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#26 |
Registered User
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Albuquerque, NM
Posts: 101
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Its happend to me that I have bought this gmc. First thing was the 100ft of wiring for the spot lights, not fused run directly to a hot terminal on the fuse block. Then had to change out the gas tank due to bent filler lip and found it had the wrong tank in there. This one had a vent that I don't use. It was plugged with a broken off #2 pencil!! Some my friends smoke and I'm just glad we didn't blow up. Its been 2yrs and everytime I touch a new area of the truck I haven't worked on, I always find something else. But not giving up cuz its coming along nice*
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#27 |
Six in a row makes it go...
![]() Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: Vacationland: Maine
Posts: 1,346
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Re: Who's bought a truck and then found...
Decent trucks are tough to come by around here, so that meant buying off the internet based on pictures. It looked good when I picked it up except now I could tell that the paint wasn't original.
Then there were the bondo cracks on the roof. You can see from the pics how that went. Oh well, I still don't regret buying it - the rest of it was in great shape. Buying a 45-year-old truck sight unseen from the original owner's daughter (he passed) involves a little gambling.
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67 C20 long step resto: http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=342086 66 C10 long step build: http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...=1#post3814790 CT to Alaska in a 67 C10: http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=399224 “The height of sophistication is simplicity." - Clare Boothe Luce |
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#28 | |
Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Ontario, Kali
Posts: 2,427
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Re: Who's bought a truck and then found...
This is from a thread I posted about 5 years ago;
Quote:
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![]() ![]() It ain't yours, if you didn't build it! |
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#29 |
Registered User
Join Date: May 2011
Location: Mayflower,AR
Posts: 802
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Re: Who's bought a truck and then found...
WOW. What a nightmare of a truck
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-Mike- '94 GMT 400 ext z71 3" body, 3 in rough country, hd mirrors, 20" motometals on 35s |
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#30 |
Registered User
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Los Angeles California
Posts: 352
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Re: Who's bought a truck and then found...
My nightmare vehicle was my first '68 Camaro.
I knew little about cars at the time, and on the okay of someone I thought was car savvy I bought this turd. The car was a nightmare of bondo and patching, there wasn't one piece of the car that wasn't rusted out and filled. The grill was pieced together with plastic scraps and glue, and the subframe was rotted on the driver side so badly, when I jacked up the car the front of the driver rear leaf spring hung down loose under the weight of the rear axle. But the real prize was waiting for me when I began attacking the cars many wiring problems.. As I unwrapped the cheap electrical tape that held the wire bundles.. the PO had wired the entire car with red wire. Dash, engine, headlights, body, and even the radio were all wired with the same gauge red wire.... J.
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1972 Custom Deluxe Highlander C20 1971 Javelin SST New Project 1971 Demon 340 1969 SS El Camino 1968 SS RS 396 Camaro 1967 Barracuda Formula S 1965 140/4sp Corvair Monza Convertible Sorry, but I don't do Fords. |
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#31 | |
Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: South Dakota
Posts: 4,093
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Re: Who's bought a truck and then found...
Quote:
Posted via Mobile Device
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1969 Chevy c20(Miss Hackjob) |
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#32 |
Registered User
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: Ventura,Ca
Posts: 745
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Re: Who's bought a truck and then found...
Not really a "nightmare" like previous posters have shared. Just a scary find. My neighbor was over checking out my "new" truck about 2 weeks ago, while I was trying to sort out some bad wiring. While we were talking, he noticed a rag shoved down into that cavity on the very front of the left fender. So he pulls it out and finds another,then a neatly folded towel on the bottom. So we unwrap this perfectly folded little towel and find a knife in it! Kinda freaked me out a little.
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'67 C20 LBW |
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#33 |
Registered User
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: maine
Posts: 2,315
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Re: Who's bought a truck and then found...
lol, had a 77 camaro same thing.
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1972 C10 Deluxe.Shortbed. 402/400. A/C, white interior, needs complete restore. Project Red, white and blue. Used to be a Longbed apperently. http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=451950 1971 c10 step 250 3 OTT 1969 c30 TOW-MATER. 307 4 speed, holmes 440 body. http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=451082 2006 CTS-V LS2 6spd. |
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#34 |
Registered User
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: Valparaiso, Indiana
Posts: 38
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Re: Who's bought a truck and then found...
Hmmm, where to begin! I've not had anything as bad as Dano69c10, yet.
Many years ago I went on a road trip to check out a '71 that had a "frame off restoration". I call the guy, and he says, look, I'm only talking to serious buyers. I say, look, I'm driving 300 miles to look at your truck--that's pretty serious. I get there and it LOOKS great. I open the door and there's trash all over--fast food bags, etc. No big deal I think, some people aren't much for housekeeping in their vehicles (like my wife). We go for a ride and the engine isn't running quite right--hesitates, not the best idle, etc. The guy says, yeah it needs a little work but you can handle that, eh? Then I look underneath and there is a hole in the frame below the cab that you could shove a tennis ball through. I guess the "frame off restoration" didn't involve doing any frame work. The guys says, yeah, isn't that something! when I point it out to him. So I left. Luckily I had a backup truck to look at on the way home; a '72 that turned out to be near perfect--good paint, frame, all mechanicals. So I paid a deposit, then drove back the next week 150 miles to get it. 50 miles down the road the transmission overheats! I called the guy and he is really cool--he's shocked because it was rebuilt and had a trans cooler on it. He offers to trailer it home for me, but I decline, and I made it the rest of the way. After fixing it, the truck turned out to be bullet proof--should have kept it! My current '70 is ok--found a lot of nickle and dime stuff that I'm still working on. The worst was the fact that it used to be a manual trans, and was converted to auto--and the seller did not install a neutral safety switch, OR TELL ME ABOUT IT! It was just luck that it started in park on the test drives. The column was wore out too, it didn't take much to bump it into reverse from park. It was a shocker when I started it unknowingly in reverse. Good thing nothing was behind me, like humans... So it never ends... |
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#35 |
Registered User
![]() Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: In front of the fire
Posts: 26
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Re: Who's bought a truck and then found...
I got a '67 as a donor for my '69. It had alloy wheels, a supposedly good 350/TH350 drivetrain and a a 4.11 posi rear according to the SPID. The fuel pump was bad but it ran for a few seconds from gas poured in the carb. I figured I'd take what I needed and could sell the rest.
350 turns out to be a 305 "running" 305 has a cracked block 305 smog heads are worthless Radiator has holes in it code on the rear end says it's not a 4.11 posi trying to sell the wheels on CL, but no takers so far In the end, I was only able to salvage a few parts. I was so pissed at the PO that I just had the rest hauled off because I couldn't bear to look at it. |
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#36 |
Registered User
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Lawrenceville, GA
Posts: 1,080
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Re: Who's bought a truck and then found...
Mine was suposed to be an original 350 and turned out to be a 305... and the panels had chicken wire covered in bondo. Had to part that one out and start over.
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Never wrenched a day in my life and now... Im doing a frame off restoration on a 1968 C10 with a Porterbuilt Dropmember, Acuair E-Level kit, Boyd Welds Gas tank and mild c-notch. Click here to view my build |
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#37 |
Registered User
![]() Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Toppenish, WA
Posts: 15,516
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Re: Who's bought a truck and then found...
Amen to that. Almost every regular on here knows that I am no fan of "patina" but I do tend to look for look for trucks with tired unmolested original paint when looking for projects rather than those that have had one or more repaint jobs.
My 71 was given to me by my aunt after my uncle had had it for about 25 years and it had sat for several years. I'm still finding things that he and his cronies did to it that make me shake my head. He was really proud that he had built a wood tool box that fit behind the wheel well and he had bolted it into the box. It sat right here. ![]() The hole he drilled to mount it had one problem. ![]() You can see daylight though it. Because he had- ![]() Drilled a hole clear through both panels to the outside where he stuck in a long bolt to hold the tool box in place. I think that over the years there were something like 56 extra holed drilled in the body of the truck to mount different things including one in the center of the roof for a cb antenna. The truck has been on the road at least 20 years without a license plate light because they welded a piece of steel plate on the step bumper to be able to handle a horse trailer. ![]() There is an amp gauge under the dash but it wasn't wired correctly and someone cut the wire to the lighter because they didn't want anyone smoking in the truck. After eight years of driving it I'm still finding things that he and his friends did to it. |
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#38 |
Registered User
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: Greenville, TX
Posts: 323
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Re: Who's bought a truck and then found...
While i still love my truck, and it is still running strong, i know i paid way to much and didnt look it over correctly.
I blame myself, not the PO. I looked over the truck, but was so excited about the prospect of owning a classic again, i truly forgot some of the things i should have looked for. I wasnt concerned about the rockers. I know they all need that. However i really should have paid attention to the inner cab by the windshield. I know there were no major holes when i got it, but now bumps and dumps have knocked out big chunks of rusted out spots. Floor and cab corners are in great shape, however inner fender wells are rusted out and barely even connected on the front. I knew the bed needed work in a couple of small places, but the more i dig, the more i find.... The PO put drop spindles on the front, but then just yanked out some leafs in the back when his wife pulled in the pocket book... I was advised the 307 had been spruced up with new intake, carb, 305 heads and HEI. While all of that was true, i assumed they were 416 heads. I was wrong. THey were 70s model heads with even SMALLER valves..... I know now why this truck has the theme it has. A flat black shop truck. Because its going to take quite a bit of work to return it to great shape.... Oh and the 307 leaks pretty good, but still runs like a champ... So all in all, i love my truck, BUT....i truly believe i could have gotten a lot better deal for the money i paid..... But, live in learn. I will clean this truck up. And wont make that same mistake again! |
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#39 | |
Registered User
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Cleveland, OH
Posts: 429
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Re: Who's bought a truck and then found...
Quote:
![]() i bought my 68 then got it home and realized the drivers rear cab mount is almost rusted through. but it was $600 and it runs/drives/stops and has about $600 worth of brand new tires so i couldnt go wrong. |
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