New guy looking for a truck.
 

Hello guys, I've recently decided I need to get a pickup to do some occasional light towing. Mostly within a half hour to an hour up to the mountains and back with a 2 horse trailer, or a flatbed with a couple ATV's. I'm on a pretty tight budget but I fell in love with the 67-72 body style...

I found this one last night that I really like but I think the price tag is a little high at $4000.
"1971 Chevrolet c20 Cheyenne (3/4 ton)
170,000 miles
4x4, 350 v8
Rebuilt carb, rebuilt top end, 4spd manual tranny, strong truck.
New plugs
New wires
New fuel pump
New distributor motor
Great tires
Manual locking hubs
Herculiner floor board
Bench seat
CD player
Long bed
New battery
Great hunting/ restore project truck
Paint is faded with minor rust on bed
Minor rust on under carriage."

He thinks it all original except for the seat and steering wheel.

What's the good, bad and ugly on the 71's?

I'm coming from the Jeep CJ community so I'm not afraid to sling wrenches and swap motors if I have to. So this one is an option to...
https://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=21...rch=&ad_cid=10
Or... http://phoenix.craigslist.org/evl/cto/3635244541.html

Re: New guy looking for a truck.
 

Nevermind, I didn't read before I clicked the link.

I would love to see more pics of the blue one as it doesn't look bad at all from the one pic you posted.

Re: New guy looking for a truck.
 

http://albuquerque.craigslist.org/cto/3618345322.html stupid IPhone is giving me fits hope it worked this time.
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Re: New guy looking for a truck.
 

row, the $800 1968 is probably your best bet if your on a budget. If you dont really mind doing a little motor swap, you can be ahead by fixing it up a bit. Looks like anyway you look at it your gonna have to do a little driving to get it or have it transported.

Re: New guy looking for a truck.
 

Yeah it's a bit of a haul to see any of them, at least 3.5 hours... I have family in UT so it's not a big deal to travel up. Body work is not my strong point though, I really don't have the patience for it to come out well. :/ I like the style of the red step side best, but it being someone's trail truck worries me to much to drive 5 hours to look at it I guess.
1. I thought all step sides were half ton?
2. What kind of drivetrain are we looking at with the 72 c20?
3. And is it really a c20 if its 4x4?

Re: New guy looking for a truck.
 

lol...I though it looked kinda pinky/purplish.....wouldnt touch it. Stepsides rule!!! Bodywork depending on how bad it is is not too bad. Places like LMCTruck.com have any and everything you need or want for a reasonable price. Biggest rust repairs will be around cab corners and rockers....if you can weld good.....this is no big issue. Looks like the passenger side rockers been replaced. and that truck appears to be in pretty decent shape. if I were up for a LWB...I would jump on this truck myself.

Re: New guy looking for a truck.
 

Only way to tell if that truck was a c20 or K20 would be close up look at it. It was quite common a couple decades ago when these were popular and 4x4s were thrashed and 2wd's were cleaner body.....do do a conversion and turn the c20's into 4x4's......not as much trouble to do as one thinks. I wouldnt worry about that. The trail truck, probably has had its share of abuse, so could be a pain in the butt to maintain in the future.
I like the $800 truck. for about $1500 you can have that truck running really strong and a light sanding and shoot it with flat black, you will have a nice driver.

Re: New guy looking for a truck.
 

Re: New guy looking for a truck.
 

Greetings from ABQ! I saw that truck. Price is a little bit steep but there's probably some wiggle room. Worth a look I'd think. I'd like to see the glovebox SPID, condition of the bed, degree of rust. BTW- I miss the food at Earl's...

Re: New guy looking for a truck.
 

My wife likes the fixer upper for the budget reasons to however I just spent the last year under a CJ. It also looks like a halfton truck and doesn't specify so it probably is. Buck, were you talking about the 71 C20 that you would jump on if it weren't long bed?
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Re: New guy looking for a truck.
 

Row: I am talking about the 68. $800 and I think its a 3/4 ton from the look of the lug pattern in the 2nd photo. If it were a shorty...I would start checking for a transporter, and negotiate on the price a bit. nice thing about a non-running truck, pasture ornaments can be cheaper.

Re: New guy looking for a truck.
 

Thanks 70 cst! I'm going to need it!

Yeah I though the price was steep to and I'd have to talk him down a ways to pull it off. "Glovebox SPID", Like the build code? He said the bed had some surface rust, no holes. And underneith was surface rust on exhaust and springs. He was supposed to shoot me some pics today but never did.
Earls is the bomb!.
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Re: New guy looking for a truck.
 

The truck left the factory with a decal (SPID) affixed to the glovebox door that lists the model # and any options the truck was equipped with. I'd ask for a pic of that and post it here if poss so we can see what's what. Stay warm I know Gallup can get cold - I helped build the Pizza Hut there a while ago. Pete

Re: New guy looking for a truck.
 

I can't tell looking at the pics on my phone will look again when I get home. It's literally 30 minutes from where I lived 2 months ago! Or 10 hours from here... I'll call about it tomorrow about the 1/2 or 3/4 question. maybe my brother in law could haul it back up to Logan for me until I could get up there with the trailer... Hmmmm... He'd probably kill me when he found out it didn't run! Haha!
What would you do for a motor for decent power and not terrible MPG's?
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Re: New guy looking for a truck.
 

I work in Crownpoint everyday which is like 10* even colder than in Gallup; I wanted to quit my job yesterday when I saw the horse water in the morning frozen over in Gallup, sure enough I froze my rear off all day! My Sis-in-law ownes the Fox's pizza in Gallup so I bet she wishes you had screwed up the Pizza Hut lol.

I'll ask for those pics and post them when I get em.
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Re: New guy looking for a truck.
 

Honestly depends on budget.
If you dont want to break the bank, you can get a crate GM SBC350 for under $2000, or if you get good luck, you can find a used vortec 350 from a 94-98 silverado for under $700 and only things needed from that point are a vortec intake (sbc) and recomment new 4 bbl carb (holley 600) $300 NEW. with a complete vortec out of a truck you can get all the serp system in tact.

Re: New guy looking for a truck.
 

"1969 Chevrolet C/K series 1500
Miles: 140,000
$650
I bought this to restor with my boy but i dont have the time or money asking $650 obo need to get rid of. Its a 2wd auto trans,never got started on project just no time or money, truck run but need card rebuilt, the most major rust is under drivers door."

C10 or C20? 350? What do you know doesn't work?
"When I parked it everythong was working but the carb is gummed up from sitting its a C10 with 350"

Asked him about other rust:
"ya for the most part there is a few dents but nothing to major"

Deadhead, it kind of looks like your truck did at the start of your project! Just in worse condition...

Re: New guy looking for a truck.
 

That's a Cheyenne Super from what I can tell - the parts may be worth more than the asking price alone. Like mine, the glovebox door is black rather than orange. I'd be curious to see more detailed pics and options listed on the SPID. Keep us posted....

Re: New guy looking for a truck.
 

What should I ask for pictures of besides the SPID?

Re: New guy looking for a truck.
 

the motor may not be original to the truck as the alternator is on the pass side....

Re: New guy looking for a truck.
 

More pics of any rust especially along the firewall (tough to repair), condition of lower front fenders, bed (floor full of holes?), and tailgate (bowed, dented?)

Re: New guy looking for a truck.
 

If you're lookin' for a dependable driver to tow and haul... I think I'd look elsewhere on a deal for a truck.

Gary

Re: New guy looking for a truck.
 

Thanks Gary, why do you think that? For towing I would like to find a 3/4 ton but an ATV will fit in the bed and the horse trailer has been towed behind a 1500 since we got it just fine... and the rarety of the trips with the horses is about once or twice a summer so he could probably tow that one anyways. I already have a Jeep that is dependable so if I need to get somewhere I could. I think I mostly just want another project and a truck, I'm certainly open to everyones opinion on this as the more info I have on it the better; you guys are the experts on these trucks I know Jeeps and looking to expand my horizons.

1. Is this the correct tag, even though it only shows the VIN is there anything to learn from just the VIN?
2. It all looks pretty straight to me, but kind of hard to tell on the tailgate and the front fender if they are bent or if its the moldings?
3.

Re: New guy looking for a truck.
 

I like the Cheyenne but the K20 looks more of a turn key deal. I'd go for the 4x4 and offer less. The Cheyenne will need work and prob more than we know from the pics alone.

Re: New guy looking for a truck.
 

Also, 2wd 3/4 ton trucks pop up on the local CLs often for a decent price