The cab on my sweet '69 C/10 is badly rusted out , more so than I think worth repairing . So , I've been looking at nicer V-8 powered trucks and have found a couple that look good , have factory AC and are cheaper than replacing the cab on my current rig . Maybe I'll buy one and swap my I6 into it . Decisions,........
Smart thniking Nate. I know that I'd much rather do driveline work than paint and body. A V-8 to I-6 swap should be a piece of cake.
Possible Next Truck Right ~ I'm a Mechanic , not a Dolly & Fender Man like Russ , Even and the rest of them here . It's a ' low hump ' cab (++ !) and factory air too , I've been contemplating adding AC for a while now . It's black though and black vehicles are not good here in L.A. . Hmmmmmm....... I have a spare 292 and TH350C , might assemble those and slip 'em in then service and re seal, repaint the V-8 and stuff it into my old '69 to improve it's resale value.... We'll see .
Nate, go ahead and buy the black one if it's rust-free, then find a scuff and shoot paint shop. Surely you guys in SOCAL have something similar to Maico that will throw on an acceptible color. I agree with you guys on paint and body work, I can do it, but, would not want that to be my career. I thought old rust-free vintage tin was abundant out there. I was in California once in my life, delivered Lincoln welders to S.F. and loaded lemons and oranges back to Indy. That was the winter of 1981, I think, I'll bet alot has changed.
Color Change YARGHHHHHHhh ! . You mean I'll have to look at the mis - matched color on the dashboard and firewall every time I drive it or check the oil ?! . PUh-LEASE !! . Yes , I know I'm a picky SOB but if I do that then next you'll expect to see me with non original Black & yellow Cali. license tags on some vehicle I own . I mean seriously ~ reflective plates on a vintage anything ?! . Seriously I did think of just this paint idea but doubt I could do it . I'm 90 % made up my mind to buy it to - morrow *if* it's truly rust free and *IF*the price become realistic , right now it's priced like a 5 year old restoration , we'll see , I think this guy is a curbstoner so he may be flexible or at least realistic ~ it's been for sale a few months now . BTW : yes I live in Los Angles but ,these trucks and the ' Square Body ' '73 ~ '87 series that followed them are total rust buckets , not as bad as Vegas but close .
O.K. Then ~ SWMBO says go for it , I'll get it paid for within a year so off we go to - morrow to look at and maybe by another rig . Wish me luck ! if it's got rust I'll RUN away . Stand by for pictures .
1. Sorry for the poor suggestion, Nate, your right. 2. Define "curbstoner" please for a redneck hoosier. Sounds like a term to add to my vocab. 3. What is it, ocean salt air that rusts them out there? The 73 on shoeboxs here rusted down around you. I had a 77 short box 4X4 that I bought almost new, had it Ziebarted, took it back every year for it's check-up and it still rusted completely down to a rolling chassis.
Various Steve ; It wasn't a poor suggestion , it's the realistic answer I just don't want to take as I hate " color changes ". Even my Son (who heartily approves of me buying and building this truck) said it needs re painting and to just suck it up and have the exterior re done in Forester Green . These trucks (1967 ~ 1987) rust out anywhere because GM decided to use decidedly inferior quality steel then poorly prime it then cut a few corners engineering wise so there are multiple water / mud / leaves / trash collection points that hold water / dampness and so _force_ them to rust out . " Curbstoning " is the making of money by buying up old vehicles and flipping them quickly , not bothering to do any repairs , up dating the tags & title , often they don't check the oil or wash the damn things . With this attitude of course , it's a short hop to lying through their teeth about any aspect of said vehicle..... Nevertheless , occasional jewels turn up , this *might* be one as it needs several thousand dollars of parts but the over all condition is , IMO pretty good . Adding words to your lexicon is always a good thing IMO . I hope this was helpful . As far as the truck I would like to buy it and made him an offer he accepted . I went to the bank and got the lolly and left him a message telling him to call me whenever he's ready to do the deed . The problem with this is : he can now shop it 'round to others saying " well , I have a cash offer of $$ I'll take but if you offer more $$ right now , you can have it " ~ this has happened to me many times over , if so I'll just keep on looking .
Hope you get it! I can't wait for pictures. I'm excited and I live 2300 miles away. Thanks for clearing up "curbstoner" for me, that term will be used in the future. I've been lucky on many purchases I've made over the years and found sellers with INTEGRITY. Not always that way with some of the people/companys I've trucked for.
Stand By Please ! Yeah ; Even though it's black (bad for Desert Rigs) and needs scads of work , I'm looking forward to it . As he's not called yet I assume he's doing the usual curbstoner thing and shopping it 'round for more $ than I offered him . It's his truck so all I can do is wait . I already found several more for the same price , several have been totally taken apart , de rusted , re painted , rebuilt and re assembled . always in some eye - searing gawdaful color so they're out . We'll see . either it'll happen or not , there's no shortage of nice trucks out there and too many loosing their jobs .
Me so happy !!! The jerkoff curbstoner kid with the V-8 '69 C/10 pissed me off so I went hunting and found a near *PERFECT* , low hump , factory AC , never cut dash & radio hole , NO RUST 1969 C/10 cab for $300 !! . He even threw in the entire AC ' suitcase ' and controls . So now I have to try to find an honest and competent Body & Paint Shop here in California , land of fruits , nuts , flakes and dishonest Tradesmen . Failing that I'll have to buy a trailer and tow the thing across America to someone I know & trust . We pulled the windshield out of it and Lo ! not even a speck of rust , I've not seen on this clean since the 1970's . It's never even been re painted and is s pleasing light metallic blue , easy to re spray with the correct Forester Green my '69 is . Any old Hippies here ? " Perseverance Furthers " .
Pictures I forgot my ipad thing Saturday , my buddy says he'll shoot me photos as soon as he gets the time , he's a busy man . I already found a couple reliable Body Shops , now I need to go interview them and see how to pay for this all . I've been setting aside $ for a long time in anticipation of this job , I'm no Painter ! .
Oops ~ Sorry guys ; I went by the shop to - day and my truck was parked next to the new , AIR CONDITIONED cab , I'll have to work on getting some pictures , keep after me as I'm just now beginning to drive again....
Photographs at last ! Oops , sorry guys , I realize it's been over a month but (insert clever plausible excuse here) . Here it is in my back yard after bringing it home . More back yard view Getting ready to take it to the Body & Fender Shop Dang narrow gate ! . Whew ~! cleared it by 3" .
More Photos Next Group ~ Arriving at the Body Shop My helper doing the scut work A Tow Dolly is really helpful to move the trailer around . Almost there . Think it'll work ? . .
Even _MORE_ (hey , you asked) Nice clean NO RUST low hump floor ! . Driver's side 'A' Pillar is *PERFECT* .(me so happy) Slight surface rust underneath the sill plate but NO HOLES ! . Driver's side windshield pinchweld is PERFECT ~ not one sign of rust , just some old original sealer residue . .
Almost done Upper left hand pinchweld is perfect too ! . Bottom if right inner 'A' pillar clean & RUST FREE ! . Outer right 'A' pillar same : PERFECT ! . Rocker with NO RUST HOLES ! (not even tiny ones) Alternate view of nice clean original paint RUST FREE floor ! . Imagine : all this for only $300 , still a few Honest Sellers out there . .
