What's this 35 pickup worth??

[Scott H in Wheaton]

I might start a conversation with the seller to include some of the following:

"I figure the retail resale value on the finished truck to be around $25,000
Since the truck is incomplete, the most I can speculate on the unfinished wholesale value is around $20,000
My cost to finish the glass installation, attach and adjust the body pieces, work out the mechanical issues could be $4k - $5k...and that's only IF I can hear the engine run before I buy it. Without the engine running I don't know if I'm going to have to spend another $2k - $5k on the engine, brakes, trans, etc.
Based on those parameters, the value to me "as it sits" is around $13k

Now, if you want to get it running for me so I can take a test drive I could probably go up to $15k - $16k and I'd be willing to take a risk on the rest of it."

[Seth Swoboda]

Scott H, that is a great approach. I have used this approach in the past when negotiating a price.

[Mike in Mass]

Originally Posted by GSCOV

I was there with the trailer at 8:30 AM and the green stamps. Didn't like his description and attitude after traveling 4 hours in sub zero weather and shoveling a foot of snow to get the trailer in. He hounded me to get it out of his barn. But did he get it ready enough to transport? NO. It's worth it, but he got on the wrong side of me and I left it in his driveway with both fenders off. He's pretty hard to deal with as far as negotiating. Good luck. Being from Maine you got a better chance, eh? Der me. Just kidding. He ain't going no 10 grand.

THAT REALLY STINKS ! I know what you mean with the "attitude" right off the bat ,,, that would have fried my brain. you gotta go with your gut feeling ALL THE TIME. I don,t think its just us "FLAT-LANDERS " that would have a hard time dealing with him

[Tim B.]

Sounds like a curmudgeon. You need to be prepared to play the game. He'll decide who takes the truck home. It may require the planets to be aligned and hell just about ready to freeze over before he's ready to consider anything other than $16.5K. If you prove a worthy adversary and he likes you, you may get it for 15.5K. Just the way some guys are.

[CSArno]

Originally Posted by Scott H in Wheaton

I might start a conversation with the seller to include some of the following:

"I figure the retail resale value on the finished truck to be around $25,000
Since the truck is incomplete, the most I can speculate on the unfinished wholesale value is around $20,000
My cost to finish the glass installation, attach and adjust the body pieces, work out the mechanical issues could be $4k - $5k...and that's only IF I can hear the engine run before I buy it. Without the engine running I don't know if I'm going to have to spend another $2k - $5k on the engine, brakes, trans, etc.
Based on those parameters, the value to me "as it sits" is around $13k

Now, if you want to get it running for me so I can take a test drive I could probably go up to $15k - $16k and I'd be willing to take a risk on the rest of it."

That's great Scott!

[mhsprecher]

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If it's a good truck, curb your ire and you may end up with something. Some people are jerks, but you are 't going to marry them, just buy the truck. Especially if you drove that far.

[Tony, NY]

Originally Posted by CSArno

Found this listing for a '35 half ton pickup and was wondering what everyone thought it was worth.
I know it's worth what anyone would pay for it but $16,500 seems high for something that hasn't run in so long.
I haven't looked at the truck yet. Just trying to get an idea what a good price would be.

Here's the listing with some pics..

This is a very solid 1/2 ton p/u that has been off the road since 1960. Its around 80 % restored. The flathead V-8 is believed original and ran 6 yrs ago. The truck is all steel and had a repaint in its original color black a while back, and still has a nice shine when dusted off. Still 6 volt, original style brakes, Firestone wide whites with side mount spare. Perfect grill and door bottoms, and the list goes on. Still have the original key fob, license plate from 1960, and title with s/n. You will search a long time to find a better 35 Ford pickup project than this one. Have many pictures available.

I'll be the first to say that it's non-running and in that condition is about $8-10,000 and that's pushing it.

[B-O-B]

Tony you forgot about the rust also. $8 is tops

[Mike B]

Originally Posted by Scott H in Wheaton

I might start a conversation with the seller to include some of the following:

"I figure the retail resale value on the finished truck to be around $25,000
Since the truck is incomplete, the most I can speculate on the unfinished wholesale value is around $20,000
My cost to finish the glass installation, attach and adjust the body pieces, work out the mechanical issues could be $4k - $5k...and that's only IF I can hear the engine run before I buy it. Without the engine running I don't know if I'm going to have to spend another $2k - $5k on the engine, brakes, trans, etc.
Based on those parameters, the value to me "as it sits" is around $13k

Now, if you want to get it running for me so I can take a test drive I could probably go up to $15k - $16k and I'd be willing to take a risk on the rest of it."

I appreciate your thoughts here, as many do...but...let me just say this... smiles now...IF someone were to tell me how much it would cost them to "fix" my car I was selling, in order to lower the price, I'd probably say "well, find another"...now, the last part of your comment regarding the engine running is spot on, and that's where I would stay in the negotiation...alluding to the "ran good when parked"..thing..

Now, all that said, if the truck here is rust free, or previous rust was repaired correctly, then a buyer at 16K is way ahead of the game...shoot, you could buy a running and driving '35 PU for 10K, and (assuming you can't do it yourself)..spend a whole pile of dollars to get it fixed/patched right.

Doesn't everyone here always say "buy the best sheet metal you can, cheaper in the long run"...or words to that effect.

To me,,,fenders bolted on or half hanging, the truck looks good (without me crawling under it, etc..)..sure I'd try to bring the price down..but if the sheet metal is as good as it looks in the pics, I think I'd buy it if that's what I wanted.

I mean 4-5K for mechanicals?

Full set of glass about 200 bucks..where is the rest coming from mechanically (assuming the engine is good)?

[Scott H in Wheaton]

Mike I'm right with you in thinking the painted body has the value in it. I've been involved in a ground-up on a 36 pickup for about 4 years now. Not being the richest guy on the block I can't afford to step up and buy one already done, so I need to shop and wait and hunt to find the best quality parts I can, and then invest my sweat equity to put it together. I started with a $2k piece of crap and four years later I've got realistically 80% of everything done and I have somewhere in the mid-teens invested in it.
You could justify the rolling chassis for a couple thousand, the cab in condition shown in the pics at around $2k - $3k, nice rear fenders $1000, running boards $750, front fenders $800, grille $600, seats $500, etc etc.
You want bodywork and paint? try taking it to any shop and getting it done for under $8k and then I hope you like what you got. So yeah, I see the value in the mid-teens as it sits with no problem. But it still has a long way to go based on the comments posted earlier.

If you were the seller and told me I could get the glass for $200 I would reply with "Okay that's great, so if I give you $200 extra that will include you installing all the new glass for me?" Not likely. If the windshield frame is okay and you have good door glass channels you would still pay around $400 for the glass and the glass shop or a qualified individual to set the glass in your good frames. Then you still need the hours to put the doors back together, set the rear window, and bolt in and adjust the windshield. I could see a shop charging you $500 labor on all the glass. It all adds up quick.
Budget $1000 to glass and labor
$500 to hang and adjust body panels
$500 - $1000 for brakes and suspension
$500 - $1000 for clutch and trans
$500 - $1000 for electrical and guages
What about gas tank, fuel pump, generator, battery, radiator, carb, etc etc.

My point being you can't just say "the glass is $200" because there is value added in the labor and time it takes to get all of the remaining accomplished. A restoration shop would charge $5k - $10k to bring it in and finish everything. If the seller knew he could finish the truck and sell it all done with no excuses for only another $2k investment he would do it. He knows it is still $5k or more to finish the truck.

[Mike B]

I definitely agree that if one has to pay a shop/person to complete the work, the cost would skyrocket..heck, I've never been able to afford to have paint put on any of my projects...sorta where I come to a standstill and either drive them or sell them.

Ofcourse looking back on things, after selling them, I probably worked for 2 bucks an hour getting them in shape

[V12Bill]

I paid $8,000. for the 1939 PU in my avatar. I looked it over well before I bought it and I am a retired body man. The bottom of the doors appearaed to be excellent, the cab corners and bottom of cowls were excellent. Rear fenders were fiberglass and front fenders were good. Overall paint was average to poor. I started to sand the paint for a repaint and discovered filler. I ground out the filler and discovered that the rust outs had been backed with cardboard and /or the rust was just covered with filler with no attempt to arrest the rust. In defense of the slob who did this work, his finished product was good enough that it appeared that the metal was excellent or needed only minor correction. The lesson here is to check out even the best looking sheet metal for shady workmanship. Don't be dazzled by shiny paint.

[Sid the Maineiac]

A magnet usually tells these stories! Don't neglect using one because the guy seems honest cause maybe he didn't do the work .If the seller objects to using a magnet cover it with a light cloth, if he still objects, walk or run !

[oldandtired]

I have driven thousands upon thousands of miles looking for body parts and have paid thousands of dollars for parts plus the shipping of parts, and then there is the stripping, body work, try finding a really nice grill, priming, etc leading up to painting that can run into hundreds upon hundreds of hours. I have driven thousands of miles to get a good rust free frame, thousands of miles to get a good rebuildable block with correct heads, carb, and intake, hundreds of miles to get it rebuilt, getting the radiator recored, rebuilding pedal assemblies, tranny, looking for NOS gauges, finding a speedometer that looked good and worked, OEM door handles, rechroming bumpers, finding nice original grill ornament and side emblems, polishing the stainless headlight doors and grill trim, resilvering headlight reflectors, correct NOS headlight lenses, correct inner grill panel, correct engine pans, correct below radiator panel, redoing springs, shackles, spring perches,brakes, NOS brake rods, wiring, bed blocks, cab mounts, gas tank redone, and upholstery and since OEM beds in good shape are scarce as hen's teeth, the cost of a bed, floor, and tailgate, and then you get to the trans cover, good windshield regulator, glass, latches, remotes, window channels and related parts, redoing the steering wheel and steering column/lock, and somewhere to store all of the stuff before it can be reassembled, perhaps a correct locking spare, spare tire mount, 5 wheels to redo, and 5 tires as well as trim rings and hubcaps. That's not counting the unusable parts that were not as described or the having to purchase parts I did not want to get the ones I needed as part of a package deal.Then there were the swap meet admissions, vendor fees, motel bills, etc plus I like to eat.
Buying a vehicle like the one pictured may seem pricey at the asked for price, but it may well cost thousands just to find the parts if you were trying to get one that far along and if you cannot do your own sandblasting, beadblasting, bodywork, priming, and painting the cost can become amazing very quickly. The pickup pictured even has the rear bumper with the mounting brackets and bumper braces which were an option.
I can understand trying to get the best deal possible, but there are limits as to what is reasonable when trying to get someone to lower the cost beyond a certain level.

[B-O-B]

For sale 2 days ago for $900.00 There are front fenders for sale today for $300.oo for the pair.
You guys need to do abit of shopping around me thinks ,this stuff ain't gold.

[Scott H in Wheaton]

Originally Posted by B-O-B

For sale 2 days ago for $900.00 There are front fenders for sale today for $300.oo for the pair.
You guys need to do abit of shopping around me thinks ,this stuff ain't gold.

I've been through two sets of cheap front fenders. You either pay for the good ones or you pay the body man to make your cheap ones good.

I lucked into an old trailer like that. I took off the bed and sold the fenders. The frame of the trailer turns out to be a model A front axle they welded a drag link to the spindles. I titled the trailer and use it as a little 4x6 flatbed.

The bed turned out to be a 37 and its been good enough to work with. I like that its a bit longer than the 35-36 and still has the F-o-r-d embossed on the tailgate. The one in the pic has had the middle stake pocket/support removed and had all those extra hooks added. Can't tell what if anything they did to the framework that supports the bed. Those rear fenders have been cut off in front. Maybe could sell them to a guy building a rat rod. I think that trailer is a bit high at $900 but at $500 - $600 you have some workable pieces. At $900 you are halfway to a brand new repro bed.

[GSCOV]

By the time you all get thru analyzing it and gathering data, it will be gone.

[B-O-B]

Just looked on the E sales @ one for sale near you Scott. The bed only has front & rear stake pockets. Buy this one & you can be driving . I have no desire for a pickup @ the moment so really not interested just try to help. I'm done.

[Scott H in Wheaton]

thanks Bob but I already have mine. Yes there is only 1 stake at front and rear, but outside the bed under the lip there is a support in the middle of each side.

[pinstriper40]

Originally Posted by oldandtired

I have driven thousands upon thousands of miles looking for body parts and have paid thousands of dollars for parts plus the shipping of parts, and then there is the stripping, body work, try finding a really nice grill, priming, etc leading up to painting that can run into hundreds upon hundreds of hours. I have driven thousands of miles to get a good rust free frame, thousands of miles to get a good rebuildable block with correct heads, carb, and intake, hundreds of miles to get it rebuilt, getting the radiator recored, rebuilding pedal assemblies, tranny, looking for NOS gauges, finding a speedometer that looked good and worked, OEM door handles, rechroming bumpers, finding nice original...

No wonder you're "Old and Tired"!