Posted By: Truck_Nut_Bob (Member Since 2016) Location: Somewhere Outside Kitchener Subject: My '74 GMC K-10: A Kijiji Tale
Alright, so y’all know me. I’m the guy who sees the potential in the “rust bucket” that everyone else calls a lost cause. I’ve owned a dozen trucks, but I’ve always had this itch for a solid, round-body K-10. You know the ones: the third-generation square bodies, before the pollution gear strangled ‘em.
So, it’s 1:00 AM last Tuesday. I’m scrolling. Scroll, scroll, fail. Scroll, fail. Then, I see it. The listing was titled: “Old Truck - $2500 - As Is.”
That’s Kijiji-speak for “My wife is making me sell this before it dissolves into the driveway.”
There were two grainy photos, taken on an ancient flip phone, in the dark. It looked green-ish. I could just make out the shape of that classic split grille. My pulse started racing. The description was sparse: “Ran when parked 6 years ago. 350 engine. 4x4 works. Has rust. Don’t waste my time. Cash only.”
It was perfect.
I didn’t message him; you don’t message at 1:00 AM on a “Don’t waste my time” ad. You wait until 6:30 AM and you call.
I called. A guy with a voice like sandpaper, who I’ll call Herb, answered.
“Still got the truck?”
“Yeah.”
“I’ve got cash, a trailer, and I’m empty-handed. Where are ya?”
I was hooked up and rolling within twenty minutes. The drive was two hours north, into farm country where the roads turn to gravel. I pulled into a muddy farmyard, and there she was, tucked behind a collapsing barn.
It was glorious. It was more than “green-ish.” It was that faded, oxidised medium green, covered in six years of barn dust,tree sap, and moss. The passenger side door was held shut with a bungee cord. The tires were flat on the bottom, sunken four inches into the earth.
I approached it reverently, like a relic. I opened the driver’s door; it squeaked like a dying pterodactyl. The smell… oh, that classic Kijiji smell: old vinyl, spilled gasoline, damp carpet, and just a hint of mouse. I loved it.
Herb walked over, wiping grease from his hands. “Told ya. As is.”
I didn’t even look at the engine yet. I crawl under the frame. Pound, pound, scratch. It was solid. The floorboards?Patchable. The bed fenders? Gone. But that frame, that powertrain—that’s what matters.
I sat in the cab. “Does she turn over?”
Herb sighed, walked over to his immaculate diesel dually, and grabbed a booster pack. We hooked it up. The volt gauge on the dash flickered to life. I reached for the ignition. This was the moment. The Kijiji gamble.
I cranked it. Rrr… rrr… rrr… CHUGGA-WOOF! It didn’t start, but it coughed. A massive cloud of blue and white smoke shot out of the rotted exhaust.
My heart nearly jumped out of my chest. If it coughs, it has compression. If it has compression, I can save it.
“Twenty-one hundred,” I said, looking right at Herb. I held up the envelope with the twenties. “Cash. Now. I take it as it sits, flat tires and all. You never have to see it again.”
Herb stared at the envelope. He stared at the truck that was an eyesore. Then he sighed again, but this time, it was a sigh of relief.
“Sold.”
It took me an hour to win the battle of extracting that beast from the mud. I used my winch and three different straps. But when I finally got it up the ramps and onto my trailer, I knew I had won Kijiji.
When I got it back to my garage, the first thing I did was take a photo. I haven’t even washed it yet. That’s the photo y’all are looking at right now. Look at that glorious patina. Look at me grinning like an idiot. This isn’t just a truck; this is my winter project. I’m gonna bring this '74 GMC back to life.
Total Kijiji win. $2100 well spent. Time to get to work.
[The accompanying photo posted by Truck_Nut_Bob]
The Day the '74 K-10 Came Home
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Posted By: Truck_Nut_Bob (Member Since 2008)
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Location: Rural Route 4, Outside Kitchener
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Subject: My '74 GMC K-10: A Kijiji Tale
Alright, so y’all know me. I’m the guy who sees the potential in the “rust bucket” that everyone else calls a lost cause. I’ve owned a dozen trucks, but I’ve always had this itch for a solid, round-body K-10. You know the ones: the third-generation square bodies, before the pollution gear strangled ‘em.
So, it’s 1:00 AM last Tuesday. I’m scrolling. Scroll, scroll, fail. Scroll, fail. Then, I see it. The listing was titled: “Old Truck - $2500 - As Is.”
That’s Kijiji-speak for