ask for a kit, perhaps the more familiar they will be with it.

And TRULY ... we know this stuff does exist there so we can encourage the Stovebolters asking for the info to just be persistant.



Peg

I've never figured out why they have to have your VIN. I've gotten 3 different packets, and here's their contents:

1) A photocopy of the truck specification sheets for that year. This includes wheel bases, weights, and all kinds of stuff for EVERY truck of your year, broken down by model. It also includes all the RPOs, etc. This is NOT VIN specific, but year specific.

2) A photocopy of an outdated list of suppliers. This is IDENTICAL in every packet that I've gotten -- not even year specific.

Frankly, most of the information is available in the factory repair manual. I wasn't terribly impressed.

Oh, and Peggy, the Cadillac and La Salle Owners Club is reporting that the GM Heritage Center can give them the original build configuration for any Caddy from '26 to '70. Maybe someone could call them and see if this service is available to other model lines?

Brian

just curious... is there a GMC package available? Or is it simply biased toward chevrolet owners. Us GMC guys are always sitting in the shadow of you chevy folk. Not trying to start a war here, but you guys got it EEEEE ZZZZZZZ!

I got most of the stuff Brian McGee got as far as photocopy material is concerned. I did get a brief history of my truck before it was delivered. But like he says most of the data is in the manuals. What hurts is it costs us $25 plus tax!

I wrote to them and asked for a kit that pretained to my truck using the VIN number. It came in the mail a few weeks later, no charge,
Scott

Peggy:

I haven't asked for one yet.

I'll have to do that here and let you know.

-Brendan

I ordered mine today. The calling procedure went exactly as Peggy described.

I gave them my VIN and it took him about 3 minutes to locate the information. He took my mailing address and said it should arrive in 3-4 weeks. The whole phone call took about 5-7 minutes.

My experience thus far has been very pleasant!

Well I guess that it's time I tried again. As i reported a month or so ago, the girl on the other end was evidently clueless when it came to the resto kits. She said that they didn't have any for a 58 Chevy Apache/3100 Truck. I tried explaining to her that it was probably just listed as a 1/2 ton pickup or it could be listed as an Apache, etc. She didn't seem to get it, then talked to me like I didn't understnd that they didn't resto kits for all GM vehicles using some examples that just showed her ignorance even more vividly, like resto kits only going back to a certain year for a certain model what she didn't know was that year was the first year for that particular model of car and that's why there was nothing before that year :rolleyes: .

Brian,

I got the impression the Heritage Center is geared mostly towards cars. We'll see if we can change that some.

Also, John said he got more information than what you had listed. He said his was truck specific so that you would need the VIN. It included a list of clubs and other resources. I don't remember what else he said ... he'll have to post ... but I do remember that what he DID say lead me to believe that giving the VIN would be helpful.

As a few of you all get a new package, maybe we can include of list of what *possibly* should / could come. Then we can list it in the Tech Tip, so if something is mission, you can call or write again.

I'll check about the Canadian deal -- why there is a fee. And if that applies to other countries, too.

What might be helful ... as we great some of these newcomers to the site, let's encourag them to get the packet (send 'em to this thread -- or the Tech Tip) and see if we'll get more feedback. Plus wake up Chevy.

Oh and Big Daddy -- the first auto message on the call is "Thank you for calling Chevrolet" ... I thought the number was for GM. I will see what I can find out about GMC info.

Peg

We has little trouble getting the one for the 47 trucks. The first person I talked with, didnt know much and handed it off to a girl who, with the VIN number, found the kit, took my address and I had the stuff in about a week. There where 2 set of papaers in the kit. One was the stuff about alll the 47 truck models, the other was a list of places to get parts, groups, and etc. I'm pretty sure that if your not using the VIN number oof the door plate you might get something else. I info was interesting to read, but I'm sure that I would have needed it to redo the truck.

Peggy,

Would you guys have any interest in hosting .pdf versions of these packets, one for each year?

I don't think that the packets have any kind of copyright to them, so as long as we aren't selling anything, it should be okay to scan and post.

Brian

Brian - K Hardy is doing that for us - anyone that wants to add their year to his list see his note

Bill

Red,

I've seen his site before. He doesn't plan on carrying anything past '59 if I recall correctly.

Brian

Peggy;
Have you heard anything on the availability for GMC trucks?

Oh and Big Daddy -- the first auto message on the call is "Thank you for calling Chevrolet" ... I thought the number was for GM. I will see what I can find out about GMC info.

Thanks Peggy!

I tried several months ago and of course got the clueless operator. I was informed that such a packet did not exist for my '54 4100. Have not tried again. I have a habit of getting a bit peeved when dealing with incompetence so I give it one shot and then just forget it.

Over the last 10 years I have ask for three different vehicles. I got the packet each time in about a week. It contained info as mentioned earlier. Specs, pics, and list of suppliers etc. I did have one of the three that I had to talk real slow for her to understand....which wasn't hard to do since I'm from S.C......!!!!!!!

I just received my packet yesterday...it has everything as mentioned above. The list of suppliers range from "Camaro only" resto houses to truck specialty places and everything in between. The brief descriptions of the companies is incorrect overall. I wasn't terribly impressed. Mostly I was wanting to know what color of blue my 57 3100 is. I think I read here in the forum that there was 3 shades of blue for 57, but haven't seen any of them as of yet. For a "newby", I think the truck info is wonderful! Since it was free, I think it is an outstanding service that GM gives. Just my .02
Dano

Ok I am going to contact them in the AM.

But I do have a question........

Is this information something we couldn't already find in a book? or HERE? etc. etc.


Cliff59

Cliff, It is mostly info you can find here (or should be able to find here ) We're not quite there, yet. Our vision (well, mine anyway -- it's been awhile since Peggy and I had the "Vision Chat" -- hey sweetie, maybe we should have a Stovebolt Leadership Offsite... ?) is for the Stovebolt Page to be the comprehensive on-line source for antique GM truck information.

Obviously we're not there yet. And also obviously what it takes to get there is help. A LOT of help. Which is where the 11,000 of you all come in. The financial contributions are fantastic and we are humbled by the generosity of those of you who have contributed to our "Server of our Own" campaign.

We also need content for the site. The Gallery submissions are great -- thanks! But they are the attraction. And so is this forum. The true strength of this web site should be our Technical articles. There's a lot of you out there with a lot of knowledge about these old trucks -- how about writing it down and sending it in? They don't have to be books -- short tech tips are great!

I've tried to capture stuff out of the Forums, and the forums are a great source for this, but it's time consuming.

There's a lot of you doing various things to your trucks, including complete frame offs -- how about documenting? Walk us through various sub-assemblies (like rebuilding your steering or SM-420?

Some folks are doing some incredible updates -- (Hey Grigg -- how about an article & photos on that cool diesel upgrade???) How about documenting it in words and pictures as you go along and send it to us? But don't just send us links to online photo albums or other off-site links -- those invariably go stale and become dead links after awhile.

Chatting in here is fine, but it doesn't do the greater population any good if we don't capture it in the Tech Tips and other less transitory parts of the site.

So get busy -- write tech articles, take pictures, be a published author!!!

Thanks,
John