Best Spent $$ for Square Restoration

[SquareRoot]

I would consider doing exterior first, because keeping all that new stuff clean and nice while doing patch panels,bodywork and paint will be a challenge i promise. Sanding dust and over spray will find every nook and crany. Used Eastwood for my epoxy and primer,also agree with grit dog about tamco paints,great products and service. Great results.

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Damn that's a sexy beast!
Edit: The burb not the dog. lol

 

[R Carnella]

Damn that's a sexy beast!
Edit: The burb not the dog. lol

Got something against dogs?lol, thanks

 

[SquareRoot]

Got something against dogs?lol, thanks

No, love dogs. Just didn't want to use sexy and dogs in the same sentence. Hey, what tires are those? I am looking to buy soon and I really like the look of those.

 

[EvilGenius]

My 2 cents on restoring, is don't buy everything in one go. I've been in the middle of a restoration for several years at this point and I've bought multiple of several things because I can't find what I originally purchased. So even though it may cost slightly more in the long run, buying things in chunks that you can actually complete has been more helpful to me.

Also want to echo doing the exterior first as the amount of dust that will settle on the interior during body work is insane.

Big fan of plaid myself, and there are some nice options for orange and white. I got material from here: https://www.scotlandshop.com/us/tartan-finder. You want to go with polyviscose material. I personally ordered swatches to find which color I liked best. Then I ordered a seat cover from https://www.etsy.com/shop/B62upholstery?ref=shop-header-name&listing_id=855486376 and told her what plaid I liked. Turned out pretty nice!

Here is a pic of my interior

 

[R Carnella]

No, love dogs. Just didn't want to use sexy and dogs in the same sentence. Hey, what tires are those? I am looking to buy soon and I really like the look of those.

Those are BF Goodrich KO2's. great tires,i definitely recommend them.

 

[mxer147]

Nice, thank you for the recommendations.

 

[Finkaire]

I like that sort of creamy yellow Chevrolet color, it’s a great color. Changing color is a frame of restoration. Depends on how far you want to go. I like the yellow and you can play with the shade on the repaint without having to do the jams and the bed conserving costs. The yellow with black interior in my opinion is a wining combination. IMHO

 

[mxer147]

I like yellow too but this yellow was spray bombed, and it’s the third different color the truck was painted from originally orange. The other two colors are dark blue and white. It’s gonna be a lot of fun sanding this back down to the original color. I will probably burn through at least one orbital sander. There is still a fair amount of orange in areas so I think I will stick with orange and add either black or white for two tone. I’m thinking a tan or brown interior.

 

[CalSgt]

My 2 cents on restoring, is don't buy everything in one go. I've been in the middle of a restoration for several years at this point and I've bought multiple of several things because I can't find what I originally purchased. So even though it may cost slightly more in the long run, buying things in chunks that you can actually complete has been more helpful to me.

I wont argue the issue of storing new parts and hardware results in loosing things but...

When I started my project in October of 21 I steadily watched prices increase and items end up out of stock for extended periods of time. By about February I had done enough research and shopping that I just started placing massive orders.

Most of the items I bought have inflated through the roof, I would bet I saved a few thousand bucks by buying early.

 

[mxer147]

I like having part’s around it gives you options to work on, plus, when you run out of parts that usually means you’re getting close to being finished. I will wait on the interior until the exterior is finished, great advice.

 

[Finkaire]

Buying and storing parts has one drawback, it’s hard to return a part that doesn’t fit a year later. Overall I had pretty good luck. Best restoration parts were the
GM re-pops.

 

[HotWheelsBurban]

I like that sort of creamy yellow Chevrolet color, it’s a great color. Changing color is a frame of restoration. Depends on how far you want to go. I like the yellow and you can play with the shade on the repaint without having to do the jams and the bed conserving costs. The yellow with black interior in my opinion is a wining combination. IMHO

I think the name is Colonial Yellow, that's what our '78 Sierra was painted. Kind of a buttermilk color, bright but not too loud.

 

[Trucksareforwork]

I am about three vehicles into the restoration hobby and my order is body / chassis first, engine second, interior last. I have made the mistake of doing engine first and it’s not only painful to have a newly rebuilt engine just waiting for years to go, it can also be bad for the rebuild if you aren’t careful. Also, You see the notes above on dirt and dust. Doing interior early is a recipe for a lot of cruddy new interior parts.

As to the OP’s question: I think the best quality single part I have purchased would be the USA1 dash pad. You’ll wait a long time for it.

 

[Elliot W]

I think it depends on how long the build is going to take and how much you plan on restoring. For my first build, I had a useable engine in it then did the body/paint. The engine barely got me out of the shop. Not a great feeling having a fresh paint job on something you can't drive. Plus, when I have to tear down the front end again to swap motors, you risk (I did) damage to the paint job. Interior/floor pans I did last which was also a mistake. Have to be extra careful not to damage the paint when grinding and welding and installing an awkward taco bench seat. I's like to say that amateur hour is behind me, but I just replaced the door hinges on this car last month (being careful using marking tape and everything) and still managed to chip a few spots when the screwdriver slipped.

With lessons learned, I did the second build different and its so far turning out better. Engine (while cleaning up the engine bay), then interior, then body. This worked for me, but again it depends on how careful you can be, how much you rush the work, and to what level you are restoring the car.

 

[Trucksareforwork]

I think it depends on how long the build is going to take and how much you plan on restoring. For my first build, I had a useable engine in it then did the body/paint. The engine barely got me out of the shop. Not a great feeling having a fresh paint job on something you can't drive. Plus, when I have to tear down the front end again to swap motors, you risk (I did) damage to the paint job. Interior/floor pans I did last which was also a mistake. Have to be extra careful not to damage the paint when grinding and welding and installing an awkward taco bench seat. I's like to say that amateur hour is behind me, but I just replaced the door hinges on this car last month (being careful using marking tape and everything) and still managed to chip a few spots when the screwdriver slipped.

With lessons learned, I did the second build different and its so far turning out better. Engine (while cleaning up the engine bay), then interior, then body. This worked for me, but again it depends on how careful you can be, how much you rush the work, and to what level you are restoring the car.

Great points. I probably should have been clearer that I think paint is near last in the process for the reasons you cite. I intended “body” to be all the welding, panel fixes, grinding, primer and major fill/sand stuff. I think paint belongs before interior, but as you said, it can depend on how careful. It also depends on what is “possible” at a given time. I’ve done a lot of interior work on hard parts (dashes etc) and sound insulation when it was the only thing feasible to do, for instance when too cold to prime or paint…