Looking at a new truck tomorrow what should I look for?

[chevyman95]

Found a truck in SC that I am going to look at tomorrow. It is a 66 short bed fleetside with the big back window. My grandpa had one of these and I have always wanted one. It looks good in the pictures and already has a 5 lug conversion with disks in the front. Definitely not a show truck but a solid driver. 350/TH350. The guy is asking $8000 for it. I'm going to see if I can get it for around 6500-7000 to give me some room to do some work to it. This would be my first 60-66 (had a few 80s models) What should I be looking out for? He says it has no rust holes but a few little knicks and bumps here and there. Minor surface rust in some areas. Could use paint but drivable as is.

[DPowers]

Loaded question there- but mainly is there anything done previously on the truck that you cant fix to your liking with your skill level and monetary commitment? Hope that makes sense.

[my56chevytruck]

Originally Posted by chevyman95

Found a truck in SC that I am going to look at tomorrow. It is a 66 short bed fleetside with the big back window. My grandpa had one of these and I have always wanted one. It looks good in the pictures and already has a 5 lug conversion with disks in the front. Definitely not a show truck but a solid driver. 350/TH350. The guy is asking $8000 for it. I'm going to see if I can get it for around 6500-7000 to give me some room to do some work to it. This would be my first 60-66 (had a few 80s models) What should I be looking out for? He says it has no rust holes but a few little knicks and bumps here and there. Minor surface rust in some areas. Could use paint but drivable as is.

Take a flexible magnet with you and ask the owner if he/she didn't mind if you touch it around the truck. Check underneath significantly. Drive it, check the oil on the dipstick, look for any milkiness in the oil. Body work from rust or bubbly paint can cost a great deal of money so pay attention to how the surface looks. Listen to the engine run in idle, look at the exhaust for any smoke. Check for play in the steering column and look look look everywhere you can get into. good luck.

[chevyman95]

My big thing is knowing that these trucks go for that much now I guess. I remember a few years back you could get a decent one for 4000-5000. Now it seems like you can't touch one for that unless it needs a full resto. I'll look all over it and hopefully tomorrow evening I will be the proud new owner of one.

[jocko]

check the drip rails and the cab supports closely and check to see if it's a shortened lwb - look for fish plates on the inside of the frame rail about midway (behind cab, under front half of the bed). If it's an original swb bbw and the body is decent, 8K isn't bad. If it's rough, 5-6.5k is reasonable. Also look for originality of the interior. If it's body color, it's been repainted - all 66's were fawn originally. Seat covers hard to come by, but not a showstopper. To be honest, unless it's really messed up - 8K isn't a bad deal for a fairly straight swb bbw. You might try working the angle that it's lost its original drivetrain, but that's a gamble - it's actually got a more streetable/reliable drivetrain now - but it's only original once (try that quote!) Ha. Good luck - am pullin for you, sounds like a nice one. I sold my 66 swb bbw not too long ago. It has since re-sold for almost double that price. 8K doesn't sound too bad. And if the upgrades mentioned aren't botched, mo betta.

[chevyman95]

I ended up passing even though he went down to $6500. The body was surprisingly solid but it had a lot of Bondo in the fenders and doors. Paint was 5/10 at best. Had been run with no air cleaner for at least 4 years. Needed bed wood, radiator, transmission gasket, tires, seat cover, etc. Didn't even drive it. Sucks because I really wanted it. Oh well time to keep looking.

[chevyman95]

Was going to try to post pics, the fenders were bubbling up bad and the doors were really wavy. The passenger fender was flaking chunks of Bondo.