Many hours were spent finding just the right toy truck to add to your prized collection. The price had to be within budget. Condition of this vehicle when buying on a shoestring would have to be restorable. With the newly acquired item in possession now the question...where to begin. The first questions to be answered are; what is missing and what is broken. Some missing items you may fabricate yourself. Others will have to be obtained from either reproduction suppliers or those who sell used parts as an auto salvage lot would for real vehicle parts. Regardless of how newly obtained parts are purchased you must always exercise caution to be assured of receiving quality replacements.

When all parts have been located for the project careful vehicle disassembly must be performed for paint preparation.

The Steelcraft Army Transport featured here is nearly complete needing only a canvas cover and U.S. Army decals. The first image shows a repaint by a former owner and subsequent images show restoration progress. Many collectors will argue the old toys should not be repainted or restored. Some will even go so far as to claim that an item missing paint adds to the appeal of owning a vintage toy. I have many old trucks in my collection that have been acquired with the sole intention of restoration and resale.
While attending a toy auction years ago a bidder protested that an item offered had been repainted. The auctioneer replied that he was correct and followed up with something to the effect that, it has new tires and decals too and is there a problem with that.

These items are rapidly disappearing from the market due to dealers and collectors aquiring them. Others are languishing away in an attic, storage sheds and some less fortunate are rusting away in a backyard never to seen again. While toys trucks may seem very unimportant to many, they do hold a key to the past. Through these old toy trucks and cars we can relive how little boys and girls 100 years ago used their imagination to entertain themselves and learn problem solving skills for future use. This experience can only be enhanced by bringing back the original luster from years before. My contention is with custom vehicles. These toys are being manufactured and sold; some as "Custom" some not, and for what ever reason are commanding very large sums. These items will serve only to add confusion in the market in later years when less information is available for proper identification. This could cause unwary collectors to pay high prices for items deemed rare which really should not be offered for sale at all.