I am looking at buying this truck for $3000 obo. It's a 58 Chevy Apache I found while visiting my parents in Washington. The top is chopped about 3-4" with a sunroof in it. It has all the glass and no cracks or chips in the glass. Has Camaro front suspension. There are 64 1/2 mustang taillights frenched into the rear fenders. No rust on the truck. Bucket seats. It comes with a smallblock and a turbo 350 or 400. Both the motor and******* are out of the truck and may need to be rebuilt. I am not sure, so I will have to take the motor apart myself and give the******* to a******* shop. Automatics scare me. Should I buy it???? I think I should, but would like input from y'all. Also maybe things to look for when I go view the truck in regards to the chopped top and Camaro front end.
He have pictures of it in progress? As long as the chop is straight side-to-side and well done, that alone could be worth the $3000. Cutting those windshields is a royal pain in the*****. I'd make sure the clip is on straight too, that there's no potential trouble with the clip or it's mounting - as long as he's not dumping it over a major screwup somewhere along the line, it doesn't seem out of line. The only other thing to question is if the work was done to a standard you're comfortable with, or if it wasn't can it be brought up to how you'd like. Wouldn't hurt to offer less, start at $2,000 and maybe you can meet in the middle. Anymore I tend to ask anywhere from 1 3/4 to twice as much as I actually want to get for something, because everyone offers less on stuff. As for the motor and trans, you can always dump them for something out of a running $500 beater, too. That gets you going and then you can save up for something better down the road, rebuild these, whatever you like.
Pictures should would help. Especially since there are a lot of mods. How well is the front clip done, check the welds, are they clean/good welds? How's the body? Does the sunroof leak? It's really hard to give you an answer. But I do know there are running driving 58-59's out there for the same price or a little bit more.
Not really on those trucks you just get a chunk of van roof and clip the sunrof out then put the ribbed roof in. Real popular a few years back because the greenhouse was no longer popular. Jon here's the way I look at it on anything I buy especially a project.I figure anything I buy needs to be rebuilt. So if you are willing to invest 3K into a project then rebuild it you are in good shape. I might not rip the mill and******* apart first crack out of the barrel. Slam 'em in place and give it a whirl. You might just get luckey and find good compression etc, it'll cost you and a couple of buddies a good long saturday.
needs some rear fenders, eh? and the steps How about a straight side shot, so we can see if the subframe is in the correct position? getting the front wheels so they "look right" in the wheelwells is a****** on those trucks.
If it was me I'd keep looking. I found a nice 58, running, 283 that does not blow smoke, muncy 4 speed, inspected, registered etc. for just a bit more than that. For my money that truck has too many issues.