Critique this truck please

[JimJones]

Hey guys I found this truck on EBay and am interested in buying it. It is within driving distance of me and I'm thinking about going up there to take a look at it. Could you guys take a look at the pics and tell me if you see any red flags on this truck.
My ultimate goal is to build a really nice Cheyenne Super and I want to start with a clean rust free body and frame. To my uneducated eyes this one looks pretty nice to me and more importantly it's within my price range.
Here is the listing:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Chevrolet-C-...US_Cars_Trucks

My ultimate goal is to wind up with something like the two examples below. These are my two favorite trucks that I have come across the internet in the last year of searching and doing research.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VF2lg06Xfh0

http://www.spudsgarage.com/vehicles/...t4X4/index.htm

[Nitis]

My 2 cents

How much you plan to spend?

Non AC cab

That is a half a$$ restore in my opinion. Where is all the trim? Missing marker lights?

If it's that nice they sure pinched pennies on little things.

If you can put your hands on it and you like that is one thing but best case 6k tops.

[Stocker]

Says it's a '72, but has a '69 - '70 grille. Has '72 door panels though. Also mentions drum brakes.... are they talking about the rears, or maybe the fronts? Tailgate looks kinda rough. Doesn't have OEM steel upper radiator hose. Engine not verified and has a slight knock. Brakes are noisy. Tires are old and weatherchecked. No major oil leaks hmmmmm.

Could be a good truck, but there are questions I'd want addressed.

[SS Tim]

Its nothing but red flags. To start off that is not a factory Cheyenne trim cab, no headliner holes.

[lowrollin70gmc]

It looks decent, but fresh paint being sold by a dealer always worries me. They skipped quite a few corners in that paint job:

Top of the rockers look weird to me
Cab side of the door jambs have white overspray on them from two tone job.
Looks like they sprayed over something to upper left of the radio (and the dash is cut for the radio)
I also would question that it is a true Cheyenne. There are no trim holes left and its a lot of work to fill and smooth them, and if trim was wanted they would have to be drilled out or 3M tape used to adhere trim.
Also, front marker lights are a cheap item so why are they missing from the "incredible" paint job?
69/70 grille on 72

To me the underside and under the hood looks like they rattle canned everything in place, which is typical of a dealer detail job. Him saying that the brakes need work backs up my theory that they prettied it up and pushed it out the door.



Now, these are things which have little to no effect on how enjoyable of a truck it is, but look at it with a fine tooth comb. Especially if that body work covers shoddy rust repair, as they did state that it had been repaired.

For the current bid I would call it an okay truck, but what is there reserve at? I would call and talk to the dealership to get a feel for what price they're thinking and overall gut instinct of what kind of business they run. After that, if you're still interested drive up and take a look before bidding, you'll get a chance to see what kind of setup they're actually cranking these trucks out of. A quick search gave me a website of piratemotorsports.com and it's a few years old listing motorcycle fabrication and construction. It could be the bikes didn't pay the bills and now they flip old trucks. Based on their location they could be legitimately painting over truly solid, rust free trucks, but I personally don't trust paint applied by dealers until inspected with a close eye and a magnet. Pictures can always lie, but your own set of eyes won't.

['68OrangeSunshine]

"Corvette Motor" no less. Yeah, sure.

[hugger6933]

Well,I'm a dealer and I have to say lets start off by the name. Pirate? Red flag already? Maybe so. Corvette engine that may be bored and stroked with lots of power but a knock when warm but can't confirm? Weird huh? I know I'm not the definite answer when it comes to anything but I have been building for close to 30 years now[ in a town of 4500] and you don't get to stay that long by jerking people around. I would think getting the mechanicals dead on first is high upon the list of things to do instead of putting a paint job on then try to tune your way to a sale. Now I'll admit I do work some body stuff as I go and will have parts in prime and trimmed out when installed but that is still a far cry in my mind from a final install or even final assembly. Jim

[71 super]

This truck has some issues. Looks as though someone built it with what was around to sell. New Cheyenne emblems left one old deluxe emblem, bed looks like old work truck marker lights missing, stated mechanical issues which are prob. Worse in person. Run away from the elusive Cheyenne deluxe

[WIDESIDE72]

Just Walk Away - YouTube

[undertaker72]

its a scary name for a car lot , or concerning , some of there sales quotes , and this is out of the listing make you wonder if they know anything about a vehicle
< The motor was taken out of a corvette and bored and stroked so it has some attitude(Not Verified). There is a small knocking sound after it warms up, not sure what it is because it seams to have plenty of power. The clutch is the original clutch from when we got it but it works ok but is not new so I cant say it wont need work. The brakes stop well but make a noise> if you look around there are others out there that are original, I live in the same state as that one , and there are plenty out here still , I just sold a 72 Cheyenne large blue hubs and all for 3300.00 and it was a (no noise truck) verified good luck

[Hawghauler]

Something doesn't look right under the door on driver's side. Rust doesn't seem excessive on the frame, but seeing the dent in the tailgate on a truck that is just painted makes me think that they took too many shortcuts on paint/body work. I would say if the price stays where it is, $4000-$4500, you should be okay, but I wouldn't go any higher.

[70blackfish]

some good advise here....i think they covered up stuff when painted.....

[JimJones]

Thanks guys
I needed to hear some voices of reason to calm me down. I'm not in any kind of huge rush to go out and buy something today but I have been keeping an eye on Craig's list and eBay motors for a few months now looking for a 4x4 longed Cheyenne. 2wd Cheyenne's are a lot easier to find so I got real excited when I saw this. I'm in Vegas and this truck is real close up in Utah I don’t know why but it seems like I find tons of cool old trucks up in Washington state up near the Canadian border that’s way too far of a drive for me.

My ultimate plans with whatever truck I end up buying are to do a complete frame off with all new drivetrain including a GM crate ZZ383 and the complete Cheyenne Super package. As you can imagine this will not be cheap I'm still saving to be able to fund this project so that is why I'm in no hurry to go out and buy a truck today. But basically my only requirements with the "project truck" that I end up buying is that it must have a good rust free body and straight frame. I would like however being able to have a decent truck in the meantime while I save up the funds for the restoration.

I emailed the seller and he told me what his reserve is. I don’t know if it would be taboo to share it here but it’s a couple more thousand than what the current bid is right now.

Once again thanks guys for calming me down. If any of you guys out there happen to come across a 4x4 long bed Cheyenne Super for sale within a couple hours of Vegas at a fair price shoot me a PM. My screen name should be easy enough to remember. Just remember that crazy guy that made everybody drink the cool aide.

Thanks guys.