Talk me down from buying a s10 Blazer wheeler project

[Dadwagon]

In a week I'm heading two towns away to buy and tow away a sub-$200 1980s-era S10 Blazer, 4WD, manual transmission. Unknown engine. Owner passed away, step-son is giving me a bill of sale and doesn't have the keys. No paperwork.
Planning to air up the tires and roll it onto a flatbed from Uhaul using a ratchet strap. I don't have a garage but have on-street parking where neighbors shouldn't get too upset.
Ultimate plan is to get it running and either just flip it outsright ASAP or if the interior doesn't smell too terrible and I fit in it, set it up as an offroad only vehicle, cut the roof off, make it extreme and not at all road-worthy on the streets.
My wife hates this idea and is giving me a tiny budget. I could spend maybe a couple hours a week on Sundays doing this, but all other work will be in the evenings in the dark.
Is this a stupid idea? Is the S10 Blazer unsellable and I'm making a mistake? I'll have to buy a trailer if I keep it, so that's another expense. I'm intrigued by the adventure of showing up and seeing what's there and going from there, if it's a 2.5 Iron Duke it shouldn't be too hard or expensive to get it to run.
The current owner says it ran fine 10 years ago and got parked, so if that's true and the drivetrain is good it seems like a cheap fun project if I don't care about the looks or smells. Owner seemed to collect tractor-trailers in his backyard, which looks like a huge barn find in itself.

 

[Mooseman]

Sounds interesting. I owned a 1983 S10 Blazer auto. It had the 2.8 carbureted. Pretty gutless by today's standards. Hopefully yours is a later model with the 4.3 and fuel injection. Without papers, it may be impossible to plate it for the road depending on your state laws. If it's in good shape, it would be a shame to turn it into an off-road buggy. But if it's in rough shape and can get it going again, it could be a fun project if you have the space to keep and run it.

Sorry, I'm not much for talking people down. I'm more for yelling "jump!" However, don't forget da wife!

 

[Reprise]

Hmm. Moose makes good points. But I'll play devil's advocate...

- You already know that anytime you're working on it, it'll be outside. That can be a pain, especially for involved repairs. Or inclement weather. This applies more if you're keeping the truck, long-term.

- You know you won't get a title. Check your state laws, to see what it will be like to obtain one (the vehicle isn't junk or salvaged, just unregistered for the last several years). I'd see about drawing up a document between you and seller, and getting it notarized (meaning both of you pay a visit to the notary, together.) That could help a lot as far as getting a new title issued in your name. So could a copy of a death certificate, but you'd still need something showing that you were authorized to take possession of the vehicle. And it's kind of a sensitive subject, as well.
It would require some cooperation from the seller, of course, who may take the position that that's why he's selling it so cheap, and he'd rather not be bothered (else, he'd get a title himself, and the price would go up, accordingly).

Thinking about this as I write it, I'm remembering that I purchased a car from my grandfather's estate (my mom / uncle couldn't find the title; they wrote a note that I took to my DMV, and I didn't have much trouble eventually getting title / registration in my name. However -- that was easily 25-30 years ago, and the laws in my state are stricter, now.)

Without clear title, fixing it to flip it may prove futile (and even if someone's willing to buy it, you'll take a $ hit on the sale price because of it). Again, check your local laws -- it may be illegal to sell a vehicle w/o title, unless it's being scrapped, etc.


- Here's one more idea, especially if the interior's moldy; rodent-eaten wiring, etc. ... grab the saleable parts, and sell them. The T-case alone would fetch more than $200. The manual trans might as well, and the engine certainly would fetch that much, or more. The window glass alone in the vehicle would fetch $200.

Problem here is storing the vehicle (& the parts); while your neighbors may be tolerant, I'm pretty sure they'll have a problem with a vehicle being stripped for parts over the course of the next month (or 3, or 6, or 12, or - ?) If you could get the truck in the garage for a week, you could probably pull everything off, then dispose of the carcass, depending on your skills & tools.

Those are my thoughts. Take them with a grain of 🧂

Whatever you decide, good luck (and if you decide to pull the trigger, a thread here detailing your progress is certainly welcome

 

[Mektek]

The 4 cylinder engine pretty much kills the idea. Really gutless........

 

[Beacon]

cool idea, sounds like fun. be prepared to replace the rubber brake fluid hoses, and probably the steel lines as well.

 

[coolride]

The price is just about at scrap level. So there's no risk of a financial loss at this point. If you could clean it up and get it road worthy by investing your time and a few hundred bucks, then I think you could sell it and make a few hundie in the end. That's if it can eventually be registered with just a bill of sale. It probably can, after some forms are completed at the DMV.

 

[Dadwagon]

Thanks for the second opinions. Ultimately my wife reminded me how tight our budget is, and I realized money or not I can't see myself having the time to work on it, thus it would just be a nuisance rather than something enjoyable. It feels like defeat even though I never started the project, but I have cancelled the Uhaul reservation and told the seller I'm out.
The truck is still on Offerup, search for "Ford blazer" yes that's not a typo. The Blazer is in Fremont, California. I got the price down to $175.

 

[Beacon]

"Ford Blazer" Sounds like you could have shared the ad on the Craigslist morons thread.

 

[Dadwagon]

Turns out I would have had less than zero time to play with this toy had I got it. I have outstanding work on the Rainier as it stands now due to work and life obligations. I could spit it annoys me so much.