Help/Advice for a friend selling a truck

My friends Father passed away this week after a long battle with cancer and a fatty liver. He went peacefully yesterday morning with his family with him.

The Father had a 1978 F350 Custom flatbed that was apparently an ex-uhaul vehicle. It appears to have a 351 of some flavor in it. Not sure of the transmission at this time. It is pretty straight and clean. I will be getting all the details later today or tomorrow.

It has been sat for a a couple of years and they have asked me to help them clean it up and list for sale.

Personally I have no idea what a truck of this vintage would go for, especially in this condition.

It has not been started in 2-3 years and I advised them against trying to start it unless they want to pull the gas out and check cylinders and put oil in etc, sounds like that is more work then they want to do right now. But over the weekend I may do all that for them. "It ran 2 years ago..."

So for a vehicle like this, what would be a fair price to ask? $3k? $5k? I really don't know where to start them and was hoping some guidance from the brain trust here. I know every dollar would go a long way for them right now.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Dane - I'm sorry for their loss.  But I don't really have a clue about a reasonable price for the truck.  However, Keith/FORDification might, so I'll tag him.

Keith - Can you help with the valuation?

Thanks Gary.

Deren here, Dane is the other Oregon guy 😂

Sorry!  My bad!  

All good, I get worse!

More pics:

Interior






Engine





Exterior









We are considering trying to start it. We will of course observe reasonable “sitting for a while” procedures. The Mum is confident it will be fine, my friend and I are a little more reserved.

That truck looks like it has the Ford 330 FT engine. The heavy duty version of the FE family 360/390 etc. Bill (Numberdummy) taught me a lot about the U-Haul differences.  

It also has a Ford Car/Van or early 1980/1982 F/series radio in it.

I'd check all the rubber hoses components, change the oil and gas, squirt some oil in the cylinders and all that good stuff.

After I got it running I'd check the brakes and the front end, and check all the safety things like lights and cab mounts etc...  

If I was selling it myself I'd also replace the lenses for the taillights, on the right side etc...  But that's just me...

Good looking truck, for being a U-Haul. Probably got tons of miles on it, but U-Haul usually kept their stuff up well.

Good Luck,

Deren, a flatbed is useful where your located of course for ranches etc., but being a 2WD, it’ll be a harder sell.

If you get it running and driving good, list it for $4500 or $5000 and explain the situation the family is in.

This is of course my opinion, then drop accordingly if no interest.

I’m selling my son’s 1999 BMW 540i, no interest at all, but bad time of the year to sell it.

Thank you for the advice. I will chat with my friend tomorrow and show him this thread.

Very much appreciated, as always.

What's the capability on the rear axle? Could this be turned into a custom flatbed car hauler?