Who's bought a truck and then found...

[sir_talk_alot]

I know plenty of you guys have bought a truck that looked good, etc. Make the deal, get home and upon further investigation you find things that make you go what the...i exprienced one of those tonight. Spent some time on the 70. Started looking at the wiring, its a wack mess. I trace this random phone wire from close to my battery all the way across the radiator support, around the fender well, through the fire wall, and tied to the bottom of the screwed in cup holder. The more i dig the more i face palm. Who else has found good stuff before when investigating a new toy?
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[mcbassin]

Well, I found out my 350 was a 305 and it had frozen up and cracked at some point and one of the previous owners JB welded it back together PICTURES

[VA72C10]

I found a lot on my first truck....since then I've been MUCH more thorough on checking out trucks before buying unless the deal is too good to pass up no matter what the shape

First truck the tranny wasn't bolted to the crossmember at all...and there was only one bolt in each engine stand...and the rubber mount bolt that holds the block to the frame stands was loose on one and no bolt at all on the other....seems the driveshaft was keeping the engine from sliding back since the tranny wasn't bolted either
That and a really hacked wiring harness with live exposed wires in three places that I guessed must have been for the radio at some point...

[ed2552]

My 67 K10 has/had some serious issues, namely bondo over rust and just cluster-f***ed everything, including the wiring. It's a miracle that thing ran at all. Now it's just waiting for its final demise...

[treveiger]

O man I've been there its ridiculous what POs do...
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[sbc10guy]

Had my dad pick up a 68 shortbed for me and he didnt check it out very well. Owner said i could drive it home. Here is the frame.

[sanford66]

Originally Posted by sbc10guy

Had my dad pick up a 68 shortbed for me and he didnt check it out very well. Owner said i could drive it home. Here is the frame.

Thats the worst frame i have ever seen! Thats the way these old trucks are though, never know what you end up with! Joseph

[mustardjimmy71]

After taking out the rubber floor mat in my jimmy i noticed a large blob of seam sealer on the passenger floor. A year later when i took the top off for the first time in the trucks life i swung my the po's to show him. He was the second owner and had bought it in the early 70s. When he saw the blob on the floor he remember the orriginal owner telling him he shot a hole through it when he threw the gun inside in a hurry!

[no moa]

I got my 72 home and found out it was a long bed, not a shortbed. PO did a great job of hiding all the signs for me. But just can't blame him, I'm the retard for not paying close enough attention.
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[patgizz]

Originally Posted by no moa

I got my 72 home and found out it was a long bed, not a shortbed. PO did a great job of hiding all the signs for me. But just can't blame him, I'm the retard for not paying close enough attention.

did he have a tape measure where the 8 foot mark had a 6 in sharpie over it?

i bought my 68 then got it home and realized the drivers rear cab mount is almost rusted through. but it was $600 and it runs/drives/stops and has about $600 worth of brand new tires so i couldnt go wrong.

[cam.man67]

Well, I guess first truck is always the worst. Mine, the PO didn't really hide anything so much as I just didn't check it thoroughly. I should have known that a dockyard truck would have salt on it and be rusted out bad. Cab mounts were rusted through, bed members were hollow, heck I could read the paper through the bed (the bedliner covered it up). The electrical system had a bunch of house connections, or even better just wrapped in electrical tape...

it was a glorious, expensive, learning-experience mess...now I want another one

[special-K]

This is where people who say original vs not doesn't matter in value can be proven wrong. I'm not talking about high-end big money trucks. Of course,when the stakes are that high you better know what you're getting while the money is still in the bank. When I buy a truck I either look for "unmolested" and as close to "original" or plunk down some hundreds and get what I get figuring on laying my hands all over it before I'm through.
I had a near catastrophe once on a truck I bought 2,500 miles from home. It was rare,unrestored,and original paint with a solid body and that was all I really cared about. "Drive anywhere" the seller claimed and I almost flew out and drove back,but ended up shipping. I watched the transport driver have to start the truck in gear to get off the truck because it had no clutch left. I tried to take it to get gas by sync shifting but at 40 mph (less than a mile away) the tires started hopping up and down like a basketball because the ball joints were so bad. Then,I decided to drive it to my shop using back roads and a lot of patience,but going up this steep hill (less than a mile the other way) it bogged down real bad in fourth. Shifting to third it about stopped.I got out and felt the calipers and they were hot hot...frozen up. So,before I could drive this truck I could "drive anywhere" I had to put a clutch in,rebuild the front end,and rebuild the brakes. The truck was just worn out and still looked good.

[71meangreenc10]

My frame on my GMC is a Hot Mess...But we is about to fix that....I did get it for a good price and since it had been in AZ all its life, the rest of the body was super straight. My burb had the Bondo Bandit go off on the rear quarters, got that fixed (Earl is DA MAN). I did drop a deal that a guy was trying to sell a SWB and said it was drivable, got there and a trailing arm along with the drive shaft was broken, still trying to figure out how it was drivable...Serial numbers didnt match the title, title wasnt even close to what the truck year was, another Hot Mess.

On the good side, these trucks are really easy to repair as long as you have some skill and there is plenty of after market support...Try to find parts for a 71 C body Chrysler...Now that is a challenge....


Smitty

[Rochlow]

Recently, bought a truck on the boards here. PO must have sent me a 100 pictures of everything I asked for. I was pretty nervous, but bought it anyways.

Well, after pulling the front sheetmetal, I find that the drivers kick panel and firewall have been worked hard.. Rust on the very outer edge of the firewall. So I decide to pull the interior. Find the seam that holds the toe and floor boards together is totally rotted away. Pull the gas tank and find that the floor has rotted through on the hump portion. Pull the speedo and find that the cowl and inner cowl have rotted through, along with portions above the air vent that connects the kickpanel and cowl together.

Needless to say, I'm still thinking whether to fix this cab or look for another.. Really, didn't want to get into this mess, but I will know better next time.

[hjewell2]

I dare say just about everybody at one time or another

[Coley]

It can be a slippery slope when you buy used....even trickier when you buy from a 'distance'.
If the truck looks like a great deal you feel compelled to act quickly which often means not taking (or having?) the time to get into a lot of detail.
I'd rather pursue a truck that is not under a lot of 'pressure' by a low appearing cost. I'd rather pursue a truck that looks like its priced fairly where I have more time to check it out and make sure it is exactly consistent with a good price....then try to present a respectful offer to the seller to get it closer to a 'nice' price.
I never expect perfection and I always expect I will be doing some things to it but I just want that work/upgrade stuff to be in line with what I pay for the truck.
Lesson/Point: if it appears to be a real/great price and deal....be very, very, very careful, because you will be excited and slightly compelled to act quickly and possibly irresponsibly
My two bits.
Coley

[GASoline71]

Originally Posted by hjewell2

I dare say just about everybody at one time or another

Yup... happened to me on a '67 C10. I didn't learn my lesson and it happened again on a '71 Jeep CJ5. Glutton for pumishment, and I still didn't learn on a '63 C10.

I've learned my lesson now... I wikes my '72 GMC!

Gary

[mr48chev]

Originally Posted by hjewell2

I dare say just about everybody at one time or another

Amen to that. Almost every regular on here knows that I am no fan of "patina" but I do tend to look for look for trucks with tired unmolested original paint when looking for projects rather than those that have had one or more repaint jobs.

My 71 was given to me by my aunt after my uncle had had it for about 25 years and it had sat for several years. I'm still finding things that he and his cronies did to it that make me shake my head.

He was really proud that he had built a wood tool box that fit behind the wheel well and he had bolted it into the box.
It sat right here.

The hole he drilled to mount it had one problem.

You can see daylight though it.
Because he had-

Drilled a hole clear through both panels to the outside where he stuck in a long bolt to hold the tool box in place. I think that over the years there were something like 56 extra holed drilled in the body of the truck to mount different things including one in the center of the roof for a cb antenna.
The truck has been on the road at least 20 years without a license plate light because they welded a piece of steel plate on the step bumper to be able to handle a horse trailer.


There is an amp gauge under the dash but it wasn't wired correctly and someone cut the wire to the lighter because they didn't want anyone smoking in the truck. After eight years of driving it I'm still finding things that he and his friends did to it.

[big_al_71]

I can honestly say that I have never gotten burn, it helps that I have been in the auto business for 25 + years so it is really hard for me to miss a problem....

[sir_talk_alot]

My is far from a burn, i feel i burned the po buying mine for 950, he sold it to me that cheap because the truck had been many first vehicles to different kids throughout the years he knew, but he knew that i would be the only one to give it a good life, no longer as a work truck, but a beefed up streetrod truck. but sometimes you can only wonder what they were thinking when they did what they did. Probably the last kid that had it. Im still sorta a kid, just with some common sense...ish.
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[grancuda]

I did buy a '70 Challenger back 10 years ago and it turned out to be an R/T after getting it home and checking the vin.

[stomper]

110 volt house wall switch wired in under the dash for kill switch. '72 Nova.

Bare end of HEI run wire looped over a pan screw driven in the J-box. Truck ran fine. '71 C10

[YBNORML]

Originally Posted by stomper

110 volt house wall switch wired in under the dash for kill switch. '72 Nova.

Bare end of HEI run wire looped over a pan screw driven in the J-box. Truck ran fine. '71 C10

That's awesome!!

[no moa]

Originally Posted by stomper

110 volt house wall switch wired in under the dash for kill switch. '72 Nova.

lol, had a 77 camaro same thing.

[Regular Guy]

Hmmm, where to begin! I've not had anything as bad as Dano69c10, yet.

Many years ago I went on a road trip to check out a '71 that had a "frame off restoration". I call the guy, and he says, look, I'm only talking to serious buyers. I say, look, I'm driving 300 miles to look at your truck--that's pretty serious.

I get there and it LOOKS great. I open the door and there's trash all over--fast food bags, etc. No big deal I think, some people aren't much for housekeeping in their vehicles (like my wife). We go for a ride and the engine isn't running quite right--hesitates, not the best idle, etc. The guy says, yeah it needs a little work but you can handle that, eh?

Then I look underneath and there is a hole in the frame below the cab that you could shove a tennis ball through. I guess the "frame off restoration" didn't involve doing any frame work. The guys says, yeah, isn't that something! when I point it out to him. So I left.

Luckily I had a backup truck to look at on the way home; a '72 that turned out to be near perfect--good paint, frame, all mechanicals. So I paid a deposit, then drove back the next week 150 miles to get it. 50 miles down the road the transmission overheats! I called the guy and he is really cool--he's shocked because it was rebuilt and had a trans cooler on it. He offers to trailer it home for me, but I decline, and I made it the rest of the way. After fixing it, the truck turned out to be bullet proof--should have kept it!

My current '70 is ok--found a lot of nickle and dime stuff that I'm still working on. The worst was the fact that it used to be a manual trans, and was converted to auto--and the seller did not install a neutral safety switch, OR TELL ME ABOUT IT! It was just luck that it started in park on the test drives. The column was wore out too, it didn't take much to bump it into reverse from park. It was a shocker when I started it unknowingly in reverse. Good thing nothing was behind me, like humans...

So it never ends...