A thing, I have bought

"Scimitar7" (Scimitar7) 04/10/2016 at 20:56 • Filed to: None

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An ‘86 C20 Scottsdale!

I was in the market for a beater work truck for when my wife & I purchase a house. The homes in our price range will most likely be fixer-uppers requiring Lowe’s/Home Depot runs for wood, drywall, appliances, mulch, etc. I went back & forth about if the wisest decision would be to (A) buy a truck, (B) buy a trailer to tow behind our existing cars, or (C) rent a truck when needed. Obviously, Option A won out for multiple reasons which I’ll list in the comments if anyone even cares that much.

It belonged to one of my coworkers for almost exactly 21 years. He originally wanted to restore it and make it a street rod, but then changed his mind. I think it had something to do with him purchasing a 2015 Ram 3500 w/ Cummins. Anyway, it’s equipped with a 350 SBC, TH400, and 14-bolt rear with 4.10 gears. Needless to say, going any faster than 55 mph gets... interesting. Gas mileage will be laughable, but the dual tanks (which actually work!) will give me 40 gallons of fuel to work with.

One of the reasons I bought this particular truck was because $2000 got me a relatively clean 3/4 ton truck that is mechanically sound, and - despite the heavy patina - has zero structural rust. The typical rust spots (cab corners, rockers, etc) are clean as can be. Sure, it’s in rough shape, but compared to what’s been on Craigslist for the past month, this thing’s a gem.

Known issues are: Leaky valve cover (driver side), leaky master cylinder cap, A/C inoperative, and a few brittle vacuum lines - Everything else is cosmetic. That said, I’ve really got to resist the mod bug’s bite with this truck. Seeing the obsolete (and probably inoperative) air pump system along with a decent sized dual exhaust makes me want to rip it out and drop in some headers. While the TH400 is a bulletproof transmission, the 4.10's really scream for an overdrive; and the cost of an overdrive swap makes it easier to justify to the wife why I should pull the trigger on a LQ4/4L80E swap. See? Mod bug bites.

I’m going to call it my Firefly (like the TV show, not the insect). Reason: the evening I brought it home, one of my neighbors goes “Sweet truck! When did you get it?”. After replying, his wife asks “You paid money for this?”. It reminded me of the scene from the Firefly episode “Out of Gas” where Mal & Zoe board Serenity for the first time, and he asks her what she thinks. I laughed so hard at the thought; but by some miracle when I went to the DMV to register it, this was available:

My reaction:

Will update as things progress!

Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo > Scimitar7 04/10/2016 at 21:07

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It’s the perfect work truck! And blue! BLUE EVERYTHING!

Owning a pickup has been wonderful for me ever since we bought our house. First it was great for moving because we hopped from rental to rental, but now it’s great because I can bring home yards of bark and bricks and whatnot. And the dozens upon dozens of runs to the county dump.

Brickman > Scimitar7 04/10/2016 at 21:10

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Well kept interior and has all the hub caps!

Scimitar7 > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo 04/10/2016 at 21:12

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Ironic you said “BLUE EVERYTHING!” as Rockingthe2 told me on Facebook not 20 minutes ago that I should make everything black. Can’t I just enjoy the patina/rat rod look? :P

And that’s EXACTLY why I decided to buy instead of rent. I have memories of my grandparents loading up their 1/2 ton Chevy with way too many 80lb bags of concrete and creeping home with the nose pointed toward space. I knew I wouldn’t be able to do anything like that with a Subaru Legacy & a 4x8 trailer...

rockingthe2 > Scimitar7 04/10/2016 at 21:15

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Anybody arguing why this is a bad idea:

rockingthe2 > Scimitar7 04/10/2016 at 21:18

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You should at least paint the grille though, and do the cheap rhino lining on the bumpers! Or just find a bucket of non-skid and roll the entire thing, betcha nobody would door ding it after that!

AND PUT THE CAP BACK ON IT! Jeez!

Alfalfa > Scimitar7 04/10/2016 at 21:19

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Shiny. I think this calls for a Firefly meme/GIF dump.

Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo > Scimitar7 04/10/2016 at 21:20

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Don’t paint it! Unless it’s blue paint :) Honestly, the most disposable vehicles seem to have the most charm.

Birddog > Scimitar7 04/10/2016 at 21:21

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Awesome truck! I love how just the top of everything is rusty. Air cleaner cover, hood, roof etc.

Welcome to the Blue interior club! I think Crusty and Firefly are the only known members right now.

Scimitar7 > Birddog 04/10/2016 at 21:27

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Waitwaitwait, there’s somebody with the name Firefly on here with a blue interior? Ironic...

Scimitar7 > rockingthe2 04/10/2016 at 21:30

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I’ll get around to it eventually. And the cap came off because it caused TERRIBLE blinds spots. Backing up was a nightmare. It will go back on one day when it’s needed, and after I’ve had time to clean it up and fix a couple issues it has

Scimitar7 > Alfalfa 04/10/2016 at 21:31

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I love it

Birddog > Scimitar7 04/10/2016 at 21:33

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No, misunderstanding. I was referring to your truck.

rockingthe2 > Scimitar7 04/10/2016 at 21:35

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eh, just put a backup cam on it, they are pretty cheap as is.

ly2v8-Brian > Scimitar7 04/10/2016 at 21:40

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Welcome to the blue Chevy truck club.

Scimitar7 > Birddog 04/10/2016 at 21:40

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Oooooooooooh... now I feel stupid

Agrajag > Scimitar7 04/10/2016 at 21:45

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Everything about this awesome!

Matthew Phillips > Birddog 04/10/2016 at 22:16

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My 86 Mustang has a blue interior as well

LongbowMkII > Scimitar7 04/10/2016 at 22:28

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I want your truck to do truck things.

Alfalfa > Scimitar7 04/10/2016 at 22:35

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Oh and there’s this little family picture we had taken...

Swayze Train GTi > rockingthe2 04/10/2016 at 22:41

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Don’t put the cap back on it! Truck caps are for contractors and your grandpa

shop-teacher > Scimitar7 04/10/2016 at 22:59

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That is an awesome square body! I love everything about it. If it were mine, the only thing I’d do to it is fix the AC. You got a killer deal too!

DipodomysDeserti > Scimitar7 04/10/2016 at 23:06

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Why did they call this thing the Scottsdale? These things are the antithesis of Scottsdale, AZ.

Scimitar7 > DipodomysDeserti 04/11/2016 at 06:08

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I have no idea

Scimitar7 > LongbowMkII 04/11/2016 at 06:09

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Once my wife & I buy a house, truck things are about the only thing this truck’s gonna do

rockingthe2 > Swayze Train GTi 04/11/2016 at 09:05

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Or safely storing things in vehicles, people tend to have a hard time stealing what they don’t see.

Luc - The Acadian Oppo > Scimitar7 04/11/2016 at 10:25

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Sweet Baby JEBUS!!! It’s an exact replica of my truck!!!

You even still have the original jack in the front fender and everything(as do I)

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

I still have the spare tire and bed mount I just removed it to put on my tool boxes. I’m planning on re-installing the spare tire mount behind the wheel well in between the wheel well and the tailgate.

I hear you with the fuel economy. You’ll be deep into the single digits. maybe 8mpg on a good day.

Scimitar7 > Luc - The Acadian Oppo 04/11/2016 at 12:41

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Hahahaha! That’s why I asked you about headers the other day. I’m actually looking for the under bed tire mount; in the bed looks cool and all, but I can see it getting in the way

Swayze Train GTi > rockingthe2 04/11/2016 at 21:48

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Well yeah, I thought that fell under contractor use. I don’t know too many people who keep valuables in their pickup beds

rockingthe2 > Swayze Train GTi 04/11/2016 at 21:53

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I keep tools in my car, if I had that truck I would have to keep them in the bed. I absolutely keep tools if I just bought it and it’s a little bit older. Just to make sure you know, Scimitar and I are close friends IRL, so we pick on each other constantly.