Restore to Mint

Now that I’m committed to owning an FGT, I thought of selling it and buying one in mint condition. But with all things, I always ask, is it necessary to have a mint condition truck to enjoy the FGT or can I do the same things with my grade 6 truck. A 10 out of 10 would look nice in my living room, but that’s not what trucks were built for.

There’s a bike store in Dunedin, FL, south of Tampa with a Porsche 911 in their showroom. A whole 911 just sitting there in all its splendor. My first thought was what a feckin waste but then I met the owner and chatted with him and of course mentioned the car and he smiled ear to ear describing how a wall had to be removed to bring that car in. And it made sense.

The point is to use your hard earned money to bring joy to your life and those close to you. Off the subject, sorry.

 

I "had" what i considered a 10/10
I got it with low mileage
It had every OEM body panel and OEM paint
It had the original windshield with -0- rock chips
It had -0- dents in the whole truck
It had 3 rock chips on the hood and none on the bumper
It was kept as clean and nice as you could possibly expect to find one that was 16+ years old
I absolutely love it and love driving it but i try to keep the miles low so i dont wear it out

One day on a trip from the town over, on the way back i was beside an 18 wheeler and he threw a rock off the steer tire that launched a rock the size of a silver dollar that smashed my windshield
One day at Home Depot, getting a small load of wood, tailgate down the helper pushing the orange flat cart with lumber i guess decided the lumber was the perfect height and rammed the cart towards the back of the truck assuming the lumber would launch itself into the bed. It did but he miscalculated and ran the orange cart right under the folded down tailgate putting a massive crease in the tailgate with the orange cart that left permanent orange paint imbedded into the deep gouge / dent / scar
One night at a fair ride, some kid was riding a scooter and apparently lost control and slammed into the passenger rear door and C pillar. A big dent from his head in the C pillar, massive dent in the rear door, side step crushed and scarred up from the metal scooter hitting at speed at an angle
One day in August, parked under a big oak tree chasing shade (its as valuable as gold here) it came a big wind storm that afternoon and the tree was dropping acorns on my truck and left about 200 tiny dents on a perfectly flat smooth canvas of the hood and roof

Moral of the story, if you drive it, life is going to happen, and somebody is going to ruin your day by hitting it, running into it, or mother nature throwing you a curve ball. They are nice but they are fragile and if you try to build a 10/10 you are going to seriously have your feelings hurt. I still love mine but the want and need for it to remain pristine has waned, its now two different colors after having a body shop repaint the passengers side door and bedside which is an even more massive bummer. Its as bad or worse than the dents.

 

Reminds me of a bumper sticker I saw the other day on a bit of a rat rod truck; ‘shiny paint causes anxiety’

 

Me too brother!

 

Here’s the thing about a completely restored vehicle….

It’s not an A to B destination vehicle anymore.

It’s an A to A destination vehicle meaning you take it for a drive and you only park it once you get back home to put it in the garage.

 

Great point badass03taco and JackMcCarthy. Thanks!

 

My plan is to get my truck mechanically “restored”. For these trucks that’s just maintenance like plugs, tb/wp a radiator and maybe a maf haha. Then I went underneath and I’m doing the suspension like control arms, shocks and springs and maybe a steering rack. Then fluids like trans and diffs. That has put me at less than $8k and that includes wheels and tires of my choice. My truck is rust free and bam… restored!

 

Less than $20k in total

 

Doesn't matter the vehicle. For the right price someone would do it.

I'm with you. Love my FGT (&S), they'll have to pry them from my cold dead hands... (In WA it might come to that. Haha)

 

That's the cleanest first gen I've ever seen. At $50,000, plus taxes on that, I am willing to take the Havana taxi cab approach with my truck. I've dumped thousands into my first gen in the last 4 years which makes me sick, but it beats selling a kidney to purchase a new truck, at least in my situation.

 

Yes, mechanically solid and a treated frame with no body rust. I don’t care so much for body and paint and I actually prefer my Tundra NOT to be perfect on the outside, that way I don’t lose my shit and try to kill someone for a little scratch.

The video of the full restore of that Land Cruiser was impressive and it made me think of how nice it would be and how cheap it is overseas, but financially, it makes better sense to buy an FGT in a better condition than doing all that work.

 

Thank you. Pic date May 2024.

It's always been garaged. Daily driver for homeowner use.

Yeah... a few years ago I was at the crossroads of spending about $5k on various things needing attention or trading it. I chose the former. It's not like I can't afford a new truck... I just haven't found one I prefer. If Toyota made the Tacoma cabin a bit bigger I'd be tempted. From the outside the Tacoma looks near Tundra Gen1 size until ya get in it.

 

The shallow floor pans and low roofs make the Tacomas pretty cramped. I'll take the first gen Tundra any day over the 2nd gen+ Tacomas. Can't beat the 4.7 either.

 

A buddy of mine has a '23 Tacoma access cab, and the exterior is pretty much the same dimensions as my AC. Even the bed height with the tailgate down is about the same height, but the bed and cab interiors are so much smaller and you can't see shit over those new hoods. I grew up in Toyota pickups, multiple 80s xtracabs, including a 22RTE. we had a 95.5 4wd xtracab Tacoma when they first came out. I had a 99 PreRunner for awhile. I even looked at Tacomas before buying my FGT, but the extra space in the cab and the bed plus the V8 just made the Tundra that much more desirable to me. Feels like an adult sized Tacoma.

 

Looks like basils garage just did one in instagram.

 

Spend $40K to $50K restoring a First Gen, then get into an accident. Insurance would total it out and cut you a check for $9K.

 

Declared value with the insurance company goes a long way as well as saving all the receipts. My truck I'm not too worried about yet, but all of my motorcycles have declared values way above what the insurance company think is market rate for 35 year old sports bikes. These trucks aren't old enough to qualify for classic car insurance yet, but in another 5-10 years it might be worth looking into places like Hagerty if someone is spending the money to restore it.