'72 Sierra Grande Critique
 

I'm looking at purchasing this '72 Sierra Grande and am hoping some of you may be willing to pick it apart for me.
I grew up driving my father's red/white base '72 GMC with a 307 and 3-speed. That was a great truck albeit a little lacking for power.

I plan on using the new truck as a suburban weekend toy. Go to Lowes for some mulch once in a while, maybe haul an engine to the rebuilder, things like that, so I'm not overly concerned about the truck being 100% but I also don't want it to be a cobbled mess.

Thanks for any input you can offer, no matter how harsh!

Arlie

Shoot, I need to resize the photos. Be back later.
Until then here is a photo of the original truck, plus my '68 Mustang GT/CS and '50 Buick. I think the photo is from 1978.

Re: '72 Sierra Grande Critique
 

Here's a couple shots of the engine bay and what is supposed to be a 350

Re: '72 Sierra Grande Critique
 

Looks like a nice truck, what's the price?

First thing I would do is get rid of that fire hazard fuel filter!

Re: '72 Sierra Grande Critique
 

Hey 67redneck, what's wrong with the filter? I don't see any glass. Just wondering..

The pics look ok. Most things seem to be replaced or freshened up at some point. So that is positive. Cosmetic seems good, you will have to drive it and see how it runs, handles and STOPS.. Also my opinion.. Ditch the white walls!

Re: '72 Sierra Grande Critique
 

How much?

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Nice truck. I'd ditch the bed cover though.

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The truck looks great! I'd drive that every day in a heartbeat. And I like the bed cover. It might be a pain to take on and off alone but I guess any bedcover would be. Mine (when I put it back on) will be.

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How is it possible to pick a truck apart in that nice a shape. sure people will come in and give opinions on what they would do if it were theirs, but its yours and its very nice. ( the rubber fuel line at the filter is a safety thing though, I have to get rid of mine in the spring,) other than that, I LIKE IT!!!! I wish you luck with it.

Re: '72 Sierra Grande Critique
 

Modern fuels with e10 have been known to deteriorate plastic and rubber. Engine heat is also not very friendly with plastic filters. They can become brittle over time. If it ever breaks with a hot engine it can cause a fire. Just isn't worth it. Members have lost vehicles and homes due to the plastic and glass filters.

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I really like the 2 tone GMCs. I don't see anything major that it needs. I would probably plan on putting A/C in it, if it were mine.

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Should there be a Sierra Grande emblem on the glove box door? Nice truck and what's the asking price on it?

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Very nice truck, but you asked for critique. On the recent picture the engine ID badge below the front marker light is not from the factory. These were installed on Chevys only. My GMC has the same and somebody pointed that out to me.
LEH

Re: '72 Sierra Grande Critique
 

It looks like one of those zinc plated steel filters if you enlarge the picture. But, I'm on an iPad though so it's not like I have a super computer here to read with.

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If thats the one on CL in TN I've been watching it. The same guy has a Chevy for sale as well. He is either a collector or dealer. It looks very nice in the pictures. I would go and check it out for you but its like 3+ hours away. Maybe another member is close enough to go see it in person and report back to you. Please let us know if you buy it.

Re: '72 Sierra Grande Critique
 

I see it needing a coolant recovery tank, update to HEI, definitely get rid of the fuel filter on the engine and instal a solid fuel line from the fuel pump to the carb., get rid of the white walls, and the mud flaps.

Put a sport type rear bumper on it, and add a receiver hitch. And add a new style spare tire cable lift with a spare.

Get the oil changed and put an A/C delco filter or Wix filter on it.

Now I can't tell tell what carb. that is on it, it doesn't look like a quadrajet, but I do see the electric choke on the side of the carb. Be sure it is wired with the oil pressure safety switch so it works like it should. Ex. without oil pressure (say the engine dies), it won't be heating up the element.

Other than that drive her, and enjoy.

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Looks like a pretty decent truck to me! The carb isnt original but thats no big deal.

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Thanks for all the comments. It's nice to know that there are no major restoration mistakes.

This truck was for sale in Western Washington for quite a while then the guy in Tennessee purchased it and drove it home. He's selling this truck and the '68 mentioned above. I knew someone on this site would recognize it!!! I'm the same way with California Special Mustangs.

I really don't need the truck but it's hard to pass up what I consider such a bargain, and GMCs in this condition are not easy to find.

I know I can get it for $15,500 and possibly even $15,000. If I bring it to Houston I'll have the cost of shipping it and adding AC so I don't want to go any higher than $16,000. His asking price is something like $16,750 but he said he has $1,000 to play with. Pretty honest guy!!!

Like I said, I don't really need the truck, and I need to talk myself out of buying it, so if any of you just have to have it don't worry about buying it out from under me. I'm fine with that. In fact, I'll give you Dan's contact information, but you don't have much time because I'm looking for an inspection company to go take a look at it. I was going to look at it myself but getting there from here via air is really expensive.

This seems to be a good bunch of folks so I think I'll stick around a bit.

Arlie

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Good points. I didn't bring up some of those things, because he said it would be a hardware store truck, but once he gets it I'm sure he'll like driving it so much, it'll get used more than he originally thought. So, yeah. I'd ditch the mud flaps and then turn the white walls in. I used to have that same step bumper, and I'm glad I ditched it for a chrome one. There are only 4 bolts that hold on that heavy step bumper, and two of them snapped in half without too much force when I turned them to remove the bumper. Glad I never towed with it.

Here's my new bumperhttp://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r...ps0bcbc310.jpg

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$16K??

There was a shortbed Super on for sale on this site for $18K with the Big Block....just some perspective.

I bought a loaded big block GMC 3/4 ton for $3500 and just had the engine rebuilt and the a/c worked on. Granted its not this nice but I have half the price of this truck in it.

Re: '72 Sierra Grande Critique
 

Do you think it's overpriced for what it is?
I don't enjoy working in the garage in Houston (95 degrees and 90% humidity from May-September) so I'm willing to pay for a previous owner's hard work. In my younger days I wouldn't have minded a project but I'm too old for that now!

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Nice truck!!! "It is is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it"!! If it what you want, it is worth it.......

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You may be right? I thought it was clear plastic, but it may be the camera flash on the metal?

Yes, 16K is a little high for a longbed.

What was it for sale for in Washington?

Personally, I wouldn't go higher than 10K for it, and that's only because it appears to be super clean. If it's worth it to you to not have to do anything to it and you love it, buy it, but I think you'll have a hard time reselling it for what you'll have into it. Add at least $1,500 for the A/C install, and that's doing it yourself with a shop charging it up.

I paid 13.5K for a 65 Mustang coupe and was told I paid at least 2, maybe 3K too much for what I got, but I didn't want a car I had to touch the paint on, this car was painted in 2006 and is still near perfect, so I paid it. If you add up the A/C, dynamat, stereo, and wheels I have another 3K into it.

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/a...1&d=1377897426

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I'd buy it and drive it just like it is. I'm not one to change a bunch of stuff just because someone else doesn't happen to like it....

Just my 2¢ worth.

LockDoc

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It's good to see another Mustang fan! As you can tell from my screen name I am a little fond of a certain year and model. I've owned a few of them over the years.

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There's a few of us around...

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=569778

I've seen quite a few others mention they have 60's mustangs as well. I also have a 67 firebird.