Help me value and decide wether to buy this truck

[special-K]

It's someone's baby,alright,but not for long. It appears to have been built to sell on Ebay. I think it's really nice and would like to own it. But,I see things different than most of the more recent fans of these trucks (who are now the majority). As mentioned,it's a base model. That's cool,but it's not at the highly desired level by knowledgeable collectors. The newly assigned VIN kills the potential value. Fresh paint,but with cheezy side trim screams "save a buck" in my mind. When I see a truck built to sell I wonder just how good of a job on rust/dent repair was done. You'll find out later. All this considered I'd pay in the $10-12k range just because it's pretty nice and has more than that in it. But,that kind of thinking has hurt me before.

[Grumpy old man]

Originally Posted by orville

That can be a good way to go allright, and I appreciate the build it yourself pride for sure.
However I've got a 55 Chevy going and it is gonna suck up my build time. When working full time it is my experience that there is just no way to have more than one project.
The really pertinent words here were the "expensive and time consuming" the time consuming part would be me building it, that could take a very long time even when spending at least one weekend day a week and a few hours at night one or two days during the week.
I don't really see ever finishing one if I'm focused on another project. Yes there may be some money saved, but I don't have time OR SPACE to wheel and deal.

Well...

1) I'm retired after 35 years building customs

2) I have the time and space

3) I have all the equipment to build anything

4) I enjoy the wheeling and dealing

5) I don't have to pay anyone to work on any phase of a build I do all my own from the start to completion including body work /paint/mechanics/and interior .

6) I have commercial accounts for new parts and supplies and 2 of the best mechanics tuners / racers in the US to ask for tech help that I might need .

I like the truck in this thread , it looks pretty nice and I wouldn't mind having it ! Would I pay $15,000.00 for it ...No . but I understand how someone else might pay $25,000.00 for it .

[67ctener]

I see you have not posted the asking so I won't either. I think it's priced way to high for what it is. I would say 15k is a good starting point. The main thing that stands out to me is the cluttered wiring under the hood and the painted strikes. There small things but little things like that may show the whole tone for the build. I think his asking price is for a 100% factory restored truck. All of that aside it is a very nice truck and k20s in that condition you honestly don't see. If its something YOU truly want it could be worth double his asking price.

[Sicklajoie]

Originally Posted by special-K

Fresh paint,but with cheezy side trim screams "save a buck" in my mind.

Good catch, I didn't even notice the different style lower trim. Looks like that 88-99 style cut to fit stuff.

[Lattimer]

Originally Posted by orville

How can I tell if the truck has a body lift as well? Maybe a simple question but I need to know how tall the stock mounts are, andhow much frame your supposed to see from in the inner fender wells. I don't like body lifts much and this truck needs to go lower a bit for my tastes and a body lift may compromise the big block if it was removed.
If you have dimensions of body mounts and there positions please advize me, or better yet pictures.
thanks
Orville

Body lift would be pretty obvious, you would have some solid plastic hockey pucks at each mount installed with the original rubber mounts. Body lifts are cheap and generally only include the plastic spacers and required hardware. Looking through the photos I don't see any evidence of one.

[Average Joe]

Have you looked outside of Washington for a truck? You might consider expanding your search to the entire PNW and N. CA. I realize this adds time and money for travel expense etc. I had a friend in the 90's that had to have a 67 or 68 RS Camaro. It couldnt be a regular Camaro,had to be a Rally Sport. We looked all over Oregon. He could not find what he wanted till he placed a wanted ad in the Oregonian, Registar Guard, Sacramento Bee and several other Newspapers. He found a numbers matching 67RSSS outside of Chico CA with fresh single stage paint, strong motor and tranny, 12 bolt 3.73 posi for........wait for it...........................3800bucks! The sellers wife had seen the wanted to buy add in the newspaper and convinced her hubby to sell it.
Needless to say the camaro came home to Oregon. I realize this is not the norm. and we have all heard these crazy tales before. But patience and persistance really paid off. In this case it took a year of searching but in the end was well worth it.
It really is a buyers market right now and that looks like a great truck but 20k seems a little high especially if its not exactly what you want. IE no overdrive or AC. Just my opinion.

[orville]

I am sad to say I went to drive the truck today, I had looked at it the week before Christmas but there was to much snow and the owner didn't want me to drive it then.
So I went up today, and the owner graciously allowed my girlfriend and I to take it for a spin, we let it warm up for almost five minutes till the Edelbrock carbs choke decided to let the carb kick down.
Drove it up the road and the truck was surging badly and seemed like it was missing, figured it was cold blooded so we drove nicely for several miles on a 40mph backroad, still surging badly at throttle tip in and RPM's around 2000 to 3000, I suspect bad gas as the truck has been sitting covered in the garage having not been driven much since summer reportedly. However the temperature gauge didn't come up but an eighth inch the whole time.
We took it down the freeway and it sailed along nicely at 70 near 3000Rpm and then took the next exit, and the brake light came on, it had a new master cylinder put on two weeks ago(receipts and obviously new). Still scary though as it has the Eaton HO52 rear with somewhat hard to get brake parts as I understand it.
The Speedometer doesn't work
The vacuum gauge doesn't work
Door rubber seals were glued on incorrectly and are literaly falling off
The clutch pedal stuck to the floor once while starting off in first gear
The heater barely blows for defrost on the drivers side, and it is obvious that the firewall setback the truck has displaced the whole heater box hose deal as you can see the drivers defrost hose hanging in the interior photos.

[orville]

The worst part was the poorly running big block, it looks nice and has a nice Edelbrock manifold, 750 eddy carb and beautiful Hooker ceramic coated headers.
It was idling at 1100 or so whenever stopped, I thought the choke may be stuck as well due to the surging and high idle.
I did let the truck run hard after driving for some time, and it has very poor power for a big block.
With what it looks like on the outside of the engine I would expect great low end torque and awesome mid range power to move that old truck with a vengeance, with 4.10 gears and all.
It did not!!
Feels like a worn out small block.

[Sicklajoie]

^^^Well THAT'S a bummer!

Back before I bought my 69'er I test drove a sweet GMC 2500 in nearby Springfield, MA about 20 miles. Less than a mile from the shop on the trip back the truck died. Wouldn't start, wouldn't start...called a wrecker. Turned out the timing chain broke. The owner said he would fix it and call me when it was done. I called back a week later and he said a guy from Canada heard about the truck and showed up cash and hand and took it away.
Things happen for a reason. I hope he was happy with his purchase, as I was sure as hell happy with what I got a few months later.
I took this pic while the wrecker was loading it up.

[orville]

Got back to the owners house and as nice as I could explained the driving experience and missing/surging issue. I suggested a drive with the owner behind the wheel so we took it out and he let it have it hard in second and third and it definitely had a poor condition while he spanked it, it protested opening the four barrels and even under full throttle it accelerated but IMHO poorly. The owner said he didn't think it had any running issue but we were both in it while it ran poorly!!
We got back to his house and popped the hood the manifold cool enough to put your hand on and keep it there, and the sides of the radiator tank felt barely warm and the radiator cap was dead cold!!
It has a four core radiator. The engine just never warmed up, even after the full throttle run.
I don't know if it was bad gas, or maybe a cold running engine.
But it also has that odd Jacobs ignition and I suspect timing and ignition problems there as well, the motor would just not pick up.
The truck is beautiful, but the motor ran poor.
Very disappointed to say the least.

[orville]

Also the truck easily spun the right rear tire only,
A major consideration, I hate one tire fire and getting a locker put in that HO52 rear is a pain as no one makes one now, used only or I read you can use a 14bolt one with modifications, not what I want to do for this price.

[Sicklajoie]

The thermostat could've been stuck, resulting in the poor engine performance and lack of heat.

[Oldtruckfanatic]

Well the surging is likely ignition just as you suspect. The fact that it never warmed up tells me it probably doesn't have a thermostat in it at all and who knows why. Otherwise it would get to at least 160 or 180 depending on what stat it was. Regardless of the coolant temp it should have run within reason if the electric choke was opening. Its a beautiful truck but its that kind of trouble you have to look out for on any build. That thing could have anything from a bad distributor to a poorly jetted Carb to a flat cam and there's no telling what can of worms you're opening. If he wont adjust the asking price to reflect that risk its probably best to pass regardless of the open differential.

[orville]

Originally Posted by Sicklajoie

The thermostat could've been stuck, resulting in the poor engine performance and lack of heat.

Good point, I haven't had the experience of a thermostat sticking open but I'd bet that could make it run cold. While driving the heater would blow fairly warm air just not very forcefully. I want to believe any one of the small things that could be wrond, but it seems unwise for me to buy it and hope for the best.
Stuck thermostat?
Bad gas and a clogged carb??
Poor Jacobs ignition, timing, or plugs??
Or maybe a combination of all?

[Carl Spangler]

Originally Posted by orville

Good point, I haven't had the experience of a thermostat sticking open but I'd bet that could make it run cold. While driving the heater would blow fairly warm air just not very forcefully. I want to believe any one of the small things that could be wrond, but it seems unwise for me to buy it and hope for the best.
Stuck thermostat?
Bad gas and a clogged carb??
Poor Jacobs ignition, timing, or plugs??
Or maybe a combination of all?

Could be a bunch of things but do you want to sort them out? This is why unmolested trucks go for big bucks.

cheers and good luck with your search
JohnG

[sean1969c10]

Sorry the test drive didn't go well. For the money he's asking that truck should be sorted out and run and drive flawlessly. I think you should keep looking.

[Z10]

I'm currently in the middle of a build on a 72 GMC at the moment. The truck I purchased had good body and a great paint job, but the engine was not good. I'm currently putting a new ZZ4 crate motor, GM Certified 700r4, new tires, wheels, vintage air, new classic instrument panel, magnaflow exhaust,sound insulation and the list goes on and on. I'm very fortunate to have a couple of great friends who have very good skills and are providing free labor. One can fabricate anything and the other is an electrical engineer. So, I've got some very qualified help.

I know that I have at least $20k in this project counting the cost of the truck but not the cost of labor.

Why don't you ask the guy to fix the drivability problems and call you back. The truck looks good and in my opinion priced correctly if you are wanting to keep and drive it. If you are expecting to sell it down the road for a profit.......well that's a different subject.

Good luck.

[texjake]

IMO, for that price that he's asking there should not be any issues with that truck. I only paid $3000 for my barn find 1968 396 big block, factory A/C and drove it home! Yea granted I've rebuilt the carb since I got it home and it runs way better than it did when I drove it home. It needs tires, but it runs & it handles the road great with no road walk or steering wobble. It does need new front shocks & valve cover gaskets & the heater core needs replacing. But all the lights & gauges work and the speedo works too! And no leaks in the driveway.

As far as your test drive it sounds as if there was no water or antifreeze in the radiator, low fluid levels in the radiator keeps the heater from working - lack of fluid running thru the core or like mentioned above - no thermostat or it's stuck open. Or he has the heater hoses looped because the core has a hole in it & and or the temp gauge is not working, then your not goanna know if the engine is over heating. I'd have him fix all the issues then go back take another test drive and only offer him $10K or $12K and work from there. The guy I bought mine from was at first asking $4,500 and I beat him down to $3K.

[leddzepp]

If I were the seller asking for that kind of money, I'd make sure that it ran as good as it looks before a buyer with 20K was coming over to test drive it. How hard is it to take it and run it out beforehand?

If the vacuum gauge is actually hooked up, but isn't working, the connections may not be tight...I know this from firsthand experience. Also, Is there a vacuum line running from the carb to the advance on the distributor? Maybe an open port on the carb? Definitely a thermostat problem, but I'd look for other small stuff too, due to laziness.

[Grumpy old man]

Maybe I missed it but what was the asking price ?

[special-K]

Sounds like just what I suspected. The truck was put together to sell with no road time to work bugs out..and apparently not put together by an ace mechanic. People get all excited over pictures or vehicles at shows,but how do they drive? How's that body work going to hold up? What poor quality parts were used that will be failing once driven? I see truck load of fresh new parts. I see shiny new red paint. The question now is how was all that put together. All restorations aren't created equal.

[orville]

Post 41 shows the price.
If there was a low water problem I'd expect heat, literally after driving the truck hard for 15 minutes or more, the intake manifold was barely warm, the temperature gauge may not work, but the motor nor the radiator were hot, a cold running issue is definitaly a problem, weather its a stuck thermostat, or just the giant four core radiator and big fan I don't know. The heater does blow warm air as was stated before.
;
However the current owner has had the truck since 2011 and the rebuild photos were from some time ago, the giant box of receipts does coincide with a truck rebuilt up to ten years ago.
I'm a fairly good judge of body and paint, this truck has absolutely no rust, and a nice paint job, if there is any filler in that paint it is hidden extremely well, the door strikes being painted may have been a preference, did you all see that the body and doors were painted with no glass or interior at all?
a complete frame off, I wouldn't suspect any issues with the body or paint or frame, or running gear, it is one nice piece of jewelry. Even the window regulators are new and work perfect, the door locks work perfect, the interior is great. It was a nice resto, but the bugs are not worked out and or could for sure be from sitting.
l
But the running issue does suck, as does the non working gauges.
The price is to high for the issues I agree, but the seller does not think it has a running issue, and I don't care to argue or call him a liar. So if he thinks a poor/surging mid range gutless big block is normal, theres nothing I can do.
l
It's a shame is what it is, someone needs to fix those issues or get a new engine and MSD ignition system and make that truck fly, just not me for that price.

[Grumpy old man]

I have friends who always ask why I start builds with parts trucks and not something 1/2 done to save time ? My answer is always the same I know what it started as and what it needs to be done right from the get go ! Any fresh build truck for sale should have many/tons of build pictures for the next owner and when there's only a few it should set off red flags right away .Still wondering what the asking price was ???

[John H.]

http://boise.craigslist.org/cto/4246567865.html

Nice looking k20 on Boise Craigslist. Newer paint and 4k on crate motor with AC. Put a seat cover on it and be done.

Asking $15k

[tony58]

Originally Posted by 72freak

The VIN tag issue is not an insurance issue. They will insure it as long as it has clear legal paperwork. If the state will tag it, they will insure it. The last guy up hit it on the head. It probably cost 40K+ to build it. Is it worth that...NO! Do you ever get your money out of a build like that...no. Long bed hurt it....maybe...but in this situation...NOT REALLY. Does this economy hurt it...YES!! What would it sell for at Barrett Jackson or Fast N Loud...who cares...that's not accurate or realistic. If you really want it, have money to waste and are never going to have to sell it...pay what you want. If you really want it but don't want to loose money...pay under $15K. If you really want it and don't want to get hurt too bad when you sell it...stay under 20K. These 67-72 trucks, although nice and great looking, are not a cash crop.

VERY NICE BUILD and anyone would be lucky to have it.

The above represents an OPINION only along with 25 years of buying, building and selling 67-72 trucks in the S.E. of this great country.

That's a very good and realistic opinion