Looking to restore my 66 Chevrolet truck

[wildcat09]

My parents just offered me back my old truck from high school. I absolutely love this truck. It was bought brand new by my Great Grandfather. When I was in high school I had it painted and put rims and tires on it. When I went to college I got a new car and left it with my parents. Needless to say, they didn't care for it like it did. I really want to restore it. It will need some new fenders (due to rust) and other minor body work along with fresh paint. I also want to put a 350 crate motor with an automatic transmission. It will also need a disc brake upgrade to accommodate larger rims and tires. I know there are a lot of car guys on here so I wanted your guy's opinions on what kind of money this may cost. I know its hard without really seeing the truck and knowing the extent of work. Is 10-15K reasonable or am I way off? I am not looking for a show quality transformation but I want a nice truck.

[Brock]

The fenders are pretty cheap, couple of hundred a piece. You've probably got rust at the rear corners of the hood, all of those trucks have got it. If you just want to make a nice driver out of it, you could get that done for under 5k assuming you're willing to do a lot of it yourself.

lmctruck.com is a good place to start dreaming.

[wildcat09]

Originally Posted by Brock

The fenders are pretty cheap, couple of hundred a piece. You've probably got rust at the rear corners of the hood, all of those trucks have got it. If you just want to make a nice driver out of it, you could get that done for under 5k assuming you're willing to do a lot of it yourself.

lmctruck.com is a good place to start dreaming.

I already went to their website. Fenders were pretty cheap. I can do most of the stuff myself. I want the body work and paint done by a pro. I really just want a nice daily driver that I can use to bring home stuff from Home Depot and cruise. That being said, I do want some modern comforts such as automatic transmission, AC, disc brakes, and cd stereo.

[Brock]

IIRC, you can convert to disc brakes simply by installing ball joints and spindles from a 73-87 chevy truck.

[Radar Chief]

http://www.lmctruck.com/

Edit: Never mind, you're already on it.

[wildcat09]

I am more concerned about the cost of the body work and paint

[Brock]

You can get a decent paint job for a couple grand. If you're going to replace fenders and the like, the only thing a body man should have to do is shift the new body parts around a bit to get even gaps everywhere and it's ready to shoot.

[Soupnazi]

Why bother with the cost of the crate motor? You can find a rebuildable 350 block for nothing. Even with a little machining costs, you can stuff some middle of the road top-end parts and be below what a crate motor will cost. Plus, it's going to put out more power than a cheap crate motor.

[stevieray]

what does it have in it now?

inline six and PG transmission? 3/Tree or 4 speed with granny gear?

good guys swap meet coming up next month out @ kansas speedway...

I just got done swapping the 194 for a 250 in the wifes 63 nova, and built my 250 for my 65 van..classic auto parts by Argosy is decent, but sometimes pricey..they specialize in the cheby truck parts.

..as mentioned you can prolly do it for 5k... if you're patient..they do sell disc kits, but as brock said..you can swap parts and acheive what you're looking for.

[Brock]

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/forumdisplay.php?f=6

I spend a lot of time on various parts of this board. It has separate boards for every era of chevy truck.

[WilliamInnerCircle]

Pictures of said truck. Whatsyerproblem?

[Marcellus]

Originally Posted by stevieray

what does it have in it now?

inline six and PG transmission? 3/Tree or 4 speed with granny gear?

good guys swap meet coming up next month out @ kansas speedway...

I just got done swapping the 194 for a 250 in the wifes 63 nova, and built my 250 for my 65 van..classic auto parts by Argosy is decent, but sometimes pricey..they specialize in the cheby truck parts.

..as mentioned you can prolly do it for 5k... if you're patient..they do sell disc kits, but as brock said..you can swap parts and acheive what you're looking for.

Love me some Chevy II. I have a 65" Sedan that I have replaced almost every single piece except the unibody and front subframe. Damn near a new car. Need to finish the interior and get it to paint.

[Marcellus]

Originally Posted by wildcat09

My parents just offered me back my old truck from high school. I absolutely love this truck. It was bought brand new by my Great Grandfather. When I was in high school I had it painted and put rims and tires on it. When I went to college I got a new car and left it with my parents. Needless to say, they didn't care for it like it did. I really want to restore it. It will need some new fenders (due to rust) and other minor body work along with fresh paint. I also want to put a 350 crate motor with an automatic transmission. It will also need a disc brake upgrade to accommodate larger rims and tires. I know there are a lot of car guys on here so I wanted your guy's opinions on what kind of money this may cost. I know its hard without really seeing the truck and knowing the extent of work. Is 10-15K reasonable or am I way off? I am not looking for a show quality transformation but I want a nice truck.

It all depends on $. You can restore it for $10 -$15K depending on ow far you want to go.

I have almost that in my drive train but I went all out with it. Every single piece of the drive train including the block and tranny is brand new.

[stevieray]

Originally Posted by Marcellus

Love me some Chevy II. I have a 65" Sedan that I have replaced almost every single piece except the unibody and front subframe. Damn near a new car. Need to finish the interior and get it to paint.

love that little car..the difference between the 194 & 250 is like night and day...it boogies..cause it's so light...I need to replace drivers side floorpan from sitting rust... ...what size tires on the back?

people comment on it everywhere we go.

[Marcellus]

Originally Posted by stevieray

the difference between the 194 & 250 is like night and day...it boogies..cause it's so light...I need to replace drivers side floorpan from sitting rust...

people comment on it everywhere we go.

Yea my car was a Txas car it's whole life until i got it but it had set and I had to replace drivers and passenger floor pans as well as the trunk pan.

It was originally a 6 popper but I went a little different route. It has a 427CI Small block and a 5 speed Tremec TKO in it now.

They are awesome little cars and a blast to work on. So simple.
If you ever need advice or info on ANYTHING Nova related try this sight if you haven't already.

http://www.stevesnovasite.com/forums/

Edit: Back tires are 275/50's. It has a minitub.