1969 4x4 is it worth it?

['68OrangeSunshine]

Originally Posted by gcm

As far as I know the truck wasn't a fire truck the original owner was a farrier

You know, all this group speculation on a rusting pickup truck in a field in Alberta, reminds me of Percival Lowell, who built an astronomical oservatory in the mountains near Flagstaff, AZ in the 1890s. With the rarefied atmosphere and lack of light pullution, Lowell's powerful telescope was able to pull in images of the planet Mars, such as had never been seen before. He thought he saw striations on the surface, which he assumed were canals. The media had a frenzy, as only intelligent beings could dig, build and use Canals. Edgar Rice Burroughs got busy, and started writing his John Carter on Mars series. H G Wells followed with ''The War of the Worlds,'' with said Martians invading the Earth.
Turns out, there were no canals on Mars after all. Probably condensation of ice crystals on the exposed lens of his scope...

[special-K]

Look at the fender mounting. It is different for the different fenders. Could be fenders replaced. Too bad model number is gone to tell which bed it had. The reasons for swapping Fleetside to Stepside are the same reasons both were offered. Stepsides have many benefits, like a true rectangle with sides same size as floor. meaning, you stack plywood to the top without it shifting. The other benefit are those nice "steps" on the "side" that allow easy access to the front portion of the bed. Third is that is a true pickup. They didn't become Stepsides until Fleetsides came out. All pickups had Stepside style beds until then.

Who would swap wide to narrow bed? Me. Went from Sweptline to Utiline, which really set the Power Wagon off. Made it more of a Power Wagon than a 4wd pickup, if you get what I mean. I'd like to change my '72 Sierra to Wideside

[palallin]

Originally Posted by special-K

Who would swap wide to narrow bed? Me.

Me, too. I love the look of the longstep.

[Micmac]

I know where there is a ‘63 longbed step side rotting behind the old Dr. Graybow pipe factory in Sparta, NC. I tried to buy it numerous times but the person preferred to let it sit out and deteriorate. I understand. Sometimes stuff like this keep a family member alive in our mind.

[58 Special]

I thought all K trucks came out of the states. I don't think any 4X4's were produced in Canada , but I might be wrong. Mine came out of Flint.

[dagnabbitt]

Originally Posted by 58 Special

I thought all K trucks came out of the states. I don't think any 4X4's were produced in Canada , but I might be wrong. Mine came out of Flint.

Nope, Oshawa was a regular plant like the rest of them. My 67 K20 was built there.

[dagnabbitt]

I like the truck, please don't tell me where it is located or I might go and buy it.

1967-72 K10s are quite rare in Alberta so if the chassis is a 67-72 of any kind, then it's worth restoring. If the cab and the chassis left the factory together, even better. If this is a complete running truck that just happens to have some Apache fenders on it then it is a really good buy.

Usually when I see these trucks it turns out that its a squarebody drivetrain that someone threw some farm junk on top of. But if it is mostly original and moves and stops, then it is worth a few bucks and should be restored.

[58 Special]

Originally Posted by dagnabbitt

Nope, Oshawa was a regular plant like the rest of them. My 67 K20 was built there.

I stand corrected.

[gcm]

So I got the vin number from the owner finally it’s KE1491816992. So the best I can decode it is that it is a 4x4 from factory, a v8, and was built in the Oshawa plant not sure if that’s good, bad, or indifferent?

The owner says he knew the truck from brand new and all that it was done to it was the original owner had someone raise the truck 6inches, and put on the bush bumpers on it. And he said he thinks the rear fenders were replaced at some point but the truck was always a stepside. The vin doesn’t say if the truck is or isn’t a stepside so I asked him right out. He does say he thinks the fenders were replaced. So yes or no? Should I buy it? Is it rare? I know this maybe the wrong question but I was looking for something rare if it’s going to be a king bed. I rather a short bed GMC unless it’s a rare truck. This one has a cool story but what do you guys think? Is it rare and what price should I offer the guy? 4000 fair?

[best view]

Now that u have the vin ,in Canada u can get all the info from the gmc archives I would buy it offer 2 grand ,it has cab lights

[gcm]

Originally Posted by best view

Now that u have the vin ,in Canada u can get all the info from the gmc archives I would buy it offer 2 grand ,it has cab lights

Is it rare you think?

[MikeandCheryl]

They are all rare - just look at how many you see running down the road. We purchased a complete 72 from auction from the guy in the TV show - rust brothers. It's apart, and I will probably need to replace many metal parts. It's a bigger fish than my fishing rod, but i'm still keen. i don't know the value of old things, but i do know that what i see for around 3000-5000 is pretty much a parts truck and a dream. Old car shells go for that. runners are more. Nice runners are like 10. Drivers are 15. Nicely finished, useful, safe and (probably) non-stockers are 20. Go up from there. You can buy a project and throw much money in it, or just buy a finished truck - but you miss the part of the project. You'll have something cool, rare or not, perfect or not, but it'll be something you did. you can't get that from a new Denali.

[jocko]

Originally Posted by gcm

Is it rare you think?

I'd submit that buying this truck because of a perception of rarity might be a mistake. Googling and finding "low" production numbers might meet a technical (yet irrelevant) definition of "rare" - but it doesn't mean a given truck is also valuable. Once a truck has been modified (as in a bed swap and lift kit), rarity really doesn't matter anyway, even if it can be undone. And keep in mind, plenty of makes and models were low production because GM knew they wouldn't be "big" sellers - but they also wanted to provide options for all areas of the market, so they didn't make as many. While a 69 K10 long-stepper is a cool truck (and that alone is a good reason to buy it, if that is what you're into) - it's not an LS6 Chevelle (or a swb Cheyenne Super big block).

We can only tell you if we'd buy this truck for ourselves - and that really shouldn't affect your decision one way or the other. I like it, but I like old K10s and K20s... If you prefer a swb GMC (you've mentioned this twice), I'd recommend against buying this truck on a perception of rarity alone. If you like it for what it is, a cool old K10, then by all means, buy it and enjoy it, and don't look back.

If you're considering buying it so you can tell someone you have a rare truck; or worse yet, with the intent to try to resell it as a rare truck, you're probably better off waiting for the swb GMC you mentioned you really want to come along. Because as soon as you buy this one, it will.

[best view]

This was well written