Help me to not be stupid. :)

[fartblossom]

Hi,

I've been lurking here for a year or two, and started posting in the last few months. I've finally set aside a budget of about 7 grand to get back into the 67-72 community. I had a 70 medium olive longbed back in the late 80's, was raising two young kids and didn't have the money to ever do anything with it. Let it go in one of my many stupid car giveaways over the years.

I'm now wanting to semi-retire my little mid-life crisis car and get me another 67-72 for daily driving.

With this budget I'm thinking another smooth riding C-10 long bed, and I like the shop truck aesthetic. The problem is the only pricing I ever see is what the seller is asking. I don't know what fair market pricing is and I'm a crappy negotiator. And even if I was, it's hard to negotiate if you don't know the real value.

For example, this truck looks nice, but the "engine smokes on startup" and leaking seal on the tranny give me pause. Still, if I offered the guy 5K and planned on a rebuild and replacing the seals on the trans, would I be insulting the guy or offering him a fair deal? http://dallas.craigslist.org/dal/cto/5043643432.html

Thanks in advance for your help, and I can't tell you how impressed I am with the depth of knowledge in this forum and the maturity of the members. You guys rock.

[kingsolver72]

No way to know if this person would be insulted by your offer and the term fair is relative.
I'm live by the acronym BLUF. Bottom line up front. If I sell something it is usually priced at what I want for the item. If I'm interest in buying something, I go look at it and ask them, how much do you have to have ? Then I give them my offer.
Sounds like you have an honesty perspective. I wouldn't be insulted.

[LockDoc]

Originally Posted by fartblossom

Hi,

I've been lurking here for a year or two, and started posting in the last few months. I've finally set aside a budget of about 7 grand to get back into the 67-72 community. I had a 70 medium olive longbed back in the late 80's, was raising two young kids and didn't have the money to ever do anything with it. Let it go in one of my many stupid car giveaways over the years.

I'm now wanting to semi-retire my little mid-life crisis car and get me another 67-72 for daily driving.

With this budget I'm thinking another smooth riding C-10 long bed, and I like the shop truck aesthetic. The problem is the only pricing I ever see is what the seller is asking. I don't know what fair market pricing is and I'm a crappy negotiator. And even if I was, it's hard to negotiate if you don't know the real value.

For example, this truck looks nice, but the "engine smokes on startup" and leaking seal on the tranny give me pause. Still, if I offered the guy 5K and planned on a rebuild and replacing the seals on the trans, would I be insulting the guy or offering him a fair deal? http://dallas.craigslist.org/dal/cto/5043643432.html

Thanks in advance for your help, and I can't tell you how impressed I am with the depth of knowledge in this forum and the maturity of the members. You guys rock.

It may just need valve seals. They dry out and crack if a vehicle sits for very long. As far as the trans I don't know how good if a troubleshooter the guy is but if it the leak is in the front it could be a leaking dipstick tube "O" ring or pan gasket.. If it is the rear trans seal that is leaking it is no big deal to replace with the trans in the truck....

$3500-4k would be where I would start.

LockDoc

[franken]

If they can't set a price, they can't whine about an offer they don't like.
That said, people thing their junk is gold these days.

[67swb72klb]

Sounds like it has some rust repair...check it out good

[fartblossom]

Thanks guys.

He sent me a spid today, pretty nicely optioned. A/C cab entices me.

The fact that he said he repainted it the original color, and the spid says DARK olive, bothers me. Oh well, it won't hurt to go look at it.

[Already Gone]

Do you want an original truck? You mentioned daily drive status for your truck. I just looked at your link and it says 355 so the motor has been played with. If you want a daily driver you can use and enjoy and decide what you want to do with it to personalize it I'd try to find as original a truck as possible. Your avatar says Frisco and if you live in the San Francisco area you are in 67-72 heaven for finding a decent truck. Just be patient in your search.

[fartblossom]

It doesn't have to be super original, but nicely optioned is nice, because then I'd only have to replace things like power brakes and power steering, instead of trying to convert them.

Yes, I've seen some lovely trucks in California just like what I'm looking for in the "for sale" section here.

Unfortunately, my "Frisco" isn't a shortened "San Francisco". It the name of my town in Texas.

[Already Gone]

Originally Posted by fartblossom

It doesn't have to be super original, but nicely optioned is nice, because then I'd only have to replace things like power brakes and power steering, instead of trying to convert them.

Yes, I've seen some lovely trucks in California just like what I'm looking for in the "for sale" section here.

Unfortunately, my "Frisco" isn't a shortened "San Francisco". It the name of my town in Texas.

I just looked up Frisco Texas and even where you are in the Dallas area there are lots and lots of trucks. There was a poll on the boards about which State sold the most 67-72's and Texas and California were the two favourites by far.

[Jason Banks]

What don't you like about the big block? The one I had was the best running truck I ever had. The gas mileage was similar to my 350.

[Boog]

That blue and white c20 looks great outside. With just a few parts to replace/refurb and a clean up under the hood it will be a great truck. I see it doesn't have ac. That means a lot to us in the south and it can be added if you wanted it. Visually that truck seems priced nice. One test ride will tell you if you would like the c20 ride or not.

[fartblossom]

Originally Posted by Jason Banks

What don't you like about the big block? The one I had was the best running truck I ever had. The gas mileage was similar to my 350.

Not so much not liking the big block, just have a 45 year love affair with SBC's.

[fartblossom]

This is all great advice. Yes, having A/C is huge here with August just around the corner. One reason I like the green/white is the A/C cab, and there's a guy in Fort Worth whom I hear does an awesome job restoring factory A/C.

https://www.facebook.com/factoryautoair

Anyway, thank you all. I will go look at the original one I posted tomorrow and see how I feel about it. Then I will look at the C-20. And I will try not to be stupid.

[jamie72]

I would have already bought the bb truck...