Looked at a truck yesterday...

[ChrisK10]

Yesterday my dad and I went and looked at a 72 Chevy C-20. My dad talked to the owner earlier this week who said it originally had a 350 and that it had bucket seats with a console. They replaced the 350 after it blew with a 250 6-cylinder. The owner said that it ran before he parked it and used it to pull a trailer. Since he was not there when we looked at it yesterday, we couldn't start it.

The truck looked like it had not moved in about 5 years, and the rear tires were off the rims. The bed and tailgate were pretty much trashed.

The front clip was in pretty good shape. The hood was nearly flawless with only one tiny ding on the very front. The fenders were in good shape as well, with only the passenger side having some rust near the bottom behind the wheel. It had an aftermarket grill that was in decent shape, but not great. The bumpers were bent.

The cab looked to be in repairable shape from what we could see, with no rust above the cracked windshield. The doors had rust on the bottom and were hard to open. We got the drivers side door open to look inside. The rocker panel looked like it was about ready to fall off, so I'm sure there needs to be work on the underside of the cab. The dash was uncut but needs a new dash pad. There was an aftermarket am/fm radio. It had an aftermarket grant steering wheel in poor shape. Then there were the bucket seats. They were in pretty good shape with a few tears, but there was no console. They were not original either according to the glove box sticker. The door panels looked OK. The mirrors on the outside looked to be pretty good. The rest of the glass looked OK too.

The 250 under the hood was not mounted correctly. There were metal plates welded to the frame to hold the engine. It looked like it leaked oil around the valvle covers. It was not locked up. The inner fenders were not rusted out.

This truck is pretty rough and would need a LOT of work to get it in decent shape including a new bed. But, the guy will sell it pretty cheap. I need to know if buying it for the fenders, hood, bucket seats, and other salvagable parts would make it worth buying. It probably would make a good parts truck. Using it as a parts truck would be good experience for me so I could get some knowledge on where stuff is and how it goes together.

So what do you guys think? Is it worth it? Thanks!

[jef5150]

add a pic, and a price............jeff

[1970blazin]

Sounds like a LOT of work, but if the price is right... If you want something real stock you might want to keep looking. If you can do the work yourself, and want experience may not be a bad buy depending on price. Just my 2 cents..

[lukecp]

Sounds like a $300 or so truck....maybe good for parts or a winter beater

[ChrisK10]

Sorry I don't have any pics and I don't have a digital camera. What would a good hood, good fenders (pass. side has some rust on bottom), and bucket seats be worth? I'm pretty sure I could get my money's worth back out of it from these alone. I'll say this again... this truck is pretty rough except for the hood, fenders, bucket seats, and a few other things, and would take more time, money, and effort that it is probably worth to try to fix up this particular truck. This is more or less something to get a few good parts off of, and get experience off of. The price is cheap...

Thanks

[dubie]

Hey Chris, how's things man, haven't seen you posting in a while.
This truck sounds like it would a worthy parts truck. A good front clip is worth anywhere from $200-$600 depending on the shape of all parts. And if the bucket seats are factory buckets, well then the truck has already paid for itself. They are worth a pretty penny. It all depend on if you see the potential in this truck for fixing it. Whe i bought my 72, it looked to be in very nice shape, body wise. About 2 months after I bought it, i closed the drivers door and a 4" x4" piece of bondo and bugscreen fell out and i was seeing daylight, so a lot of the crap parts were covered nicely with body filler. But even after I went over the thing, I could still see the potential in it. The only piece of sheet metal that isn't being replaced on mine, is the cab, and it will be full of patch panels ( cab corners, supports, rockers etc..)

SO..... If you can see the potential in this truck then I say go for it and start getting yuor hands dirty and fix er up. But if all you see is parts, then strip it down , save what is good and scrap the rest.
Pics would be nice, but not everyone has the luxury of owning a digicam . Please keep us updated on this will ya bud
Have a good one

[ChrisK10]

Hey Tim! Yeah I haven't posted a lot but I still read the boards. Football season just ended so I'll have more time to read the boards and post and such... It's kind of a cold, rainy day here. A good day to post I guess.

I'm thinking the most potential this truck has is as a parts truck. It has too many original parts gone to be more than that. Yes, the front clip is in pretty good shape. No, the bucket seats are not original to the truck. I'm pretty sure the options sticker said full bench seat. But they are in decent shape, and I would like to have bucket seats.

I know I don't have pics, but could someone give a general price range for the other good parts I have talked about?

Thanks for the replies so far guys!

[BIG ORANGE]

I agree with yellow 72 custom,300 or so!

[rage'nrat638]

SO HOW MUCH, HOW MUCH, HOW MUCH,

[Canadian694x4]

If it were me I would snap it up (if it's cheap). In every rust bucket I see there still may be a few pieces rare or not that may be of use to somebody. Be it as driver quality or as a template for sumone to fab sumthin for their truck.

I was in a similar sitch a couple weeks ago when I was wondering if I should snatch up a '72 4x4 Jimmy. The body was trash but interior was pretty mint and it was a well optioned truck to boot. My problem ended up being the owner didn't want to sell it to me said he'd rather turn it into a "mud machine". I kick myself cause I probably should have tried harder to obtain it. At least for the title alone so I could make a future Jimmy a legit "Custom" Jimmy.

On the experience note I felt/feel the same way. The truck above all would be a great for experience at least for me who is just learning about these trucks.

Sorry for such a longwinded response...

Brian

[jcab]

if its a decent price, I would snap it up for a parts truck.

[Blue Beard]

why would anyone go back to a 6.........

[ChrisK10]

You're tellin' me...!

The asking price is a little less than what you guys are guessing... I think I'll just let it sit there until I get a better project for now. It's sitting besides a shed in the country away from the road and it doesn't have a for sale sign on it, so I doubt it will sell anytime soon, who knows.

I'll let you guys know if I decide on buying it. Thanks for the responses!

[72MARIO]

Part's truck.