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70's K5 or 80's K5? Which is the better truck??

Alrighty - so I went with a consensus between this forum and advice from friends. I decided on the 1985 K5. I was surprised how good it looked when I got there, too. Started up nice and clean, no knocks, thumps, clunks, etc...The interior lights, horn, lighter, and assorted interior doesnt work but I assume that's a fuse. The AC compressor is shot but it's Fall, so I don't give a damn. Had my father-in-law approve the 4x4 drive-ability, no leaks, no major rust in bad areas...Interior was immaculate except for an old fruity smell.

After driving on the highway, it started to have some sputter when coming out of a stop. Nothing that I am too worried about since it's been sitting a while. I imagine that new plugs, wires, cleaning the carb, etc...will help that. It pulls to the right just slightly and I'll have that looked at. Luckily, this was under budget for me and I have some room to invest for major repairs right away.

So, I'm looking at registering as a user 'cause even with my mechanically-gifted friends, getting info specifically about these trucks is going to be very helpful.

Thanks for all your advice so far!
 
Nice, I hope you didn't pay asking price for it. Not that it's not worthy, but for that price it should've been 100%.

Is the carb one of those (and I forget the proper terminology) electronic controlled carbs? If so, the idle mixture solenoid is a known failure point and will cause a hesitation from a standstill. Doesn't stop it from running and driving, just annoying. A carb rebuild may be in order.
 
496truck said:
Nice, I hope you didn't pay asking price for it. Not that it's not worthy, but for that price it should've been 100%.

Is the carb one of those (and I forget the proper terminology) electronic controlled carbs? If so, the idle mixture solenoid is a known failure point and will cause a hesitation from a standstill. Doesn't stop it from running and driving, just annoying. A carb rebuild may be in order.
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I didn't pay asking but I didn't pay what I wanted to. The issue with the fuse I considered an easy, cheap fix. The AC compressor was a non-issue, too. The engine stuff didn't start until the sale was done and was driving it home - 80 miles later. I bounced everything off my wife's old man, just in case. He also mentioned a carb rebuild might be necessary and also said that it might be due to it sitting and not being driven. Ultimately, I went with my father-in-law's confidence as my guide. Some days you make good calls, some days you make bad ones. :dunno:
 
Looks reallly nice. Cept the running boards.. but thats me.

Get that membership too:D
 
Dawson Clawson said:
I didn't pay asking but I didn't pay what I wanted to. The issue with the fuse I considered an easy, cheap fix. The AC compressor was a non-issue, too. The engine stuff didn't start until the sale was done and was driving it home - 80 miles later. I bounced everything off my wife's old man, just in case. He also mentioned a carb rebuild might be necessary and also said that it might be due to it sitting and not being driven. Ultimately, I went with my father-in-law's confidence as my guide. Some days you make good calls, some days you make bad ones. :dunno:
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Yeah, not saying you got hosed or anything. The truck looked clean and solid. Everything else is fixable.
 
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