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Mod | | | Forums66 Topics128,050 Posts1,055,646 Members48,426 | | Most Online14,466 Apr 26th, 2026 | | AD Chevy Trucks Over 6,000 pictures Brad Allen has an awesome collection of Chevrolet factory pictures that he has set up from film strips. Check them out!
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on the Internet for over 30 years! and not clogged down with Ads! Again, thanks! | | | | Joined: Dec 2002 Posts: 3,440 Moderator - The Electrical Bay | | Moderator - The Electrical Bay Joined: Dec 2002 Posts: 3,440 | Has anyone ever tried to restore a burned vehicle? I see what used to be a nice truck on ebay, but it's not pretty, lots of warped metal... potentially some of the parts might be salvageable... what do y'all think?
Another quality post. Real Trucks Rattle HELP! The Paranoids are after me!
| | | | | Joined: Oct 2006 Posts: 4,983 Master Gabster | | Master Gabster Joined: Oct 2006 Posts: 4,983 | That would be a tough if not impossible job. It would depend on how much sheetmetal is warped. You might be looking at nothing left of use but the frame, and it might be warped as well. I would run away as fast as I could from that job.
~Jim
| | | | | Joined: Sep 2007 Posts: 154 Wrench Fetcher | | Wrench Fetcher Joined: Sep 2007 Posts: 154 | I have tried to rebuild a 1996 chev Z71 pickup. I had more night mares with this project. The heat alone is trouble from the motor to the tail end. Heat & fire is not compatable to a good running vehicle. Once in the fire & heat will haunt you as long as you own the vehicle. Believe me I have been there !!
Hope this helps. | | | | | Joined: Jul 2005 Posts: 595 Shop Shark | | Shop Shark Joined: Jul 2005 Posts: 595 | my advice on burned vehicles is if you can't inspect them personally and they aren't free, PASS ON THEM! | | | | | Joined: Jan 2005 Posts: 1,602 Shop Shark | | Shop Shark Joined: Jan 2005 Posts: 1,602 | As a firefighter, I've put out fires in many trucks. My advice is find a different truck. Those things burn really hot and there isn't much that is that goes untouched... They seem like a lost cause. Just my opinion. | | | | | Joined: Oct 2005 Posts: 275 Shop Shark | | Shop Shark Joined: Oct 2005 Posts: 275 | With the paint being burnt off you also have to consider the metal would be pitted with rust. Not just spots but most likely all the panels.
38 original 48 panel 59 stepside 46 in the back forty
| | | | | Joined: Jul 2005 Posts: 2,031 Shop Shark | | Shop Shark Joined: Jul 2005 Posts: 2,031 | when i get my photos back (on disc) i'll post two that got a little toasted during the san diego fires (harris fire). i'm down south working on the telecommunications network that got burned up. i do know that fire and smoke damage cases rust, impurities in the metal, scrap all the upholstry and redo it, warpage in metal body work.
Last edited by carolines truck; 11/14/2007 6:31 AM.
Jim & Caroline The highway is for gamblers, better use your good sense." Gooday-that's my 1¢ answer due to the lousy economy ~ cause I ain't got - no . mo . doe Every Shaver | Now Can Snore | Six More Minutes | Than Before ... | Half A Pound for Half a Dollar | Spread On Thin | Above the Collar || BURMA-SHAVE
| | | | | Joined: Oct 2005 Posts: 275 Shop Shark | | Shop Shark Joined: Oct 2005 Posts: 275 | . i do know that fire and smoke damage cases rust What I was trying to say was that after the paint has been burnt off the bare metal is exposed to the elements like humidity and rain which is going to cause the body panels that have been burnt to be pitted with rust.
38 original 48 panel 59 stepside 46 in the back forty
| | | | | Joined: Dec 2006 Posts: 443 Shop Shark | | Shop Shark Joined: Dec 2006 Posts: 443 | I would stay away from trying to fix a crispy critter. They are as bad or worse than a flood vehicle. 1957 Chevrolet 1/2-ton Stepside LB in the Gallery My Photobucket shots The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself." - John Stuart Mill (1806 - 1873) | | | | | Joined: Mar 2005 Posts: 284 'Bolter | | 'Bolter Joined: Mar 2005 Posts: 284 | From an insurance point of view and old body man they come back to haunt you. | | | | | Joined: Dec 2002 Posts: 3,440 Moderator - The Electrical Bay | | Moderator - The Electrical Bay Joined: Dec 2002 Posts: 3,440 | it's a 1935!!! all the wood is obviously gone... and there isnt much to the electrics.... or the interior for that matter.. i guess i should have brought this up front... doop..
i emailed the owner, and he hasnt replied.. i guess he either sold it, or is going to keep it..
Another quality post. Real Trucks Rattle HELP! The Paranoids are after me!
| | | | | Joined: Oct 2001 Posts: 3,458 Extreme Gabster | | Extreme Gabster Joined: Oct 2001 Posts: 3,458 | Rust is... oxidation. Fire is... really rapid oxidation. Even if you painted a burned truck immediately after the fire went out, there would still be rust under there unless you mechanically or chemically removed it.
Not to mention the warpage.
The 30's trucks relied heavily on wood as structural members in the cab. Restoring a twisted metal cab without the wood is an impossible task, you will have an easier task if you mine and smelt the iron ore yourself and then turn it into steel than starting with a twisted burned out hulk.
Paint & Body Shop moderator A lone amateur built the Ark. A large group of professionals built the Titanic. | | | | | Joined: Mar 2007 Posts: 4,215 Moderator | | Moderator Joined: Mar 2007 Posts: 4,215 | I remember when my car burnt in 1977. ('69 Chevelle) Nothing was salvagable. | | | | | Joined: Dec 2005 Posts: 1,026 'Bolter | | 'Bolter Joined: Dec 2005 Posts: 1,026 | i emailed the owner, and he hasnt replied.. i guess he either sold it, or is going to keep it.. You're probally better off leaving that one alone.
Robert C. If it's true what they say, "You learn from your mistakes," I'm a Genius in the making. 1950 3600 | | |
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