I am wondering how much I should get for my rusted out old 82 suburban. My father wants it gone but we still use it for pulling and its mileage and running condition are still good.

Anyway most folks are only willing to pay up to $500 as the body is totally shot underneith the bed and the rear door has blown out glass (truck topper window) Truck looks OK from the front but the bottoms of all 4 doors are rusted (I did cheapo body work to cover the bottom 8") but the floor in front and back seats is fine still, paint is peeling but no rust above the bottom/middle of the truck up except around the windows in the corners.

Anyway it has a new gas tank, new starter, new brake and gas lines, the motor was rebuilt by the prev. owner when the truck had 90k miles, we replaced the 700r4 with a rebuilt turbo 400 at about 105k (aka 1991) and now the body has 194k on it.

The truck needs the rear brakes serviced and should have a lift pump installed (hard start after sitting more than 4-5hrs aka 20-30sec crank / though it starts instantly if it sets less than 3 hours) but most everything else still works save the electric lock and windows on the rear doors.

Would I get more if I were to simply part it out and sell the tranny and motor guaranteed functional or if I sell it as a whole truck? Because of the poor body condition on the ass end of the truck no one wants it even if the motor and tranny should have a lot of life left. Honestly I would like to get rid of my 89 lemon suburban that runs terrible and rebuild the rear door and xmbr and keep my good runner.

Any ideas what I should want for this? I have been offered $500 not sure if I should jump or just take into account the fact the motor and tranny in this condition will cost much much more if I ever should want a good running 6.2ltr diesel again.

Thanx
Ryan

since the 82 has been running better and is more reliable i would keep it and fix it up. is the rust surface or is it too thick to be removed?

Well the bed has a 2x4 holding it up, the rear crossmembers are gone save the area where my dad welded about a 1' thick hunk of steel across the rear framework for a 6 ton hitch. (sadly he welded about 1" shy of the pieces that hold the rear door on and it eventually lowered down and blew out the window, we have it screwed shut and a truck topper window on the top. The rust where there is rust is clear through, we're talking wheel wells and the bottom of all the doors (that little piece that overlaps where you step) And the bed itself and rear door are clear through, not to mention the rear xmbrs are gone. I guess the top of the truck doesn't even really need anything more than some putty in a couple 1/4" locations by the windows and a paintjob and rustproofing. The places that count on the rear end are shot totally and the truck would need to be jacked up somehow and angle iron welded where the rear xmbrs and bed supports should be.

The rear door should be thrown away, my dad made it look OK by somehow welding a piece of sheetmetal over the bottom 1' of it that was shot (sadly he should never be allowed to paint anything however)

How do I post a picture here you could see what I mean, condition is hard to describe the top and bottom are night and day.

Thanx
Ryan

Yeah, pics are definitely in order. There are a couple ways to post them. If you have the picture on the internet somewhere already you can click the little image icon on the top of the quick reply box (it's just to the left of the quote icon) and it will come up with a box for you to put the URL of the image in. You put the URL in, click OK, and it will paste the URL in your post surrounded by IMG tags.

Example:

This...

http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/garageimage.php?do=full&p=755

...is actually [IMG]http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/garageimage.php?do=full&p=755[ /IMG] with the space before "/IMG]" removed. You can either use the icon at the top or just type the code.


If you have the picture on the computer you can't put it up in a quick reply. You have to "go advanced". At the bottom of the advanced page there is a section on attachments. You click "manage attachments". Then click "browse" on one of the lines and select the picture. When you're done click "upload" and wait. It will let you know when it is done.

Then click post and you'll be all set...

I'll be the bad guy and give an opinion based on what you've described.......Grab the $500.00 and run. A couple of years back I gave a shade more than that for an '87 burb 4x4 that wasnt in quite as bad of shape as what you describe. Non running 6.2 C with a running 6.2 J that the owner was going to swap in, but lost interest. I salvaged the two motors, alloy rims, both front doors, hood, 40 gallon fuel tank and sender, radiator, a/c system, and sundry interior bits. I got lucky and found a guy that wanted the chassis as base for a swamp buggy build. I gave it to him in exchange for hauling it away. Considering the TIME to tear it down alone, it's a break even proposition. If someone had to pay for space to do the tear down, pay storage for the parts, pay someone to haul off whats left after you're done, and then there's the cost of putting the motor into whatever project needs it, well you can draw your own conclusions.
Just my .02

Tearing down is the easy part (I don't care if the body lives through it), my guess 1hr (sawed in 2 hoses & electric be damned), problem as you state is where to sit the pallet. I would sell the ENTIRE MOTOR and tranny with everything still attached if I were to do that. My only interest seems to be the inflated prices around here should you want a working 6.2ltr diesel engine. I could haul the body 5 miles to the local junk yard and get around $100 for the empty shell alone minus motor for the scrap metal in the framework.

Doing the math it seems I could probably get more than $400 scrapped out should I locate someone looking for a drop in motor/tranny/radiator/etc replacement as I can get $100 scrap value for the framework guaranteed, $250 guaranteed as a whole truck from the junk yard.

Thats why $500 seems stupid, especially considering 6.2's up here are
A. Rare
B. Very overpriced.
Should I be on the buying side anyway, it seems like when I try to sell something I get nothing but If I want to buy the same thing I cannot locate it anywhere near what I would have to sell it for and the folks can't be jewed down that have it.

I guess I would have to travel 800+ miles to get a decently priced 6.2 or even 6.5 with an OK body.

Cheers
Ryan

Failed to mention I work at a place that tears down large earth movers to the framerails in under 4hrs, afterhours I could get my motor popped in a few and palletized, they aren't much interested in allowing repairs/welding in the building but as long as your quick you can break your own stuff and leave sheetmetal if you want. (as long as you know who to ask)