The guy that is selling it has a few, and says he only buys ute's with good engine bays and good trays. He said that the motor and g/b are fine, and it drives quite well. I mean, I'll see soon enough, I just wanted to get some info first. Thanks for your help so far guys.

in new zealand yould pick that up for $200 or less

Check for rust in all the usual areas.
Floors are probably rusted. Could be a Freddy Flintstone job.

Whats it like mechanically? Do you need to add a new motor/gearbox/diff etc to your shopping list?

To think all these years this is where I have gone wrong. lol

yeh phunk didnt u know man iron oxide (FeO) weighs more than iron lol

DiscoStu you make me laugh!
Weight problem in a 1200 ute. lol

me and a mate just went halves in a ute for $900 it has a rust hole in the right hand rear arch the size of a basketball it has side damage rust in the front window etc.

we are going to start doing it up to get RWC and sell for $3500 (try and make some moeny of it )

i reckon if you are good at boging and fixing panels and know a few people that can get you cheaper prices on stuff i would buy that ute.

also you will get alot more satisfaction on building your datto up from stantard, it costs more moeny but at least you know that when the utes finshed that you made all the decsions on what you wanted it to look like

I'd be a bit cautious because it sounds like the owner just wants to get rid of the thing. Anything you buy in the trading post for under or around $3K will have rust in it anyway. So if you add the new panels and paint to less than that you'd be on a winner. Also, the tray can be replaced with alloy as I've done which cuts some of the rust and weight problems down. Plus being only rivited in you can easily take it off to have easy access to the Diff etc.

well, the guy assures me that the engine bay and tray are close to perfect, and the interior is quite good. I plan on paying around $500 for it, which is the only reason I am interested in it.

Worst case scenario....

2x rear 1/4's........$400
1x tailgate...........$165
2x front guards....$165
2x sills.................$200

The doors look ok, so, for around $1500 I could have something that wouldn't be too bad, (apart from paintwork!) if the ute is what he says it is.

Thoughts? I really need to know so I don't end up with a turd box!

Thanks.

Quote:are you sure? I mean it doesn't look terribly well cared for. unless this thing is very cheap, and you are prepared to replace almost everything except the turret, maybe you should keep looking... it will probably work out cheaper to buy one in decent condition to start with especially if you are not doing the bodywork yourself