Shortened 3/4 ton longbed

[davepl]

I'm looking at a '72 Sierra Grande that was originally a 3/4 ton lonbox. A previous owner made it into a shortbox by having a shop cut and graft a 68 C-10 rear frame onto it.



Unfortunately, it was done as a straight vertical cut, rather than the stepped cut I would have done. They added a fish plate and boxed that section of the frame, so in reality its probably decently strong if the welds are good.

It currently has a 92 stepside box on it (yep, its quite a Frankenstein), so I'm going to try to get ahold of the shop that actually did the work to confirm what dimensions they used (ie: did it go to 67-72 shortbox specs?)

Anyway, I'm wondering what are the other implications of the truck having originally been a 3/4 ton? From the photos, it currently has 5-lug wheels. It has a front stablizer bar. What else would be different?

Thanks,
Dave

[davepl]

Did some more digging, turns out the front end is actually out of an 80 or 81 GMC. So it's a 68-C10 rear, 80 front crossmember. Front is 5-lug, but rear is still 6-lug (I guess from the 3/4 ton chassis).

Talking to the previous owner that did the work, he seemed confident about it; they used a laser-square and had a professional welder do the work. He said they took 12 inches out from behind the bench seat.

So, for $5000, all you're really getting is an original '72 Sierra Grande cab w/air and tilt and the rebuilt numbers-matching 402 and TH400. Given that I'd be bringing it across the border (its in Canada), I'm not sure this is one I want to get into, because the serial number of the cab isn't going to match that of the frame. Odds are they'd never check it, but that bugs me nonetheless...

- Dave

[cdowns]

$500 is more like it

[davepl]

Originally Posted by cdowns

$500 is more like it

The disconnect cracks me up... whenever someone posts asking what a truck is worth, everyone says a pittance. Except when they go to sell their OWN truck, its suddenly "Hey, one went for $35,000 at Barret Jackson, so I want $20K for my beater".

I wish someone who thought these trucks are so cheap would sell me theirs :-)

[Jobe72]

I'm sure you can find a better truck than that for $5000!

[michael bustamante]

the 6 lug rear end is most likely from the 68 as 3/4 tons were 8 lugs and 68 half ton is a 6 lug. it definatly looks like a project. hows the cab and the a/c and such. does the prev owner have paper work of the rebuilds (receipts)

[Leviticus]

Originally Posted by davepl

The disconnect cracks me up... whenever someone posts asking what a truck is worth, everyone says a pittance. Except when they go to sell their OWN truck, its suddenly "Hey, one went for $35,000 at Barret Jackson, so I want $20K for my beater".

I wish someone who thought these trucks are so cheap would sell me theirs :-)

Dave,

With that much mismatched madness going on I would keep looking, and the price is somewhat high in my opinion. And yeah, in my eyes my truck is worth $15 G's, but if I put it up for sale on here I would probably get offers in the 5-6 range. Its the way it goes I guess.

There are trucks out there that are pretty original for quite a bit less than what he is asking, but at the same time you could make that a very nice truck with some time and $.

Let us know what you decide.

[OARNGESI]

Originally Posted by davepl

the disconnect cracks me up... Whenever someone posts asking what a truck is worth, everyone says a pittance. Except when they go to sell their own truck, its suddenly "hey, one went for $35,000 at barret jackson, so i want $20k for my beater".

I wish someone who thought these trucks are so cheap would sell me theirs :-)

youd really be better off finding a new swb frame possibly correct bed deending on your taste that truck seems to be worth as much the cab and drive train is for the price id keep lookin

[1956cameo]

If I were you I would pass on this! It sounds like you will simply be buying someone elses headache at WAAAY too high of a price on top of it.

[davepl]

I will likely pass... if it were the original chassis, I'd consider it, but...

Everyone remember to keep your eyes open for a big block or 4x4 Grande Sierra for me!

Thanks!
Dave

[1956cameo]

If you have 5k to spend for one I am SURE we can help you find a much better one. I will keep a look out for you.

[southbounddee]

$5000 WHAT!! GET THE F*%# OUT OF HERE! i got this for $250 in 2005,.. i guess now it would go for $10000 compared to that p.o.s you found,.keep looking around there ARE better deals than that.

[powell72]

The frame cut wouldn't bother me if done correctly, and the serial number on the frame is up towards the front, so it would still be there. The disc front is nice, and the rear would just need axles to match the front.
But not for $5K

[davepl]

I told him I would take a pass on it. Just to be accurate, it was $5K Canadian, so more like $4K US.

The problem I'm running into is that there are a lot of deals to be had, just not on Sierra Grandes, particularly big-blocks or short boxes.

If I'm going to do a frame-off resto, though, I don't want to do a clone. Not that you'd ever recover a $50K investment on these trucks (heck, I have $275K into a car worth $20K, so that's nothing new), but if I'm going to do it, it might as well be on a numbers-matching original.

The good news I'm expanding my home detached garage this summer so I can't really start a project until that's done. That forces me to be at least a little patient. Sure hope I can find, buy, and store one away before the fall though!

[big mike71]

Originally Posted by davepl

I told him I would take a pass on it. Just to be accurate, it was $5K Canadian, so more like $4K US.

The problem I'm running into is that there are a lot of deals to be had, just not on Sierra Grandes, particularly big-blocks or short boxes.

If I'm going to do a frame-off resto, though, I don't want to do a clone. Not that you'd ever recover a $50K investment on these trucks (heck, I have $275K into a car worth $20K, so that's nothing new), but if I'm going to do it, it might as well be on a numbers-matching original.

The good news I'm expanding my home detached garage this summer so I can't really start a project until that's done. That forces me to be at least a little patient. Sure hope I can find, buy, and store one away before the fall though!

Let's see the car.

[davepl]

Originally Posted by big mike71

Let's see the car.

http://www.1969pontiac.com/daves69pontiac.htm

(Only the pictures at the top are after restoration, the others are all before)

[100gold]

That's incredible. I can't imagine what it took to get there with that car!

[davepl]

Originally Posted by 100gold

That's incredible. I can't imagine what it took to get there with that car!

Thanks! I think I did find the only set of NOS original 427 emblems still in the universe. I also have a 1969 Camaro, and let me tell you, its a lot easier to restore a car where they reproduce stuff!

- Dave

[FleetsidePaul]

I would think that Pontiac is worth more than 20K it's beautiful...I'd also pass on that truck, if you have cash and time you can really get something better for that kind of scratch.

[Deaol]

Originally Posted by davepl

I told him I would take a pass on it. Just to be accurate, it was $5K Canadian, so more like $4K US.

The CAD dollar as of now is ABOVE the US dollar...
5,000.00 USD = 5,085.50 CAD
(source xe.com)

so bad time to be buying stuff from Canada, good for Canadians to be buying up cheap trucks down south


.. but back on topic, yes I would pass aswell, if anything i would find a clean LWB and do the shortening myself just to know what has been done and that everything was straight. Good luck on the search!

[mr48chev]

I can't understand why they would swap the rear end of another frame on the truck unless it was hit in the rear and that was the fix.

I will agree that 5k is a bit stiff for a truck that has so many mismatched parts on it that need to be changed to make it right. The bed and earlier rear end being the two that stand out and wave at you.

This is a GMC and a 68 but it looks pretty well unmolested and a guy can drive it home.
It's in Grandview in the Yakima Valley. http://yakima.craigslist.org/cto/1648893740.html

[davepl]

Yup, there are a number of trucks in the area, but haven't found a shortbox Sierra Grande bigblock yet! That's the hunt...

[QKENUF4U]

man i cant see 275k in that car but i guess.... and thats cool as he11 that you have the same plate as new......
oh and i you can afford 5k you can find your truck you want easy and not have a thrown togethe POS.....

just use this search tool and you can find what you want.... theres one in mesa arizona right now to be exact...

http://www.searchtempest.com/results...in&maxAsk8=max

[davepl]

3000 hours of labor @ 80/hr and you're already at 240K. Then add parts. But I did it for myself, as a lifetime keeper. It's the guys that spend $300K restoring LS-6 Chevelles that are now worth $120K I feel bad for...

It's 1000 hours to take a car apart and put it back together. Any metal work is on top of that, and so is time spent refinishing parts, searching for parts, and so on. You could build a Camaro from scratch with a Dynacorn body and a Year One catalog, but other cars you're paying someone to form you panels on an English wheel. And that Camaro emblem that's $20 bucks in the catalog is 20 hours of labor to make a sand-cast mold for when they're not repoped.

I have been using SearchTempest, though its results are often out of date (like the ad removed long ago). That one you pointed out is a longbox smallblock, though. Looking for bigblock shortbox, not so easy...

[PHAT TONY]

Lowly Canadian dude here; I saw that truck advertised-although I don't recall from where, surf some Canadian classified sites, if you have some E-time to kill, $&its worth soo much more here and less plentifull it's silly. I loiter in the board classifieds here and wish I could ship 3 trucks a day home to me. The only real drawback in this truck to me was where do you dump that box!(I HATE seeing 88+ boxes on these trucks)