Is it worth it?

[Gary]

My goal - a nice "weekly" driver (I work at home and don't have to drive much, I put around 6K miles on my current car in the last 20 months) but I also want it to be "sharp" nice paint, interior, clean engine with some respectable chrome and power.

Here's the autotrader ad to help visualize:
http://adcache.collectorcartraderonl...4/63385294.htm

It's really a dark green not black. Here's the lowdown some I saw myself when I test drove, some the owner supplied:

402 - pretty much bone stock but very clean (pretty orange) says it was rebuilt around or less than 20K ago. Couldn't find any oil leaking anywhere, let the motor get good and warm and it idled good, nothing caught my attention. When I stomped the gas at around 20 it kinda hesitated, sorta backfired a bit and then took _off_.

700R4 transmission - says it has about 60K on it pulled from (he thinks) a 90's model donor.

A/C P/S P/B all working

All the guages seem to be working, MPH/tach/etc

Interior - good shape, pretty clean but used, definitely needs a new interior however it's still clean enough to "use" indefinitely

Exterior - painted a few years ago, ready for a new paint, body looks solid and straight, no dents, hood doesn't close down tightly on the back by the driver side, nothing a hood spring/or hinge won't fix I think, no rust other than a bit here and there in the bed (up under the toolbox) and the bottom of the tailgate is rusted thru in a few spots (painted over no flaking so they apparently did at least take it to bare metal or primer the crap outta it I suppose). Doors close but not "tight" pretty common on these old trucks, had to slam it twice to get a good close.

Driving it had lotsa power, shifted out smooth, steering felt solid, I took it up to about 60 mph on a 2 lane country road and it felt solid and no shakes/pulls/etc.

The "back" part of the grill is missing, but the front is on it.

Would I be getting beat at $3000 for this truck (plus a computer in trade but I got that sitting around so it's not really an "expense").

[krue]

It sounds like a decent deal to me. I would have to see it myself to say for sure.
BTW Welcome to the board from South Mississippi!

[Blue Beard]

Looks like a good $ investment if the whole truck looks that good.........

Be sure to check everywhere for rust....

[sider68]

Seems like an allright deal.I see he was asking 3900.Is you computer worth the 900 difference?Welcome to the board.

[cdowns]

welcome from florida !! i'd say you have to crawl underneath it and inspect the rocker panels and cab corner area real good as well as the cab mounts and the radiator support under the battery area to check for repairs

[junkyardjohn]

IF THE UNDERSIDE IS SOLID (LIKE CDOWNS SAID) IT LOOKS LIKE A PRETTY GOOD DEAL TO ME. JOHN

[dtlilly]

Welcome to the board from Tennessee. Looks like a good deal to me.

[shortymac83]

NIce truck. I'm not too knowledgeable about these trucks (yet) but one thing that I'd stress working with big blocks in cars is that the 700R4 as well as the BOPC 200R4 is rather weak and doesn't like to handle high torque situations for long. Talk to the owner to see if any work has been done to it and what motor was in front of it in the truck it came out of. I might be delusional (high probability) but my weak lil' olds 307 blew out reverse and 1st gear in my last 200R4 and I'm told that the 700's aren't much stronger.

[WRMZ71]

Like shortmac said I question the strength of the 700R-4. I"ve always heard bad stories with em, but then again I hear some people that live by em and don't have a problem at all. It goes either way i guess. Looks like a good buy to me for 3000 it its got ac and all the goodies. That big block sure as heck don't hurt either!!!

[djracer]

welcome from central alabama where in the south are you from? I think the truck looks like a deal. I had a big block with a 700 in a dually suburban I built and I killed it but it was my fault I pulled a 26ft enclosed 100mph to birmingham. I reccomend you add a trans temp gauge as long as you don't over heat it it will be fine!

[racedvl]

Be sure to check above the windsheild INSIDE the truck for rust. Pull the weather stripping back a little to be sure. Also look at the bottom of the kick panels. Rust likes to start there as well. All and all looks like a sweet deal. The late model wheels do nothing for me, but that would not stop me from handing over the $$$$.

[Gary]

Originally posted by cdowns
welcome from florida !! i'd say you have to crawl underneath it and inspect the rocker panels and cab corner area real good as well as the cab mounts and the radiator support under the battery area to check for repairs

You mean as in repairs from accidents? or more of a rust search? (forgive my ignorance I'm learning about all this classic car stuff, never had one before other than beaters to drive when I wasn't able to afford more than a beater).

As for the 700 trans, I was talking to a local custom shop and the owner absolutely worships the 700R4 and he said if he were trying to build a daily driver with a little go he'd absolutely go with a 700 as highway travel with the standard 3 speeds is a pain. Guess it depends on who you talk to on things like that. I personally don't know much about it, all I ever heard when I was a kid was "some big motor and a turbo 350" from buddies at school, but my dad despite being a drag racer (with a nice selection of trophies from before I was born) never had anything but beaters and never really talked about motors beyond "time to get an oil change". So I guess I have a lot to learn now

[djracer]

Gary where are you from?

[Gary]

Originally posted by racedvl
Be sure to check above the windsheild INSIDE the truck for rust. Pull the weather stripping back a little to be sure. Also look at the bottom of the kick panels. Rust likes to start there as well. All and all looks like a sweet deal. The late model wheels do nothing for me, but that would not stop me from handing over the $$$$.

I hate those wheels, no offense to anyone who likes them but I've always equated "late model factory rims on an old car/truck" as being right up there with a full mullet as trademark redneck. Those factory rims are cheap as dirt to come by since so many people change 'em first thing on new cars and instead of spending a few bucks on a nice aftermarket set they stick 'em on some old car/truck. Those'll be one of the absolute first things I yank off, I have a really nice set of polished aluminum rims on a 74 Dart in storage, but I dunno if the bolt patterns on dodge/chevy typically are the same or not, I know Dodge/Ford exchange quite often (having taken rims off my dad's Ranger to put on my Dakota long ago and later my dad putting the original rims from that dart on his F150). If they don't fit I'll hit Ebay and have some nice 16x8's (maybe 10's on the back) on there pronto.

[Gary]

Originally posted by djracer
Gary where are you from?

Up near Huntsville, AL. Actually I'm about .2 mile from the city limits (thankfully not IN the limits).

[racedvl]

Here is a wheel I have always liked and they came on the 73-87 Chevy trucks. They are a factory rallie wheel. I would toss the wheels it has now on ebay, I sure someone would want them. . . .

[Gary]

Yeah I always liked those too, just a nice solid looking rim for those trucks. The baby moon hubs + chrome beauty ring always looked good on them too.

Right now I'm leaning towards not trying for a "stock" look but go for a shaved/more contemporary style, shave off all the unnecessary items and chrome and paint the truck a new color (leaning towards some sort of blue) and tinted windows with an aftermarket sport bench. With a nice chrome rim and chrome front bumper and a chrome insert behind the painted grill, fiberglass bed cover OR fiberglass windowless camper shell painted to match. Replace all the red lenses with clears and red bulbs.

[racedvl]

Sounds like you already have "the bug".

[Gary]

Originally posted by racedvl
Sounds like you already have "the bug".

Always had it never could afford to do anything about it.

Now that I'm in my 30s and my business is making me a good living and all the bills are paid, it's time to do somethign about my bug.

Now my problem is, I have all this "wanna" and no knowledge, changing oil would take some studying maybe could change some belts and hoses on my own but I'd be scared to do much more without some "learning"

[racedvl]

I have the wanna, and the know how, just no $$$ . . .