Truck buying?

[YourConfused]

I think I would walk away from that beast. Aside from needing fuel lines, air filter, rad hose, all fluids, lots of interior work and pieces, and probably several oil gaskets I would bet that the tires (the only selling point) have flat spotted from sitting for at least a year. Oh, and who likes rusty vehicles?

[NapaBavarian]

Originally Posted by Sir. Nate

Chevy has been making small block 350s since 1957 and they still put them in their trucks today.

[NapaBavarian]

Originally Posted by ridered777

Look at all the empty space in that bay !

It needs a big-block... Pontiac 442 anyone?

YesYesYes Dump in mor gas

[NapaBavarian]

I'm not sure I'd pay 2k for it, but it could be a fun project if big trucks are your thing, it looks like a 3/4 or 1 ton front axle too.

Those tires will always have flat spots, every morning, and due to the soft nature will help you produce single digit fuel economy, it will handle teribly even with everything working just right, but if you get chased by the cops you can just drive through a corn field, mudhole, or crowded shoping mall, and it will be easier than ever to find a girlfriend who looks like my avitar

An engine is only as good as it is, unless it is very new with recipts it is just another engine, but it should sound good with those pipes

[B-Rad]

It would definitely be a let-down if the tires were ruined, but I would imagine they can hold up a little while longer. I don't plan on making this my daily driver, unless I downgrade to smaller tires, which I'd probably do anyway. I looked at some all-terrain super swampers and they're $175 to $385 a piece, from 28" to 38".

I'll probably have plenty to post after this weekend, but I'll keep checking back here till then.

[Sir. Nate]

oops, chevy made small block V8's since 1955. 350's in 1967 . I'd leave the oil for a while, unless it's like honey. Leave the coolant alone, unless it has rust in it. Leave the tranny fluid, unless it's dark red and smells burnt. Yes, any auto parts store should carry carb cleaner and starting fluid. I buy mine from wal-mart . If anything put new 42" tires on, or even 44"s. Puting a smaller tire on a truck that big would ruin the look IMO.

[B-Rad]

Thanks for everything so far, Sir. Nate. It's all been a great help.

But.. 44" tires?! So huge, so expensive... Yet, I do understand. This truck is jacked up quite a bit already, smaller tires would make it look awkward.

Another friend of mine keeps flaming me for wanting a truck, saying that I'll be part of the "dumb redneck truck crowd" I don't care though, this bada$$ looks SOO much cooler than more than half the trucks I see rolling around on base here. I saw a GIANT dodge POS King Cab extended bed with stupid-loud exhaust rolling around lifted on 30" tires..

Just gotta keep my fingers crossed and hope for the best this weekend.

[Royal Tiger]

Pontiac 442? The Olds was called the 442 and started life in 1964 with a 330ci, followed in 1965 with a 400ci. 1970 brought the 455ci to the A-Body GM cars (Chevelle, Cutlass, GS, GTO).

A 350, with the headers and a carb rebuild, is fine for a truck that size.

[B-Rad]

Hey everyone, great weekend of progress!

Saturday I spent a good 2.5 hours hosing most of the undercarriage down to remove a good portion of mud, and I also scrubbed down most of the body to remove any heavy dirt. I didn't get around to using any car-wash soap since I didn't want to kill half of his backyard, or leave a big soapy muddy pool behind either.

Sunday was definitely the best part though. Me and Joey took stock of everything we needed, headed up to Auto Zone, and only spent about $60.00 total (Upper radiator hose, 4' of 3/8" hose for fuel, an in-line fuel filter, radiator hose clamps, new distributor cap, new ignition cables, a few quarts of oil, and a new oil filter). after about an hour of putting everything into it, and another hour of small troubleshooting (forgot to connect the 12V wire to the distributor), we started cranking the engine. 10 minutes of fiddling with the carburetor, we got that baby started!

We were both amazed how well it turned over. After sitting motionless in his back yard for a year, nothing was seized up. We hooked up the throttle cable and drove it around the back yard a bit, topped off some power steering fluid, and it was moving just fine.

All that's left mechanically is a few fine-tune adjustments and minor here-and-theres, and it should be running like the bada$$ minimonster it should be. One thing we couldn't figure out though was where a line went from the power steering. I think it's a vacuum hose that's supposed to connect to the carburetor, but Joey didn't have his carburetor manual with him. Also, the electronic choke on the carburetor was giving him troubles, getting stuck closed, so he disabled it.

Now, the hard part: Applying for a lost title. The previous owner (before Joey) lost it, and he's since then moved out of state and left the vehicle in Joey's posession. I'm pretty sure neither the previous owner nor Joey ever registered the vehicle with the state since it never left the back yard, so I'm wondering what the best course of action would be from here. I asked my parents about it and they said I probably won't be able to get a clean title for myself at all, without the original owner/title-holder present, since the DMV could just assume I stole the truck and I'm trying to get my own title for it. Also, I'd have to find out if there are any liens on the truck, too (which I don't think there are). So, until I head up to the DMV with Joey and the Lost Title Request form, I won't know where this'll go.

Anyone have any pointers or insight about Lost Titles? I'm sure at least ONE person here has had that issue with an SVX? Granted the oldest SVX is still 7 years younger than this truck, and so few of the SVXii were made it probably doesn't happen as much, but it's probably happened.

Other than that, very productive weekend for the (my?) truck!