Questions before buying a truck

[snowman69]

Let me start off by saying that this is an amazing site and i cant wait to read more, anyways im about to get my licence and have been looking for a truck for what seems like forever and am in need of one soon.  I am really wanting a 73-87 truck so this is the perfect site, i found a 1982 chevy 3/4 ton camper special but i have some questions. 

This is the add if you want to take a look - http://winnipeg.kijiji.ca/c-cars-vehicles-cars-trucks-1982-Chevrolet-3-4-Ton-Camper-Special-W0QQAdIdZ163819334

As you can see it needs work but for the price i cant say no, I guess what i really want to know is what would i be getting myself into.  Price is not a problem and i have already looked into paint, how hard are they to reasemble?  Thanks

[VileZambonie]

$2000 for a truck all torn apart and your first rig.... I'd say keep lookin dude. Wouldn't you rather drive it than work on it every day and put every penny you earn into it? You can do better

[Lt.Del]

If I'm gonna put a truck together, it'll be one that I took apart.  That way i know how it all goes together and I would have taken many digital pics of the dissasembly to use as a guide for reassembly.

Nope, I'm with Vile on this one.  There are so many others out there that are decent that actually runs and as mentioned, you can take your time to redo parts.

[1980c10]

 you can do much better, keep looking for one that is together.

[snowman69]

dang, i was expecting more positive replys than that lol.  Only thing is that he started at 3500 a year ago and has made his way down to 1999, he will probably go lower yet.

Let me know if it changes your opinions after this... I am going to the bank and most likely coming out of it with a 5000$ credit line, this way i can use that for the truck itself and have plenty left over for fixes/improvments.  Also Being a 3/4 ton it will haul mine and my buddies sleds around, i would love to have a sled deck on the back as well as the heavier axles... Opinions?

[Blazin]

X4.
 I know it looks tempting because of the parts, and the allready painted stuff, but as a first truck you should look for something clean but still in drivable condition. Been sitting for ten years. The brake calipers could be frozen, rubber brake lines could be dry rotted, / cracked. He allready welded in one rocker, did he do it correctly? If it needed rockers how is the rest of the sheet metal?  If you allready had one or two of these trucks, and were looking for a project, or a pile of new parts to add to a current project it wouldn't be a bad deal.

[VileZambonie]

Where are you from? You can definitely do better. Offer him $1k if he takes it great if not, walk away

[Captkaos]

Negative X5, you will not know what all is missing that will require getting it running until you start putting it together.

[snowman69]

I guess this may not be the best truck for me but out of curiosity, how many hours would you guys expect to put into something like this?  Just wondering because dad said he would let me drive one of his trucks till i got a vehicle.  He owns a business and always has one vehicle that doesnt move on a given day.

edit... I am in south western manitoba, truck is in south eastern... its a 3 hour drive but i already have the equipment to pick it up.

Also i have a friend going to take a quick look at the truck, he lives in the city for school.

out of curiosity, what would you expect to pay for one of these with normal wear and tear.  For this area this seems like an amazing deal

[Captkaos]

I am a LONG way from you, but putting one together from parts could cost you up to $5000 in parts on top of what the cost is.  I could buy a truck without rust for less and put the extra back into it...

[VileZambonie]

Keep checking the classifieds and ebay etc. A better deal will pop up.

[snowman69]

Now that you mention how parts can add up i guess i understand, i tore my sled appart and have put way too much money into it... Ive been looking while doin some homework and found a few.  I would like to stick with the carb or at least tbi for simplicity of going to a carb.  Did the 95s have tbi?   The change was in the 96s right?

[fitz]

With a few exceptions most trucks between 87-95 had the TBI set up on it.

[1980c10]

tpi is not complicated and will give you more power with better heads than the tbi set up imo. they would be on 96+ trucks.

[snowman69]

Ok, so the tpi is the straight carb setup?