i heard 350 mods are pletiful and somewhat cheap in some pieces and parts. its gonna be a play truck. so probably no turbo. even though i want one. wouldn't make alot of sense cause the speed you would have to hit for boost would be pretty much useless. so im thinking carb, intake, and dual exhaust for now. idk about later well see.

 

alright so today i looked at this http://kalamazoo.craigslist.org/cto/1540914172.html

first off the body is in great shape for how old it is. what i mean is outside metal. the frame is in good shape. however like most k5s the floors are shot. the driver seat you can move side to side and the passengers is almost the same. i know you can buy replacement panels. how bad are they and is it worth it. the wiring in this is an absolute freakin nightmare. the ignition has 2 toggles, someone that didn't know what was what wired it up. it comes with new wiring harness. the gauge cluster has been cut apart. it has 4 aftermarket gauges that are just hanging there. the backlight for the gauges does not work. it has an electric choke. what i found weird was it had 2 batteries. supposedly the kid before this guy had it had a speaker system in it. i know the 6.2L came with 2 batteries which made the guy wonder the same thing. was this a swap out? it has 3 oil leaks that i am aware of. the oil pan gasket, valve cover gasket, and the intake manifold gasket. the exhaust is edelbrock headers straight piped off a y pipe 3.5" all the way back. this k5 is to loud. i mean like not legal on road or at silver lake. so i'd have to put in at least 2 mufflers (any suggestions?). the gas tank has 1 patch on the back. i believe the axles are dana 44s. which the back has a locker(if its a 44). the front lockers can be turned by hand (which is really nice). the 350 purrs like a champ but idles high. oil pressure was 60 on the gauge, but it had been sitting for 3 months. (is that high pressure for a 350?) i'd like to use it as a dune truck so i dont want to pour to much money in it. i know the floor is a serious safety concern so that would be first. also the electric like i said above. its honestly the worse job i've ever seen of someone wiring gauges and ignition. any good tech books with wiring diagrams out there? to conclude i do not believe it is worth 2500. i think maybe 1500. what do you guys think? also any suggestions or help is appreciated.
thanks again

 

It isn't a 44 in the rear. And I doubt it is a 44 in the front either. And how did you verify that the rear axle has a locker? I wouldn't take the owners word for it. The front likely does not have a locker. What you described is the front hub disconnects. They only lock in the hub, not the differential.

I would be concerned that it still has the stock 10-bolt axles and stock gearing (likely 3.73's). If that is the case, the truck will be sluggish on the road and won't reach its potential offroad. If you actually want to use the truck for offroading, those axles are not going to hold up to much punishment at all with 35" tires on them. Even if it has a Dana 44 and a 12-bolt rear, 35's are pushing the limits of the axles. But as I said earlier, I doubt the axles have been changed. I just don't see why someone would swap out the stock 10-bolts for D44 & 12-bolt. It is more worth the time and money to go to a 14-bolt full floater and a Dana 60.

At this point you have to ask yourself what you can actually do to fix the problems that are there. Can you weld? If not, they you will be paying to have the floors fixed properly.

Overall, it sounds like a basket case. I wouldn't pay more than $1.5k for it and wouldn't offer over $750 to start. But from the "$2500 firm", it sounds like the guy thinks it's worth more than it really is. My advice would be to look elsewhere. In the mean time, read up on these trucks so you can better know what to look for and how to identify the equipment that they have.

BTW, I have combined all of your threads on this topic together. No need to keep creating new ones. They are all on the same topic (a truck you do not even own).

Also, do not be afraid to actually look up information on the net. There is a TON of information out there.

 

the floor panels would be the most expensive out of everything. what do they use for replacement paneling? thick sheet metal? i wouldn't be able to do the welding, but if i got the material i know a guy that would do it for me. turns out its a small world, the guys son actually was in the same automotive tech program i'm in, (no wonder he looked familiar). the guy hasn't sold it in 3 weeks so i dont know if he's still set on 2500. i priced out parts at rockauto and came to right around $400. in seals, bearings, speedo cables, sending unit, muffler(sucker is loud), a shop manual (1442 pgs of pure info), im gonna need that if i do dive into the electrical. im pretty good at that aspect, just a matter of trying to figure out how this 16 year old ran these ignition toggles. i agree with you on the fact it aint worth 2500. tires were about 60%. i think he might be more likely to bargain since i know his kid but idk. im thinking 1500 with tires, lift, decent outer shell, also forgot to mention there is a fair amount of performance parts, do you know if the k5s had a dual battery setup for a gas? im wondering about that?

update: i did find some panels made for the 82 k5 at jc for 50 a piece. so 2 for the front would be 100. heres the link but i dont think it will show
http://www.jcwhitney.com/CAB_FLOOR_R...;0;2000397;0;0

you can find it by choosing 82 k5 as the vehicle and searching floor panels. do you think these would be good? i got channel iron for supports underneath from work that i think would work.