Hey, joined this forum for some advice. First backstory, my DD is a PoS 01 Ford Taurus, it's a PoS because when I first met my wife she was driving it with a massive tranny leak (I fixed 2-3 months later). A while back the tranny light came on and didn't go away until I turned the car off and back on, now every other month or so it flickers on for a few seconds. Quoted $750-850 from webuyanycar (they don't know about the tranny and don't need to know, shhhh don't tell them). Also, the blower motor has died so it has no AC or heat. Now, I found a craigslist ad for a 1970 D100 LWB with a 318 and a 3 speed auto. Owner doesn't know the mileage and claims it's been adapted for unleaded fuel, might not be stock engine - $900. It's a little banged up on the rear passenger quarter, there's some surface rust under a fender and under the floor pan but the owner claims the frame is solid and the engine runs with no problems. Think it will be dependable? I only drive 10-15 min a day for work. Thought it would make a great temporary DD until I can make it a full blown project, maybe drop a 360 in, blocks are going on cheapbay for $90.

 

Here's the rear.

 

Welcome to DF. Moving this to the 1st gen Ram section so you can get some answers. As far as a 34 year old truck being a dependable daily driver, I would not bank on it personally.

 

if the truck is solid and runs good it should be fine as a daily driver. i use to use my 81 as a daily driver for a year before i got my 93. then it became my project until i started lending my sister my 93. now it is pretty much my daily driver once more.

 

Pennsylvania plates? It's crap! Give me the address so I can go and "remove it from the pool of vehicles for sale," if you know what I mean. Lol

Here's the thing: it's going to be a lot like an old farm tractor. It will probably almost always run and move, but expect to spend time wrenching on it every weekend. I'd probably keep the taurus around until you get the truck figured out.

 

Well, as it doesn't have sensors I'm pretty confident I could keep the engine running.

 

I have no doubt that the motor will stay running for ages. It's the kingpins, and rear end, and brakes, and fuel system, and electrical system, and everything else that I would be worried about keeping road legal. Those pre-72 trucks don't usually go for $900 if they are solid daily drivers. I wouldn't trust this truck to get me to work at 5 in the morning every day without being late because I had to fix _________. That's all.