Chevrolet automobiles seem to have been around for as long as cars have. This is true in more ways than one. There are still plenty of people driving vintage models that perhaps your grandfather or great grandfather drove so many years ago. These are now considered to be collector's items by many car enthusiasts. They buy old Chevy trucks and then lovingly restore them to their previous glory. By the time they are finished, you would never know that they had rolled off the manufacturer's line so many decades ago.

I am very pleased with the Auto Tech Clinic located on Michigan Avenue at Telegraph Road in Dearborn, Michigan. They have supplied me with great service time and time again. Prior to this visit, I had only had oil changes and brakes done at this shop and was always pleased. In fact, last year I took my car in for brakes, which I thought I needed. The Auto Tech technician, on that day, came out to tell me I didn't need brakes at that time. He could have easily sold me the brakes, my car had 60,000 miles on it and the original brakes were still on it. I would have never questioned the repair, but he chose to be honest, and I got another 12,000 miles on those brakes before I returned to have them replaced. Auto Tech gave me a great price on that Buy Chevy Truck brake job too.

But I don't have any illusions. There is no corrosion to be seen on my Chevy Truck Deal now but nature is working and rust will come back. Old truck rust always comes back. It may be already developing in unseen places like under the cab, inside the fenders, under the cargo bed and so on. I can't do anything about that but I can keep my eyes open and when I see a little bubble under the paint I can repair it immediately or wait another couple of years.

If painting a medium sized car a totally different color and you're doing door jambs, under the hood, trunk etc... 3 quarts will be enough. It will give you 1.5 gallons of paint to spray with. That's a lot.

But don't head on down to your local chevy truck engines deal just yet for a Suburban. Just because there are lots of play dates in your schedule doesn't mean you have to spend all of your money on gas. Also, just because you need lots of cargo/human room does not mean you have to dread driving the "family car." Trust me, I have road tested a number of surprisingly quick and agile family vehicles this year.

Power may not be the most important consideration in a truck. Many drivers buy Chevy trucks with an eye on towing capacity, only to waste the extra power without getting any real use out of it. Buyers should always pay attention to things like fuel efficiency, as this may end up greatly impacting the value of the vehicle.

On Part 4 of our series of articles about truck restorations I will talk about more lessons learned the hard way during the restoration of my 1954 Chevy truck.