Looking at a C10 to buy near Long Island NY

[volksworld]

oh yeah...as a p.s.....long island has some of the highest taxes, insurance rates and utility bills in the country and as a result shop labor rates are crazy so trying to find a shop to do any kind of resto work at an affordable price is virtually impossible

[72c20customcamper]

Originally Posted by volksworld

oh yeah...as a p.s.....long island has some of the highest taxes, insurance rates and utility bills in the country and as a result shop labor rates are crazy so trying to find a shop to do any kind of resto work at an affordable price is virtually impossible

I left LI in the 70's. Nice place to live but had to go three NYC to get off. Now LI is so grounded it's terrible. I haven't been back there in 5 years.

[cypressbog]

Don't ever buy a vehicle sight unseen...ever.

[clay68c10]

I would add to Grumpys comment about I40 and say that you only look west of I35 also.
West TX, Az, New Mexico, southern Nevada, and Cali.
You can find good stuff in Colorado and Wyoming, but weather this time of year won’t help out your shipping situation.

[godlytroop]

Thank you everyone. You've shown me that it's best to look closer to home.

Followup question:
What is the general consensus on long bed to short bed conversions and/or auto to manual conversions? I want to end up with a short bed with a Muncie M20/M21/M22 in it. I'm thinking it may be best to find a short bed and do the manual swap after the fact since it's so hard to find already done.

I'd be doing all the work myself so I'm only worried about parts cost not labor.

[volksworld]

auto to stick conversions are basically a bolt -in...pedal setup, linkage and z-bar can probably be found here in the classifieds and shouldnt be too bad to ship...used muncies however seem to be close to a grand ....more for something thats been gone through...probably have to have a driveshaft shop make you something the right length and yoke (i believe an auto trans is longer than a 4 speed so shaft needs to be longer)...and new clutch ,pressure plate, throwout bearing...new or used flywheel and bellhousing/scattershield....all should be within normal capabilities....however shortbed conversions require another bed and driveshaft (the easy part) and the chassis itself to be properly cut, shortened and welded back together ....not exactly a newbie project unless you'd like to build a deathtrap....and the price of shortbeds is high enough that you have to be careful that you dont wind up buying one that someone that had no idea what they were doing shortened...bring along someone that knows what they're looking at to verify you're not buying something that was aborted together

[godlytroop]

Originally Posted by volksworld

auto to stick conversions are basically a bolt -in...pedal setup, linkage and z-bar can probably be found here in the classifieds and shouldnt be too bad to ship...used muncies however seem to be close to a grand ....more for something thats been gone through...probably have to have a driveshaft shop make you something the right length and yoke (i believe an auto trans is longer than a 4 speed so shaft needs to be longer)...and new clutch ,pressure plate, throwout bearing...new or used flywheel and bellhousing/scattershield....all should be within normal capabilities....however shortbed conversions require another bed and driveshaft (the easy part) and the chassis itself to be properly cut, shortened and welded back together ....not exactly a newbie project unless you'd like to build a deathtrap....and the price of shortbeds is high enough that you have to be careful that you dont wind up buying one that someone that had no idea what they were doing shortened...bring along someone that knows what they're looking at to verify you're not buying something that was aborted together

Thank you! Will do. I'm going to look at a shortbed this weekend then just planning to do that transmission swap. I've swapped the motor (and while doing that removed the transmission) in my Camaro so I'm pretty confident I'll be able to make it happen. Thanks for your input, I agree trying to do a shortbed conversion is probably out of my wheelhouse right now.

[derotoreut]

After living in Buffalo all my life there aren't a whole lot of options for clean trucks. I went the other way and bought my 71 original SWB out of Phoenix. Before I did, I had someone go and look it over in detail. I would not buy a truck sight unseen. Plus I got a better price then I could have in this area. Take a look down south or out west.

[zicc1835]

Originally Posted by volksworld

i spent the first 59 years of my life on long island....it is an island...so salt water and salty humid air...parts of it go underwater in hurricanes and noreasters, and the roads get covered in rock salt and sand for the winter snows....the cab on my daily driver 70 literally fell off in about 1983....replaced with a cab from oklahoma cause it cost less to buy a rust free cab than to properly fix a rusty one....so either the truck you're looking at spent its entire life in a garage and was never driven in winter, or its had a hell of a lot of work (of unknown quality) done to it ....or maybe had a cab swap and the numbers dont match, pop rivited vin tag that your state may red flag upon inspection, etc....the rear view of the truck showing the funhouse mirror reflection on the bedside makes me think this thing is a bondo sculpture with a maaco paintjob...or acrylic enamel shot in the driveway

x2 I bought this 9 years ago factory BB Texas (basket case build thread)truck that ended up spending to much time on Long Island. granted I knew what I was buying 2k back then 5 years to get it finished nights and weekends lots of sheet metal repair . Grumpy is right although I would draw that line on your side of the Rockies north and south I have 2 more purchased pre Barret Jack run -up both from the low desert and I gladly pay my transporter fee for surface rustthe 67 towing it i bought in a u-pull yard in Newburg Oragon for 1k runnung drove it up on the trailer ...they are out there maybe not as reasonable anymore but plenty of them on your side good luck be patient