This 1976 Chevrolet Pickup is no cream puff. You only have to look at it to see that it has worked to earn its living, but it looks like it has been used, not abuse. It is also a vehicle that the new owner can choose to restore, or it is ready to be driven as it is. Barn Finder Ikey H spotted this Pickup for us, so thank you for that Ikey. The original owner has decided to part with his much-loved Pickup, so has listed it for sale with an asking price of $6,000. Located in Fort Collins, Colorado, you will find it listed for sale here on Craigslist.
This may not be the prettiest Pickup that we’ve seen here at Barn Finds, but it does appear to be an honest one. The shots that the owner provides of the underside of the vehicle shows a vehicle with a light coating of surface corrosion, but no signs of any debilitating rust issues. Similarly, the body panels also appear to be nice and solid. There are certainly some dings and dents, and the paint definitely looks tired, but it appears that the owner has not made any effort to disguise the true condition of the vehicle. It just appears to be an honest Pickup.
As with the outside of the vehicle, the interior is also showing the signs of plenty of hard work. The seat will eventually need a new cover, although you could throw a blanket over it if you wanted to. The dash pad is badly cracked, and there are cup holders screwed to the dash. However, with a blanket over the seat, a cover over the dash pad, and a really good clean, the interior could be quite serviceable for daily use. The only nods to luxury that this Pickup provides are a radio and a sliding rear window. Otherwise, it’s a good, solid worker.
There’s no doubt that the Pickup would serve well as a tow vehicle or for getting away into the wilds for a bit of weekend camping. The 4-wheel-drive Chevrolet is fitted with its original 350ci V8 and a 4-speed manual transmission. You also get power steering and power brakes. The Pickup is fitted with a tow hitch, so it really would make a great tow vehicle. The Chevy was recently fitted with a new exhaust and new tires, and it also appears that it has been well maintained. The owner says that it is a strong and reliable vehicle and that he wouldn’t hesitate to drive it across the country.
There’s no doubt that this 1976 Chevrolet Pickup is a solid and honest vehicle, and it still appears to have plenty of life left in it to function as it stands right now. However, as a 43-year-old vehicle, it is also a prime candidate for a restoration. With a few of the dings knocked out and a fresh coat of paint, it would look really nice, and give the interior a bit of work and it would be a Pickup that stands out for not a lot of money. There’s a lot of potential there, and I hope that someone buys it and gives it a bit of a birthday.
Drive it cross country pulling a gas tanker, maybe. I get maybe 10 mpg in the cold with my 2×4, this, with the front axle disengaged, single digits, and gpm with everything spinning. I hate to keep picking on the poor fuel economy, it clearly was not what these trucks were intended for, they did make access to unreachable destinations possible, and you simply paid a price for that. There are lots of these here in Colorado, and the 4×4 surely doubles the price, it doubles the use, so I think this price is justified. Drive cross country, yeah,,good luck with that,,,I know I wouldn’t with mine.
Even its jack is in the stock location and all hubcaps present! It sure looks rough but rust seems to be superficial only.As I understand, Colorado doesn’t use much road salt and the cold dry climate is the second best thing to Californian surroundings.
This K10 has everything I’d look for being such a stripper; no AC to maintain,nor any power everything that eventually will desert you.Original owner was even clever enough to opt for the manual 4spd and 3.73 gears!
Great Plain-Jane beaten truck that now deserves a comfortable retirement! Grab an LMC catalog and start from there
Actually, that may have been true when this truck was new, but living in Colorado, they do indeed use salt and liquid calcium chloride now. They have to with the way these people drive today.
It would be not be a fuel economy champ with 3.73 gears. I ordered a 77 Stepside similar to this one, 350/4 speed with 3.07 gears and it got around 15 MPG going 70 MPH down the road. That is as long as you kept your foot out of the secondaries of the Quadrajet 4 barrel. That would easily sink gas mileage into single digits.
I finally got tired of my Old English Sheepdog sitting on the seat beside me, sometimes with snow all over him, so I went to Suburbans in the late 1980’s. I ended up with an 84 similar to this one in 2006 when my Dad passed away, except it’s a 305/700R4 automatic. It’s now holding down the barn floor waiting for spring. And in case anybody thought I was sane, it’s not my only restored 4×4 vehicle that I won’t drive in the winter.
I like this truck but I would want to get a close look at the transfer case to see if it was once a full-time and converted to a part-time. A lot of problems with those conversions. I’m not sure about ‘75 but ‘73-‘74 ran the 203 case ONLY. It seems to me that GM brought the 205 back in (behind a manual transmission only) in ‘76, and behind an automatic in ‘79. Interesting enough that I ordered my ‘79 with automatic and 205 case but ended up with a 203 anyway.
Interesting that there are so many complaints about fuel economy with the old Square Bodies. True, they might need a bit of tweaking with the advance curve and metering rod settings but a 2wd should pull 15 with a 350. My ‘79 with 400/auto/203/3.73 gears consistently got 14-15.
My OE sales literature for Blazers up to 1980 states 205 from 76 onwards was only available t-case behind manual.As for your 79 the auto/205 combo could not be had from factory.
73; lists the Dana 20 as standard,205 optional regardless of engine
74; with I6 Dana 20 standard behind the manual,205 standard with auto, and 203 behind the v8.
75; dana 20 is gone,listing 205 for I6,203 for V8 regardless of transmission
There was obviously a lot of mix-matching going on during those days! As for the fuel economy I agree they are not as bad as people claim as long as one can live with a six or moderate SBC.After all these vehicles should be regarded as hobby vehicles, considering their limited usage MPG shouldn’t really matter
I forgot about the Dana 20 case. Anyways, shortly after the new year in ’79 our sales manager came over to me with a fresh Telex (remember those?) which announced that effective January 1, 1979 you could order an automatic transmission with the 205 part-time case. I had been holding off ordering a new truck because I didn’t want full-time (tired of replacing chains in them, and our service department rebuilt a LOT of 203 cases). When I got the news, I priced out my truck and ordered it–with the 400/auto/205. The order was received then promptly put on hold because of a shortage of adapters to couple the automatic to the 205 (or so I was told). My truck continued to be on hold almost until the deadline. The sales manager changed the order to the 203 so it could be built. As it turned out, my truck was built on May 20, and I received it on June 15. I might add that I worked on a ’79 4×4 out of Great Falls that had a 350/auto/205. The owner of that took delivery in August of ’79…
Had a 73′ 350/turbo 400, 3+3 for 35 years. Went through 2 motors, but the 400 was never touched. With the 4.11 gearing a got 10 miles to the gal. all day. In all fairness, I did install a Holley, should of kept the Quadrajet. Biggest problem I had was keeping fuel in the 18 gal. tank. Should of also installed a second tank, as the one here has.
$1500 truck.
Any truck running or not is worth $1,500. This is a work truck, not a show one. They are money makers or haulers. I would but a price on this at $4,000.00 , but I’m sure the motor needs rebuild, it appears to not have been out of the truck, with the heat shields still attached. Too bad it’s a 6 foot bed, I still have the molding for a 8 foot bed. Needs a little TLC,but…. Nice!!!!
Just a good old reliable workhorse!