Re: 72 K30 Build
 

Thanks Ryan, I’ve really appreciated your comments.

You’re doing such a great job on your truck Mike, I’d just mess it up! Wish you were closer and I’d be over to borrow that blast cabinet of yours! :lol:

Thanks Rick, your right especially this last pic! Really can’t wait to start enjoying this truck.

Thank you, Ryan that’s really very nice of you to say!




All ready to go. :ennyd::five::ennyd:

Re: 72 K30 Build
 

Did this trying to back up the drive way, oops! Made it around the block (talking a big .6 miles showing now! :ww:), I'm sure they won’t have any trouble with the truck while getting the bed installed. Ha, last pic is the Where’s Waldo for the day… :lol:

Re: 72 K30 Build
 

Very nice! Is that the shipping depot to get it sent to me? Haha

Re: 72 K30 Build
 

This truck is so stunning! Amazing attention to detail. I can't wait for the pics after the bed is installed!

Re: 72 K30 Build
 

Ha, is that what it's doing there! :lol:

Thanks Zane!




It's back!

Re: 72 K30 Build
 

Got almost 15 miles so far.

Re: 72 K30 Build
 

saweet!!! :cf:

Re: 72 K30 Build
 

looks amazing! flatbed fits the truck great.

Re: 72 K30 Build
 

That is one FINE truck and the bed is perfect .

Re: 72 K30 Build
 

I have to say, after all your hassles and long wait for the bed, it sure does look great on there! And quit going to get ice cream and drive that thing. Haha

Re: 72 K30 Build
 

Thanks Rick!

Thank you rgreathouse!

Thanks flashed!

Thanks Ryan, hope I wasn’t whining too much about the hoops that had to be jumped through to make that bed happen. You know, driving the big vanilla ice cream sandwich with Ice Cream Man playing on the radio is just the bestest! :5150:



Got to give kudos to Semi Service and their shop forum (Andrew Roberts) they did a great job, very happy with the results.

Hoping our luck continues to hold, truck goes straight down the road with hands off the steering, ride quality is far better than I thought it would be. Steering wheel was off center a smidge and the console trim ring was vibrating a little, both took just a few minutes to adjust. Haven’t plugged in the GVOD yet, trying to get 25 miles city first (that's a lot of ice cream :lol:) and then take it up on the highway. Ran it up to 40+ mph no problem, seems fairly peppy for being a tank! :devil:

While waiting for the K30 to come back my boys helped bring the Camaro project out of our storage unit. We’ll get the K30 dialed and start on this one next.

Re: 72 K30 Build
 

I'm glad to hear there aren't any major issues. As nice as you've built it I'm sure there won't be any.

What are the plans for the Camaro? Stock rebuild, or a little pepped up?

Re: 72 K30 Build
 

Peppy? Oh yes, kind of a late 60’s drag car, the plan has always been a tribute car to Grumpy’s Toy III. Don’t know if we will actually letter the car but I like everything about one of the first big block Camaro’s. Here’s a pic of the actual restored car.


No new news on the K30, parked it for a couple of days while they repave the main road by our house. Only got a little over 16 miles hoping to double or triple that this weekend. Blacked out the CM logo to try and make it not as obvious, I know it’s just the fuss bucket kind of thing I like to do.

Re: 72 K30 Build
 

I'm jealous now. The car I got my senior year of high school was a 69 Camaro. Dated my wife in it, then she totaled it after we were married. Always wanted another 69. Waited so long that now you can't find one for a reasonable price and I couldn't see it being my first restoration so I started with less expensive trucks to get over all the learning curves. I've still got my 59 Apache to do before I think about a Camaro. At the rate I get my trucks built, a rusted out hulk of a 69 Camaro will be $30K by the time I can get to it :lol:

Please do a thread for yours - I'd love to follow that build.

Re: 72 K30 Build
 

Brett, that will be awesome! I had a 69 Camaro once and sold it like a fool. I still check CL for muscle cars at least once a month. (Like I need more projects) :lol:

I wasn't trying to say I thought you were fussing too much about your flat bed. I was discouraged for you. That was a real mess for sure. You're not alone though. I know another member on here from New Mexico who had similar issues and a long wait for his flat bed from I believe Bradford built. It's always something.

Re: 72 K30 Build
 

You aren't too far off there. There's a parts yard near me that has a few first gen Camaros and he wants $4k for a bare shell with a title. And they're rusted out turds. He has a 68 Firebird with no title, half rusted out for $1500. I just shook my head and told him he is smoking something illegal. :ito:

Brett, please do a build thread in the alternate tinkerings area so we can follow along. I'm sure it will be sweet after seeing you build the K30!

Re: 72 K30 Build
 

Very nice!! and cool next project!

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Hey Brett, that thing is looking nice, very nice. I hope my project will look as nice if it is ever finished!

it has been cool to follow you in this build!
Keep it up my friend!

Re: 72 K30 Build
 

Brett:
Congratulations on completing your build. I want to thank you for all the great details & pictures that you provided.

I have been collecting parts & pieces for the last 5 years to start my '70 4x4 project and your information has been invaluable to my collecting. I will be using many of your ideas & methods during my build.

Again, thank you for such a detailed build thread. I know it will be great help to many in the future, including myself.

Andy

Re: 72 K30 Build
 

Glad to hear you guys would like to see another build thread from me, I will start something in the alternate tinkerings area soon and post a link. When we bought the 67 it was down to it, or a 69 RS 4 speed that was less $$$, but had front end damage and had been stored outside in a field for years (it was rotten, with a bent front subframe, :but: a true 69 RS!).

I know you weren’t, that was a very nice compliment you gave, no worries Ryan it’s always something! I was getting really, really frustrated several times over going through that process, trying hard not to absolutely go off! :cuss: All done now and worth the aggravation in my book, pleased with how everything turned out.

Thanks Mike, I'm excited about starting on another project!

Thanks Scott, I'm sure it will and looking forward to see you finish it up!

Very nice of you to say Andy, thank you I appreciate it!



OK, so I lied, didn’t (couldn't :lol:) wait clear until the weekend, a few days ago I took some back roads to go see a friend of mine about finishing up the exhaust. By the time I got back it had over 30 miles on the clock and decided it was time. Stuck a fuse in the GVOD digi brain thing-o and went out hoping for some OD magic, guess what? No OD magic, but since I was out heading for the highway anyway decided to try it. Success, 60 mph with just a little bit of vibration, not too bad. Came back after that bit of excitement grabbed the GVOD book and found out that ding dong (that’s me :dohh:) hadn’t turned it on. Apparently, it needs to be turned on to work, who knew! Let’s try that again, hey, hey, it started shifting into OD this time. Went back up on the highway and went right up to 70 mph, really smooth and only turning about 2500 rpm, sahweet! Up to a whopping 43.3 miles on the odometer!


And yes there's more, yesterday afternoon took Mrs. 7dee2 to go snag a book shelf and did a very short video. https://youtu.be/j9J44GDEPWk

Re: 72 K30 Build
 

That is cool Brett. I love being able to watch this build since you started it. Been a great and cool journey. You have done a great job.
Kinda sad it's about finished. Well as a spectator. I am sure you are glad as you get to enjoy it!
Rock on my friend.
Can't wait till the next build.

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That's awesome! I'm sure you were getting a lot of looks!

Re: 72 K30 Build
 

Dang Brett,, that's a beautiful truck!!! Congrats on getting her done! (good color choice too!!)

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Brett, hats off to you sir. You have done a fabulous job on this one :chevy: . Glad to have been able to help inform and inspire :metal:

Re: 72 K30 Build
 

Thanks buddy, I appreciate it! Looking forward to more progress on the Hulk's! :devil:

Thanks, it is getting a fair share of attention where ever it goes which is cool! :ito:

Thank you Wade! :metal:

Thanks Jim it's a keeper for sure, thank you for your help along the way your :gmc2: build was a big inspiration for this one.



I really appreciate everyone’s kind words, plenty in the pipe line still to build, working on getting my ducks pointed that way.

Re: 72 K30 Build
 

You know, it’s always something, with only 121 miles the K30 developed an oil leak that was coming from the timing cover crank seal, dagnabit! :thud: Yep, the seal definitely biffed it, appears to have fused/melted to the balancer somehow. Spring popped off the back of the seal and bingo we got a pretty good leak. On the upside a friend said I was lucky that it had weather proofed the underside of my truck. ;) Back into the garage after just stuffing it full with a whole lotta Camaro, here it is going in for surgery! Used an assembly trick adding some red tacky grease to both sides of the seal and smeared a thin film on the balancer hub as well.


Everything else is still peachy to this point except, it’s not really a fan of the 10% Ethanol fuel (E10) that we’ve been trying to run, especially when it’s in 90+ degrees, in traffic, running the AC :devil: thinking it’ll get a on demand helper electrical pump like Blue for now. Surprisingly enough the proximity of our big fuel filter to the exhaust is not the big heat contributor I had thought it could be, pretty sure it’s the mechanical fuel pump that’s generating a lot of heat and vaporizing the fuel.

Re: 72 K30 Build
 

Brett

Sorry to hear about the crank seal. I had the same results on an engine I rebuilt a few years back. I learned a little trick about installing the seal from long time rebuilder.

Install the seal in the cover, loosely install the cover, fully install the harmonic balancer and then tighten the cover screws down.

This centers the balancer within the seal.

Hope this useful

Andy

Re: 72 K30 Build
 

Sorry to hear about the seal, it's always some thing though!

Re: 72 K30 Build
 

If it is any help, if you have a newer Maverick station in your general area, they usually have Ethanol free fuel available. The downside is the price is as high as diesel.

Re: 72 K30 Build
 

Thanks Andy, I’ll have to try that next time, it is back together and with 136 miles seems to be fine. :mm:

Ha, such a true statement. :lol:

Your reading my mind, last fill up was non-ethanol @ 91 octane close to $3.20 a gallon! :floss:

Re: 72 K30 Build
 

Dang, just got back from aligning the K30 today and it looked really good. Some minor toe adjustment was needed but we were very, very close. The alignment guy said the rear alignment was better than a lot of new Chevy trucks he’s seen. :metal:

I did reinstall the camber shims because they were in the original donor truck and thought it drove great for what it was (hands off the wheel straight down the road deal). Tech did say it was really a preference thing and that it could create some tire wear, he also mentioned that they don’t mess with them. :lol:

Removing them would create a 0 degree chamber and it could feel like it was pulling to the right depending on the crown of the road.

Re: 72 K30 Build
 

how do you get rid of vapor lock? install a diesel! looking good.

Re: 72 K30 Build
 

Thanks deejaa1, yep that'd do it! :but: I’ve wanted a 496 for a really, really long time! Found 2 places close to me that have non-ethanol for $2.88 a gallon, that is a little better. Leaning towards removing the mechanical pump all together and perhaps adding a return line if needed since our sender has a return. EFI is also not off the table for this project and we could run the big 850 Holley on the Camaro project! :hmm:

Re: 72 K30 Build
 

Pleased to report the truck is pretty sweet! Currently a little over 200 miles so far and the only failure has been the timing cover seal. :mm: Haven’t added the helper electric fuel pump as of yet, currently working on my honey do list. Non-ethanol fuel is working noticeable better but still planning to run it on E10 once we make the changes.


Flatbed update; After repairing the timing cover/crank seal and while still in the garage I noticed that there was a pretty loud rattle coming from the bed? Found the lower part of the bulk head (headache rack) where it meets the deck has come loose. About a foot in from the hoop to the same point on the other side has separated you can see a crack in the powder coat along the seam. Got some folks on the phone and it went back out to Semi Service for a CM warranty repair? They’re (Semi) thinking they want to remove the bed re-weld the bulkhead, paint & reinstall, Holy Moly! :thud: Currently waiting on CM more to follow.

Camaro update; Not much happening on this one yet still clearing my plate. :waah:

Re: 72 K30 Build
 

Hey at least they're going to back their product! I'm a firm hater of E10 for carbureted, I will use non Ethanol any chance I get with the rat, I just hope my truck will start back up after this latest sit time even with the non Ethanol....

Re: 72 K30 Build
 

I've really been considering a Fitech for my only gas powered project. I listened to a lot of guys pissed on power tour because they couldn't find any good octane gas. Most of our area doesn't have any higher than 87. Bad deal for all those dudes. No big deal for this dude. Haha sorry to hear about the bed, but at least they are wanting to fix it.

Re: 72 K30 Build
 

That truck looks amazing! The flat bed is right at home. I have about 44 pages of reading to do now... Nice work.

Re: 72 K30 Build
 

The bed repair list has been growing and I’m curious as to what CM is going to do? Not a big fan of E10 either, but really don’t want to fuss trying to find non-ethanol in a pinch or on a trip. If it’s been awhile maybe you should try and start it adding some fresh with some fuel stabilizer if you’re thinking it might still be a while before your done?

Dude, spark plugs! :D General consensus is that it wouldn’t even be a deal if the K30 was currently a work or farm truck, but somebody made it just a little to flashy! :lol:

Thanks Marcus I appreciate your kind words, hope you enjoy the build thread…



Flatbed update; The K30 was getting lots of attention while out at Semi Service, they parked it right in the center of the shop in front the shop foreman’s office for safe keeping. We left it out there for a few days so they could work with CM on exactly what is going to the best course to make some repairs. After mentioning some other issues, its looking like the repair direction is moving towards a complete bed replacement. WOW, didn’t see that one coming! :o

Nova, the warranty gal at Semi Service has been all over this from day one going above and beyond! So very, very impressed with the whole crew out there. :metal:
In this time when customer service seems to be nonexistent it just floors you when you run into a company like this. :clap::clap::clap:

Ball is back in CM’s court more to follow.

Re: 72 K30 Build
 

Such a great looking truck Brett. I really need to figure out how to get some forward progress going again. I know, action creates motivation...just can't seem to generate action LOL

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Brett, I bet you had everyone there coming to check it out. Anyone I know would. :lol:

Good deal on the bed. Hopefully CM comes through now.