Dave I'm going to lean with the guys that say keep it original. There are a few things that you can do to make it more "drivable" while still maintaining the originality of the truck. Put radial tires on it - far improves the ride. Consider changing the rear end gear ratio to something along the lines of 3:55-1 for ease of highway driving. You might even go so far as converting to front disk brakes. Otherwise, keep 'er stock!! Ken
From: "d...@kvederis.com" <d...@kvederis.com> To: old-chevy-truck@yahoogroups.com Sent: Saturday, August 31, 2013 10:35 PM Subject: [old-chevy-truck] to restore or not to restore - just getting started I have a 54 Chevy 3 window. The original owner was a Texas farmer who kept it for 40 years with no major changes to the truck - it is well worn but very original. I bought it 20 years ago and stored it until my retirement a few months ago. It is time to restore it and I am on the fence about whether to 1) keep it as close to original as possible (for example 6 volt electric), 2) do a modest upgrade (for example 12 volt/ add a radio/change door locks/etc) or 3) really goose it up (for example, go V8 short block/stick on the floor/ lots of chrome/etc. My goal for the truck is to have a great looking and reliable daily driver that I can leave to my son someday. I might drive it in the local fourth of July parade but it won't be entered into a Concours d'elegance competition. I am neither a collector nor car restoration enthusiast but I do appreciate well done restorations and fine paint jobs. I came across and joined your old-chevy-truck group. I am very open to hearing your opinions and suggestions. Thanks! Dave ------------------------------------ Ole Chevy and GMC trucks rule! To unsubscribe, send an email (with no subject, no body, just the email), to: old-chevy-truck-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.comYahoo! Groups Links [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ Ole Chevy and GMC trucks rule! To unsubscribe, send an email (with no subject, no body, just the email), to: old-chevy-truck-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.comYahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/old-chevy-truck/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/old-chevy-truck/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: old-chevy-truck-dig...@yahoogroups.com old-chevy-truck-fullfeatu...@yahoogroups.com <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: old-chevy-truck-unsubscr...@yahoogroups.com <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/