The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk 57 GMC guidance.

Hello

I’m looking at a all original 57 GMC 100 V8 4 speed that I found for sale.
The truck is a California original that is still owned by the original owner.
It has the following.
Barn Fresh
1.) One 20 year old repaint. Exterior only wrong color
2.) 20 year old Chevy tailgate.
3.) Two freeze plugs leaking bad in the block.
4.) front break cylinder are leaking badly.
5.) Chrome is all original dull but needs to be redone.
6.) No rust in cab or bed other than surface from scratches.
7.) No accident damage only small normal use dents repaired 20 years ago.
8.) All original interior with no holes cut.
9.) Engine rebuilt once. 25 years ago
10.) I’m told it needs valves adjustment
11.) Has not been driven in 10 years.
Ok now I need your help.
I know that many of you have been through this before.
What do I need to look at or be concerned with? What ‘s a fair price to pay?
What are key areas to look at and question to ask, prior to purchasing?
My intensions are to go all original.
I’m also looking for good 1957 GMC reference materials and photos.
Thanks Jim
http://s758.photobucket.com/albums/xx221/jskmetcalf/1957%20GMC/

pictures would be good. rust is our enemy, so if there is no rust I would say you have a good find. All old trucks will need some brake work. The popped freeze plugs could be an indication of the engine being frozen at one time and could be a problem.

First and foremost, a truck is only original once. A truck with a repaint, replaced tailgate and a rebuilt engine is not "original". It can not be put back to original. It can be returned to authentic or "stock" condition.

That being said, it sounds like great find. The fair price is the price where both the buyer and seller are happy. Sight unseen, there's no way to give a reliable figure. From the description I'd say it's worth a minimum of $1000-1500. It will probably take another $5000 to get it running reliably and another $5000-10,000 on top of that to get it "right".

For GMC reference material and pics go to http://www.oldgmctrucks.com/

Its hard to put a fair price on an old vehicle.There is a monthly magazine put out by the name of Old Cars Price Guide. You can usuaslly get a good idea from this mag,Secondly,it depends on what part of the country you are in.Down south out of the rust belt you can get some pretty decent deals,but up here in NE Ohio and further east they bring big bucks.It is darned hard to find a 1957 vehicle with no serious rust damage anywhere in this country.And the prices are going up every year.Some people have posted on here that they bought their trucks at a very low figure,and most of them I find hard to believe.But if thats a fact,well good for them.I bought my 55 Chevy out of Denver,CO.in 2003 for $10,000 and paid another $800. to have it shipped here.Body and frame wise it was very good. However I started in by putting in a TCI M2 frontend, and new rear suspension.Also It now has a great running 350 cu,in. GM engine and a 700R4 tranny,I went thru the whole truck and streetrodded it out.It has won several awards at local shows and if anyone wants to buy it ,it will cost them,$21,000 . I have close to that tied up in it. Just an educated guess I would think the low figure on a 1957 GMC would be around $3,000,and high would be about $12,000. These figures would take into consideration condition,and how bad you wanted the truck.

You neglected to state the asking price. Everything is usually negioatiable

I don't know much... well... anything, about 50's trucks. But whenever I look at buying a vehicle I always look at the same things. One is obviously rust. Not just rusted fenders etc either. it's good to look at the various seams in the body, as well as all the points where the body mounts to the frame. I would highly recommend crawling under the truck to inspect the frame etc. Next is the doors. After looking for rust, open and close the doors a couple times to see how they latch, and note any sag in the door when you open it. Then see if the lights and other controls work, look at the condition of the gas tank (inside it). Then look at the "business" part of the truck, engine, suspension, steering, breaks, and see that nothing is stuck. After that, just look at the overall truck and decide if that's somewhere you ould like to start a project.
That being said, it's a 50+ year old truck, if it's better than other projects you have seen, go for it. I bought my '66 in pieces with a lot missing and serious cancer in the floor, because the price was right for me and the most of the cab/bed/front clip are in good shape compared to what I've seen.

Read carefully what Cletis has to say. He has been down this road before and so have I. If I liked it, I might go up to $2000, but be prepared to sink another $5000 into it in a hurry just to make it a decent driver.

I posted some photos
http://s758.photobucket.com/albums/xx221/jskmetcalf/1957%20GMC/

That truck look alot better than the description. I would say that it worth 3k any way. If it was in my neck of the woods, I would give that for it. But it wouldn't suprize me if he wants 5k for it. and someone would probly give it. As stated it will cost $$$ to get it in shape, but that's a great start. JMO

I'd say that truck is worth abt $4K, maybe a little more because of the nice body and grille. LWB, 4 speed, and no custom cab are negatives. I just bought a 56' in Hacienda Hghts for $4,500, but SWB, big wndw, v8, hydramatic, custom cab. Body is not as nice. JMO

A very nice truck. From the looks it won't take much to make it a driver. Add about $2000 to my original offer.

I would pay attention to the usual rust areas. You mentioned a repaint, so, it makes me wonder how they fixed those areas when they repainted it. It lokks pretty good in the pictures though.

I know we had this debate the other day, but sckool me on the custom cab? This truck has the b b glass, and the ss trim around the two-tone paint, but it don't have the chrome around the windshield & the fake chrome strip that holds the back glass in. To me in 57 this was a custom cab, but that's just me.

That's a serious rear bumper. I bet you could get $1000 just from scrap value.

Just teasing- couldn't pass it up.

Good find there. I hope you're able to work out a deal. I'm impressed with the engine, bad freeze plugs or not.

Bill

Sorry that is a photo of the type of engine in the truck not the actual engine.
Sorry to mislead

Looks like anything less than $3500 would be a good buy. If the gauge bezels are chrome and the plates are not, that seems fishy. It should be chrome/chrome (deluxe) or painted/painted (std). Most important is rustout places, also rechrome is 3X more than you think it is. The leaks you describe are do-it-yourself fixes, pretty simple and cheap. Not run in 10 years? rebuild carb, don't run it from the tank until cleaned and the usual restart procedures, oil in plug holes, hand crank first, oil the rocker area, etc. GMC more rare than Chevy and harder to find the GMC specific parts. I would do a compression test if price is above $3500. But kind of hard to do without oiling it up first and that's a lot of stuff to do to a truck you have not purchased yet. Do not consider the engine being good in your offer if no testing. dried up seals and a whole bunch of other stuff. I love old trucks but would never bother rebuilding their engines. It's way more fun and reliable to put power brake kit, disc front kit, roller bearings and more modern eng/tranny. I'm not a purest. You can do a pressure test with air pressure using a "rebuilt" spark plug I think but not without some lube on the cylinder walls. old freeze plugs are steel not brass like the replacements, so they rust out, no big. It's not barn fresh, it's just an old truck that's been sitting a long time. Just try to get it as cheap as you can and fix it up your way. Looks good Jim!

I think all of the deluxe chrome could be had seperately. Just because it had a deluxe cab didn't mean many of the chrome goodies weren't still options. I like it. It's an IRWIPI truck. You should get it running and drive it home.

That sounds like fun.