When did you get your truck? What was your cost? Tell us your story.

[70cst]

Do you remember when you purchased your truck? Where did you find it? Cost?

I found my truck advertised in the Truck Trader in Aug. 2000, near Celina Tn. - it was listed for $3000. I was able to purchase it for $2300. The bed was toast and during the restoration I located a 70 take off bed for $1,000. It survived a tornado and after about 6 months and a little over $21,000 it was brand new again. And now you know. Lets hear your story.

[70cst]

More pics

[67C10Step]

My story will be short. I got my truck in May of this year. I've known about this truck for over ten years and it was offered to me about two years ago but I kept putting off buying it for one reason or another. This past May was my wife and I's 25th wedding anniversary and she purchased the truck from my buddy for $2000. Was delivered with a bed full of goodies. Good rear fenders, TH400 transmission, power steering pump and sector from a 73 model truck, also from the 73 the front spindles, center link, and power brake booster/bracket.
Truck currently is a 283 with three on the tree. The TH400 may go in at some point but that will be way down the road, just getting started. She does run and I plan on rolling stock motor and trans for a while after I get it road worthy.
Photos below are delivery day and current status. Rear is 4" static drop with progressive springs, adjustable panyard bar, shock relocation kit, new bearings/seals in rear and rebuilt drive shaft. Still have to put new brakes on the rear and get some lowering shocks and bump stops.

[Gigem]

My story is here.

Ended up getting the truck, a Snap On toolbox full of tools and several nice guns for $5000.

[FleetsidePaul]

I traded my 70 SWB for my 71 C20. The shorty was roached, rusted and really was too much of a project for me. The 71 was a rust free running truck. And this guy wanted my truck bad. So we swapped trucks. That was about 12 or 13 years ago. The guy I swapped with has tried to buy the 71 back. But I'm not selling.I forget what I paid for the 70. Not much.

[brownsville]

i bought my 72 about 2 years ago. it was listed on craigslist and the guy was asking 1300? for it. Anyway I wasn't real found of a long bed at the time but i liked the color (and thats what is really important). So i decided wth go look at it after work its only 2 miles away. Sure enough go look at it i really liked the color the fact it had a 350 made it a little better but i was still tor on spending money on something that wasn't exactly what i wanted. So me and they guy are sitting there and I'm thinking on making an offer and the guys wife comes out and says. (exact transcript not my language) Jerry (seller) I don't give a damn if he gives you 650 for it i want it out of my driveway tomorrow. Jerry looks at me and says well will you give me 650 for it i said sure why not Ill be here tomorrow morning (gave him a deposit) he turns around and says honey I sold the truck laughing. So now that i bought the truck I've sank close to 8k in it doing things like putting new heads (aluminum) cam water pump belts hoses interior new gauge cluster, converting from 3 on the tree to a turbo 400 lowered new column, power steering added, brakes wheels tires (holy crap what a list and I'm sure I'm missing something.

[toolboxchev]

I have litterally a box of receipts. I have not added it up....yet. Its a 12x6x30 full of paper.

[Gigem]

Originally Posted by toolboxchev

I have litterally a box of receipts. I have not added it up....yet. Its a 12x6x30 full of paper.

Never, ever, ever, EVER.... do the math!

[garyd1961]

I had a 71 Cheyenne Super when I a lot younger and let it go on a trade. Then 20 years later a guy from up the road pulls in my driveway with a 70 Custom/10 the same color as the Cheyenne I use to own. He knew I use to own the Cheyenne and was looking for a quick sale. He says Let me sell you this truck, I said I don't want that old truck. He said I'll take $1500 for it, I said pull it on up in the yard.
I drove it for about 10 years and was looking for a replacement for it. After seeing the prices of what was out there I decided just to fix mine up a little. I gutted everything out from under the hood and replaced it all with new stuff. New motor, new trans, new exhaust, new tires and wheels, new brakes, and a few more new parts here and there.
I didn't even try to keep up with what I spent on it, I guess I put around 10k in it.

Edited to add a little side story on my truck. The day I bought it about 15 years ago my uncle who lived next door and has since passed away pulled up and sort of scolded me for buying that old truck. I told him I bought it because I learned to drive on his old 71 C/10 he use to own and I always wanted one like it. He just looked at me and smiled as he drove away.

[Steeveedee]

The truck was free- we inherited it from my FiL. A new camper shell, front disc brake conversion, tires, radiator and nickel and dime stuff put it at about $6k into it at this point. Except for the shell and brakes (about $4.2k total) it was all maintenance. It needs a bit of work yet, and I'm putting off rebuilding/replacing the engine until I find the optimum path. It used to run hot, but that problem is now resolved.

[Already Gone]

This is my second keeper C10 and bought it in 2014 cause the price was right and it had factory intact A/C and was a Highlander. It was a Craigslist find in South Dakota and me and a friend drove 900 miles on Halloween to pick her up and drove home the next day. Board Member Shawn, ( 71SWB4X4 ) noticed my post before I picked up the truck and said he knew the truck as the seller lived a few blocks away. Shawn offered to take the truck to the local repair shop and have them check it out before I picked it up for the 900 mile drive home. Truck needed a couple small thing and a nail was found in a tire. I've added a bunch of things over the years with the most noticeable the buckets and console but kept the original look of the truck. Factory tilt and tach dash have been added and shocks etc have been replaced.

[dave6672]

I bought my K20 right after I got my first real job in September of 1991 for $3800. It was listed in what was called the Metro Piston which was a local car trader magazine in the Lexington KY area (see pic of the ad which I still have). I bought it from the son of the original owner who had recently passed away. The original owner had used this truck to climb around the mountains of eastern Kentucky visiting some of the oil wells that he operated.

The truck was in pretty good shape when I got it and I used it for a daily driver up to the late 1990's at which point it was pretty rusty. First I disassembled the bed, then it sat for a while. I did some more work on it, and then it sat for a while, and so on. It took me 20 years buy I got it finished this year.

Some before and after pics.

[tj1970cst]

Was riding in my friend's golf cart drinking some cold drinks. Saw a orange stepside 68-72 truck (big glass and marker lights) in a neighbor's garage. I said man i wanted a truck like that since i was 14 (was 34). Buddy said let's go talk to him, hes moving tomorrow. Looked at it, stewed on it a night, made an offer, owner stayed firm. Wife was pregnant with 2nd kid, I didn't need a toy, etc. We were visiting 2 1/2 hrs from home.

2 years later we visit again, wife was pregnant with 3rd kid. I took the money out before we left. I looked him up, he let me keep it overnight. It wasn't perfect, but it was nicer than most I've seen. I still wasn't sold, but the wife convinced me to buy. (Probably because it is orange and she got a bachelors and a masters at UT) I went back the next morning with the money and pulled it out, $300 shy of asking, he accepted $200 shy of asking.

Had it a year. New exhaust, cam, heads, carb, intake, fixing a/c, already fixed a ton of odds and ends like voltmeter conversion, trans leak, lube speeco cable, a million other things. I'm building a 30x50 shop and could use some $. Told wife I could easily sell it and break even/make just a little, she says NO WAY. Can't sell the pickup.

No current pics, this is day before purchase.

[dave6672]

Now for my C20 Highlander. I saw this sinking into a yard near an empty house, last licensed in 1995 while out on a motorcycle trip about 5 hours from home. I inquired about it and found out the owner was a local older lady who lived nearby. I knocked on her door and she told me that her husband bought it in 1976, but then he died in 1979. Her father drove it here and there until his death and it's actual mileage was only 25,000. A fair amount of rust, the worst being around the drip rail but still a real solid straight original Highlander.

By the way during this initial conversation, she said "I've also got a 57 Chevy Bel Air that I bought new when I was 19 (black 2 door with red interior), a 68 Olds 98, a 67 Olds Delmont and a 68 Impala". Interesting.

Nonetheless, she gave me her number and after a few calls, she agreed to sell it to me. After going through the mechanicals, etc. it's a real nice driving and dependable truck.

[dave6672]

A few more before and after pics.

[70cst]

Good stories all ...

[OregonNed]

This is a fun thread - great stories! After previously owning both a '65 and '66 C10, I got the bug again for another Chevy. I talked to a friend who found a GMC, and he helped me locate, and also drive me to, this truck he found for me in the local Nickel Ads. After contacting the owner, I made an offer to buy the truck based on only seeing two pictures, but I just had a feeling it was a nice, sound truck. We drove to the Idaho/Oregon border to buy it, and drive it back through mostly ice and packed snow on a freeway that was closed most of the day on the way over.

She was mine for the price of $6700, and since then I have made many improvements. Its been fun working on her every single day. She has always ran well, and I have never had any issues at all.

Here are some before followed by recent after pics.

Before:

[OregonNed]

After pics:

[Stocker]

In Oct 1976 I finally quit my traveling job in exchange for steady employment in one location. By spring of 1977 I was ready for my first truck and it had to be a 4x4. Looked at a few lots and finally found a clean 5-year-old K20 at a Chevy dealership. It had just been traded in and wasn't detailed yet, which was fine with me b/c I could see what it was really like. It was showing about 50K miles and had factory A/C, 3 fuel tanks, a 350, power steering, and a TH350 trans. I think I paid $3200 for it. After 42+ years, tons of memories, and plenty of rebuilt parts, I still own it. No regrets.

[jjzepplin]

I first laid eyes on it in 1988. I just graduated high school and had a 66 Chevelle 4 speed. I saw the truck my buddy Keenan was driving and asked if he would trade for the Chevelle. He laughed. Years later in 2003 I was at his house and retrieved the mail for him as he was sleeping. He had a big house so I was wondering why the letter on the top of the stack was a storage bill. When he woke up I asked him what was in storage. He replied that he was not paying that stupid bill! I asked again and it was Old Yeller. I told him I would pay the bill but I wanted the truck. He said OK! $600 and I had a 1970 SWB 4X4. Pics are in my signature threads. I just got some money So a paint job is on the way soon. Right after I finish this new house crud.

[tim_mc]

I got the bug for a 67-72 pickup last year and found the first black '67 in August 2018. $5K was probably too much, but it had a fairly clean 350 crate engine and was already set up with 5-lug axles and 4-wheel disc brakes. The cab needed a lot of work. While checking out Craigslist, I found the second light green C20 for $1200 in December 2018. What sold me on it was the bedsides with the previous owner's name. I've spend the past year upgrading everything, welding in new rockers & cab corners. Total cost is over $20K, but had a great time with my dad and brother working on it.

['68OrangeSunshine]

In June of '73 I was about to graduate from LACC, when my '61 Mercedes 190 threw a rod and lunched the engine. In the LA Times I saw some pickup ads. The one I liked best was an Orange '68 C/10 Stepside with a 292 L6 and SM465 4-speed.
The seller's wife was expecting, the Arab Oil Embargo had just radically jacked up oil and gas prices, and she wanted him to get a Toyota. I got it for $1200.
About 80,000 miles on the odo.
Never thought about selling it. Three 292's later, it's still my daily driver with about 397,000 on the meter.

[palallin]

Dave6672:

[72 tigger]

tim mc- nice job on the green 68!

[72 tigger]

Bought this 71 one owner in 2007 for $1500. Truck was from Arkansas, so it’s solid. I blew it apart and detailed the frame,drivetrain and interior. The original paint cleaned up nice, painted the roof. Only has 60,000 miles, but they were hard farm miles. I have about $4000 total in it