Checked out an 82 C10 SWB 2wd with 383

[SUX2BU99]

My wife found this ad on craigslist locally:

http://vancouver.en.craigslist.ca/cto/1305908532.html


So she said why don't you check it out and if it's as nice as it seems, then sell my truck and get this one with hopefully a couple grand only out of pocket. I've seen this truck around a couple of times and thought to myself "there's my twin!" Well turns out he lives in the same neighborhood as I do so I called him Friday night and my wife and I dropped by to check it out. It was dark but it looked like it deserved a 2nd look the next day. He said he bought it last November on a whim since the guy who was selling it wanted an SUV and this guy had one so they traded plus some cash. All the current owner did was drop $2200 on the interior (new AutoMeter gauges, upholstery and billet dress-up items), which I could probably see since those gauges and that steering wheel are well over $1k on it's own. And he put the rims and tires on it as well as new exhaust. He fired it up and it certainly sounded tough. There is a tick though I could hear under the valve cover and I said it might have a loose rocker. For a 'new' motor with only 350 miles on it, it seemed a little dirty considering the truck hasn't been driven in the rain since this guy got it plus the coolant stains on the intake.

Anyway, I went to see it the next day and asked him again about the age of the motor. He again said about 350-375 miles were only on it and he's only taken it back and forth to work a few times. I asked him why he drove it so little and he said it was just too much of a gas pig. Hm, I dunno but if I had a good looking 383-powered truck that I just sunk $2200 into the interior on, I would be driving it! Anyway, I looked underneath and I wasn't impressed. Fair amount of surface rust pretty much everywhere and the cab supports in my truck look way better than this one. I didn't really see any flaky rust or holes but I'm sure they are coming. Mine is much cleaner underneath. We took it for a drive and first thing I noticed was the high-stall converter. I've never driven a vehicle with a high-stall TC and I was surprised how much I had to push on it to get it moving. It was kinda neat though. The manual valve body was a bit annoying to always have to downshift after stopping or such but I was surprised at how soft the tranny felt. I couldn't feel any shifts at all. I knew it was shifting and it didn't feel like it was slipping but my truck bangs shifts whereas this one totally didn't.

It had a 3.73 10-bolt but no posi. Pulling out onto the road and nailing it from about a 20mph roll lit the right tire up pretty good. Once it hooked, the truck pulled well. It was certainly faster than my truck and I'd love that kind of power. But, the temp needle was getting pegged. By the time we got back to his house, which might have been only 2 miles, the temp needle was at 250 and I said it's going to overheat. Got to his house, opened the hood and the rad was hissing. Not a good sign either. Later he told me that the rad was really low and once he topped it up, it was fine. That's fine, but why was it that low in the first place?

So even though he was asking 12,900 for it, I was thinking initially in my head that 10k would be my offer. After checking it out and driving it and seeing how anxious it seemed he wanted to sell it, I passed on it entirely. He said he would have taken 11k for it but I don't entirely trust when people own vehicles for a short time, dump alot of money into them, hardly drive them, then sell them. That just seems weird to me. That, and the dirtiness of the supposedly-new motor just didn't sit well with me. Oh well.

[oldredtruck]

go with your gut...its prob. right!

[nucknoel89]

I think I saw that truck or maybe yours at Cultas Lake on Canada Day (or sometime around then).  I remember seeing a yellow shortbox 81-87 drive by in the parking lot at Entrance Bay and thinking that it sounded and looked nice.  Seeing as you're both in Chilliwack and there's probably not many yellow shortboxes, it probably was one of you two.

[SUX2BU99]

Yeah and in Abbotsford on Riverside, there's ANOTHER yellow shorty 83-ish that drives by my work every day. Has Cragar S/S rims and a chrome step bumper. I thought my truck was unique!  lol  Oh yeah, at Mission Raceway I saw a longbox like my truck. Go figure. I was in California around Canada day so might have been the other guy. I have taken it out to Cultus a few times though. Biggest visual differences between mine and his is I have 15" polished rims and he has 20's.

[fitz]

I think I would keep your truck.
I think most people are not realistic about what their vehicles are worth in todays economy. $12,900 should get you a truck you have no second thoughts about.
The things that I would question about that truck is why 2 owners have decided to sell that truck within 350 miles of having the 383 built?
Does he have receipts for the rebuild?
What about the overheating issue?
Like you said, where did the coolant go?
Why does the motor tick?
If the truck seemed 100% I could overlook the fact that the owner just acquired it a short time ago. The guy I bought my 69 Camaro from didn't own it for long before he sold it to me. Like this truck my car has a manual valve body turbo 350 (it's a love it or hate it deal). Sometimes people buy cars/trucks on a whim then they find out they don't fit there lifestyle.
Like oldredtruck said, go with you gut feeling. To me this truck sounds like someone else's problem.

[SUX2BU99]

Here's some pics I took of underneath and the interior: