Help me value and decide wether to buy this truck

[orville]

Hey all,
I am a new member and just put up a small introduction thread in the welcome area, I don't have a 71/72 K20 YET but I hope to soon,
well I've been looking high and low for a good example of one as I have another hot rod resto project going and do not have time for another so I want a nice K20 not a project.
A nice original or well restored one is my plan.
So this is where I need help, this truck came up and I want to decide if it's worth the money and would like to get some members opinions as to how much they would value it at.
I am gonna post some pics and as much info as possible after the pics are up.
[IMG][/IMG]

[orville]

more pics
[IMG][/IMG]
[IMG][/IMG]

[orville]

[IMG][/IMG]
[IMG][/IMG]
[IMG][/IMG]

[orville]

more pics
[IMG][/IMG]
[IMG][/IMG]
[IMG][/IMG]

[orville]

more pics
[IMG][/IMG]
[IMG][/IMG]
[IMG][/IMG]

[JointTech]

my guess is the guy wants 18-20 for it. He probably has 30 in it.
I'd give him 10-12 for it.
restorations are a money loser.

its a really nice truck. looks like a full frame off.

[Tuff Gong]

If you were to buy a truck that needed restoration and fix it up to that condition I guess you would spend at least 10k to 15k, perhaps more. I'm not sure because I have never personally restored a truck, but it looks like a really nice truck you would be happy with for a long time.

[orville]

So heres what I know for sure,
This truck went under a frame off restoration, but it has a cab,bed and frame set that are from two if not three trucks and had a new vin code applied by the state patrol/domv.
The title matches the new vin witch was applied to the drivers inner door frame/b pillar by the door strike area.
The cab is in great shape, and shows signs of cut out areas that had patch panels welded in with quality work,
The bed is in very good shape maybe all original with a little straightening and mud work.
No rust to be found anywhere on the truck.
It has a big block chevy, reportedly a 454 but I could not get to the casting numbers to clearly identify it, and I'm not a big block expert but heres what I know about the motor,
The motor appears to be in the stock location.
The cab has been modified heavily in the firewall area with a firwall setback kit/fabricated set, it easily clears the big block heads and an HEI style cap.
it has an edelbrock manifold and 1411 eddy carb electric choke,
it has a Jacobs ignition mileage master and coil setup hooked to an HEI style distributor but the cap has a coil wire coming right out of the area a regular HEI style cap would have its coil and that odd wire goes to the fender where you can see the Jacobs setup.
It has Hooker ceramic coated full length headers and aluminized 2.5 inch pipe exhaust with flowmaster 50's

[70blackfish]

nice truck if you ask me, i think that was someones baby....

how much does he want for it????

[orville]

It has the sm465 trans and 205 Tcase
It has the HO50 Eaton rear or close as I am new to this kind of rearend.
Dana 44 open knuckled disc brake front.
Stainless steel brake and fuel lines throughout.

[midniteblues]

dang thats a nice truck. well done an doesnt look like it needs anything.
i bet the price is pretty high on it.
if your looking for a daily you better consider that bbc is gonna drink heavy,
of course if ya want my opinion i say buy it.

[71veronica]

I'd say 12- 18 k looks very nice. That's my dream truck.

[orville]

Maybe not seen in the photos is the lift kit,
It has a double stacked set of two inch blocks in the rear and maybe 4" leafs in the front.
The body and bed sit on new body and bed mounts that look like factory rubber ones.
It has a cool retro stereo that has the am/fm tap combo with a remote cd changer.
the gas tank has been moved to the rear between the framerales and the filler tube comew up into the passenger rear tire wheel well where it is kind of hidden.
The stock gas tank has been removed and the whole for the filler kneck filled/welded.

[orville]

Originally Posted by 70blackfish

nice truck if you ask me, i think that was someones baby....

how much does he want for it????

It was somebodies baby for sure!
I'm gonna wait a bit and let everybody take a couple guesses as to the value so I might kind of get some unbiased opinions at the the price, but I'll let you all know.

[orville]

Wheels and tires are,
16" Modern brand wheels with 255/85 R16 tires, I looked at an online calculator seems they are 33's
The truck has 4.10 gears and a reported locker in the rear.
;
It has a Goodmark all steel 2"cowl hood.

[orville]

How do I tell if its a high hump 4x4 cab or if they used a converted low hump 2wd cab?
How do I tell what year the frame is? Can I measure the space between the rear leaf springs and the overall length of each spring? Is there a shape difference in the frame from year to year?

[YBNORML]

I am surprised that no one has mentioned the fact that 4x4's of this generation were not available from the factory with a big block. Although I do not have any first hand knowledge of what it takes to do the swap, I have seen some crazy hack jobs on here as well as some sweet ones. Just pointing out a possible problem area that you may want to look at.

As far as value goes, that is a very regional question. Up here a truck in as good a condition as that one appears to be would easily go in the $20,000 range. But that means nothing.

[YBNORML]

Originally Posted by orville

How do I tell if its a high hump 4x4 cab or if they used a converted low hump 2wd cab?
How do I tell what year the frame is? Can I measure the space between the rear leaf springs and the overall length of each spring? Is there a shape difference in the frame from year to year?

The high hump cab is very obvious. It bolts in whereas the low hump is a solid unit.

[John H.]

Your going to have to love it to get beyond the second vin tag. I would guess that would prevent you from getting an agreed value to insure it in the event you or someone else totals it. It looks great in the pictures but it is a base model with no options. Call your insurance agent to provide guidance on the second vin to see what your insurance options are. Branded titles on newer cars are a kiss of death.

If you start adding options, you are just going to add costs without ever getting your money back.

Think about how you would advertise it in the event you wanted to change directions. I think I have seen this truck on craigslist before.

Hard to put a value on that one, but I would guess $10-12k because the restoration cost was much more than they are probably asking.

[orville]

Originally Posted by YBNORML

I am surprised that no one has mentioned the fact that 4x4's of this generation were not available from the factory. Although I do not have any first hand knowledge of what it takes to do the swap, I have seen some crazy hack jobs on here as well as some sweet ones. Just pointing out a possible problem area that you may want to look at.

As far as value goes, that is a very regional question. Up here a truck in as good a condition as that one appears to be would easily go in the $20,000 range. But that means nothing.

I was reading that GM started building their own four by fours as early as 1960??

[JointTech]

yea they did. no big blocks though in these years with 4x4.

[orville]

Originally Posted by John H.

Your going to have to love it to get beyond the second vin tag. I would guess that would prevent you from getting an agreed value to insure it in the event you or someone else totals it. It looks great in the pictures but it is a base model with no options. Call your insurance agent to provide guidance on the second vin to see what your insurance options are. Branded titles on newer cars are a kiss of death.

If you start adding options, you are just going to add costs without ever getting your money back.

Think about how you would advertise it in the event you wanted to change directions. I think I have seen this truck on craigslist before.

Hard to put a value on that one, but I would guess $10-12k because the restoration cost was much more than they are probably asking.

Thanks for commenting on the second VIN Tag, I didn't even think about insurance purposes of that, my first thoughts were about value and originality,
How do I tell if it is a branded/marked title? would the title/registration say on it? or have verbage in that regard?
Or is the new vin tag a clear indicator that the truck was a lost title/totaled rig and a complete state patrol inspection had to be performed?
It is possible that this truck had a different cab put on the frame and therefore didn't have a matching vin number.

[orville]

Originally Posted by JointTech

yea they did. no big blocks though in these years with 4x4.

big firewall setback on this truck for the bigblock swap, the motor is in the stock location as is the trans and tcase.

[YBNORML]

Originally Posted by orville

I was reading that GM started building their own four by fours as early as 1960??

Sorry I meant to say no big blocks in 4x4's. I fixed it.

[1971 cheburban]

If I had the money I'd go 20k on it but you've got to realize that you might pay 20000 but what does a new truck cost, plus it's way better built then anything you could buy. I would definitely go for it but I'm biased to the truck four speed, four wheel drives.