Have I gone around the bend? '55 F-100

[dmsfrr]

I spotted this truck for sale on the side of the road the other day (while wearing 'Sunday' clothes).
It's driveable, the exhaust is clean when it starts & runs, and the body doesn't look too bad. The front fenders are kind of rough w/ bondo in the front, but no obvious rust-thru except under the gas tank neck and patches at the front edge of the rear fenders.
Was told it has the original 272 & 3spd, but the carb looks newer, I haven't checked the block number yet. The wood in the bed is all missing but the bottom sides of the box aren't rusted. The interior has fresh paint, with what looks like new gauges and a recent seatcover.
It comes with door panels, a popper kit for the (shaved) door handles, a few extra parts and another frame that was being prepped for the truck (I haven't seen it yet) that has a disc brake Mustang II front suspension and a 9 inch rear end.

I'm not a truck guy and don't have a clue what they're worth. What trouble spots should I look for
Does anyone want to hazard a guess on what's a good offer to make for it?

[RCM]

Did he/you get it running? To me that would be the main issue, body work wouldnt. Body work can be done over time, but if it doesnt go, then one can get frustrated and with a light pocket.
I like her tough...she seems sad and in need of care

[frank long island]

As stated above unless you can do the work yourself it can get costly. The body seems fairly good the rust you see is common on those years . Also ck the hinge pillars and rockers and bodt mounts. All repair parts are available . For mee it wouldnt be bad as i'm a bodyman by trade anything can be repaired as for value maybe someone could set that but as the saying goes its only worth what someone will pay

[scicala]

Well, if it is the original 272, the intake is from '57 or later and the Autolite 2100 carb is from the 60's. Do the heads have core plugs on the front and rear faces ? If not, the heads are '56 or later.

Sal

[dmsfrr]

It had been sitting for a week when I saw it, he splashed some gas in the carb and it started right up and stayed running. It idles fine, no smoke when started or revved and the rocker arms didn't seem noisy.
I was on my way somewhere else and couldn't spend much time looking. I need to go back and look again while wearing clothes I can crawl underneath it in.

[Daves55Sedan]

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Its a '53, 54 or '55 pickup, but it has a 292 intake from a '57 or later year engine, converted to 12 volts, but don't see the ballast resistor for the coil. They took out the original steering column and replaced it with a '56 truck column. Spark plug wires should be run under the exh manifolds not above. the acorn nuts are missing off the T-bird valve covers. I don't think any pickup trucks had those valve covers. Hood opens wrong way unless you don't care about keeping it original.

[RCM]

I believe this is what dmsfrr is waiting for:

Originally Posted by dmsfrr

Does anyone want to hazard a guess on what's a good offer to make for it?

[Ford blue blood]

Looks like it once had $500 on the windshield? Given all the "normal" rust areas in the bed sides, running boards, fenders and cab corners look OK and the glass all looks good it looks like a good solid base to start with. Hit him/her with 1500.......

[RCM]

Yup 500 or 600 was once written there. One could carry that argument up the sleeve and ask about that pricing. I gotta soft spot for that puppy already!

[dmsfrr]

Originally Posted by Ford blue blood

Looks like it once had $500 on the windshield? Given all the "normal" rust areas in the bed sides, running boards, fenders and cab corners look OK and the glass all looks good it looks like a good solid base to start with. Hit him/her with 1500.......

The 500 is just the last 3 digits of the price on the windshield, he has a 5 in front of that, for a 5500 asking price. I thought that was a little high but don't know what they go for, and the extra updated frame for it is included in the price too.
Not that I have a place to put it, and I've got an unfinished car already.
If I could get it for 'a real steal of a price' I might consider it.

.

[Y-Blockhead]

The exhaust manifold is not stock on the right side, trucks had single exhaust with the crossover pipe. Can't see left side but exhaust pipe is looped forward so probably has original on that side.

[Y-Blockhead]

Originally Posted by RCM

Did he/you get it running? To me that would be the main issue...

Originally Posted by dmsfrr

It's driveable, the exhaust is clean when it starts & runs...

[y'sguy]

Well, IMHO I would never give 5500 for it. But I'm not in the market for it either. All that matters really is if you two guys can get together on a price. I'm thinking that earlier version of those trucks doesn't bring the money as the 56's but that only really matters to resellers.
Everyone seems to have their favorites. And hey it runs and drives!

[GreenMonster48]

I wouldn't go more than $2500-3k. You're out in dry country. I'd imagine old trucks are a dime a dozen out there.

[joe plumber]

I wouldn't give that much for it,still too high