Kind of odd H1... advice please!
 

Hi Guys, looking for a little advice on an H1... First off, this is a weird model I think - open top but it's a 2 seater - like an open pickup but with rear door cutouts. Kinda neat. Not sure if there were doors on the back at one point or not. It's a 1996 with the non-turbo 6.5. It has a 17-digit VIN, so I'm assuming it's a civilian model, (plus it looks like the original paint was bright red); but I know very little about these, other than what I've learned on the Interweb the past few days.

The fellow that owned it passed away, and we're trying to help out the current owner by attempting to get it running for her; and mostly to give her some solid advice and assistance on what she should do with it - put money into it to make it driveable (or more saleable), or sell it as is.

The truck sat for about 2 years. We got it to fire, but it appears with some diagnosis that the injector pump most likely needs to be replaced. Not such a huge deal, BUT there was a fair bit of coolant in the oilpan when we drained it. From what I can gather there was a fairly common issue with the blocks in these, so it's very likely it's cracked. At the very least, we suspect a head gasket - there's juice getting into there from somewhere. Worst case, we go looking for a swap motor but either way, she's looking at a fair bit of expense. Hesitant to go forward with an injector pump to get it running if that's just the start of the expense...

The question is - what's a complete non-running H1 go for these days?? The body is very good - it's a west coast car. Wondering if it might be better for her to sell it as is and skip the gamble, unless the thing would be worth considerably more when done considering the expense.

Thanks in advance!!

No civilian two door open tops. The military did have them. Sounds like you may have the #8 cylinder issue. What is the condition of the rest of the truck? ( Body, paint, interior )

The paint - depends if you like Camo... :-)
Interior was torn apart some time ago by PO presumably to diagnose and repair it. I believe all the parts are available to reassemble. However it’s a west coast truck and it appears to be rust free.
I’m not sure on the body configurations of these - you will know from the pics... is it originally a 2 seater, or was it a 4-seater open with the seats and doors removed? Doesn’t look like much room for seats in the rear... I think it was a pickup style.
odd that they would paint a military one red?

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.hum...f45ef83b0.jpeg
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.hum...baf4b6201.jpeg
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.hum...dbae6a860.jpeg
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.hum...9b0622554.jpeg
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.hum...b6d51ee77.jpeg
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.hum...f75aa35f5.jpeg
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.hum...fc0416471.jpeg
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.hum...38dc913be.jpeg

it might have lived life as a fire rescue vehicle. many came setup as you described.

That makes a lot of sense. I googled pics of Fire and Rescue H1's, and they'd look like this one with the fire equipment stripped off. Maybe someone bought it at an auction and did that.
So in that case, would a Fire/Rescue spec'd H1 be considered a Civilian model or a Military model?

run the vin number through something like vehiclehistory.com or just google the vin. a few hits might come up to help you figure it out. by the way that shop is too clean and well lit to belong to a dead man.

Yes, we figured it would be better to flat bed it to our shop in order to assess it and work on it. Depending on which way she wants to go we may end up swapping the engine out or selling it as is for her.

The VIN is 137YA8935TE171378 - I could find the basics, but still not sure how to determine if it is Civilian or Military. The interior looks too fancy to be military, and the bright red, but 3hummers stated they didn't make Civilian ones in this config.
Did the military ones have a 17-digit VIN as well?

We're thinking one option is to put a big block or LS in it; but again concerned whether the value will be there for her once it's completed.

1996HummerH1
XLC2. 2-Passenger Hard Top Enlarged Cab. VIN 6th & 7th Digits "89"

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.hum...50356f3f84.jpg

Definitely civilian truck that has been stripped down. It is a shame that you don't have the original hardtop, that would make it worth more.

X2, +rear side panels, passenger vinyl seat, plus more missing.. It's going to be tough/expensive to restore with a total of 89 production. Sell as is, or part it out.