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Brush Find: 1980 Chevy Custom Pickup

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While we have seen more than a few barn finds on this site, I can’t recall featuring too many vehicles pulled from a bush that looked as solid as this truck does. Not surprisingly, this 1980 Chevy pickup here on craigslist languished on a farm for many years despite receiving a new paint job and otherwise seeming like it was loved prior to being shoved into the thickets. It’s now available for $2,500. 

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Here’s a side photo upon removal. Not too bad, right? I like these short-box bodies as the proportions seem just-right for a single cab pickup. The seller says that this truck received a quality paint job before the truck was parked, and it remains a looker today. Though not currently drive-able, it did fire up with a rebuilt carb but still has transmission issues and old gas in the dual tanks.

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Here’s an after photo from the same side. It does look pretty good, doesn’t it? I like the white wagon wheels on trucks of this era and actually hope to find a set for my Toyota van project. The paint still retains some gloss to it but the hood paint is burnt off and the seller says some minor rust has crept in after years of outdoor storage. Overall, though, this remains a sharp truck for less than $3,000.

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The seats will come with the truck – not to worry. The seller removed them for cleaning, but I’d still want a picture uploaded showing the bench seat in good overall condition. It primarily looks dirty inside but nothing worse than that. The fact that this truck is still not able to drive down the street is unfortunate, and I’m afraid the price may be a touch too high for that reason. But I still think it’s worth getting running – do you?

Comments

  1. Avatar al8apex

    Some people do like 4wd short bed trucks …

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  2. Avatar CelestialGryphon

    You could fit some small dirtbikes in the back. Looks like a fun little truck for CO.

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  3. Avatar JoeR

    I had a custom one of these in the 90s, but I’m not a truck guy….Metal flake paint and custom mural on the hood, tilt front end, lifted, aluminum rims with both 33s and 43s, 454, custom interior with swivel captain’s chairs, etc.

    Bought it completed, rarely drove it, tried to sell it, parked it in the bushes, let it rot, junked it.

    Will see if i can find a photo of it.

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  4. Avatar Joe Defelice

    I’m willing to bet a dollar that critters invaded the interior and chewed up the wires under the dash. Nothing a new wiring harness can’t remedy though. Looks solid for where it was hiding!

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  5. Avatar JW

    I too like the short bed 4×4’s, easier to maneuver around things if 4 wheeling or plowing. I couldn’t get link to work so I don’t know if there are pictures of engine or the other side of truck but short beds are popular and he should get his money if the other side looks as good as this side and the engine bay isn’t a wiring nightmare.

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  6. Avatar D Grass

    Call me a pessimist, but normally people don’t store perfectly good vehicles in places people won’t find them unless they don’t want them to be found. The fact that it was found on a farm outside of the buildings stashed in some bushes rather than inside leaves me with a lot of unanswered questions…

    Nice looking truck, but my brain tells me something isn’t kosher with the backstory…

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  7. Avatar Walter Joy

    It’s like that Roadkill episode

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  8. Avatar cyclemikey

    Slow down, folks. It wasn’t “shoved into the thickets” or “stashed in the bushes”. That’s Himalayan Blackberry, an invasive and super-aggressive non-native species here in Oregon. It wouldn’t take long AT ALL for the truck to be completely enveloped by that stuff if it was parked next to it. You’d be amazed if you’ve never encountered the stuff. Not only that, but it’s nasty with a capital N. It will scratch you into a bloody pulp if you try to remove it without protection.

    I live in a rural area, and on the next property over, there’s a ~35ft old motor home parked in his ‘back 40’ that’s being consumed by this stuff.

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    • Avatar JW

      We have something similar to that here in Missouri, not sure what it’s called but it has thorns and will grab on to anything that doesn’t move. It will grow up trees and strangle the water from them until they die.

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    • Avatar BillB

      Scary stuff…

      Himalayan and evergreen blackberry are European species of blackberry that are highly invasive and difficult to control. They are easy to spot by their large, vigorous, thicket-forming growth and sharp spines covering the stems.
      Himalayan blackberry – These two species of European blackberry are Class C noxious weeds on the Washington State Noxious Weed List, first listed in 2009.

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  9. Avatar Moe G

    I remember launching one of these sky high during my teenage school days, when it landed it felt like my back was compressed and the throttle was stuck wide open, terrifying but it didn’t stop us from trying it again, and again. Great memories !

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  10. Avatar Brian

    In Eugene Oregon, it takes about a week and a half for blackberry bushes to claim a vehicle.

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  11. Avatar bob

    thats a great buy-if he were in texas, we would be standing in line.

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  12. Avatar cudaman

    Just dragged this 1981 Cheyenne home two days ago from the original owners yard. It’s all original and has a great body with very little rust. Love the color combo-silver/red. Completely optioned and still retains the rallye wheels. Not sure if I should have it clear coated as it sat for years??????? I will think about it as I work on getting it running.

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  13. Avatar geomechs Member

    I would say that the price is right. I worked for a GM dealership during the 70s and early 80s and consequently worked on lots of these trucks. I bought mine new in ’79 and still have it. It took me everywhere I wanted to go and brought me back again for over 300K miles. Transmission is pretty rugged; in all likelihood it’s a THM 350 which is easy to repair and lots of parts are available. It might have the NP 205 transfer case or it might be a late arrival and have the NP 208 (there was a change during the 1980 production run), which I’m not all that fuzzy about. I’m pretty sure that’s a GM Corporation rear axle and it will likely have a Corporation front as well–good units. One of the biggest annoyances with the 1980 models is the fuel tank switch valve circuitry. Up until ’79 the tank switch automatically defaulted to the RH side; to run the LH tank power was sent to the valve. However, whenever the ignition was switched off the valve automatically sprung back to the RH tank; fuel coming back through the return circuit would surge back to the RH tank as well. If the tank was full, there might be some minor flooding into the RH tank. That caused some environmental fanatics some major anxiety problems because of a couple of drips (fuel) under the truck. Because of possible evaporative emissions a relay was installed which would hold the switch on the LH tank for a few seconds to let the return bleed down. Trouble was: the daggoned relay itself caused problems so many systems were modified BACK to the un-ecologically approved circuitry that worked flawlessly since 1973.

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  14. Avatar tony b

    I got a CB-200 from a fellow a few years back…went to pick it up (it was free), and first thing he said was, “we’ll have to go get the tractor…”. Turns-out, he was tired of having scrappers steal parts off of this and a triumph that he had, so he let the briar bushes overtake both of them. That way, he knew where they were, but no-one else could get to them. Few yanks with the tractor, and it was loose. :) Could be, that those “bushes” are actually kudzu. It may have actually only been sitting there a week or so…

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  15. Avatar Bill k

    I bought a new C10 Chevy from a small town/ rural dealer in East Tennessee in 1980. It was one of the six new vehicles that they sold that year. Warrantee replacements included the brake master cylinder 2 x, differential, parts of the wiring harness, and the head because the intergral exhaust manifold cracked. Wasn’t a fan of the truck except that the hd step bumper saved me from worse injury when hit from behind at 45 mph at a stop light.

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