In this video, we’re breaking down the top 3 things to look for when buying a squarebody. From rust-to-options-to-suspension, this should give you a good start when it comes to where to look and what to look for.
As a '76 shorty owner I can agree with everything in the video. I'd like to add that you should check the control arm bushings (if original they'll be cracked) and the ball joints (if original they'll be riveted to the control arm.)
the hoods "kink" or bend because they are designed to crumble in a front impact to prevent decapitation, thats what i heard years ago anyhow. im sure rust will cause one to fold, but i just lube my hinges every so often so she shuts nicely...
@@jiveturkey365 yes thats 100% true, the bottom of the hood has 2 indents on the underside that it folds along in a crash as a crumple zone, matter of fact if you watch any of the old crash safety testing videos on these trucks back in the day they designed the hood to fold there so the hood wouldnt try to fly through the cab and it is very effective but unfortunatly over time when the hoods been exposed to the elements for 30+ years and the hinges rust up they tend to bend and once they bend the hood wil never be the same again. you can add braces along the crumple zone which will help big time and is worth it if you have a perfect orginal hood that you dont want to damage. the hood folding issue is really only for the 73-80 trucks i have never seen an 81-87 fold the hood.
I just finished tracking down my dads old 86 lwb k10 that he sold when I was a kid. Same truck, verified the vin and all. It wasn’t even for sale until the owner heard my story and now I’m going to work out a deal on it Saturday. It’s been a lifelong dream of mine to find it and I finally did after years of internet sleuthing. I appreciate the tips in your video as it’s been sitting awhile and isn’t the spring chicken it used to be, but I’m determined to make it as nice as I remember.
Thank you so much. I will be buying a square body for our farm. Not to beat up and use that way, but more as a show, drive around, pull our trailer to the farmers market, my wife any my classic vehicle to cruise around in, and I love the advise. I had a 76 GMC Jimmy, and a 73 Chevy Cheyenne in High School. I worked on farms since I was young, so I had lots of cash flow even in school. I ended up selling both and restored a 70 Olds Cutlass when I was in the Army
Nice video! Have a super base model, but. Ordered 81 gmc 2wd, zero power option, radio delete 305/4speed swb and sport mirrors. Love it to death and she still gets 19.9mpg with the factory motor. Been watching your channel for a while, fist time commenting, keep up the good work
@@UNITEDBYTRUCKS Well, perhaps it is related to latitude. Every one I have owned has needed cab corners and nearly everyone I have seen has rusty cab corners (if they haven't been repaired). I have a CUCV truck in my driveway right now that needs both outer cab corners replaced.
Great video. I am mostly a 67-72 guy but I love them all. My first was a 81 short bed many years ago. I think this was one of your better vids. I learned a lot, Rocky did an outstanding job explaining problem areas on these trucks. Like the stepper. Well done!
Good video and good stuff to look for but What about price what's a fair price for both people for a normal person for a normal truck just wondering I feel like a lot of people are over pricing trucks
Inherited my dads 1981 Chevy Silverado. I have so many questions. There is some rust. Thank you for the information. Look forward to watching and learning more about my new treasured project.
Thank you for your channel and all of the information you provide. Bought a 1975 Chevrolet C 10 w/ a small block 350 for $600. Was not running. Have been repairing/rebuilding and runs well now. It will be a nice-looking functional truck when done. You are right, they are a lot of fun!
I purchased my 83 in 2017 and for $2400 I got a complete all stock shortbed fleetslide with only rust near the windshield rockers, doors, and floorboards were mint with nothing
@@johnvega2974 I’m from California so trucks here don’t have a spec of rust as well mine had it because it sat under a tree for a while before I owned it
Make sure it's not a 4x4 converted rwd without an engine xmember. Also remember to check that the ujoints aren't shimmed with quarters and the crown and pinion aren't laying in chips at the bottom of the diff. If the pedal rod that goes into the master pops out while driving don't panic too much. Even if rebuilt entirely from scratch truck will never be reliable and never be fun and you will love every second of it.
got a solid almost 0 rust 85 c10 scottsdale regular cab 8FT from a retired farmer for $300. He towed it behind his tractor to the fields for 10 yrs and parked it. Has 16000 miles on and planning on restoring it. needs alot of polish since its yellow and super faded.
have a 74 gmc c15 sierra grande in almost rust-free original condition, for some reason the front edge of the hood is rusted out but no rust anywhere else on the truck. 350/th350 long bed, love to find a bucket seat/console set but they are pretty rare it seems...
Just purchased a c10 1979 short stepside, it’s rust free, 355 /350 trans , engine is fresh trans rebuilt, aluminum intake , for 4K, 🤔 was it a fair deal?
Just brougt an 86 C10 short from Germany to Sweden. The german bought it In Arkansas. Made my desission based on 4 pictures🤓 It was perfect for its age. Way better than expected.
I had my floor pans, cab mounts and rockers redone last summer on my 78 Chevy. I got 40+ years out of it. My truck rides so much better with new cab mounts!
The rocker floor pan inner rocker cab mount. Its all structural. Drive a truck around with no floor n rocker then try to put aftermarket pan rockers innner n outer. Shit will not line up correctly.
I grew up with square body trucks and Burbs, that's what I learned to wrench on. Decent square body trucks are hard to find in Texas and expensive when you find them, so I got the newer generation. The GMT 400/OBS trucks are the next wave of cool trucks!
Just picked up an 81 c30 that runs on propane yesterday. Hasn't been running for a while gonna try and fire her up Monday at the shop. Anyone got any starting tips if she doesn't crank. Shell turn over though
The brake pedal on your white stepper. I thought the small pedal indicated manual brakes. Have you never heard that before? Is the RP tag still in your truck? Does it indicate manual brakes?
On one ton trucks, pay attention to the rear u-bolts. Where they go through the u-bolt plate under the rear axle they can rust very badly there. I've seen the 5/8" diameter reduced to 1/4". Also the axle tubes can be rusted where the plate contacts the tube. Old gm trucks are awesome though!
My first vehicle was a 78 C10 that I did a lot of work on. Swapped out the straight six three on the tree to a 350 with automatic transmission. Got a hand me down K20 for winter driving and fixed that up as well. Drove them both for a dozen years and around 2000 sold them so I could "upgrade" to a modern truck. What a mistake.. bucket list is to build same trucks! Lesson learned!
The drip rail at the leading edge of the door on the cab/pillar itself! That's rust prone down here in Texas and all along the Gulf Coast. Original paint on an *85 K5 Blazer Pioneer Edition* with massive rust in that pillar area, but it's not created a hole yet.... Also, the kick plate holes beneath the door, hole in the door from falling window seals, and the rocker panels.
Luckily i knew most of this when i bought my first square body. But i'am really glad you guys posted this video for those of us who don't know that's pretty righteous.
I got an 1983 C10 shot bed, came with a/c and radio. No power windows or locks. The truck color is work truck yellow.. its like a school bus yellow. Its the original color. Don't know if to keep the color or change it. And you can still see where the old logos were on the door and numbers. There great trucks.
My truck is a 1980 custom deluxe. Only option is a auxiliary fuel tank. It has the small brake pedal too. I think the later years have the big brake pedal
You forgot to mention 1 super bad spot for rust if you live in a moist climate and that is the windshield frame. If you come on down to florida 99.99999999% of these trucks have the bottom edges of the windshield frame totally rotten and usually when you cut the glass out there will be very little if any solid structure left. I noticed that up north trucks seem to not have this problem much but here in florida where it rains 24/7 8 days a week and is humid as hell seems to just eat up the roof and windshield structure and to repair that right costs more than the truck is worth or you'll have to find another complete cab.
Great video I have 17 these trucks here in southeastern Ohio just got my most recent is a 87 Scottsdale k30 dually only 98.000 miles on the truck got my daughter and son building there's right now .
I laughed every time he said that first truck had a lot of rust, especially in the rockers. My 85 K2500 Burb has little to no rockers, my floors however are not that bad, otherwise pretty typical rot for a Minnesota truck, not the worst but not the best. I suppose however that it all depends on where your from, I only paid $600 for my Burb, but I’m sure someone from say Texas wouldn’t have even touched the thing.
Great info! I did not look for all those things when i bought my 71’ c10. Found out frame was cut for a c-notch and the c-notch bracket was never installed. Luckily the frame was still good. I would like to add another spot to check is around the lower part of the windshield, might be some rust down there as well. Keep up the great content! 👍🏼
Damn... I sometimes forget how good I have it in California so far as rust. My 74 has zero rust. seriously... have had it up on the rack more than a few times short bed fleetside with LS conversion
@@UNITEDBYTRUCKS yep.... I wish I were younger or that they had so many LS conversions when I was younger... LOL... I work a hour or two on mine and I am pooped. I have built hot rods and Harleys for 60 years but now I am happy to have you younger guys do a lot of the heavy lifting. always glad to see younger people involved.
i'm thinking of restoring a 83 gmc c1500 and it's got some rust on it, its got surface rust all over the hood and a little on the roof but its got some of surface rust around the the top of the wheel wells and on the passenger side door theirs a dent that kind of bent in the rocker do you think its worth fixing up or not ?
I appreciate the expertise you all have shared with the square body details. My father-in-law passed in 1992 having bought a 1979 C30 Scottsdale with 350 CI 400 auto full floating axle in 1980 . He hauled used tires and casings to different tire dealers . I acquired the truck after that and have replaced the ring and pinion due to my brother-in-law damaging it . I am currently repairing brakes, removed the side tanks, installing rear tank between the frame, and it will need a lot of sheet metal replaced . But it is still a great vehicle that I plan to pass to my Granddaughters 10, 11, 13. I am 68. I also have a 1964 C10 short bed step side 327 with a Tremec 5 speed . Love the channel . Keep up the great work .
The first and last new vehicle I ever bought is a 76 3/4 Scottsdale. I ordered it with the bucket seats. When I got married my wife hated them but married me anyway. Then we had a baby. We used to put the child seat in between the buckets on the console and run the seatbelts through it. I still have the truck but the wife left a long time ago and has since died. I live in Montana where it’s pretty dry. The truck has very little rust but the sun has eaten the paint off in places and it’s down to the primer on the roof and hood. The big 450 engine likes it’s gas so I don’t drive it much anymore. Gas cost 32 cents a gallon when I bought it.With the dual 20 gallon tanks that wasn’t a lot back then but when gas went crazy filling it got to be to expensive.
Thanks for the info on square body chevys my 75 has some in the bed on back wheel wells and some on the cab corners and the seat hump not bad. Some on the floors but not bad just pin holes.
We are parting out 15 of the square body trucks from 73 thru 86. our wrecker is a 83 3/4 ton. We use the front suspension to convert 60 thru 72 trucks to 5 lug disk brakes.
I bought my old bosses 76 sq body short bed. Normal Midwest rust,floors,doors,fenders,bent hood and seat cover. It did run really good. Spent a week tearing it down,two days welding,2 hours sandblasting,seat reupholstered, prepped and painted. Drove it a month,and tripled my money including my labor. Sold it to a friend at the old Bethlehem Steel,and 2 years later he parked to close to a in plant railroad track....Totaled.#Sad
New to the channel. I just purchased a one owner 1986 k 10. Minimal rust except the driver's floor pan. Rockers are great, but cab corners are shot .Because it is a 4x4, I would love to make it a little different. What would you think about trashing this original 305 and adding a straight 6, or a 6.2 diesel? Those things got great torque compared to the gas engines designed in those years because of oil shortages and emissions. Is it even possible to slide one in as a replacement or are there mods that can be done ?
Im thinking about a Dodge W200 but im no expert. As far as I can see the pictures its mostly just surface rust underneath the truck. Can I send you the link to the truck so you could help me a little?
My uncle had a Scottsdale (from the 80’s?) in his backyard but recently got dragged to the boneyard...I wanna snatch it up, so many good parts still on it, especially the body.
Just picked up a 1982 Chevy stepside. Had this same truck brand new. No rust, original paint, interior, engine 40k on it. Looking to swap out original three speed on the tree to automatic and maybe swap out inline six. Could use some input on the how twos.
Th350 is a 3speed auto and the 700R4 is a 4speed auto I hear the R4 is the best option and the engine swap is up to you if it was me I'd probably put a 350 carb in it
The old Silverado sitting out back is... a truly sad sight. Stripped most of the interior out for working on another truck, but... thing was nice once. Alas. Floor's rotted out entirely in the cab. Entire passenger side is caved in. Headliner's delaminated.... It was a nice truck... once. And the more I get into it... the worse I feel about the state that one's in. There ain't no brining it back. Too far gone.
@@UNITEDBYTRUCKS That it does. Fortunately, it's parts are going to another C10 me and my dad are working on, and we've gotten... quite a few C10s over the last few weeks. Hopefully, between them, we'll be able to put together ONE good truck.
I just got a 1985 custome deluxe 10 from a friend, it does appear to have a decent amount of rust, it does run but has not been started up in about a year, however it seems to be solid, how difficult and or pricey is it to fix rust issues? Aside from just simply replacing the fender etc.
Thought mine was mint till I pulled the fender wells out the front and found out the whole frame was bent. On the passenger side. Weird because it drove straight, handled well and had a clean title. Let's just say I'm in way too deep.
Wow! So THAT'S what a driver's side rocker panel looks like! My 76 GMC Sierra Grande doesn't have one! Lol! They are like Unicorns here in Michigan! Great video guys! Love the squares!
I have a 72 c10 and I lower it about 5 inches and did a ls 4l60e swap and I need to have a driveline made so I was wondering if I did a one piece what would I have to change on the frame
Very nice video about these trucks! I grew up with them, and currently have three long-time examples that I I have saved for decades with intention to restore -- though I am finally questioning how realistic that intention is. My first is a nicely-optioned '75 Catalina Blue Chevy K20 Camper Special Silverado. Built in August '74 in Fremont California, my dad bought it brand new; I remember driving it home from Hall Chevrolet in Prosser, Washington! It had full-time four wheel drive and an 8,400 lb GVWR. We hit a particularly severe pavement seem less than one mile from the dealership, and I recall my dad turning to me and asking "do you think the springs will soften up over time?". They never did! As one of the first 1975's built, it was also one of the earliest "Silverado" trucks, although at that time the reference was to the top trim level formerly designated "Cheyenne Super" (1974 and earlier). I have so many wonderful memories of vacationing in that pickup, toting our RV to distant places. Just a few years later, we purchased a beautiful low-mileage '74 GMC Sierra 1500 dressed out in Rosedale Red and Frost White for our lead farm foreman to drive. It was produced out of the same Fremont, California plant in July of 1974. Although separated by an entire model year from our '75 Silverado, it was only a month older in terms of actual production. Ours is a very well-optioned pickup...A/C, tilt wheel, factory tachometer, glide-out spare tire, 350 4bbl/turbo hydramatic, 5,600 lb GVW Fleetside. This truck also wears its original factory-installed (per the glovebox option listing) Rally Wheels with the seldom seen squared-off trim rings and non-scalloped center caps characteristic of the '74-'77 models. In 1974, the Sierra trim package occupied the same rank as the Chevrolet Cheyenne in terms of trim, and nearly rivaled the the top-line Sierra Grande/Cheyenne Super in terms of content, so it was truly a luxury pickup. And finally, we have a 1979 Chevy Big 10 Fleetside with nearly every available option including Silverado trim and 454 V8 with factory "Trailering Special" package. Ours has a paint scheme that I loved at the time, but now would probably be roundly mocked: a two-tone of Light Caramel Metallic and Santa Fe Tan. Of the three trucks, the '79 is actually in really good restorable condition, although I sprung the hood myself a few years ago in the way you describe. Arggg! All three of these trucks sit in a corner of our property, silent for years now. They aren't beautiful any more, having put in many years of being ridden hard and put away wet. Each one has suffered some of the maladies you outline in your video. Thank you for inspiring us to fix these old rigs!
Got a 1973 Cheyenne super 10 big block short bed with 0 rust and 1985 C30 4dr dually with 0 rust.. both California cars here with me in Cali that I’ve found... good info here
Is the stepside going to get some different wheels. Asking cause I own a 81 stepside and no wheel manufacturer can tell me what off sets I would need to run 12 wide rear wheels
I've got a '73 and I oiled up the hood hinges Real Well when I got it. I had the hood kink on a '71 El Camino and having had that happen Knew to oil the truck's hood upon purchase. Thanks for this video
Do have any videos about K 10 chevs,I have a 82 silverado thats in perfect condition , original documened 54000 miles no issues I'm somewhat what knowledgeable on these so it's pretty good, hope to sell it this summer. Thanks for the great video.
Good video, sure wish you could find those rust free trucks up here in Kentucky. Most of them up here you could sling a cat thru to the other side lol.
I can tell you , upper door hinge cracking door fit and hardware, alignment shims thickness between the frame rails,and upper control arm bushing shaft,clutch pedal looseness,and upper pedal mounting brackets for hard use,4x4s with power steering, possible cracks in frame where gear box mounts, look for slop or loose tilt action on steering columns,they are getting tough to find,pay particular attention to underdash wiring ,and if it came with factory AC in particular look for missing components and compressor mount and drive,and acc mounting brackets that match and belong together along with the matching pulleys. Any way thats my two cents.
I just brought a 1984 C10 shortbed custom Deluxe 6 Cylinder Manual step side , with 52,721 Original males and nothing but surface Rust and its mainly In the Flat bed
