Antique & Vintage Trucks

My buddy has an old Brockway he always wanted to restore (was his first truck), he'll never get to it though. To bad your so far away, at this point he'd probably sell it for a good price.

 

Buy one already completed and road worthy because hobby trucks have little value. I sold a very nice Mack B42 10 years ago and it has been for sale locally $5k for a year after new owner sunk at least that much into it. As cool as the old rigs are they are of little value and can cost a arm and a leg to get on the road

 

I don't think he was talking about a truck to us for work. He was talking about taking an old truck and restoring it for truck shows.

 

To restore a truck, you are fixing to sink a whole bunch of money into it. You will never realize any income from such a thing. Make sure that you get one that is reasonably intact to reduce the surprises and problems. And expecially with a engine and transmission you can understand. There is no point in picking up a older truck if you cannot drive it well. A truck needs to be driven by people who know what needs doing to run the #### thing. Good luck.

 

That's kinda true. I run 2 vintage trucks on the road, both of which I restored to a nice, roadworthy level of mechanical and cosmetic condition. It ain't cheap hoss....and the mind-boggling hours of continuous research for parts sources, information, on and on and on...it can be time consuming. But it's my choice, I prefer the extra effort to keep my old gems running than to have to run to some monkey with a laptop and plug in and see why the red or amber lights are on all the time. I have an ignition switch and a glow plug/starter switch. It's simple; "Truck ON, Truck OFF". I also do 99.9% of all of the work to them myself, as it's my lifestyle not just a job. I put 10 hours into one of them Sunday, Memorial Day weekend to ensure a good work week next week, and that's what it takes whether they're new or 38 years old like mine are. You get out what you put into this business.

 

Well I'm about halfway there....
Its fun but it can be extremely frustrating as well. Lots of parts that aren't in production anymore.

 

We need more info. Like a road tractor or a pickup and how old? I've had both ( my '72 Pete in the Avatar). Like dubja900 sez, for work, I'd never run a newer truck. Be advised, old pickups and stake trucks are geared incredibly low, like top speed of 45 mph ( and it feels like the world is coming apart) The hot set up ( if cost is no object, and it better not be, or this stops right here) is to have a single axle tractor and a flatbed, and drag the old truck to a show. Old road tractors did 55 all day,( but not much more, not that you'd want to) and you aren't ready to chew somebodies head off once you finally get to the show, because some soccer mom rode your butt all the way in her SUV. Like I say, I've had bunch of older trucks and got out of it , mostly because, the money put into it, didn't garner the results back, like say a used GoldWing. Fun hobby, but smaller trucks have joined the ranks of the over-inflated classic car hobby, where rusty junk is bringing 5g's.( and a restoration can go upwards of $25 grand, or more) Bigger trucks can still be had cheap, but again, gonna cost an arm and a leg to restore. Here's a great place in Montana, should have what you need, and what they are going for. Have fun, any questions, I'd love to help.
Dick & Mike's Hot Rod Garage- Streetrods, Hotrods, Classics, and Project Cars

 

Working on my old Pete now. Has an adequate drivetrain and a nice paint job. Nickles and dimes now redoing air and wiring. Those parts not that expensive. I enjoy the work - much different than when I was a software engineer. Interior redo will be expensive. Needs some frame rework also. That will be a couple of large bills. Fortunately I can license it antique for $50 a year here and have antique insurance for $300 a year, so it only eats when I feed it. It will be 100% workable when I finish with it. Son-in-law is driving for a company that does wrecker work and some heavy haul. After he gets a few years under his belt, who knows, maybe he will put this truck back to work.

Net is if you like fiddling with the truck, and you can avoid spending too much $$ too fast, go for it and have fun! Avoid the basket cases...

John