Look what I found - Worth Buying?

[danheit]

So after perusing craigslist yesterday at work (hush!) I came across an ad for a 1957 Chevy pickup - Must Sell - $1500 obo. Well, my obo was $300, which she says she will take. She sent me some pics, and says the truck has a clear title. The story as to why she is selling doesn't add up, as she said she is moving and can't take it with her, but when I spoke to her on the phone she said it is at her mother in law's house, the truck belonged to her mother in law, and she was selling it for her. The truck obviously hasn't moved in MANY years. Anyways, here's pics! Should I go get it? I don't have anywhere to put it, and I have no way to get it home, but it's only $300!!

[f18delta]

A $1200 discount is difficult to pass up. I say go for it, but I'm not your wife and you're far enough away to not be able to ask me for a couch to sleep on

[blackdiesel]

WELL, if you made an offer and she said yes then in my book your the owner of a rusty 57 chevy truck. Theres enough parts on it you will come out ok

[56chevy1300]

It does make a nice lawn ornament

[buggy5872]

title and vin tag is worth 300 bucks. lots of parts there too. Might be able to save it but if not you could get your money back selling stuff.

[Denee007]

So, what would be a good guess of how much money to get it street worthy and presentable? And not talking time invested; )
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[danheit]

Wow. I drove the 90 mile round trip to go look at it, just got back. There isn't a single usable body panel on the entire truck. Hood is rusted, all fenders are gone, bed is shot, cab is shot, truck hasn't moved in 7 years, side glass is cracked, radiator is no good (as you can see in the pics). Here's where I am at on it. She said she would go down to 150 for the truck, I am at $100. All that's worth anything on there to me is the vent windows, door hinges, hood hinges and windshield glass. Frame is too tough to see right now. It's gonna cost me 150 to get it towed home, once I pull the parts, it's going to the scrapper up the street, might get 250. I took pics while I was out there, I'll post them in a little while.

Denee, I'm thinking it isn't a fixer. Although ANYTHING can be repaired, I don't think it would make financial sense. It will take an entire replacement body. Then there's the questions on the engine and trans..... I would say you could easily have $20+ into it.

[Denee007]

I think I would give the lady the offer made and let her keep the truck. It would save you money and time; ). Poor old truck! To think that it was on the road at some time hauling who knows what!
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[Dan in Pasadena]

Personally, I think you'd make a profit but of course NOT on your time and effort. It's gonna be a pain to get it out of there most likely and as you say there WILL be costs associated. At first look I'd say its a parts truck too rather than a starting point.

[danheit]

Well, I called the lady twice, and texted her twice telling her I wanted to buy the truck and to call me back. She has yet to do so....so this may be a moot point. However, I checked around, and I am going to go rent a U-haul trailer and just go pick it up in the AM. Dan, yes, it is most certainly only a parts truck. After I get a few parts, and check here to see if anyone needs anything, I will junk the truck. I will, however, probably hang onto the frame as a "just in case".

[danheit]

Well, I went and got it today. Paid $150 for the truck, $60 for the trailer, and about $40 in gas. All in all, not too bad. Now, this truck was the biggest PITA to get on the trailer I have ever seen. All 4 tires were flat, 3 pumped up with my air compressor, the 4th (left rear) would not. Flat as can be, rim is rotted out to where there was a hole big enough to put my hand into (read hand, not finger). OK, no biggie, I will just hand winch it on the trailer with a flat tire. Been there, done that. Keep in mind, I am using 2 come along winches and my good ole arm power. Well, as I am winching, I am beating myself to death, and the truck is barely moving. The transmission is stuck in gear! Can't get it to come out, and the inbred folks standing 6 feet away watching me do this offered no help to push on the clutch while I winched, even though I explained to them the problem. They just stared at me with blank looks on their faces and didn't speak. It was very strange, but oh well. Took 4 hours to get the truck on the trailer with having to jack it up into the air several times and move it sideways, and heavy winching. I actually worked so hard that I puked in the ditch next to the truck. Yeah, it was that bad, and evidently I am that badly out of shape! Anyways, got the truck home, pulled in front of my house, and got cursed out by a neighbor for running a junk yard out of my house! Hey, he shouldn't have moved into a neighborhood with no HOA! If and when he decides to kick in on my mortgage, he can have input. Until then, go take a flying leap....... Truck was going into the big empty space in the garage, but after my kind neighbor, the truck is now driveway art, just to make a point.

[Dan in Pasadena]

Originally Posted by danheit

....... Truck was going into the big empty space in the garage, but after my kind neighbor, the truck is now driveway art, just to make a point.

Good on you! Sorry to hear about how hard it was. I was going to make a lame joke about calling you a WAAH-mbulance, until I read that you puked. That counts as a serious self-ass-kicking you gave yourself.

[arturo7]

I call dibs on the mirrors.

Assuming they work...

[beanyard]

I enjoyed the story
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[danheit]

Originally Posted by arturo7

I call dibs on the mirrors.

Assuming they work...

......Mirror (singular) and as I am sure you can see, it's the big one.

[f18delta]

So that isn't another mirror in the cab? Or did it fall out while you were filling in their ditch?

I only poke fun because I'd still be there passed out in their front yard...

[mr48chev]

The go and get it story was so good that I had to let a coworker read it after he asked what I was laughing so hard at.

If it has a title and a number plate to match that is worth more than what you gave for the truck and follows exactly what I've suggested in the past for guys with pieced together trucks with not titles. Buy the hulk with a title, take two or more and make one and you know exactly where your title came from.

[danheit]

OK guys, there is SO much more to the story, but I really didn't have the energy to type it all out at 1230 this morning, knowing I had work at 6. So, here goes:

To set the scene, do you remember the movie The Goonies? Yeah, I bought the truck from Sloth, and her uncle dad and sister mom. These were some of the freakiest people I have ever seen in my life, and very obviously, that family tree went straight up and down with no branches whatsoever. So I pull up to their house, which is a 1960's single wide right in the heart of the ghetto. These were obviously poor country folk, so no problems there, and God bless them for doing what they do to survive. However, for the many hours I was there, there was a gangsta block party happening on the opposite diagonal corner of the street that they live on. There were lots of old crown vics and caprices all donked out on 26+" wheels, the lambo doors open, and everybody had the stereo's going as loud as they would, all playing different songs at the same time. Very annoying. I have my truck and trailer backed into their "driveway", and the front of the truck just inside their yard at the street. About 2 hours into loading the truck, a car of BM's stops in front of this house, 3 guys get out, walk into the yard and surround my F250, and start looking in it through the open windows, and into the bed, all the while I am 10 feet behind it winching a truck on the trailer. I stand up, yell, Can I help you?! Guy looking in the bed looks at me, gives me the "what's up" head nod, and they all three get back in the car and drive off. I am pretty sure I would have been car jacked had it not been such a PITA to unhook the trailer and the 57 half way on it! Now, to set the stage for the rest of the story, as I stated in a previous post, it took several hours to get the truck out of it's 7 year old ruts with flat tires and a locked up drivetrain up hill onto a trailer with a come-a-long. This entire time, Sloth and the family stood shoulder to shoulder, arms folded, expressionless, staring at me from about 6 feet away. They did not move for 4 hours, except for when Sloth would come over to me every 30 minutes and ask if I wanted to see her pet snake, and then finally came over with a giant rat in her hands, petting it, telling me how she was fattening it up to feed the snake. I tried to be nice and speak to sister mom, said "hi, how are you", she just looked at me with a blank stare. No, she wasn't deaf, as she spoke to Sloth, and kept calling me the strange man. Not A strange man, THE strange man. Finally I got it all loaded up, uncle dad walked around the trailer to take one last look at the truck (which wasn't ever his so no emotional value there) and walked away. I drove as fast out of that area as possible and made my way home. Oh, and for the puking thing, they all stared at me and didn't move or say a word when I puked in the ditch next to the truck that bordered their yard. Nice.

[danheit]

Originally Posted by f18delta

So that isn't another mirror in the cab? Or did it fall out while you were filling in their ditch?

I only poke fun because I'd still be there passed out in their front yard...

You are correct sir! I forgot about that one! That mirror is actually in the bed right now. Either way, I only have one of each, but they can both be yours if you want!

[f18delta]

I believe arturo7 called dibs, and I don't need them. Appreciate it and glad you didn't pass out. Sounds like you may have gotten your virginity stolen from either side of the street!

[danheit]

So, now for a continuation of once I got home, after getting cursed out by the neighbor, I was pissed. Needed to get the truck off the trailer. I pulled into the culdesac across from my house, got my CJ out, and hooked a strap from the front bumper of the CJ to the front bumper of the truck. Snatched it off the trailer in all of it's locked in gear glory, mud tires on the CJ screeching and smoking in the street, left two nice black streaks across the roadway. Once I had it off the trailer, I purposefully pulled it into the middle of the road to block the road as I saw that neighbor getting back into his car to go somewhere, forcing him to take the long way around off the street. I was somehow able to talk my wife into sitting in this nasty old truck (on a bath towel of course) and holding in the clutch while I pushed it up hill with the Jeep (truck now has 2 flat tires, one completely off the rim). Keep in mind, there is no glass able to be seen out of, just green moldy slime. I just told her to hold it straight (which she didn't but it worked out anyways) and keep the clutch pressed. I got behind her and pushed that thing up my driveway, which has a decent incline to it, again, mud tires spinning and smoking, and ended up with the truck crooked at the top of my driveway. I couldn't ask for anything better. My wife says she agrees with the neighbor and isn't mad at him at all.....I think she may have paid him to say that.

Pics of the end game:

[LEEVON]

Wish we had pics of the goonies! I would have left that bad boy where it was, to return to dust with all of that hassle, but I've been on those kinds of trips before!

[RenoKeene]

That is some funny stuff right there , I should send you $100 just for making me laugh for 30 min. The sloth family sounds like my X wife's, used to just show up at our little two bedroom house in Florida (from Brush Creek, TN) unannounced and stay until I would run them off.
Cudos to you for doing what you wanted to in spite of all the hassle. You sir are my new hero

[arturo7]

I wonder what they did with the cash?


If there is only one Cal-style mirror, I hereby release the bids.

[buggy5872]

My wife would probably agree with the neighbor too. Her rule is it has to fit in the garage if it looks like crap. I showed her though. Brought home one truck full of mice (not know to me at the time) and it went right into the garage. Couple hours later when the mice found their way out of the truck and into the house she was not happy to say the least. I just remided her of the rule and it was her fault. Didn't get me vary far but it was funny. I think it makes a great driveway fixture.