What to buy

[Evil Fish]

I have been looking for a first gen. for a while now. It will be a project car that my daughter and I will work on. It’s going to be a daily driver, weekender type of rig nothing to outrageous. I would like her to have it when she turns 16 still a few years away.

So I guess my question is for the money is it better to buy the best truck you can afford. (Some one else did the work) or shop around for a good fixer at a good price. The way I look at it is I will probably end up spending more on the fixer in the long run but then I guess it will get done the way I want.

I would appreciate your thoughts or experiences on this.

~Evil Fish~

Oh yea… Finding parts. Is one year better than another.

 

[Greg72]

Buy one with the rust repairs already completed. Don't kid yourself that living in So. Cal means 1st Gens will all be rust-free....

Expect to pay more than you want to for a good, solid example. There is a lot of junk in the middle-price range. (By "junk" I mean stuff that appears to be reasonably priced except that they all need $5000 in rust repairs!). Ideally, you will find a truck that has just undergone rust repairs but might not be in final paint yet. Sometimes a shiny paint job is just hiding really BAD bodywork and rust repairs.

With a solid body, you can focus on the more fun stuff like upgrading the brakes to 4-wheel disc (assuming you find an oldie with drums on it)... cleaning up the crispy old electrics, and rebuilding as much of the driveline as necessary. After that, maybe add a rollcage and some new interior bits.

 

[jtrux]

If you're not capable of knocking out the rust repair on ur own then buy one that's been gone through. If you do feel however like doing the repairs then that works in your favor cuz sometimes you can use the rust to your advantage when negotiating price. Don't tell the seller you're doing it yourself and babble on about how much it costs to get it repaired and the price will drop.

Also don't be like me, if you want one with AC, buy one with AC. I bought my non AC truck expecting to swap it in and it's no easy feat. I had to remove the windshield and drill out about 50 spot welds to remove factory dash then i'm going through the process of putting the new one in. If you want one with an auto, buy one with an auto...and so forth.

All in all there's lots of good deals out there, just be patient and low ball the hell out of 'em! lol

 

[chalet2506]

Find one that is as complete and what you want as possible. These trucks are 40 years old, so you'll still find plenty of things to work on.

 

[SHANES SOCAL 70 K5]

What is your idea of a good price on a fixer upper. I just paid over 5 grand for a 70 and all though it runs, has good paint, it still needs a lot of fixing up. And it was one of the cleanest I came across in my price range. So I guess it would be best to figure out what, and how much you want to pay and do. And see if you can find something in the middle. Good luck, look forward to seeing your build.

 

[Evil Fish]

Thanks guys. That pretty much confirms what I was thinking.

~Evil Fish~

 

[max 02]

Good advice from all , don`t buy a rusted out piece of crap take your time and find a good one! You will be better of paying more now than fixing all the rust you find later. Good luck!!