The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk Must sell my 1959 1-Ton 3800 - What price is fair?

Hi all,

Last time I was here I was seeking advice on hauling a heavy trailer with my beloved truck to the pacific northwest.

Plans changes and I moved to Kansas. But now I'm afraid I must sell my little truck. The big question. What is a fair price?

Here is a link to photos of it.
http://www.marshallkraft.com/Hercphotos.htm

People who have seen my truck have said it was rare. I'm not sure if they knew what they were talking about but hope some of you can help out.

Description:

1959 Chevy 3800 1 Ton with the original 283 V-8 engine professionally rebuilt early last year.

4 speed trany rebuilt myself.(not perfect but works fine)

Truck has a 9 foot step side bed. It hauled a 8,000 lb 37 foot travel trailer from NW Arkansas to Central Kansas (Peabody) and has been my daily driver since.

(that was before new intake manifold, Edelbrock Carb and Breather.)

Rust isn't terrible. Worst places is some holes above/behind the windshield seal, and the front of the bed. The bed was of heavy metal plates that the firefighters put in for supporting their water tank. Tank must have leaked as the front support sill is rusted through along with the driver side bed fender step bracket (that's why bed sags in photo)

There is rust through on the passenger side door panel and cab corner. Along with the metal fringe of the bed where is screws into the wood strips (which aren't there anymore)

My focus was getting it to drive well before I tried restoring the body. (as I could afford it) Unfortunately my business requires all my time and money and my commuting to work requires a small fuel economical car.

As far as parts I still have the original 2 barrel intake, and oil bath along with the replacement sill, gauges, turn signal wiring, and number of other parts.

I bought the truck from a classic restorer in Hutto Texas who said the 37,000 miles (then, now 44500) where original as it was a Brush Fire truck and didn't get many miles on it.

Engine runs great and the truck can easily be driven home.

I hate having to sell Him/her (depends on my mood ) but finances insist. I haven't seen too many '58 '59 1 ton 9 foot bed trucks with 283 V-8 engines.....but I'm very attached so it's hard to be a good judge of what price is fair.

Any ideas? Any would be welcome.

Much Appreciated,
Jacob Marshall

Stick it on eBay, man!

Most people don't want a 1ton due to the heavy suspension & length. Personally, I think those are must have attributes. I'd give up a kidney for that truck! I really like the grill guard.
Value: for your low mileage, rare truck with a little rust; I think you can get at least $3000 for it. Put it in the swap meet section & on ebay.
I'd hate to see you regretting selling it a couple years from now. I suggest buying a cheap 1980's S-10, or something else, for $1000 or less & keep the '59.
Scott

Howdy neighbor,,, welcome to Kansas, I live in the next town over from yah....Florence... stop by or call sometime.... 620 382 7147 is cell phone.. ive gotta 54 one ton..and a 59 two ton..and gettin ready to aquire a 64 one ton for parts.... small world...hehehehehe..

Thanks a lot Marshall. I just drove back from visiting family in Herington KS. I like that old "BOLT" I would have bought, it and drove that puppy home. But now I won't be back there untill the summer.

Cliff59

Thanks for the advice Uncle Scoot. I'm hoping I won't regret it later and will consider your advice.

Hi Fatweed. It is a small world isn't it. Thanks for the welcome and good to hear of you. (good luck on that 64 )

Cliff59, if she's still around this summer maybe you'll have the chance. Thanks anyway.

If anyone else has an opinion I'd love to hear from you.

Thanks again,
Jacob Marshall

I've had very few vehicles that I liked, but sold, and didn't regret later.

Old trucks are just starting their upswing in value.. so an old truck is going to do nothing but go up in value from here on out.

Every single day dozens of them are either getting crushed for scrap, parted out, or chopped up for somebodys latest hot rod project.

I've seen alot of 1 tons, 1/2 tons, and 1.5 tons.. but you just don't see many 1 tons with 'regular' pickup beds on 'em.

In fact, i've only ever seen one old GM 1 ton with a factory pickup bed on it.. it's a '54 GMC.. and the bed isn't even on it anymore! (the guy put a flatbed on it, and made the factory bed into a trailer)

If your back is against the wall, and you're in a pinch for cash, well.. you probably don't have any choice but to sell it.. and many of us here can definately understand that having been in that position once or twice in the past.. but if you really do love the truck, you might wanna consider raising the $$ some other way.

You can get used to living life a little broke from time to time.. but it's real tough to live with regret.

When you decide to sell it, you can list it on my website. I don't have ebay traffic but its FREE.

BuzzTrader Classic Car Classified

I don't have an idea on price, it looks nice and if I had more time and money I would buy it. I love the heavy duty truck, I must assume other people do also. And the truth is, you just can't but a running driveable truck for less then $5,000.00. Well you can, but they are rare.

I would definetly ask upwards of 5,000. More if the condition is good. I looked at the pics and the body looks great, but frame and driveline and underside will greatly affect the price.

Buzztrader

Body, Frame, and drivetrain is solid except for that rusted out bed sill and bracket and aformentioned areas. Otherwise it's a very sturdy truck.

I paid 3,200 for the truck, had the engine professionaly re-built at the tune of 2,200.

Seems like that should raise the value of the truck but I'm not sure if that's how it actually works.

Thanks again to everybody, if anyone else has advice please chime in!

Cheers!
-Jacob

If you've got that much cash soaked in it, you're probably going to get soaked when you sell it.. unless you can aford to sit on it for a year or so untill you can find the right buyer.

There's a buyer for anything at the price you want.. but not always in the time frame you need.

My gut tells me if you slapped that truck on eBay today, you might get close to $3,000 for it.

Dont sell. My dad just sold his 1941 willys coupe. Just a body and frame. All steel with its original set up 1941 american racing mags with the old slicks still attached from when it was a gasser on the strip. He loved that car. I loved that car.

He hauled it on a trailer in and out of garages for longer then hes had me. When I walked into his garage my heart stopped. It was like losing a member of the family. If you really love it find a way to keep it.

Just think it out and dont do anything you'll regret. Lifes to short for that. -Jeff

Yes Don't sell it..I like that truck and someone else will too. Just hang on to it if you can. This is like Money in the Bank, the Price of your Truck will never go down, and can only go up!

If you still have her this summer, I can drop over on my way to Herington KS and check it out.

Cliff59

I have to agree with a lot of the others. If you really like the truck think about holding on to it and find some other solution to your problem. See an old MB in a few of the pics. Can it be sold and $ used to find an economical daily driver or something such? Fact is, the truck could be parked until sunnier days and wouldn't cost you much if not used as a daily driver. As said what you've got for a truck now is in decent shape and won't take much to put it the way you want it at sometime in the future. Finding a like replacement somewhere down the road may prove very difficult at best along with the fact as stated these trucks aren't going down in value. Good luck with what you decide what is best for you.

Thanks for the encouragement. The MB used to be mine but I sold her to my brother for a down payment on my house.

I know I'll regret dropping this dream, but the financially responsible thing to do is sell her and get a fuel economical vehicle that will help me save $ to put into my business instead of the Arab economy

Maybe in a few years I'll be able to find another old truck and start over. Just hope I can find someone who will/can give her the time and money to take care of her.

Thanks again for the advice. I appreciate all the input!

Sincerely,
Jacob

Well, I'll throw in my two cents as well--
It's a GREAT looking truck. I don't think a guy could ask for a better starting point. The short-bed 1/2 tons are the more popular...I'd think in the mid-west (Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin), your truck would sell easily for $5,000.

I've started a business too, though it's on the side and a lot less high-pressure. I have a regular day-job, so at this point I'm not scrimping. What's your business? Is it one that an old truck could be a part of? Like, putting your name on the door of the truck?

Now, about the fuel exonomy thing: You could pick up some mph by putting a manual 4spd overdrive trans from a later Chevy pick-up in it. It'll require a trans cross member, but that's pretty easy--there might even be a bolt-in one available out there already. I've got that trans and bellhousing from an '87 Chevy, so do a search and find out what other years will interchange with that transmission.
You could also go to a more fuel-friendly gear in the rear end. It probably has some pretty steep gears in it now...drop down to something in the 3.40 range. It'll kill towing power and grunt, but will get better mileage.
Ditch the 4bbl in place of a 2bbl carb--that'll help by keeping your foot out of the 4bbl.
A good free-flowing dual exhaust will help too.
This isn't going to make the truck pick up 15mpg over what you have now, but it'll help.
Otherwise, like was said earlier...pick up a cheap econo-box.
-Brad