Good morning All! I am looking at a 1955 Chevy truck 1st series. The truck comes with a 383 crate motor that is in the engine bay but nothing hooked up. New radiator, 400 turbo auto transmission, 4 WHEEL DISC BRAKES, TILT COLUMN, NEW DRIVE SHAFT, PAINLESS WIRING, HEIGHTS CHASSIS. There is only surface rust in spots on the body and frame. $4,800 for the Truck. What are your thoughts on this truck? Good deal? Easy enough to finish putting the truck together? Any thoughts or comments are very much appreciated .
That is not a 1955 Chevy 1st Series truck. It is a 1955 Chevy 2nd Series truck. The 1st Series trucks were identical to the 1954 Chevy trucks. Be very careful here if the title says 1st Series.
There are enough parts there to justify a $4800 price tag in my opinion.
Thanks guys, this helps me out more than you know. The engine is not hooked up and running so I couldn't drive it. The new drive shaft is out as well. I had talked him down from $5,500 to $4,800.. But this is my first time looking at these trucks.
From my experience, you will need to put another $4800 in it after you purchase it, to get it running, roadworthy and with a decent paint job.
There are some things you can do to make sure that the guy is legitimate before you transfer the long green.
First order of business is to verify what you have. On the rear of the block, driver's side, just before the bellhousing face is a block casting number..... http://www.speednik.com/files/2013/0...asylum-com.jpg
This will tell you what particular block this is. For instance, if it shows being a 305 block, then you know the seller is lying. You cannot make a 383 from a 305 block.
On the front of the block, passenger's side is a stamped alpha-numeric number that is called the suffix number or Engine I.D. Number or VIN code. This will tell you what configuration the motor was built as.....It's shown in this pic as Engine I.D. Number / VIN Code..... http://www.crankshaftcoalition.com/w...lock_codes.jpg
If we had the block casting number off the rear of the block and the Engine I.D. Number off the front of the block, we could tell more about the motor.
Price is in line with about what those trucks will bring for a complete rolling chasis.It is a fairly good deal,especially if the motor,etc are all up to par.You're not getting beat at that price,even with out the motor.It really just depends on how much work & money are you willing you throw at it & what you expect & are wanting for the end product.
Thank you all for the replies, I have learned some things and other things to think about. Since this morning , I feel that the guy selling (From a car lot) has shown show true colors that probably translate into the Truck that he is selling. I had given him a deposit to hold the truck for me on Saturday. I didn't sign anything however but did get a receipt. Over the weekend I started to have doubts about the deal hence another reason that I asked the question about the truck on this forum. I contacted the dealer this morning to discuss about not buying at this time and wanted to let him know in case someone else wanted the truck. I wanted to try and get at least some of my deposit back since it had only been a couple of days. When I talked to him on the phone he started acting like there was a bad connection and hung up on me. I tried calling him back at least 6 times but he wouldn't answer. Finally he responded to a text and said that I needed to call the office so when I did right away, his office manager told me he wasn't in and that his cell phone was in the office. Very much shady and makes me glad that I didn't buy it from him. He still hasn't returned my call. Anyway, I do love theses trucks and will learn more about them on the forum, hopefully will find a beauty soon. Thanks again!
'383 crate motor' - what is it exactly? The seller shoud know and be able to supply you with info about it and/or receipts. Is it new (never fired) or been kicking around for the past 15 years with 30000 abusive miles on it. If the motor is sound, then it's a deal, but without that piece of info it has a lot of potential to lead to disappointment.
Building something of this nature is usually more than just bolting in parts. I.E. the 4 wheel discs. There is a good chance that they'll need to be tuned for the truck. Were the brakes a high dollar kit or a hodgepodge of collected parts pieced together - there is a difference.
Makes me think that maybe someone lost interest in the build or died and the next of kin sold the whole mess to the car dealer for a song and the car dealer was just trying to get well on the deal. I'm bettin' it was a stock 305 with rebuilder pistons. hahahahaha
Three or four of you guys need to give this dealer a blanket party.
A lot of good advise on this site from people who have been involved buying and selling vehicles and parts.
A deposit is always a sticky situation.
I've never been a car salesman but have sold cars and parts on a private sales type of arraignment. If someone wants to put a deposit on something to hold it for them I make sure, and put it in writing on a receipt, that the deposit is non-refundable and the buyer is responsible to do his due diligence in verifying what has been represented to him before he puts his deposit down and the date that the balance of the money is due on the sale of it ... What is a deposit for if it's just to be refunded and miss out on actually selling the car to a serious buyer...? .. My advice would be NEVER put a deposit on anything just to hold it while you make up your mind whether or not you want it.
It's really hard to get good money for something if it isn't drivable... the buyer has no idea if even one part on it works...
Where's this truck located?
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