New member seeking some help on an old K10

[Jamcousi9]

Hi guys, new member here from NJ looking forward to sharing ideas and listening to some of you and your experience regarding these particular trucks. I've been a Dodge guy for quite a while now and have had more Ramchargers, W100's and so on for almost 20 years until I've started yearning for a late 70's shortbed step side Chevy.

Well I found a truck but its bittersweet. The truck in essence is exactly what I want with everything I don't want.. It's a 78 shortbed step side that is a one owner truck that passed away and now after sitting on the side of a garage for ten years the son is selling it. The good is that its a shorty 4x4 with a healthy sbc with an auto trans, even though I wanted a 4 speed it took a while to find A local rig. The downfall is that the truck has a fair amount of rust, especially the cab. The drivers side door jam is rotted to a point the lower hinge is swinging in the wind, the floors are pretty much gone and even the firewall is soft in spots. The fenders are pretty good, the doors are good, the frame has minimal scale, the tailgate is mint but the area between the outer fender wells and the lip of the upper bed has some rust. The bumpers are nice, it has a triple bar chrome plated rollbar, nice little touches like overhead console with speakers, a cb and other add ons.

The guy has it up for $1,500 which I believe is to much as it will need a full resto to make a nice truck out of it again so I'd like some input and see what some of you think is a fair price for both him and myself. The truck does have a plow on it but its some garbage plexiglass plow with the pump box sitting on the A frame which he isn't willing to separate. I was going to offer $800, what do some of you think?

[Jamcousi9]

Rollbar needs chroming

[Jamcousi9]

Fenders and hood aphave some light surface but may be savable

[Jamcousi9]

If I do decide to buy it what will I need to look for regarding a cab? Are they all the same or are there different cabs for C and K series trucks?

[red and rusted]

That's going to be a lot of work. Floors and rockers are fairly easy to replace. But if you have rot in the a pillar or around the hinges, that a bit more complex. Same for a mushy firewall, that's bad.

Look at replacing every bit of rubber, fuel and brake lines as well as gaskets in the engine if it has sat unused for 10 years.

C and k cabs are different, the older 4wd cabs like that one have a hump on the floor that unbolts.

[cadillac_al]

That's a parts truck and you will never be able to finish it. All you have is a roof and dash and a drivetrain. There are much better trucks out there, even up here in rust country. I think my next truck will be shipped to me from AZ. I would rather spend the money up front than spend it on parts, materials and work. I say RUN from this one.

[old Rusty C10]

$1500 is way too much... one of the members in NJ just picked one up like that for around $500 it was an automatic tho by the way welcome neighbor im in Howell

[Your41Plague12]

Run from it. You can find much cleaner trucks that run and drive for the same price.

[motornut]

might be some nice parts,and dreams there,but be carefull,it looks like a deep project.
and the price seems high for it,sitting ten years, is it running well?

[andrewmp6]

The cabs floors are low hump and high hump.The low hump was 2wd trucks and the high hump was 4x4 but its not hard to cut one out and replace it with the one you need.Being it was a plow truck i would look hard at the front half of the frame for cracks,Specially around the steering box mounting holes on the frame.If it has none being its in the shape its in 500 bucks to 800.

[K5owner]

That truck is a turd. You would be better served to come out west and find something in the $500-1000 range and ship it back. $1500 is WAYY to much for that thing.

[swissarmychainsaw]

I agree to keep looking, unless you have a shop, a body shop and are good at it.

Even doing a light refresh end up being a lot of work.

I agree on what the other guys said, find a rust free truck from the west and ship it home. It'll be worth the money to you in the long long.

Now, if you are like me, you would have already bought that truck and started learning the hard way. Nothing wrong with heaving your heart into something!
I like to think these are hobbies and keep us out of trouble, not investments!

I'll tell you a story: I bought a non-running truck for about a grand, put about $2k into it and sold it for $1500.
Body work will easily cost you 5 times what the truck will be worth.

Use ebay to find "YOUR" truck. its out there.
I like this: http://statewidelist.com/

Try searching california or newmex or AZ.

Nick