Seen Search and Restore??

[ChevLoRay]

On the Power Block, there's a show called Search and Restore. They have already done a '67 Chevy II for a guy who is raising 3 kids after their mom (his wife) died of cancer.

Now, they're doing a '94 GMC 4WD pickup. I haven't seen an episode yet, but waiting on it to be DVR'd.

Thought you guys (and gals) might be interested.

[dishow]

will be on the look out. thanks for the heads up.

[Richie]

I saw the first one.They did a sweet job on the nova.I am still waiting for them to come get my truck.I'll leave the light on

[benoit454]

yep been waiting for it. I hope they do a lift kit and stuff on it.

I been watching extreme 4x4, which I normally don't but they ben working on the gmt400 2 door blazer, lifted ansd then was solid axle swapped and stuff.

[loudnlifted88]

i watch all the car show on the powerblock every weekend man dont i love that blazer might solid axle swap my truck after seeing that and im waiting on them to do that 94 chevy got it ready to record on dvr

[loudnlifted88]

was searching around on the search and restore website and found the list of parts they put in it.

http://www.searchandrestoretv.com/builds/002-rowe/

[benoit454]

OMG they are gonna use that junk overpriced torsion bar crank lift on it???????

and two different sized tires on it? that don't sound right to me.

I want to see this custom hood though and the 4 inch pocket flares, motor sounds nice, but that lift kills it.

I can see the threads now, and the rush the buy the kit when it's nothing more then a stock key torsion bar crank.

[ChevLoRay]

I didn't catch that they're using anything but a set of 35's. As to the cost of any of the parts they use, they're donated. Somebody donates 'em to get some TV time.

What amazed me, and didn't, was the amount of rust in the chassis rails. The body didn't surprise me, although the initial view didn't show the extent of the rust. I know my son-in-law brought a '98 Ram 4WD down from R.I., a couple of years ago and had to replace the steel brake lines on it when they started leaking at the T's, due to rust.

To the best of my ability, I swear I'll never advocate for anyone to buy a vehicle that they don't personally know to NOT have rust issues. The frame on that '94 was an accident waiting to happen. It had a crumple zone that the engineers didn't have in mind. My thinking is that it could have broken at any time if it hit the right pot hole. The owner said it wouldn't spin the tires....and that's probably a good thing. The way that chassis looked, if there was any wheel hop, it could have broken right then.

[TURFKING]

Saw that episode on saturday. It was an hour special around here. From what I saw the only original thing left the cab,trans.,transfer case and front ifs. I'm sorry but that's not restore that's "replace" with some sentimental parts reused. I have a '93 k1500 with same engine and trans./transfer case and was hoping for a little more "restore". The guy really deserves what they deliver so I'll let it be. Should be a very nice truck.

[benoit454]

yea all new mtor, rebuilt the trans, rebuilt the t-case, got him another frame, another set of door, a new bed, onyl thing reused was the freakin cab, trans a t-case, maybe the rear end and front end, rest was new.

They put on a superlift 2.5 kit. an overpriced torsion bar crank. They were talking about the back and said 3 inch, thn when they got to the front they said 2.5 from superlift. or skyjacker I forget which.

[TURFKING]

They took a 14 bolt rear end put 4:10:1 gears,left the six lug axels in. Changed the gears if front with new cv shafts. I saw a lot of remodelling not much restore. Like I said they guy deserves it but if he didn't know his frame was in that bad shape,okay with me.

[benoit454]

yea forgot about them changing it to a 14 bolt sf, I want one since I can leave it 6 lug. When they showed them working on the front axle is when they showed the lift/diff. drop going on and then bolted it up.

[TURFKING]

Skyjacker lift kit. Wait until he starts tearing up cv boots.

[ChevLoRay]

Restoration.....come on....think about it. When you do a restoration, you reuse what you can. In his trucks' case, there were some serious issues. If the chassis hadn't been replaced, what good reason would there be to do anything at all with it? Sure, the cab was retained, but the doors weren't. Front cap (fenders/inners) were moth-eaten with rust. Did you see 'em punch a hole in the rear bumper with a finger? They were really happy with the condition of the bed after they pulled the liner out of it, but the outer fenders and the rust that the rest of the bed had were too much to salvage. They planned to replace the hood, so that's no biggee, but I'll bet there's some rust in that original hood, too. They upgraded the rear end to handle the increased power of the V8. The 247K miles on the transmission only merited a performance rebuild. Ditto the front axle with both ends getting a 4.10 gear with an air locker in them. 35-inch tires and new wheels....it's all good for a guy with 8 kids and a wife, living in a town that has a high unemployment number...like a lot of other towns and people.

On my '69, I'd like to have been able to use my cab, but it was too far gone. My firewall is toast, so I picked up another cab that's in much better shape. My chassis is good and is gonna be nice when we get it back together. I had one inner fender that was a little rusty under the battery tray, but that's it. The bed and fenders were rust-free. I do have a couple of pimples on the passenger door, but they're not a big deal.

So, when you think restoration, remember that you re-use what you can and replace what you have to, in order to return it to the roads. Even if you were to chrome-plate a turd, you'd still have a turd. Some "restorations" are just chromed turds. You'd better be careful if you're looking at one that looks good. Do your homework. Spend your money wisely.

[Orangette]

Someone is retarded on that show

a 1994 4.3 did not have 260HP.

[onequickchevy]

Just watched the two shows back to back. Great build, and awesome amounts of donations from some big players in the industry. (I was dissappointed that Stihl didn't donate the saw though.) Truck turned out really cool looking too.

[benoit454]

yea any notice the specs page said a summit 16 inch e fan and they ran dual e fans? They can't get their info or story straight at all.

[ChevLoRay]

It's easy, at times, to pick someones' story line and get past the fact that what is being done is supposed to be for someone who needs it and could not get it done, otherwise. I guess that this is Extreme Makeover, Automotive Edition. Then again, Pimp My Ride and Overhaul'n did the same thing. Maybe their script writers were better. Afterall, who I see doing the work on this truck, is a bunch of guys who are good at what they do. Maybe they don't write too well.

[TURFKING]

Guy ended up with a nice truck.
I hope he sprays the undercariage down with a garden hose every so often! A lot of his problems would have been noticed or fixed earlier in the game if he had done so. I would dearly love to see what shape that truck is in two years from now.

[Richie]

I love the double din radio they installed.I guess I will have to go back and pause it to get a better idea of what they did.It looks like they put two kits together and glassed them.Overall I liked the truck(not fond of the big flares) but yeah I would be interested to see it later on down the road.Great job though.

[ChevLoRay]

I also think it turned out nice. I know that there are people who would prefer some things to be done differently, but that's the great thing about this hobby and the industry that supplies us.....there's some variety in what we can pick and choose.

[TURFKING]

I couldn't agree more!!!!