Hi all,
I am almost done with the restoration of my truck. I did a full frame off restoration. i started almost 2 years ago with getting parts, and about a year ago i started the work with the restoration. I'm almost done, about 3 more weeks or so to finish up some minor stuff.
I have had hits and successes with vendors and parts. I was hoping to pay it forward by listing the suppliers i used and review each one i used. I run a spreadsheet where i track every order and every parts in great detail.
Brothers was the first company i ordered anything from. They had a thanksgiving special and i jumped on it. I would not order from them again. The time they take from ordering to shipping is very long. And they don't really update you. Hard to know if things are in stock or not. Once i got the parts it was good quality. Still
i would not use them again given the alternatives.
Ebay: the parts hunter. Sells Gas necks on Ebay. Good quality, well described and fast shipping.
I would use him again. Ebay only.
GMC Pauls. OVer the past year i have ordered 144 items from GMC pauls. I like the quality of his parts and its well described. Since his shipping is a bit prohibitive for small orders i tended to bulk up my orders. What i really like with GMC paul is that he is easily available via email and really knows his stuff. A great counsel who once emailed me to tell me that he thinks i am ordering the wrong wire harness. Really good service. The website is hard to navigate and who doesn't have search enabled in their website in this decade...? Nonetheless i like them and i like the quality of the parts.
Solid seller i would do business with again. Love their responsiveness via email.
Inline Tube. They made me a complete brake tubing set to replace my old rusty set. Did the transaction online. A week later i had my tubing set. worked out well but i didn't interact much.
I would use them again if i needed another brake tubing set.
LMC Truck. I ordered parts from them when i started. Someone told me that they just had a bad rap and was pretty decent. I loved the catalogue, super informative. I got wrong parts several times from them. Biggest pain in the butt was when i got a floor pan instead of a a rocker panel. At that point i stopped using LMC and sourcing mostly from other vendors. Parts they list as fitting doesn't really fit that well.
I would avoid LMC unless i had no other choice. I don't hate them, but its just not that great either based on my experiences.
Manes truck parts. They had the GMC Jimmy fender emblem and the "custom" script emblems for the doors. The chrome on the custom emblems look a bit different than the other chrome but overall is okay. The jimmy emblems are great. That is really the only things i've ordered from them. Took them a while to acknowledge and ship out the order.
Would use them again for emblems.
O'Reilly. Got my battery and fuel pump from my neighborhood O'reilly. I use them when i have to....
Truck and Car Shop. Found them late in the process based on a forum members input. I ended up using these guys a lot. I ordered about 40 parts from them. Things that have the label original reproduction part had really good quality. I went back to them for a bunch of stuff. However i also compared their prices with others. I ended up ordering hoses and AC components from LMC largely due to prices. But
overall i would recommend Truck and Car shop. Great engine decals.
Classic heartbeat. I got my power steering gear from them with the quick ratio. Easy to do business with.
Would buy from them again. No issues shipping to a different adress than the credit card address (i wanted this to get directly to my garage and not to my house).
Motorcity K5. Got the hydraulic lift gate conversion from them as well as the rear chrome strip for the carpet. Worked out really well. Not the cheapest but good quality. Easy to get to via email.
Would use again.
Thomas Garris in Oregon rebuilt my instrument cluster. Found him on this forum (tbonegarris). Excellent work at a fair price. He is a busy man so there is a couple of weeks wait until you get in. my cluster looks brand new after he did his magic!
I would use him again in a heartbeat!
Jeff Lampe Outintheshop.com made my door vin tag. Not the SPID, the little label that sits in the door. His work is amazing, if you need a SPID redone or you need the door vin tag done this is your man! Fair pricing.
Would use him again in a heartbeat!
Santa cruz metal polishing polished my rear view mirrors back to original and fixed a bent in them. They also fixed a dent in my chrome wheel covers. Amazing work! Not super cheap but really well done. I think i paid a fair price. Would use him again. Its not a mailorder outfit, more like you got to drive there and talk to him. A retired english gentleman that takes pride in his craft.
Would use again.
Electroplating of El Paso, TX re-chromed interior chrome trim and the GMC hood logo. Did awesome work at a very fair price. I would use these guys again. I wish they where local so i could save on shipping. But very fair pricing and excellent work. I found these guys late thanks to deadheadNM on this forum. I wish i would have found them earlier, i would have given them more work.
Highly recommended!
I hope this helps someone on the forum, or anyone just starting out. These are my experiences and if i offended someone i'm sorry. Its meant to be my personal experiences.