Should I buy this truck?

[One Of A Kind]

What it is: 1980 Chevy regular cab, short bed, 2wd

What it has: 350, auto, cruise, A/C, 2wd, missing some trim after an obvious (older) repaint, NO RUST, Well over 100,000 miles on the truck (not sure if it’s the stock engine), mid 1990’s C/K wheels, might have power windows and locks as well

What needs to be repaired: Power steering leak, bad A/C, no jack or spare, cracked windshield, broken horn

Cost: Originally set at $4,995 then reduced to $3,595 now it is sitting at $2,295


This winter it would be parked (WI + 2wd + snow and ice = very bad idea) so most of the items needed to be fixed could be done then. The only thing that truly would need to be fixed so I could drive it semi safely right away would be to fix the power steering leak and maybe find a used spare to throw in the bed until a better one can be found and mounted.

So does this sound like a good project truck or should I wait to find a better deal someplace else? By the way it is VERY hard to find a ‘73-‘87 2wd short bed around here and even harder to find out without any body rust.

Also about how much would a power steering leak cost to fix assuming the worst? Again the truck is a 1980 Chevy C-10 with a 350 V8 and automatic transmission.

[JonnyTechMech]

(Welcome)
It’s honestly all up to you. If you have made up your mind that you want; a project truck, you can afford to sink some $ in it, they are hard to come by in your area, and you have a dream or desire to do what so many others have done with these trucks. I would probably go for it, if you can get it down to$2000 or 1700. Put that $2000 cash in front of the owner and he/she will most like jump at it. Christmas is coming

What kind of tranny is in it 350/400/700? Do you know anything about the rear end gears? Do you know how well the engine has been taken care of?. 100,000 and over is a lot and it’s going to need rebuilding soon. All the other stuff that’s broke, is minor, easy to replace.

IMO most of us who want 73-‘87 2wd Chevy, want a short bed and plenty on this board would 2K cash in hand, talk the owner out of it and be gone with it.

(My Story)
I paid $1000.00 for my long bed 87/GMC w/ Stock 350/Th400, sucky rear gears, surface rust all over, no AC (Base Trim- bare minimum/no preks), rotted cab corners, ripped leather seat, bent tail gate, and left side fender, door and bed panel dented (kissed a tree). BUT!! An elderly man owned it on a farm and it only had 64K orig miles on it. I'm too much; it's Friday, but I wanted to give some things to consider. (IMO) Start at $1700, and max at $2000 remember it's got high miles and there's more to it that will need to be replaced; not mentioned. If power everything works, and it's got a Th400 or Th700 and interior is good; worthy of $2100. Try to get more details so others can help with suggestions. (I'm no means a expert or claim to know it all)

Good Luck!

[Jebb1978]

I am from Arizona and these trucks are in abundance but, to me it sounds pretty high! If you want one badly enough and are willing to travel a little bit I recommend Ebay. That's where lots of us are finding our trucks these days. I saw a short bed stepside with an inline 6 that looked pretty decent (a little rust, not bad) went for under $1200 as I recall.I would rather pay to ship a nice one that was under priced than over pay for one that is kinda rough because it is more convenient. Just my thoughts, it is a lot more fun and rewarding to me also if I had to hunt for just what I was looking for. Good luck and please let us know what you decide and get us some pics of whatever you end up with.

Shawn

[krue]

Personally if it's truly rust free it's probably worth the 2k mentioned above.

[Liz]

[phantom dually]

Welcome to the board. Good luck with you project.

[smirch9]

Welcome!

[bad_burb]

welcome from California. In my opinion, I'd say $2000 is a decent price assuming the motor runs well and the body is fairly straight.

[Hoods69BadBowTie]

Hey, Welcome to the board from Montana. I think 2,000$$ aint too bad of a price. I know there are some cheaper ones then that but yeah your probably going to need to travel to get them.
-Late