truck purchase

[rmneder]

Hi,
I found a truck I'm thinking of purchasing. It looks very nice and original. I'm told the engine has never been rebuilt. If it has not been rebuilt, what would be the effects of not using leaded fuel? Also it had been towed behind a motorhome for a while. Could that possibly do any damage to anything? Thanks.

[LongBox]

Sorry to say that the answers to both questions start with "It depends..."

How was it towed, and for what distances? Was the driveshaft removed? Is it a manual or auto?

As for the fuel, it seems to be fine to run unleaded fuel with these engines, but it depends on how hard you are going to flog the thing.

[rmneder]

Originally Posted by LongBox

Sorry to say that the answers to both questions start with "It depends..."

How was it towed, and for what distances? Was the driveshaft removed? Is it a manual or auto?

As for the fuel, it seems to be fine to run unleaded fuel with these engines, but it depends on how hard you are going to flog the thing.

As for the towing the owner said it has some kind of disconnect system. I didn't really understand, I don't tow stuff.

[Chevyland]

What year options miles longbed short c10 c20 etc. Any pictures. Post em up. These guys will help you with good advice. If it a good deal and you want this era of truck. Buy it. You will be happy. I have trucks with 85k and 125k original miles and they are still both driving on unleaded gas. As far as being towed behind a motor home I have no clue. But most anything is easily fixable without breaking the bank.
I see you are in Ca. If the truck has been there its entire life. The most important thing is being able to buy a truck with as little rust as possible. And Ca. Is the best place for that

[El Dorado Jim]

running unleaded gas in these old trucks will eat up the valve seats, the worst thing is you will have to have hardened seats put in the heads when the old valves wont seat anymore or get a new set of heads...

[71CHEVYSHORTBED402]

Originally Posted by El Dorado Jim

running unleaded gas in these old trucks will eat up the valve seats, the worst thing is you will have to have hardened seats put in the heads when the old valves wont seat anymore or get a new set of heads...

This. I used an additive. Seems you can still buy it.

[rmneder]

What do you guys think would be a fair price for this truck.

[rmneder]

I'm told it's original condition.

[El Dorado Jim]

wow, beautiful truck,my guess would be $5000.00

[68bowtie]

how many original miles? been repainted pr original paint? i assume repaint since it doesn't look like "dark green " to me. looks really clean though, i'm thinking like $6-7k. maybe more if it's got super low miles (<75k) and it's been stored inside.

[rmneder]

I haven't checked it out in person so I can't confirm anything. I was negotiating long distance. I was told original paint and interior. Original drive train never out of the truck. 115k original miles. The owner wanted 12k and wouldn't come down much. I thought that was high so I didn't buy. 9k was as high as I was willing to go. I thought that was a pretty fair offer.

[68bowtie]

wow. if that's original paint and interior it's a definite survivor imho, and very impressive. not even a trace of "patina", it looks pristine. based on the seat i'd say more like 15k miles. look at the inside of the tailgate... only flaw i see is the end of the dash pad is bent. if that's all true i think you guys are dancing around a fair price and i wouldn't fault someone for paying 12k for it.. throw some original rims & caps on it and take it to the shows.

[68bowtie]

edit: i would be careful tho, when some guys say "original condition" they mean parts have been replaced with original "style" parts. if it's a repaint and reupholstered interior (more likely) it's priced a bit high. hard to imagine someone sat on that seat cover for 115k miles.

[Joesjunk]

For what it's worth, I'm pretty sure that interior color is not reproduced, so I would think that has to be the original seat cover. Looks like a very nice truck

[ranger danger]

Also it had been towed behind a motorhome for a while

For what it's worth, I'm pretty sure that interior color is not reproduced, so I would think that has to be the original seat cover.

Wouldn't that rack up miles on the OD that weren't actual driving miles? If that's the case, the interior could very well be original.

[rmneder]

Yes, I think the truck is very nice as well. My issue with offering any more is the current owner bought the truck off the family of the original owner who passed away. The current owner has only had it a couple years so he can't really say what has been done to it for sure. When I asked direct questions about stuff he would give vague answers like "you wont be disappointed." I don't think he's purposely trying to be deceptive. I think he just doesn't really know much about the truck. My thinking was for 9k if turned out to be a repaint or older restoration it still would be an ok buy its still a nice truck.

[68bowtie]

man it sounds like a "possible" 15k mile survivor... i'd be saddling up for a road trip for a closer look!

[rmneder]

I don't have a picture of the bed but he says it's painted. Were the wood beds on these trucks ever painted from the factory?

[Joesjunk]

Yes the wood should be painted body color

[oem4me]

Not my era, but my initial gut reaction is that's a winner. If it's legit and all original, paying more than it's worth is not such a bad thing. You'll eventually get over that.
On the flip side, buy a POS for cheap, and you will forever deal with the shame, anger, and frustration that goes with.
Easy choice, if you can swing the funds.
Oh, another way to rationalize paying more than you want is to tell yourself that you are buying it today for what it will be worth in the near future.

[rmneder]

I missed out on it. I should have gone in stronger on it but there is so much talk lately about how people are paying way to much for these trucks. Next time I will trust my gut. Also, I don't think it was a good idea posting the pictures. The truck had been on craigslist for about a month. There were a couple of exterior pictures and about a ten word description. I talked to the guy and got all the info and additional pictures. The add was down and I could no longer contact the owner shortly after posting the pictures. If someone on the forum saw the pictures and recognized it from craigslist and bought it that's fine. I'm not mad or anything I don't think I had some exclusive right to the truck. I'm just advising people if you find something you think is special go with your own judgment.