The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk frame off ?????

I am preparing for my restoration and cant decide which way to go. Frame on or frame off. The truck is mechanically sound and 95% original with 145,000 miles on it. Its a daily driver.
Very minimal body work needs to be done. Needs paint and to just be freshened up, rubber, bed wood, new brake lines and hoses, etc.
What should I do? I can do all the work except the paint.
Would expenses be about the same?

Any thoughts would be appreciated

Darin

I went through the same scenario.
It came down to, how fast did I want to get the truck on the road.
And I decided I would do a complete rebuild no matter how long it took.
I know it will take more money because the deeper you get, the more hidden stuff you can find to be replaced.
But in the end, at least in my case I will have a truck that`s near to new that I can hand down eventually to my kids.
Mike

If you don't take the cab off and do the chassis you will wish you had later. Do it once....do it right.

do it the easiest way that suits the end game - if you want to keep the "original" nature of the beast and just have a neat ol truck to drive, do the least work for the least money, if you want a show piece that won't get used much, take as long as you can and spend as much as you've got

Bill

If it's a daily driver, how about a "rolling restoration"? Keep it on the road, at least mostly, while you tackle one job at a time. For example, one weekend, redo the brake lines, next weekend, do one wheel/brake cylinder at a time, etc. You can still drive the truck without a bed if you have to. If you find a local paint/body shop you like, you can even do one fender at a time.

If the engine needs to come out, that's sortof a threshhold to me. Maybe you could do as much as possible with it rolling, then, when the engine comes out, take the cab off and do the frame then. At least that way, when you need to put it back together, everything else is ready to go back on immediately, instead of having to wait for brake parts, etc. Might minimize your down time.

My thought, anyway . . .

-Michael

Only You know the answer to Your question, in My opinion
there is only one way to do anything, and that is the right way...
Many times, there are places on an older frame that requires attention, and in some cases actually be dangerous if
it isn't spotted and corrected...like achipmunk said, "if you
don't take cab off, You will wish You had later." JMO. Bill B.

If you think there's a chance that you would want to do a frame-off, do a frame-off. I had a similar situation where I started working on the truck thinking that I'd work on a small part here and there... the more I took off, the more I said "well, while I have that apart I might as well do this..." until finally I was completely down to the frame. If I had realized I was going to end up doing this anyways I would have moved a lot faster along on my project than doing it piece by piece.

Having done a cab on restoration and being in the middle of a cab off restoration, I would say it all depends on the condition of the truck and the end use. The cab on I did was in very good condition to start with. No rust or damage to frame of body and it was a low milage truck. So things basically needed cleaned and inspected and painted. The restoration took less that a year to do.

The frame off I am doing now had some problems that I did not think could be fixed with the cab on the frame. And there is rust involved - not major, but still needs attention. The frame off has been apart now for about 5 years, and I am not done with the frame yet. This is a major consideration when making the decision.

So only you will know which is best. BTW, both of my restoration are drivers. I want them to be safe and comfortable to drive, every day. They are not intended to be show trucks.

I say: If it is a driver, drive and work on it. If you want a show truck, then take it off and do it all right. I like the idea of a fun driver that will look nice and still get folks to appreciate the age and quality of the truck. Mine took years to rebuld and many times, I hated that truck while I had it in a million pieces. Now that it is drivable, I can have fun and tinker with it too! Good luck!

The frame off will cost you more money up front, you will find things (and replace/repair them) that you would have probably missed. However, as you have seen in these posts, you need to see what is right for you.

I am in the same boat with my 1968 CST, no rust 149000 miles but in need of some TLC. I am leaning towards the frame off because in the end I'll have a "new" truck... and I get to drive my 52 in the mean time.

Now if it would just stop snowing

There is no way an AD truck will not have rust around the cab unless it was used for hauling lumber in Arizona.
I would remove the cab just for my mental health. Otherwise I would be constantly looking and poking around for rust. JMTC

BC3600 is right about the rust. I have never seen an AD without rust somewhere. I live in Southern Cal and it is here just like everywhere else; just not as bad.

The cab on restoration I did rears back was a 55.2. They are much better at being rust free than ADs.

The first AD I had in 1967 even had rust and it was less than 20 years old, and by far the worst one I have ever owned. Darn kids don't know anything about buying trucks. Hey, but at $165 it was good, drove it all over the place. I put a 283 in it after awhile and it was even a better truck.

Who said anything about an AD? Doesn't Darin have a '62 1/2 ton?

I'm in the middle of a cab off of my '57 1/2 ton. It had a cosmetic resto when I bought it. It looked good. I did the mechanical work and put it on the road for a year. The bed needed work, so I took it off. One thing led to another. It will be a driver, but I now know every part of the truck. Every piece has been taken apart. Still a lot of work ahead. I wouldn't have done it differently.
If an assembly manual is available, buy it. Catalogs help too. Take lots of pics and notes. I have used lots of plastic zipper bags, containers, and tags w/strings. Vintage Truck magazine has been helpful. Classic Truck 'zine has given me lots of ideas and suppliers' names though my trucks are stock.

I bought my truck sight unseen from alabama... when i got it home ,i thought eh,i'll just sand it and do a little bodywork....HA!!!!! the more i got into it the more i found. now my truck is just a cab sitting on the frame... but i know the end product will be awesome

for me i did an on frame because it ran fine and stoped good i saved probly 15000. going this route and didnt need a show truck even thow the truck is really nice now and if running gear is sound why rebuild guess it depends what you want in the end. have fun

52 or 62 you'll see rust on both.

Mine came from Texas with verry little rust other than just a little in the cab corners wich I replaced but the rest was solid and clean so I didn't remove the cab due to time restraints and having a body man willing to take it on RIGHT NOW pushed me A BUNCH! as allot of folks here have posted, gettin into a body shop and gettin paint done can be a FOREVER process so I jumped on the chance ot get my AD in the shop and get the paint goin.
But I wish I would have had the time to pull the cab just to get in all the nookes an crannies and give it a good once over since I was that far into it.
But I'm pretty confident I got the offending rust taken care of with the cab on.
Basically it all boils down to what ya want to do and how far you want to go.
Tim

I decided to do a frame off on my 54 3100, not to have a show truck that is never driven, but to have a "brand new" 54 truck that should last at least another 50 years. I will be able to drive it knowing that it is safe and solid. Someday, I can pass it down in the family.
Samantha

I have done the same thing as Samantha, for the same reason. My daughter (and, if it happens) her family will get the trucks. I want them to be safe and dependable and able to easily last for as long as possible.

Tim

......let add this thought to pile. If it is in pretty good shape to start with then a "cab off frame" job should not be so scary and a lifetime committment. The thought being that if its in decent shape then the cab should go back on pretty quick. If you do find lots more to do then you'll feel better and safer when you go down the road.
Maybe I have a one sided opinion because all I could afford to start with were the ones so bad the cab had to come off

I say fix 'em up and drive 'em.

I started a frame off on my '54 GMC in 2004. I stripped it to the frame, had the springs re-arched, new king pins, new ring and pinion, new discs up front, drums on rear, installed a rebuilt 248, a rebuilt TH2004R, bought all kinds of other parts and haven't driven it yet. It still needs massive body work which I'm learning as I go.

On the other hand, I bought my '56 in 2005. It ran but barely. I've rebuilt the brakes, drum/drum, dual master cylinder, changed rear end, complete new harness, new Goodwrench engine. It was never down for more than a week between jobs.

It has a 50/50 paint job. Looks good from 50 feet away or going down the highway at 50. I drove it nearly 200 miles today with the old rust coated frame under it. I drove it over 150 last weekend.

I take it to local shows and have driven it to Kansas City twice, Arizona once, Hutchinson, KS, El Reno, OK and all around the local area. I don't have to worry about scratching the paint. We used the tailgate to serve birthday cake in El Reno. I can even smoke cigars in it when the warden isn't with me. I wouldn't be afraid to take off tomorrow to anywhere in the lower 48.

No telling when I'll get to drive the '54 and when I do it will be too pretty to use like I use the '56.

Like I said at the start, my opinion is fix 'em and drive 'em.

Thanks for all the input guys. I think I like the idea of leaving the cab on so as not to take the truck out of service for long periods.

Darin