1955 Chevrolet Truck
Restoration Process
Step-By-Step

Here are the before and after pictures of a 1955 Chevrolet truck we restored at the shop. I took pictures of before, during and after the vintage truck restoration process began. There is a lot to see in the series of pics but I wish I had taken lots more.



I missed out on taking pictures before they ever began work on the original paint and I hate that as it's helpful to see what's available in vintage 1955 Chevrolet pickup paint colors.


There's no way that I can post a list of all of the work that's already taken place on this old 1955 Chevrolet truck. With all of the grinding, scraping and sanding on the original paint there has been lots of cutting welding and cleaning going on, too. Extra care has to be taken with the use of the cutting and welding torches on the sheet metal as well as with the use of chemicals and that all takes time and patience.

old cars, motorcycles and trucks that have been restored to showroom condition.

Here's a photograph that I took after the rear doors were removed. I was trying to get a wider view of the fender on the the 1955 Chevrolet truck from the previous page and give a view of the interior after it was emptied.

I forgot to mention earlier that the wooden floorboards from the rear of the 1955 Chevrolet truck had to be removed. That was probably one of the most labor intensive situations I've ever witnessed at this shop! The techs removed what they could by sawing and for more stubborn floorboards, they had to resort to the use of a ten pound sledge hammer. The smaller splinters had to be picked out a piece at a time. I know that it had to be done, but I hated to see those old wooden boards go. If they had been in better shape, it would have been great to see them refinished. I'm not sure if the owner will go with a square weave carpet for the floor of the 1955 Chevrolet truck or go back with wood. We had one project where we installed a bed floor of quarter sawed oak and another with red oak flooring.

The original floorboard planks were probably yellow pine as I've not heard of any oak bed planks being installed after the late 1930s. The original boards weren't varnished or given any kind of fancy finish either. These trucks were built for work and were painted black or the same color as the body of the truck to provide the best protection for the wood.

My dream would be to get a handmade contour seat with matching fabricated door panels all of top quality leather done by my favorite upholstery shop and to do a slick, varnished furniture finish on the floorboards. But, this is another person's dream truck, so he gets to choose what goes into it and this is a good thing! It's always interesting to see what the customer's vision of the finished product is and they usually have some great ideas!

It all depends on whether the owner wants the 1955 Chevrolet truck restored exactly as it was when it left the factory or if he wants to buff things up a bit.

Getting back to the view from the rear of the 1955 Chevrolet truck in the above pictures, I would like for you to pay very close attention to the dashboard. I know that it's not a very clear view of the dash and area where the radio was mounted, but take it from me that it was pretty rough. When our guy finished re-building this part of the dash, it looks smooth as silk and ready for a suitable vintage radio for a 1955 Chevy to be installed. Good work guys!

Visit GoGoCycles Used Motorcycle Classifieds again to see more vintage motorcycle restorations.

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