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Thinking about buying a K5 as first car. Reccomendations & advice?

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Brian Hattan

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Hey I'm 16 and love the K5. I'm thinking about getting one for my first car but have no idea what to look for. What years should I be looking at? I'm looking for a more of a daily driver & not a mud truck.
 
i would agree w/ Phil, in that if this your first car, try to get the most recent, rust free, stock (no modifications) as possible. Like 91 if possible.

That's not saying a total basket case would not be a very good learning experience, but you can always do that later.
 
I'll go against the grain....I wouldn't recommend one and I wouldn't buy my children one for their first car either. I'd be looking for something reliable and safe, which I don't attribute to a K5. The wiring in these squares is shoddy at best, and anything affordable will be fairly worn out.

Although, I think it would be a great learning experience, especially if you have really competent friend/relative that can guide you through your tribulations.

There's no doubt going to be continued maintenance required(and probably as a surprise) and none of the modern safety features.

Can the right kid do well in a K5? Sure, but I'd rather them spend their time having fun and doing well in school.

K5 as an extra vehicle? Absolutely.
 
Young person, you remind me of me when I was your age! I was torn between a jeep cj7 and a k5. The guys driving jeeps back then were super cool to me. This is back when jeeps actually went off road....:whistle:

So I was reading an off road mag while at the dentist and I read what became2 the deciding factor:

Trees! Where I lived there were forest everywhere. A jeep was much more sensible and maneuverable in the trees.

So I picked the jeep. I actually regret it from time to time, but it was fun nonetheless...I think my dad and I would have had a better relationship if I had bought a k5...
 
I have owned one or more square body's since I got my license. More than 20 years of square goodness. Although my first one is no longer with me, (northeast rust) I will all ways have a square! ....or five! Good luck and TBI is the way to go.
 
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My kid bought a 76 as his first DD.

I'll be honest, it's a total love hate relationship he has with that thing. He likes driving it when something isn't broken, but hates fixing it when it is. He just want something that's cool like his 76 but more reliable so he can play more.

I tell you one thing, in the two years he's had it, he has learned a ton of stuff about old iron that 95% of his class has no clue about. Kinda like, if you don't check your radiator, he got to learn how much your lower back hurts leaning over a lifted truck rebuilding the top half of his engine. Lol
 
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I would probably go with one for a second vehicle.
I remember wanting a K5 when I was 16 and finding one with my dad on a car lot one day we were out looking. It was two-tone blue/white with a manual transmission, my gosh I got excited. It's been 20 years but I can still hear dad say you don't need that gas hog. So broken hearted and he was only agreeing to pay half.

A few years later I had gotten a loan purchased my own K5. I think most of it is thanks to dad not getting one when I was 16.
 
Brian Hattan said:
Hey I'm 16 and love the K5. I'm thinking about getting one for my first car but have no idea what to look for. What years should I be looking at? I'm looking for a more of a daily driver & not a mud truck.
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Well what is your budget? Do you want a stock (-ish) vehicle or something modified? You usually spend much less buying a modified vehicle than it costs to do the mods yourself. But...you need to know what you're getting into. Everybody knows that the dumbest guy in the world is the previous owner of your vehicle. Keep in mind that big tires open a slippery slope of vehicle mods way beyond what a lift kit and some tires costs. Make sure you know the whole deal of gear ratios, driveshaft angles, steering corrections, real shocks, etc. etc. etc. before diving in. Nothing beats the reliability of the factory configuration (well that's almost true, but an HEI conversion from points is pretty simple).

69-72 is really the coolest vintage sheet metal, but it's unlikely to find one that doesn't need tons of little things (and a few big things) and will still cost a lot. Round headlight squares are also a cool vintage and now there were a enough made you might find a decent specimen. Getting into the 80's you might as well look for a fuel injected (87-91) one, as mentioned earlier.

Abusfullofnuns said:
I'll go against the grain....I wouldn't recommend one and I wouldn't buy my children one for their first car either. I'd be looking for something reliable and safe, which I don't attribute to a K5. The wiring in these squares is shoddy at best, and anything affordable will be fairly worn out.
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Boo. Hey mods, where is the ban stick? Sure, this is half right, but are we on www.hondacivics.com?
 
Blue85 said:
Boo. Hey mods, where is the ban stick? Sure, this is half right, but are we on www.hondacivics.com?
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Lol.

My first vehicle in 1995 was a V8 swapped FJ40. It had enough lift to clear 36's and was locked front and rear. I was young and dumb and wheeled it very hard. I used to go to Tellico in TN once a month, and rolled it long before it was cool. I'm lucky to be alive between the road manners and my bravado.

I spent a lot of time wrenching and loving it. However, there were many times I wished I had a normal car. I know my extra curricular activities suffered because of it, as well as my grades(all I wanted to do was wheel). Luckily, I blew the SAT out of the water and was able to get in to the schools I wanted.

I know I sound like a Debbie downer and a bit of a hypocrite, but I kind of wish my parents had said no. There's lots of time for cool cars, and that should come after you've taken care of business (not to mention the whole learning to drive factor).

I'd probably do it over again, but it's also what started my sickness of buying/modifying toys. Lots of money and time down the drain over the years. I guess it could have been on hookers and crack, so it's all relative.
 
My first car was the 76 blazer in my profile pic. I bought it when I was 14 with no engine. I bought a 300$ engine on craigslist and a friend from church helped me install it. Got it running and driving well and the day I got my license I was driving it. Drove it for a couple years and then parked it and its still sitting waiting to be restored. I wheeled the snot out of it and had a blast but decided to quit driving it because the motor was running like crap and it needs bodywork. Ive owned 4-5 more blazers since then and I am currently daily driving an 89. Its all original with 225k miles. I would definitely recommend the TBI over a carb for a DD. If you find one of these old trucks that has been taken care of they are actually pretty reliable. My biggest, most important advice would be to buy one that is stock and unmolested. That way you weed out most of the "previous owner" problems and you know that when you decide to modify it, its the first time it has been done and you can do it right. You can't beat an old k5 for a cool first car.
 
My first car was the blue K10 on my profile. I paid $2,000 when I was 14. In the course of 3 years, I replaced the engine twice, rear spider gears twice (2nd time was a 14bsf swap), z-bar, z-bar stud, z-bar adjusting rod (broke 3 separate instances), the doors, every lamp bump and light, one wing window, fuel pump, tank switch, power steering box, ball joints, tie rods, 2 HEI modules, and a bit of rewiring someone's scotch-lock f-ups. Also a TON of adjustment; steering box, clutch, carb, etc. (that's all I could remember, but I'm sure there was more).

It was...an experience. Not the right truck to learn stick-shift, and everything but reliable. Too many times, I found myself HATING this truck. After 3 years, I bought an 01 Ford Ranger with an automatic trans.

Bottom line: I hated this truck as a DD. I was always repairing something or having some kind of issue. It's unsafe, has no ABS, crumple zones, airbags, etc. and I've avoided a few deadly wrecks on the highway. I'm surprised I never rolled it or got killed in it. Cold winters suck too; takes forever to warm up and the defrost sucks. Given all this, I still wouldn't have given up the experience I gained, I'm a master at driving stick, and I still have the truck today for offroading. It sucked, yes, but I wouldn't have traded the experience for anything.

Things to consider: unless you live in the desert, you'll pay a premium for anything rust-free (check out the build on my $450 beater here). You're looking at $8k and up for anything rust-free (at least in CO). As a DD, they just get worse. Be willing to work on everything...everything. If you get a manual (which you totally should learn), get an 85 and up so you can have hydraulic clutch (GM no longer makes the z-bar for the mechanical, and they brake). Or better yet, get a GMT400 series Blazer.
 
K5 for a first car now? If you have the right help. Dad, uncle, Granddad, Mom or other gearhead relatives. If you don't have that, you are going to have a very steep learning curve. Having a K5 as a toy with a more practical DD car or truck makes more sense.
I can tell you from experience if your project is your DD, you can't do anything major as you can't keep it torn apart since you need it to go to school or work the next day. Nothing sucks worse that doing a little project and having it turn to crap in a heartbeat and you are under the gun still working on it late and you realize you need another part and every parts store is closed. That kind of pressure doesn't help.

If you have a beater DD vehicle you don't have the pressure to get it done right now and take your time to learn how to do it right.
 
ZooMad75 said:
I can tell you from experience if your project is your DD, you can't do anything major as you can't keep it torn apart since you need it to go to school or work the next day.
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I had a friend in college that manual-swapped a 95 Trans Am in a weekend and made it to work Monday. That's no small feat, but he didn't sleep. Otherwise I totally agree.
 
92yamaha said:
I had a friend in college that manual-swapped a 95 Trans Am in a weekend and made it to work Monday. That's no small feat, but he didn't sleep. Otherwise I totally agree.
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We did a swap to a 350 in my Nova over a weekend during college. Drove up Friday night from school started ripping it apart, had it out before lunchtime Saturday, cleaned a couple of hours and started the install. Had it running by lunchtime Sunday and drove back to school after dinner. Granted, small block for small block with no other changes was pretty easy for me, my Dad and my roommate we were under the gun so we could get back to school.

It's all depending if you have the support of somebody that knows a little something about what you are doing. Of course, we didn't have a wealth of knowledge like this to refer to or the metric ton of youtube videos on so many subjects to tell one how to do something either.
 
Brian Hattan said:
Hey I'm 16 and love the K5. I'm thinking about getting one for my first car but have no idea what to look for. What years should I be looking at? I'm looking for a more of a daily driver & not a mud truck.
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Agree with those that say no.

If you can afford a good, modern car, you will be better off. At present prices, best case, gas alone is going to cost you $2.50 every 16 miles. A modern car will easily double that.

Being up to midnight working on your vehicle to get to work the next day is not a pleasurable existence. Nor is fixing something alongside the freeway when you should have been at work.

If you've got a very good support system (someone that can rebuild transmissions, or help you, someone that has spare engines around, someone that is very knowledgeable on these trucks and has a very good set of tools that will help you out, etc.) then you could probably get by with one of these things.

Buddies kid just got an '8x C10, (after wrecking the El Camino) and is dealing with things like replacing the exhaust, replacing the carb, replacing the wheels/tires, a gas gauge that doesn't work, etc. He has a dad that knows what he is doing, but the cost and time alone is still a pain.

Lastly, if you love these trucks, save them until you've had your first accident. It will happen, so do it to a POS FWD econobox that is easily replaced without tears, not a square body.
 
My second vehicle was a '90 K5 that I bought when I was 19......of course that was in 1994 with 49k on the odo so it was still fairly new. Loved driving it and at times wish I had another K5 close to stock that I could daily drive (I still have the '90 but it's a dedicated off-road machine now).

My biggest concern is that any square body K5 is going on 30 years old and with that comes the old vehicle issues. Just can't suggest that type of vehicle unless you either had the budget to pay somebody to work on it, or can do the work yourself. Just as mentioned above having a project vehicle, and an old vehicle usually requires as much attention as a project vehicle, can get pretty hold when you need it to drive to work the next day.
 
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