The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk Looking at a 63' Shortbed on Craigslist... anything I should ask about?

Hello,
As the title says, I am looking at a 1963 Chevy C10 on craigslist and I don't know the most about cars (I'm 17 and want to start teaching myself) so,
what should I ask him, and what should I check on when/if I go and see it?
Thanks!

Welcome. Good way to spend your time. Truck is highly modified, which is not bad or good. Just make sure that is what you want. Some of the mods are what some of us do to make the truck more driver friendly. Disk brakes. 350 with auto transmission are added much later than the truck's original age. Parts are readily available at all of your auto parts stores. Looks like arms to the rear suspension are new.
Rust is in the usual places. Does not look like it is hidden, so likely you are seeing what you are getting. All pictured is repairable if you wanted to dress it up. It appears some body work, by way of bondo, has occurred during previous mods.
Look up under the top of windshield and along the windshield seal. Those places are hard to deal with and there may be some rust if typical. If rust there, water will get under the seal and continue degrade and water will come in. How do the cab perches look? Cab sits on 4 perches on the frame and I would want to know that they are sound or you may want to prep to repair. How is the cab floor? If covered with mat, and if owner will let you pull it up, I would want to see the floor. Floors, rust. Can be repaired but lots of work.
If it starts drives and stops, you can work with the rest.
Check in with 60-66 forum with more questions.
Hambone

Welcome to Stovebolt!
Well I am not familiar with a 63, I like the looks of that vintage truck but have never worked on one. A few things that I noticed... Pictures from under the truck shows no bed floor, a good amount of bondo in the lower portion of the front fenders, drivers door has been over extended, cab corners are probably as good as a good number of that year truck.
All of these things can be repaired as well as the other things he mentioned in the ad. Also noticed on the interior shot the clutch pedal is still up? He lists it as a automatic and that can be seen from the under-shot pic's. Another big red flag for me is there is no air cleaner or torque converter cover on it. How long has it been run without a air cleaner? Can be pretty hard on a engine. Seems over priced to me. I encourage you to look at others, maybe this is the one for you but I suggest "keep looking".

You state you are 17 and your knowledge of cars is limited. Can you legally buy the truck w/o your parents permission? Do you have any relatives that you consider car guys? If you do, take them with you. Make sure it drives and stops in a straight line. There is nothing on one of these trucks that you cannot teach yourself to fix. Rust repair on the cab over the windshield is a real bear. Floor pans, cab corners, fenders and doors are reproduced. Bed parts are easily found. That all being said, evaluate your needs and look realistically at your budget. Can you afford a money pit at your age? Do you need to save up more money and get a better start or are you ready to take the plunge? Good luck with your journey.

Hard to help out since the link has already been deleted. I understand why they do that, but it would be helpful if they waited a few days or a week before doing so in order to give us a chance to help the guy out.

Moderator's note: You guys may not think so but it is quite a job moderating a forum. There are always off topic comments to edit out like the above comment. And then you think we should keep a list of stuff we need to go back a week later and delete? No thank you. I'll continue to delete links that will go dead when I see them. This topic is closed. Back to the original topic.

We have done several of these trucks and Martin (Justhorsenround) named the #1 bugaboo with these trucks---corrosion around the drip rail. A hard job for pro's and really tough for beginners. If it has signs of repair in this area, beware.

Without knowledge of the truck bluegill7, it appears the type of truck that most people should stay away from for their first truck.

Bondo: most likely means a lot of rust and body rot. Which means that a lot of metal will have to be replaced. Welding equipment is not cheap and takes time to learn welding skills.

For most people the skill level is not there though it can be learnt however unless you have a lot of money and or you dad or kindly uncle or grandpa own a body shop this type of work will be extremely costly. The amount of tools and equipment will cost you more than many adults can afford.

Frankenstein Truck:

A heavily modified truck is a Frankenstein Truck. It may be a 63 truck, with what year motor, trans, brakes, rear diff, and so forth. You will find it harder to get parts for you can not say to the parts man give me a ________ for a 1963 Chevy because that correct for the year part may not fit.

Upholstery/Interior:

Putting on seat covers is one thing but as auto's newer interior work becomes more involved.

Best bet for you as any other first timer is to get an original truck, as close to complete as possible, where the body and interior may not look great but are still in useable condition.

A basic mechanic tool set is not that expensive.

Learning to fix a stock auto is hard enough for a first timer. There are many people from time to time that have problems with "primitive" and "simple" ignition, fuel system, and brake systems. Jeffrey