Comparison question.

[hartigan43]

Hi, I'm new to the forums and could really use some help. Currently, I drive an 88 Chevrolet 3500 pickup with a 5.7 350 in it. It is in decent body shape and I take care of the engine. I have 170,000 miles on it. My uncle owned it and kept it in Ohio and all of the salt from the snowy roads has done some damage to the underside and there is a decent a amount of rust across the whole vehicle.

Today I looked at an 89 GMC 1500 with 208,000 miles. A rebuilt Chevy 5.7 350 was put in it in 2006 and is guessed to have 30 - 50,000 miles on it. The body of the truck is in much better shape then mine as well as everything under the hood. It is going for $2900 and I am seriously considering it. The only things stopping me are the headers on the engine, which I have heard almost always leak and the dexterity of the frame and such since it is not a heavy duty truck like my 3500.

I'm not an expert with vehicles, but I'm not totally dumb either. I was just told about headers and their tendency to blow the gaskets and leak but I would like to get outside opinions. Any imput would be greatly appreciated.

[maxwedge]

Welcome to AF, the headers should not be the deciding factor in your purchase, they can be replaced for 250 or less, do you need the 3500 HD version?

[hartigan43]

Not particularly. I tracked down the auto shop that installed the new engine and its just my luck that they are closed for all of July. I wouldn't mind repairing them, I am also worried how long the frame of the vehicle will hold up since it has been used so much and isn't a heavy duty truck. It appears to have as much rust on it as you would expect for normal use.

[jdmccright]

The truck you're looking at is only slightly newer yet alot more miles. If rust is an issue, I'd look for a even newer truck or look in an area where they don't salt the roads. They don't call it the rust belt for nothing....

There's surface rust that just looks bad and then there's rust that has penetrated a significant portion of the frame's thickness. The former can be cleaned up, repainted (albeit with alot of on-your-back effort) and then apply a good rubberized undercoat. If the rust is bad and in critical areas of the frame and body, move on.

This is the situation I have with my Dak...bought in PA and was too enamored to look underneath...idiot! Luckily, most of the rust damage is superficial and can be cleaned up with a power wire brush or dremel tool. I wouldn't rely on those "rust reformer" primers. They don't penetrate to convert the whole thickness (and some don't work at all!), leaving you with a thin converted coating atop the rest of the scaly rust. Wire brush/grind it off as much as possible, convert the rest, prime, paint, and undercoat. Good luck!