1999 Silverado 4x4 for $1,700????

[jon75]

Yesterday I went and looked at a possible donor vehicle for my truck. It's a 1999 Silverado regular cab long box 4x4 with manual transfer case and auto transmission with 5.3L. It has 207,000 miles. The interior is pretty rough, it has some jacked up car alarm in it attached to the manual door locks, and the body is quite beat up. I drove the truck and the running state of it is all decent. It has good power, shifts smoothly, and goes down the road....kinda. It has a bad pull.

The guy has owned it for 120,000 miles and said he changed the transfer case fluid once, which I tend to believe it was either once or zero. He also said that he has done the oil changes regularly but that it uses 2 quarts of oil between changes. The transmission feels pretty good and the fluid is dark cherry (typical for Dexron 6).

As for the running gear, the axles didn't make any noise and the front axle seals are the only thing leaking (typical for GMT700/800). Even the inner tie rod ends were nice and tight. The transmission had residual oil from the engine but didn't seem to be leaking tranny fluid. The transfer case was leaking gear oil, but I plan on replacing it because the chain is skipping in 4H, not rebuilding it. The brakes pedal felt good, but the fluid needs changing and the pads and rotors will probably need replacing.

So here is what I want to do with it. The GVWR is 7,200, the same as my K25, and I want to put my cab and box on this frame and running gear. I figure, while I have it out, I will replace the engine and transfer case with used units for around $400-500 each (I already checked prices) and sell the cab and bed. What do you guys think? I mean, it's all there, so that saves me a lot of time rather than trying to fit all the pieces together.

The things working in my favor are:
wheel base - 131.5 vs 143.5 (the frame "slides" together through channels and should be easy to modify the length, as viewed through another member's build)
transfer case - shifter location should be close, and I can always modify the shifter
automatic transmission - even though I have a manual, I can now get an auto-tilt column or use the column from this truck and make a cover plate for my high trans tunnel
throttle linkage - manual throttle body cable, no hassles with the pedal assembly
cruise control - who doesn't love cruise control???air conditioning - I will not have to buy all the stuff to put it back together on my truck!
manual everything in the cab - with manual operation stuff, I can incorporate some of the items from the interior into my truck ie. seats, steering column, etc.
Last but not least, EVERYTHING IS THERE!! - basically it's a fully functioning donor vehicle
Let me see some opinions!!