K5 Blazer values… possibly buying 86 k5

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bucket

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Like Alderton WA, just down the road here?
Sure you can find rusty cars anywhere but this is literally one of if not the best area of the country for little to no rust. (Wet side anyway. E of Cascades is rustier but generally 1000% better than the salt belt).
This thing sat outdoors for probably its whole life. And as admitted by the prev owner.
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Only a rotted floorboard in the drivers side from neglect.

Yep. I had my Daughter's super solid '77 shipped in from Washington, along with zero rust Suburban quarter panels because that stuff is so much easier to find there.

Anybody that's not familiar with the rust belt doesn't truly know what a rusty truck is.
 

Truck82

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@Grit dog
Yes, you’re right. There are a lot of clean trucks up here but since I’m looking for a decent 4x4 truck to build a wheeler out of it seams there’s a lot of rust due to wet weather and a lot of mud.

@bucket
Yes there isn’t as much rust here as the rust belt but living here I see the worst of rust we have up here.
 

Grit dog

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Yep. I had my Daughter's super solid '77 shipped in from Washington, along with zero rust Suburban quarter panels because that stuff is so much easier to find there.

Anybody that's not familiar with the rust belt doesn't truly know what a rusty truck is.
I know. It made my brain hurt. Been back in the upper Midwest a couple times in the last month or so and the % of 10-20 year old vehicles that are just completely wasted already or well on their way is staggering.
Here, heck I seen 2 squarebodys just going to the store. And both looked like daily drivers and were clean.
My paranoia still runs deep. I anti seize about every bolt I remove on any vehicle lol.
 

1979 K10

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Bought it for 5k!

Drove home 80 miles on interstate. Did great except vibration from front. Hubs are unlocked and it’s in 2WD but front driveshaft still turns and has slop in it so that’s the vibration.

Front Drive shaft should not be turning in 2WD correct? Of course wheels aren’t engaged since hubs are unlocked.
 
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bucket

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Bought it for 5k!

Drove home 80 miles on interstate. Did great except vibration from front. Hubs are unlocked and it’s in 2WD but front driveshaft still turns and has slop in it so that’s the vibration.

Front Drive shaft should not be turning in 2WD correct? Of course wheels aren’t engaged since hubs are unlocked.

Congratulations!

If the front shaft was indeed turning, it could be as simple as a shift lever that needs adjustment, or a locking hub (or both) that is stuck and needs taken apart and cleaned.
 

Grit dog

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Nice! What a deal! Sweet blazer! Looks clean.
Congrats on the fine rig.
You’re certainly not upside down on that purchase!!
 

1979 K10

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Thanks! Runs good! I guess it has a 2bbl quadrajet. May need to lean it out since I’m at 7k ft altitude. Small things to fix, hood rubs the cowl when opening, ac was converted to r134, compressor spins but not very cold. Needs new front driveshaft, dash or cover, will prob swap to a spare cluster I have to replace idiot lights with gauges. Small dents on roof and hood but overall pretty damn clean for 38 years old!

Did some rocky dirt roads, 4wd seems to work. Super stoked!
 
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fofiddyfo

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Dude that’s freaking awesome, congrats!!! I’ve been watching this thread hoping you’d check in and say that you got it! I feel like I went to sleep during the ballgame and woke up to find out my team won!
 

1979 K10

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Squarebody day!

Did some troubleshooting and the front driveshaft turns if you turn front wheels when front end is off the ground. Removed a hub and don’t see anything broken but guess I’ll order hubs and hope that fixes it.

Also tried to adjust TV cable for 700R4 but it’s not self adjusting like it should. It wouldn’t downshift when stomping on it after adjustment so I set it back to almost where it was. Super tight at wide open throttle. It was limiting full throttle before.
 

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59840Surfer

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K5
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350 Stroker to 383 with a 400 crank, Crane Cam, Q-Jet, single 3.5" exhaust..
My orange K5 - '86 - is parked in the front of my yard and I had a guy yesterday drop in and offer me $13,000.00 for it --- and of course, it's not for sale.

But here in - Montana, no-rust K5s are dearly wanted for big cash. I saw a cherry 89 K5 go for $22,000.00 a couple of months ago.
 

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