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A waste of time ?

3

37 chief

Well-known Member
I'm sorting out some of the vehicles my brother left me. He had a real nice 65 Chevy step side pickup. it had a bad standard three speed transmission.
it was parked under a tree for a long time. Between the rust, and the rats the body is shot. I thought t about getting it running. It may be worth more than scrap,
with a running motor, and a good bed, with a pipe rack. So far all I have in the motor is a used fuel pump I scrounged from another 6 motor, and a
new water pump. The motor sounds good. If I was a little younger I would try and find another body. I thought between the motor, and good bed It should be worth 900.00. What do you think? Stan
 
I wish it was that simple. The body has serious rot. The left door about falls off when opened the roof has rot the floor is also bad. Looks like it
came from a state that salts the roads. The frame is sound. stan
 
I just went through an estate auction... My folks were hoarders, so there was a lot of stuff. I was cleaning and prepping full time for basically 4 months After all that time, and effort, things only bring what they bring. There was no point in my uncle spending a week getting wheels turning on the antique ag equipment. It all went for scrap. My girlfriend spent countless days cleaning glassware, and canning jars. That stuff sold by the trailer load for a few bucks each.

If you want to play with it, then by all means, enjoy it. If you're going to pour time and any money in to something like that, you're likely not going to come out ahead, and will often be left with a bad taste in your mouth after the sale...

I had resigned myself to not stressing about the sale price, I really just needed it all gone. I'm still disappointed at some of the knock down numbers. The other parts of my family were less pragmatic about it, and they're still grumbling about the return on their effort, or that I should have taken more time to find buyers outside the auction.
 
It depends on how you value your time. If you will be doing it for entertainment, go for it. If you have more productive things to do, price it attractively as-is where-is to sell it to the first person who looks at it and get it gone.

I'm under the impression you have a number of similar projects that your brother left you and they are burdening you. Maybe just pick one or two of those to keep as projects. Sell the rest fast to make space, get a little funds to spend on the keeper, and to free up your time.
 
Virtually no buyer is going place any sentimental monetary value on someone else's family treasures as the one poster found out. That being said trucks of that era are all the rage now with the hot rod crowd and restoration shops, watch a mecum auction, you will be amazed at what gets restored these days but no way anyone can say for sure what yours is worth. One person's rust bucket is another's treasure,,, and vise versa.
 
Unlike a tractor, running or not running will have little effect on the value of something like that.

If someone is looking for a restoration, they will not be interested in the 6 cylinder 3 speed drive train.

Sell it as is, price it high and see what happens, you can always come down. Then someone will think they got a deal, and you will be rid of it!
 
We had to clear out the family estate a couple years ago. It came down to moving the stuff not trying to make money. That being said I may not have made the most money but I did try to find things a good home. An example was an old D7. I sold it to a collector for less than I could have gotten for scrap, but it was preserved.
 


Don't waste another second or dime on it. You have much more important things to do with your time.
 
From what you describe it might cost 15 grand to restore it even if you do the work yourself. I bet you could buy a truck like that in good condition cheaper.
 
Find a nice young person and give it to them as a project. If they sell it, they owe you half the money. It will make you smile, your late brother smile and the young person as well. That is what I would do. Bill
 

A bud picked one up the rust was so bad he had to jack the bed up and support it with 2X4's. The cab was full of rust the doors did work well. It had a somewhat nice paint job on it and looked cool.
283 3 on the tree he had about 2K in it and sold for 4K.

He and his wife had planed to keep it for a beater to run around in I told him forget the cool factor take the money and invest in something else. They did and came out a winner.

I worked on a 65 short bed a couple years ago it needed a frame as it was cracked. When I found the bad frame I stopped where in the ell are you gonna find a good frame, if you did $$$$. The budget from the get go was 80K after I found the frame issue I told him he was 50K short.

It shipped to a place that can handle it I hope it never amazes me what folks will spend on them. $900 is a drop in a bucket. As you can see when Santa dropped by to see me he had already dropped a big chunk in it. He never told me what he paid for it other than he had never driven it. The frame issue was so bad you could not keep it in the road.




mvphoto98336.jpg
 
37 Chief,
A waste of time ?
It's your time. It's your money.
What is something worth?
It's hard to put a price on memories.
If that truck belonged to your favorite brother, there is no limit to how much time you will spend on it.
If that truck belonged to your least favorite brother, Hello is this the Salvage yard? Yes I have a title. Do you pay cash and hauls vehicles for free?

Will your 65 truck have to pass smog?
If I recall you had a Volvo that couldn't pass smog.
 
$900? Honestly I doubt it. It's going to be tough to get prospective buyers past the rotten body, and mid 1960's straight 6 engines just don't have much value even if they run like a swiss watch. Everybody wants V8's, and these days it's all about the "LS swap."

The most profitable option would have been to make a youtube video of the revival, gotten a million views, and started your own automotive revival and mowing channel.
 
I don't know about Chevys but I can buy nearly every body panel for my 64 Ford. I am sure Chevy panels are eazy to find also. That being said it can be saved, just costs time and money. Someone will buy it, ask 900 you can come down. That would be with a good title. luck, joe
 
As mentioned, it's entirely your call. They can be saved if you wish, and parts are available.
Now that you've heard from all the tractor people, go join the forums over at Stovebolt.com. That site is devoted to old Chevy trucks. The folks over there can give you their insight, as well as any info and help you might need--also leads on where to find parts, etc. Good luck, and keep us posted on what you decide.

Edit: If you are thinking about selling it, they also have a "for sale" forum, plus many "experts" over there who could give you an idea what it might be worth.

This post was edited by Rich'sToys on 10/12/2022 at 08:02 am.
 
Well, .... the good motor would obviously have to run to prove to somebody else that it was a good motor. And even if it is and does run, I'm not sure what help that would even be to making a sale. I'm on board with the other posters suggesting that buyers are probably not going to be interested in an in-line 6. Prospective buyers are probably going to have it yanked, and have V-8 plans. And that's only if they are looking at this truck as a project, and you dont know that they will be. They maybe will only be looking at this thing for parts.

I wouldn't be guessing as to what the buyer is going to be doing with something like this, after they buy it. You never know on that. Someone might buy this truck as a project. There might be that one guy out there that always wanted a 65 and never had a chance to buy one in any better condition at an affordable price. Someone like that, might buy this thing and restore it. Or, there might be that guy out there that has another un-completed 65, and all he needs to complete it is a bed. Someone like that might buy this thing, and only for the bed. He might take the bed off, and scrap the rest.

I'd set your price. What you want out of it. And not worry about it otherwise. Once sold, you have no control over what the next owner will do. No need to be guessing at that.

I'm thinking $900 would be a fare asking price. (IF) the bed is good, as you say. Good, as in, the bed can be re-painted and be as good as new. Not, the floor is good but it's going to need a new bedside. Not that kind of good. That kind of good, might not be of much use to somebody looking for a nice bed.
 
Here in California they rust from the top down. Maybe someone back east needs a good frame? Stan
 
I did call a salvage yare for his 93 Cadillac. I got 500.00 for it with a title. I had three mid 80's Ford pickups with no title, the salvage yard has a problem with no title. I gave two of them away and sold one running with a 6.9 for 600.00. Stan
 
No title you have to sell it for parts or take the parts to the recycler.
Giving it away takes less work.
 
stan, if the frame is decent, put an add in hemmings or one of the on line forums for older pick ups. it will sell fast. most everything is available aftermarket. we are currently doing a restoration/ rebuild/ hot rod on a late 70 s 3/4 tom
n chevy long bed. we are at 45k so far on the restoration.
 
If you think the vehicle came from the salt belt there is also a good chance it is also rusting from the bottom up. I would closely inspect the frame, metal brake lines and any parking brake cables before investing money in the vehicle.
 
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