The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk 1950 3100 value

I know everyone has different opinions on value but a ballpark figure would help out.
1950 3100 1 owner
3 speed on the column
Surface rust but can corners are gone
Engine rebuilt 8 years ago. Didn't see under hood (according to seller)
Everything seems to be there
Needs tires
Runs and driveable
Interior ok but original
New gas tank behind seat
Seller asking 9600$ obo
Thanks for any help on this. Bill

I would keep looking. If the cab corners are gone, then most likely, so are the floors, inner cowls, inner to outer cowls and who knows what else.
Then there are all of the mechanical parts.

Thanks Carl

About $5000 too much IMHO

That's about what I was thinking. Thank you for your help. Bill

A couple of years ago I would have agreed with that statement , but the market has ramped up considerably of late.

$9,600 is steep ; perhaps the owner will negotiate? One owner is a plus , the visible running board looks nice and straight , truck does not look abused. And those 3100s are not growing on trees.

Thanks for your input on the value. Overall the truck seems in good condition for it's age and where it has lived it's life. Bill

Looks like it has not been messed with may be worth another look to get more imfo on its condition and what it needs to be roadworthy In that area like mine there are no trucks you have to add the expense of travel and tow.

Thanks Kevinski, truck is just down the road 30 miles.

If it’s a one owner truck, how old is this fellow? I don’t buy that for one second. I’d want to pull some pieces off the engine to see if it has been rebuilt. Pull some plugs, the valve cover, and the lifter cover. That could tell you a lot. I’d call him out on it and want to see all the proof he has. It is a very solid truck, but grill the guy good to make sure you’re happy with your decision. If it seems to good to be true... it probably is.

Take note of VIN tag, attached with screws instead of rivets. May cause title problems.

Glass , bumper , sheet metal all look well above average for 70 years. From what I can see of the box there was not a lot of heavy hauling , otherwise the top rail would not be so straight. If I found that one 30 miles down the road I would certainly be intrigued. UP Michigan roads were probably pretty salt free for most of the life of that truck.
See if you can communicate directly with the owner. At the very least his story may be worth sharing here.

Original owner has passed and son is in charge of estate. All good questions to be asked.

VIN tags prior to ‘51 were attached with screws instead of rivets. I know that they used clutch head screws but never seen Phillip’s head screws.

This is where we need the “collective” to chime in.

Here is a [LINK] to Jim Carters article on VIN plate attachment.

Seems a bit high to me. On the outside it looks really promising, but you need to hear it run and take it for a spin. Short of that, you don’t know how much of a money pit you have.

My truck looked good, but had not been running for several years and had a newly rebuilt engine 5 years prior, with paperwork to prove it. It had a whole folder full of receipts. Aside from that it needed cab corners, a cab floor and new wood in the bed. That’s what you could see.

Turns out the rebuild was done by a shoddy shop and needed to be completely redone to the tune of $2,000, with me doing the assembling. It also needed the tranny rebuild, rear axle rebuild, a complete brake job, including new lines master and wheel cylinders, complete spring rebuild, complete front end rebuild, gas tank cleaning, complete rewiring and I haven’t even got to any bodywork. I’ve put $6,000 (not including the purchase price) into this project and I did the work (aside from the engine machining).

The point I am trying to make is unless you can drive that truck at close to highway speeds, testing the steering, brakes, gears and listening for abnormal noises, you won’t know what you really have.

IMHO, if the truck runs and drives OK, $9,600 is the high point of the negotiations and I would try to get that down at least $2,000.

Thanks again for your input. I am in no hurry to purchase this truck as I completed a 37 1/2 ton about a year ago. Looking ahead for my next winter project. Would really like a 53 but this may fit the bill. The good part is that it is close to where I live. Thanks again. Bill

1950 tags were held on by screws. The ones I have seen are not Phillips head. They are hex head/clutch head combination.
I don't know what came on Canadian built trucks (in case that one was built in Canada).

Sweet truck - I like it!

But the asking price is much too high. If it were me, I'd offer half what he's asking, and go home feeling good if I got it and good if I didn't.

May have been a repaint with original screws lost?

Hi Bill congratulations potentially I want to disagree with the other guys a running truck is worth 9 to 14 in my opinion but I’m in California everything is inflated. But that is guaranteed what the asking price would be here . I would look at Hemmings or sold ones on eBay to see what the market is at least you save $1000 of shipping off eBay. But in California that’s definitely not too much that’s almost what people ask for non-running one sometimes. Part of it to is what are your goals do you want to just drive it or do you want to fix it up?
I have a 49 and I am the third owner so it can be done maybe it was in the family one owner you know grandpa or something but corners are no big deal that’s common I would grab a catalog and a notepad. I have a truck similar condition but no rust in corners and I paid 4500. Not running. 3 yrs ago and it’s gone up. I check the southwest on Craigslist every month. Search there too.

Everything’s expensive in California. Just one of the reasons I wouldn’t live there.

It’s a 3-window with an “iffy” motor and bad tires. It’s a $6,500 truck. $7K tops if you really want it.

I passed on a 53 in West Texas last November for $2500 with no rust, almost no body damage, original paint still there and decent enough tires I could have towed it a long way. 5 window with fender spare, but no engine, no transmission and no title. My guess is the engine/transmission disappeared decades ago. Did not look as if any recent work had been done anywhere. At $1500 I'd have taken it, but it costs big $ to bring one of these back to good nick today. A lot more than it did just 3 or 4 years ago, and the price of even a really nice one seems pretty well frozen in the mid 20s. I have a feeling this truck we're looking at is going to have plenty of hidden surprises.

These conversations are always interesting. While it shouldn't come as a big surprise that prices vary across the country, at times it can be shocking to hear the differences!

I picked up my '49 3800 last summer near Detroit for $3k. Fair amount of expected rust. Fenders, lower cowls, parts of floorboard, lower door pillars, tailgate, cab corners etc. Not a complete rust bucket. But, sheetmetal replacement or repair needed just about everywhere.

The previous owner had done a fair amount of work coating the frame with a POR15-like paint, replaced the bed, replaced the original engine with a 1960 235, replaced the gas tank and bought about every seal/weatherstrip from LMC and refurbed the gauges/speedo. The truck ran and drove on/off the trailer to get it home.

I know this is the usual midwest view that south/southwest people are probably tired of hearing. But, from your description, the asking price wasn't terrible at all for a running/driving truck with body in that shape. At least, it would be reasonable around here!