1983 GMC C7000 Box Truck. Am I in over my head?

[Adinx]

Hi Everyone! I'm new here! Also new to working on vechiles especially medium-duty trucks I have learned a. It being around my Dad but not much. He's not close by to reach out for help on everything anymore so I figured I find a good forum to join up with and soak up information. I recently purchased a 1983 GMC c7000 V8 7.0L Gasoline, Manual Trannsmission with Gear Splitter. C7D042. I bought it with the intentions of converting the back of the box into a livable off-grid tiny home that is mobile. The Odometer reads out to 830,576 miles. I know it's a lot of miles for any vechile. An exetreme amount. I purchased the truck for less than $1000. I think it was a good deal but I could be so wrong as I don't know much. But to me it felt like a good deal at the time. I've looked at sites selling trucks close to the same but just a different year and they are selling for $8k. I don't believe the gear splitter works, the previous owner which I purchased the truck from said the truck won't pass emissions without some pump in the engine being replaced. he sold it to me not thinking about how he is emmissions excempt. He had it as a farm truck so it didn't have to pass emissions. There is lots of little things I'd like to fix such as the light in the cab, door seals, new grille, new tires etc.. I had my brother in law drive this beast of a truck from Niwot, Colorado back to Brighton, Colorado. 30 mile drive that takes a hour and has steep mountainous inclines. The truck struggled to stay at 45 MPHh on the inclines but on a flat surface the truck seemed to drive well. Shifting the gears wasn't a problem for him it was smooth sailing once we got out of the mountains and onto the plains. I would love some suggestions on how I could get this truck looked at mechanically to figure out how to get this beast back in shape.. Like I said this was a farm truck.. I started cleaning out the cab of the truck intensively and pulled the whole bench seat out so I could clean the layers of years and years of dirt and spilt oil of the floor board. I found some rust under the plastic that was the floor board cover originally attached to the floorboard. It literally crumbled from the dirt and spilt stuff that was never cleaned up in the cab. The bench seat itself had a mice nest in the foam they had already used to replace the hole that broke through the bench seat. They just screwed down a play wood board with upholstery foam over that and then a vinyl seat cover. Needless to say the bench seat will have to be replaced or re upholstered professionally. The box itself was filled with dirt and farm debris. This truck was so filthy, I've been cleaning it for days. It looks like oil might be leaking out of the backaxel and gunking up.(I will post a picture.) Radio doesn't work and pretty sure the AC doesn't either. Would like to remove the radio some how but I can't get it out or the knobs to come off. I know I got some work on my hands but I don't mind as long as it works out for my intentions. I'd really like to travel and live in this truck for a little while then give it away to a homeless veteran. Any suggestions, tips, tricks, websites are helpful! I've been looking at Napa and Autozone for some parts but I feel like there's something better than Napa or Autozone.

Is it worth it to convert this truck?

Thank you for looking and in advance for any help shared! Pictures of the truck below!

[Adinx]

Sorry guys it accidentally posted before I could get all the pictures attached.

[rdminter]

I may be stupid, but looking at the odometer reading, that says: 83 thousand, fifty six miles and 6 tenths. At least thats how all the odometers I have ever seen read.

[Adinx]

Really? So it could very well have over 1 million miles? the battery finally crapped out on me yesterday, which I knew would happen very soon but do you think I should just sell this truck to somebody looking for its vintage value and move onto a more modern truck for my own needs? just need to know if I should move forward on putting cash into this truck or if my time would be better off spent looking for something a little newer. Not to mention I still have to learn to drive the thing! So I'm tempted to just sell it and get a automatic truck. But I like this truck for some reason idk why. Maybe it's the fact it's older. I don't know?

[Adinx]

Wow sorry was totally mis-reading the odometer! You're right it is stuck at 83,057.6 miles.

[Twinturbostang]

Ya you don't know if there is a 1 in front of that or a 9

[Jason_2500]

We had a truck similar to that on the farm, I never liked it and it was difficult to find parts, any trim, dash, or proprietary GM parts are non existent. If your really set on doing it I would build the tiny home so you will be able to transfer it onto a newer chassis in the future.

[Twinturbostang]

Yep growing up I've had everything from dump trucks to flat beds to tow trucks on those trucks and they all sucked. Your better on the older stuff to go with just about anything else. Or get a newer GM platform.

[rdminter]

I dont think I have ever seen an odometer that only went up to 99 thousand.

"Ya you don't know if there is a 1 in front of that or a 9"

[Rbrayfield82]

Pretty much all of your mid 90's and lower chevy trucks only went to 80-85.