What am I getting into here?

[Coley]

Ok full stop here for a second.....
What is it you, personally....want to accomplish with buying an older truck?
That is the piece of the puzzle that is missing?
Is budget driving this option?....fair enough if it is.
Or do you just need and want a quick driver that is a bit classic to run around in?
If so, $850 is simply not a big deal....but you aren't going to go or get far with this truck if you start to envision bigger dreams?

So ....fast forward...do you want a cool restored classic truck?
If so.....then a) either keep looking ....or b) buy this and keep it for spare parts and sell off the rest.

Let's back up......what do you want to accomplish here?

all good
Coley

[TrojanPower]

Thanks guys, this is a lot of great feed back! I am by no means to looking to fully restore the truck. My main concerns were feasibility and cost of making it safe and functional. Get it rolling and safe and add little by little. Definitely don't have the bucks to blow on a full restore, even on a less beat up truck. I was not looking but a guy told me about this one when I told him I had always wanted an old truck like my grandfather had. This is what I do know about it so far...
1. Has a large steel sheet sitting over the old wood bed underneath (would need new wood)
2. It was a daily driver until 4 years ago when the gentleman got sick. Still had a load of mulch in the back when he parked it.
3. Tires are in good shape (8ply L/T) but it has split rims so would plan to replace with 8 lug rims and tires since no one would probably touch those
4. All glass is good and windows roll up/down
5. Original am/fm radio (Motorola)
6. Has heat, no A/C
7. Column is good but steering wheel needs replacing. Needle does not match letters....won't go into park but seller said linkage was out of sync so could be easily adjusted
8. Rockers are totally gone
9. Sheet metal on fenders, doors, hood are okay but have oxidation/surface rust. No holes or dents. Inner fenders are rusted out.
10. Tailgate is solid but rusted and has dents...opens and closes tightly
11. Grill and front bumper are very good
12. Doors open and close solid
13. Master cylinder had fluid in front brake resevoir but empty for drums
14. New belts
15. Quadrajet 4 bbl carb
16. Big back window
17. Some rust on bottom of doors
18. Pedal function but did not try to roll the truck

[saxart]

If it were me, I would go look at some other (more expensive) trucks that are for sale in your area. Assuming those trucks are in better condition, you could then begin to cross things off the list of what you'd need to do to this truck (floors and rockers for example) if you were to buy it. Suppose you find one for $2K that doesn't need floors and rockers. Is it worth $1,200 to you to have to buy a welder, learn how to weld, and take the many hours to do that work?

Take from someone who knows, the worst thing you can do is fall "in love" with this truck before you've looked at others.