Does a shortened long bed command short bed money

[LT1 Burb]

So I kind of have a dilemma and need some input. I am going to restore one of my trucks and end up with a BBW AC SWB fleet but my fully loaded longbed is by far the better truck. It has no speaker holes or rust in the cab that I need to fix and has all the PS, PB auto parts in it, as is it is a driver. My shortbed however will need everything and needs speaker holes fixed and rusty floors fixed. I also was going to take the parts I needed off of the longbed and replace them with non correct parts, IE trans etc and then sell off the truck. I maybe better off just using my shortbed an shortening the frame on my LWB. If any of you guys were looking at a fully loaded SWB truck would the C154 VIN scare you off , and I am talking in the 20+k range. I am undecided on what to do but one of these trucks will be sold off either complete or incomplete when one is finished.

[Budman56]

Personaly Im a long bed fan, but having said that I do like the short beds too. but if I had to make a choice between the two trucks you have, it would be the long bed, thats what I have and they look a whole lot better slammed to the ground.

[Jeff La]

Everything that I have read and learned about antique trucks, the one's that are worth the most are those that are original. Any alteration of the original truck rely's on the buyer as to the value. Do a little research from the auctions and figure out what they are worth original or modified and then determine what you want to do. There's alot of trucks out there on the market right now and the only one's demanding good money are the rarer one's which is normally the case.

[lolife99]

For spending the big bucks,... I would prefer a lwb to swb conversion done with a original donor swb frame.
I'm not opposed to a modified frame,... but it wouldn't be my first choice.
An the lwb VIN number wouldn't matter to me.

[hd74]

i like the long beds.i do not like it when somebody cuts down a long bed.as for value .i do not think any more for short ,not worth the trouble.long beds look better lowered

[60_project]

I'm with lolife99- for me if I was looking to buy a finished truck the Vin would not decrease value, a cut frame would de-value the truck for me. These aren't Corvettes or SS Chevelles were talking about, I never have seen numbers matching on trucks command that great of a difference. The trucks I see regularly over the 20K range are either mint unrestored (not an option if your restoring one) or heavily modified hot rods.

[N2TRUX]

Ok first off, lets not get in to the "I like" battle again. The post is not about what "you like" its about what will have more value in the end. Based on that, a factory SWB is going to bring bigger dollars, followed by a SWB frame swap. If you do a quality job on cutting the frame, with proper reinforcement it will come in third. If the rest of the truck is premium quality, it might go higher on the scale.

Not hating on you LWB lovers, but facts are facts and this is how the market works.

[Clyde65]

Couldnt you find a SWB frame and use that? if you did a good job on the bed and used a SWB frame, I dont think it would detract from the value much if any. the BBW and AC cab along with custom trim would be important, I think the biggest obsticle for me would be a.) do I want it, b.) do I have the $, and c.) does it have a clean title. if all those are met, Im in!

[padresag]

the other part is who are you building it for, yourself or the market. if you are building it for yourself, do what you want to make yourself content with what you want and enjoy it.
if you are going to build it for the market, it is not going to be the same truck is it. I think that is going to be your own battle
ron

[TopFuel1966]

If you're gonna use parts from two trucks to make one good one, why not just use the good cab from the LWB on the SWB frame. That's what I did.

[markeb01]

The only reason I would shorten both the frame and the bed is if I never intended to sell the truck because I know the quality of my own work and wouldn’t have to convince a potential buyer it was done right.

As a potential buyer, a shortened frame would be a huge red flag regardless of the price, but especially in the $20k range. The VIN mismatch wouldn’t be so much of an issue as my evaluation of how the modification was done. It just opens the doors to so many potential problems. Was it Z cut or sliced in two and butt welded, is the frame straight and parallel, was it shortened exactly the right amount, how competent was the person doing the welding, what does the splice reinforcement and weld penetration look like, etc. On an original short frame these questions don’t need to be answered if the truck appears to sit square and level. I’ve looked under a lot of 55-57 Chevys with tubbed rear ends, and wouldn’t buy many of them at any price because of how poorly the chassis modifications were done.

If this project were mine I would build the best truck possible from the available parts and sell the rest either complete or in pieces. From your description this would mean the long bed cab and everything forward mounted on top of the short bed frame. If the current short bed is in poor condition and the long bed is mint - and - if I had the metal working skills, the long bed sheet metal would be the only thing I would shorten. Again as a potential buyer, having the bed cut down wouldn’t bother me at all if the modifications were undetectable (other than the center stake pocket) since it’s not much of a safety or vehicle value concern compared to a modified frame.

[LT1 Burb]

I have all the shortbed sheetmetal, I would in essence getting rid of the longbed sheetmetal but I would think a non matching frame vin to the cab would scare people off.

[Clyde65]

In that case LT1, I would show a copy of the title of the truck that is being parted ( frame) to prove you owned both. it would give me some comfort if a seller was that thorough.

[markeb01]

From what I’ve read this can usually be resolved by the DMV issuing a new VIN number if all the paperwork is available to convince them what has been done. Of course whether swapping parts or modifying a frame it would be wise to confirm this locally before work begins.

[rbar]

As an owner I would shorten it because there are more people that "like" it more and that is what gives value. As a buyer I would be hesitant, but willing to check out the quality. There are alot of hack jobbers out there. I think a shortened long bed, done right, would still bring more money than an original long bed.
As for swapping vins, an owner of a body shop here in Idaho told me that in Idaho you can cut out and move vin tags if you complete the proper paperwork. A guy at our truck meet said the DMV actually gave him factory style rivets to use, but that's Idaho and that's second hand information. You might check with someone in your state and not take just one officials word for it when you do. I am surprised how many times I get conflicting information from the same state offices on various subjects.