Hello,

Just looking for a little advice. I went and looked at a 56 f100 custom cab yesterday, very clean with 3 speed column shifter, new paint, original engine that seems to run well, may need some carborator work. Almost everything is done, still needs: bed wood replacement with metal strips, headliner, firewall pad, heater needs to be referbished and needs new gauges.

Asking price is $10k. Does this seem to be a decent price? Im figuring amybe 3k more to finish?

Want to make sure I dont spend to much of the batt????


Thanks,

Rusty

 

To answer your question, it is really up tp you. Do you think its worth the 10k, have you taken it for a test drive to actually see and feel it run to make sure nothing drivetrain wise is messed up, did you inspect it from top to bottom for leaks, rust or anything that may look messed up. If you have test driven it and you like it then yes its worth it, if not I would at least do that stuff before deciding on buying it or not. I paid 4k for mine and with all the new goodies I've put/about to put on her I'm close to 12-13k myself and I'm still not done yet.

 

tardster, i looked it over pretty well, got under it looked clean, no rust, came off the line in california and has been there since, no leaks that I can see, Drove it and it ran well but died at a stop, was a low battery, once we jumped it it was fine. Seems like all the hard work has been done. Just needs some interior work and most of those parts are coming with the truck, with the exception of the stuff I had listed in the initial post.

I want to have my mechanic look it over first, Thought it was a good deal..

thanks

 

That is a great idea to have your mechanic look it over, then if hes says its good to go and you like it I don't see any reason it wouldn't be worth the price. One thing you can try also is if you take cash 99% of the time you will save yourself 1k. I did that with my 55, the guy wanted 5200, I took 4500 and walked away with it for 4k. It never hurts to try unless it is in a bad area of town then I wouldn't recommend doing that you may be running from ...lol

 

Thats a great idea...im right there with you, I think if its a solid truck and I only have to do some interior work (over time) and it runs now with little to nothing spent but the cost of it, Im in good shape.

thanks for all the help, really appreciate it. This is my first one and I am still learning. I priced out all the other parts I would need to get it to were i would be happy (For NOW!) and its only a couple grand on top.

 

Sounds like your on top of things, when/if you get her post some pics we love pics here...

 

Sorry to jump in there, but 10K is way to much...maybe 5,5 or 6. if its got good paint 6.5...not ten...If your going to spend 10 then wait for a good one...something that's complete...just my 2 C

 

IMHO it is a reasonably good deal at 10K if it is what you want, rather than something you are going to tear apart and do over. It would cost more than that to bring one up to that condition. A decent paint job alone is 1K (at one day paint place with little to no prep) to 6K with taking out all the small dents and aligning the body panels before painting add anothe 1K for base coat clearcoat or rubbed out metallic. A rust free straight body and bed is worth 3-5K. Sure you can find them for less, but they will need a lot of work to restore and end cost will be similar. a mechanically sound drive train is worth 1-2K unless you want to swap in a different drivetrain (hot rod), then the original is worth the parts resale value. A tight or fresh rebuilt front suspension/steering, add 1K in value otherwise budget same for rebuilding.
Budgeting 3-5K to finish is realistic depending on level of interior work.
PS: in 56 Custom Cab didn't give you much except driver's side door lock, emblems on door and SS trim around windshield, many std have been converted to CC so don't pay any extra for that.

 

Is it a 'big window' or small? What quality is the paint & body?

 

AXracer ,

Thanks for the info, that really helps. I am having a mechanic look at it this week so I am hoping its as good as it looks, going to have them check it out top to bottom, would it be a good idea to do a compression test or any other type of tests to make sure.

I know the paint was on the cheaper side but looks pretty good for my purposes. Im if its solid and I can get it for a bit less then I have some room to play.

thanks

 

TomPorter,

Big window, width of the bed, paint is on the cheaper end, I think a 1 day job place, with that said looks nice

 

Big window is worth more. Is it an original big window or a conversion? Look inside, is there signs of recent body work around the window panel, i.e. fresh welds, different color, (fiberglass panel maybe???)?

 

a few photos....

http://www.red-creative.net/F100/56f100.html

please let me know if you still think its worth it based on the info and these new photos.

Again, really appreciate all the feedback, like I said Im new to all this and just want to make sure I make a good decision.

 

That's not a big window, this is - http://f100central.com/images/1956-F...ack-Window.jpg

 

lvin4jc33,
Ive been looking at two trucks, one has one does not. The truck above does not. any opinion on the quality of the above and the price they are asking?

Thanks,

Rusty