1978 Chevy 4x4 - Thinking about buying it

[Mike Phillips]

Hey everyone,

Haven't been posting much for a while now, life's too busy.  Thought I would pop in and share a truck I went and looked at and am thinking about buying.  It's a 1978 Chevy 4x4 with a 454 and I thought the owner told me Dana 60 front and rearends.  Asking price is $3500.00

It has a pretty decent lift, crossover steering and the body is actually pretty straight and on the low side for rust.  The bad news is it has a 4-speed transmission.  The good news is the current owner also has a Turbo 350 mated to a NP208 transfercase he's also willing to part with for $500.00








It need some freshening but it looks like a lot of truck to me for the money with a lot of potential to be a really nice daily driver pavement pounder.

[Mike Phillips]

This is like deja vu all over again...

http://forum.73-87chevytrucks.com/smforum/index.php?topic=7230.msg42140










Ugh....

 

[reload]

I likes! 

[beastie_3]

Could ask for lower price. Hood and PS fender aren't good. Not bad though.

[ehjorten]

Body lift = yuck!  Looks like it has a long spring conversion on the front end.  I would look that over very closely.  Some of those conversions can be some pretty nasty work.  Shackle flip on the rear.  Looks like a 1-ton.  I would definitely take it for a spin and listen for popping and creaking noises in the suspension.  Lots of little stuff in the front end that can suck the money out of your wallet trying to fix poorly done stuff by the previous owner.  Bed has obviously been changed-out for a later one.  Fuel doors didn't come until '79.  Most likely a D60 in the front and 14B FF in the rear.  If there wasn't anything terribly wrong with it and the motor ran good I think that $3,500 would make it an easy purchase.

[Irish_Alley]

that front scares me looks like 8" shackles where placed up front. never seen that before

[1979C20]

I dont think those are Rears Up Front, But those are some lengthened spring hangers for sure. Looks a bit unsafe/un-roadworthy. It definitely looks like a trailer queen mud truck.

[Mike Phillips]

My good friend, welder, fabricator and Mud Buggy builder, who also built Behemoth, went and looked at it with me and he told me he would help me to re-fabricate the front suspension.

Behemoth


I'm also need to redo the crosslink steering system.

I made the deal today for $3000.00 on Sunday if we fire it up and drive it around and the engine, brakes, cooling system, and pretty much everything mechanical is in working condition.

[big bear]

kool man. good luck

[Captkaos]

You still have the Blazer Mike?

[Mike Phillips]

You still have the Blazer Mike?

Yep... been driving it trouble free since I put it together 2 years ago.  Tomorrow is my 2 year anniversary for starting my new job at Autogeek after leaving Meguiar's.  I put the truck together before I moved from California to Florida and except for a few issues I haven't had to turn a wrench on it since.

Here's how it looks right now out in the parking lot except there's less tread on the back tires and a few more chains wrapped around the roll bar.



Right now in life it would help to own a truck that has  and is a little more respectable so I'm compromising and instead of buying a new car or truck I'm going to buy this classic truck and re-do it to make it a really nice pavement pounder with a new paint job, nicer wheels, interior etc.

Next week I'm shooting a brand new how-to DVD with Matt Steele from Truck U and TrucksGoneWild.com and down the road I might take the this new truck to some of his events.

[Mike Phillips]

This is funny...

If I get the 3/4 ton Chevy that will make my 1975 Jimmy my good gas mileage vehicle... both will have big blocks but the Jimmy will weigh less...


 

[Captkaos]

Did you ever get anything out of the insurance company?  Did you get it fixed.

BTW, what kind of light were you shining on the Mustang to see the swirls on the Black Mustang with Fuller?

[Mike Phillips]

Did you ever get anything out of the insurance company?  Did you get it fixed.

BTW, what kind of light were you shining on the Mustang to see the swirls on the Black Mustang with Fuller?

That's called the Brinkmann Xenon Flashlight.  We call it either the Brinkman Swirl Finder Light or "The Cruel Master"

LOL

Bryan's pretty cool to work with, just as funny off-screen as he is on the set.

[Blazin]

That truck doesn't look horrible, defiantly needs some work but a good start for sure.