Located in the San Francisco Bay area is this 1986 Chevrolet C20 Pickup. The seller states that the truck was purchased to do a short bed conversion and only has 52,000 miles. While the ad title says it is a 1986 model, the description states that it is a 1985 model. It is listed for sale here on Craigslist for a very reasonable $5,000. After 9 days of being listed, it is still posted for sale. Overall, the seller states the truck is in good shape and has a clear California title. This body style represents the third generation of the C/K Chevrolet pickup.
This 3/4 ton pickup is equipped with the largest engine available in 1986 which was the 454 cubic inch V8. In the Chevrolet pickup, the 454 cubic inch V8 engine replaced the 402 cubic inch V8 engine in 1973. It was rated at 230 horsepower and 360 lb ft of torque. The engine is backed by a column shifted automatic transmission. The seller bought another truck and is ready to part with this one. The ad states in one place that the truck has 53,000 miles and another place 52,000 miles. Either way, that is low mileage for any truck of this vintage. The engine is adorned with an aftermarket intake and air cleaner. A new carburetor and fuel pump were recently installed.
It always amazes me that people list trucks without cleaning out the interior. Regardless this one looks pretty nice. The truck is equipped with tilt steering, cruise control, power locks and power windows. The dash pad is covered by an aftermarket carpet. The truck was originally equipped with air conditioning but it appears it may not still be working. That would be good question to ask the seller as well as if the undercarriage or body panels have any rust. The seller states the smog equipment has been removed and the truck needs some TLC.
See? The bottom HAS fallen out some, finally a decent price from my faaaavorite place. Can’t be too harsh on ol’ Californy, Mother Nature must dislike it too. Either it’s dry as a popcorn fart or mudslides. Rocky Mountains are pretty stable, I’ve found. Nice truck for something that’s been around the world 25 times, so THAT part of California still shines. Looks okay, but underneath I bet one tired horse.
Wonder what’s under the white paint.
My first thought is this must be checked for water damage. My wife is from the Bay Area and her sister sent a video from one week ago showing how deep the water was on San Carlos Ave. in Redwood City/San Mateo. It has been raining since then. Somebody might have to pull this out of the bay.
I thought the engines was painted blue
Engine should be blue in color, not orange. Always amazes me that in this day and age people STILL remove smog controls from vehicles that they know will have to be smog inspected bi-annually. Completely kills the resale value, and steers over 90% of potential buyers to look elsewhere to purchase a street legal example. This truck would easily bring 10K if it was left intact and smog legal.
No smog inspections here. Not on something this old. Not if you live in a free state.
Good one, a free state, oh, the tip of the iceberg, my friend. I think my negativity is catching on, and it SHOULD. The “Front Range”, that’s Denver,east of the mountains, still has testing, and for good reason. The Front Range, due to it’s geology has the worst air in the country. Here in the mountains, we don’t have that. The exhaust testing fracas has been under fire. In Wisconsin, they closed the state run centers, and put it in the hands of private dealers and a slew of shady operators were exposed. Stuff like, if they knew your car wouldn’t pass, they’d hook the hose to a car they knew would,,,for a price, natch. Can’t do that in NY, where it’s no joke, and all inspections are done on camera for ALL cars. It’s why there are so many older Subarus out there that can’t pass, many with nothing wrong except a “check engine” light with no apparent cure. It’s how they sell new Subarus, engineer into the computer a failure so the old ones don’t pass,, :0
Not in Florida
The engine should actually be painted black. To be factory correct
I attended the hearing (in Greeley)on the North Front Range of Colorado that expanded the area for vehicle testing. The program does no measurable good (Air Quality Board expert scientist witnesses agreed) in the front range. It’s a scam. New vehicles do make a difference and thankfully vehicles 1975 and older are so far not tested.
The low milage is probably due to low MPG. :(
This appears to be a C6P, I bought one new in 84. I special ordered the unit with a 350, that unit had a payload of 4400 lbs. I would’ve achieved better fuel economy with the 454, better power to weight ratio. Loaded I never got better than 6mpg.
A loaded Chevy pickup truck with a 454ci will get a “few” more miles per gallon than a loaded Chevy truck with a 350ci. I know because I’ve owned both. One was a 1982 with a 350ci and one 1986 like this one with a 454ci. Both were great trucks, but loaded, by far the best one was the 454ci. Got about 4 miles per gallon better, same load weight. Nice article!