Re: 72 K30 Build
 

The goal was to have the oil pan bolted on but had the wrong oil pump pickup. While we’re waiting for a new pickup to arrive it’s a good time to paint.

Re: 72 K30 Build
 

Picked up the seats from the upholstery shop and they did a really nice job. We also snagged another 4 bolt 454 block for our poor neglected Camaro project.

Re: 72 K30 Build
 

Nice!

Re: 72 K30 Build
 

x2

Re: 72 K30 Build
 

Thanks you guys!


Pickup arrived and pan is on, first time trying a one piece oil pan gasket we will see how well that works out. Had to use ¼” longer bolts at the timing chain cover and I read somewhere a daub of silicone in the four corners and you are good to go.

I was a little concerned that if I painted this Summit dampener you couldn’t read the degree marks. Thought about just notching it at zero and painting it anyway but after taking some thinner on a rag to one of the markings I found they’re on there really well. Decided to just clear it and leave the metal finish.

Re: 72 K30 Build
 

Looks like the same kind/type gasket I used on the SBC. I bought a Mr gasket oil pan bolt set and it had 4 longer bolts, 2 front bolts at the timing chain cover and 2 and the rear main seal.

Re: 72 K30 Build
 

The front ¼-20x3/8 bolts were so short with the factory pan they could not reach the cover at all. The rest of the BB set is 5/16-18x5/8 and they all grabbed thread well enough to hold 25-30 lbs. hopefully they stay put! :lol:


Our intake did clean up good enough for me not to paint it, also installed a FlowKooler water pump and will use the thermostat they sell also. We’ve had heating issues in the past with some of our big blocks and I can tell you these water pumps work really well.

Re: 72 K30 Build
 

Hey Brett I have the same type rockers on the SBC I am putting in Jr. (Roller tips I think mine were ProForms)
I need to find that little Vacuum fitting that wye's on your intake. Where did you find it?

Re: 72 K30 Build
 

The rockers are part of the Comp Cams kit, we got all their stuff even push rod guide plates, the dist. gear and fuel pump push rod. I'm guessing it’s an original factory fitting that came on our 72 402 and was moved to this intake when they swapped it on that motor. Back in the day Corvette and the truck line shared many parts so one of my favorite vendors is Paragon. Here’s a link to their vacuum fittings section, I think it would be their product# 1362. https://www.paragoncorvette.com/sear...Vacuum+Fitting

Hey looky there, some orange did make it even if only temporarily! Time to take it off the engine stand and mate it to the trans. I finally opened the box to get a look at our recon low stall converter. It’s almost ready to drop it in the chassis.

Re: 72 K30 Build
 

hey Brett thanks for the link. they have many configurations. motor looks about ready to drop in!!!

Re: 72 K30 Build
 

It's looking great! Keep at it!

Re: 72 K30 Build
 

Wow, I go away for a month and come back to some serious progress!!! :lol:

Re: 72 K30 Build
 

No problem Scott hope that helps, and yep that’s the update for today.

Thanks Ryan!

Hey Mike, thanks glad your back, we have made some progress lately.



It’s in there.

Re: 72 K30 Build
 

The biggest problem I see with this is that you have to put a cab on top of it... so pretty!

Re: 72 K30 Build
 

Thanks Jim and congrats to you on your new truck buddy it’s a looker!


Took a little gas to clean up the transfer case and all that black paint just fell off (jk all Sunday afternoon with a tooth brush is more like it)? Man that was lucky (not)! :lol: Since we didn’t go orange on the block we didn’t go red for the TC either, kind of have a black and cast iron gray thing going.

I don’t know if I mentioned this before but our transfer case came in but was not the original to our donor 84 K3500. The cast date is 3/22/71 and it also carries a tag on the PTO cover that is dated 5/6/71 so it looks like it’s found its way back into a correct generation truck. And yes that is a piece of speedo cable stuck in the speedo gear.

Re: 72 K30 Build
 

Looking good Brett,
That motor in that looks huge even with the heavy running gear.....

I have a question as I have 2 transmission cross members. One is like the one you are using(from an 86 burb) and the other has a more of a drop(original 68 from the truck). How did you know which one to use?

Re: 72 K30 Build
 

Thanks Scott, the Longhorn frame is kind of unique in that its section height is at its widest in that area (kind of pregnant). If we had used the gen2 correct ½ or ¾ ton TC cross member it would have needed to mount to a lower support pedestal to maintain the correct factory height or angle, same as GM originally did with the auto trans cross members in this frame. During mockup we figured this out that they both land in approximately the same place if the gen2 member is mounted under the upper flange and the later gen3 is mounted below the lower flange. So our decision was made it would be much easier and cleaner to use the later gen3 cross member. Using a gen2 ½ or ¾ ton frame I would think you would need to shim the gen3 cross member down some due to the section height of those frames to achieve the same angle which is more critical to carbureted applications.



A sling and cherry picker makes short work with the cab out of way.

Re: 72 K30 Build
 

Great information Brett thank you! I do have both gen crossmembers. One thing I noticed I will have to remove the carrier bearing drop bracket as it will get a 1 piece drive line when completed and is in the way.

Will you be using a 1 piece driveline? if so how long will it be in that frame? the hulk build drive line was 48 1/2" c to c of ujoints.

Re: 72 K30 Build
 

Yep a one piece driveline is still our plan and if we were going to stop at the transfer case it would be about 67" c to c! :thud: I think our only hope to get any kind of gas mileage is the gear change we did and a Gear Vendors OD unit. The OD is unit 12 1/4" and utilizes a slip yoke it also replaces the 205 tail housing with an adaptor. My guess is we will end up around 52 ish when all is said and done.


Here’s a fuss bucket maneuver, been thinking we’d run spark plug shields just because they'll give a factory look and I happen to have 6 originals off the 402. They don’t repro these but the ones GM sells are kind of close especially with a little work. Going to run them in the front right position under the A/C compressor were you can’t see them anyway, told yah fuss bucket! :lol:

Re: 72 K30 Build
 

Quite over here HAHAHA!!
After installing the ram horns I may have to fab up some sort of shield like you have.

Re: 72 K30 Build
 

Nice work, keep at it!

Re: 72 K30 Build
 

Been a little side tracked lately so we put the K30 on hold for a couple of weeks.

Re: 72 K30 Build
 

Im ready to see more when you get ready .

Re: 72 K30 Build
 

Hope all is well....

Re: 72 K30 Build
 

No worries, Blue my C30 has decided it needs some maintenance (jealous of the K30 :lol:), Mrs.7dee2 is loading me up with honey do’s and one of my boy’s is moving again so just life taking over.

Re: 72 K30 Build
 

Man time fly’s a couple of weeks turned into over a month! So break time is over Mrs. 7dee2 is happy with her new patio/planter box setup, our youngest boy is moved again. In addition, my oldest daughter and granddaughter who live in Denver came out and stayed with us for a week.

Just before my daughter got here my PC tried to take a dump! I’d built the old computer 5 ½ years ago and the video card started failing so it’s time for an upgrade, Yes! :devil:

Did some research to get caught up on what’s going on in the PC gamer hardware world (thinking they have the fastest most powerful machines). So here is the old and the old with new guts, kind of hard to tell but I went to the new Intel Skylake system (CPU, Motherboard etc.) doubled the system ram to 32gb and doubled the video ram up to 4gb. Also added a solid state drive as these have come down a lot in price since I built this machine the first time. Went ahead and upgraded to Windows 10 from 7 and I must say so far I like it.

So enough about my spring vacation, time to get back on the K30!

Oh and wouldn’t you know I didn’t even work on Blue, crap. :thud:

Re: 72 K30 Build
 

Left off it was bracket and pulley time, also needed to clean up the transmission cooler lines and see if they are good enough to go again.

Got a second set of wheels back from powder coating. They're probably to pretty for Blue but I’m thinking Blue is going to get a little face lift.

Re: 72 K30 Build
 

Nice computer! Looks like you're cornering the market on those wheels. :lol:

Re: 72 K30 Build
 

Thanks Ryan, its snappy and your right on the wheels! :lol: At just under $65 each that's pretty cheap and they did a great job! I was going to go a different color for Blue but changed my mind at the last minute so they didn't need to be truck specific.

Back from my buddy’s blast cabinet the glass bead media it's currently loaded with did the trick. All mocked up for the hardware we’ve kept going with lots of grade 8 flange bolts and distorted flange nuts, seems to be a theme with this build.

Re: 72 K30 Build
 

Good to see you back at it!

Re: 72 K30 Build
 

Thanks Mike!

Flushed and painted this aftermarket brass /copper 4 core we’d saved from our RV donor. It looks to be in really good shape defiantly good enough to start off with. Still have not acquired a better fan setup, kind of leaning more towards a dual electric fan with a custom shroud. For our initial startup we’ll use this crappy direct fan. As a side note this same setup allowed the RV to get pretty warm pulling hills coming home from Colorado if not for a pusher fan running on demand it would have overheated.

Re: 72 K30 Build
 

Kind of hard to see the bracketry it is painted with the same high heat paint as the block.

Re: 72 K30 Build
 

Looking great .

Re: 72 K30 Build
 

Awesome build man!

Re: 72 K30 Build
 

Coming along nicely!

Re: 72 K30 Build
 

Thanks you guys!


Figures after putting the radiator & hoses (not pictured), trans cooling lines all together I realized the radiator was in the way of installing the battery tray! :confused: Ha! Time to start thinking about some exhaust so dug out the fairly new exhaust that was on the RV donor left side fits like a glove, right side with the t-case as the grandkids would say, no way José! We had acquired these slightly used Flowmasters from a buddy a while ago, I'm pretty sure they are the mufflers we will run just not so sure about the pipe and hangers at this point.

Re: 72 K30 Build
 

So let’s try that again with the battery tray in place, oops.

Re: 72 K30 Build
 

Looking good .

Re: 72 K30 Build
 

Hey Brett looking good. What is the fan shroud you are using from? I am in need of one for hulk jr

Re: 72 K30 Build
 

Thank you Flashed!

Thanks Scott, that is the factory big block style shroud it’s from our 72 C30 RV donor. Pretty sure all the 2wd V8 67-72 engines were mounted in the forward position I believe any of those shrouds could work. You might need to trim the shroud a little to clear but I’d think it wouldn’t be too bad.

Did a quickie rebuild on one of my old HEI’s and added a bronze gear for the roller cam. Came with 3 sets of springs light, med and heavy we’ll start with medium. Usually I would use the heaviest weight and lightest spring but a big heavy automatic truck with a low stall converter and crappy fuel, I’m thinking this needs to be curved differently and we may even end up with the heavier spring we’ll see. Also btw flipped the weights over prior to install but after the pic.