62 K20 Fixer-Upper
 

Hi all, this isn't gonna be a build in the true sense of the word, I just want to make it a daily driver and enjoy it. I kinda wish I could leave the original paint on it, but I don't want it looking like a patchwork quilt.

I found this on Craigslist in Montana and drove a U-Haul up to get it. The guy I bought it from remembers when his Dad's buddy bought it new. It originally had a flatbed on it and this guy found this bed that was somebody's trailer and put it on it.

It has the 283 and a 4 speed and still has the original 17" split rim wheels which I love because the tall, skinny look is so cool to me. I found a place where I can still buy tires and tubes for it. I plan on upgrading the brakes with a new master cyl and booster and modify the air cleaner, but other then that, I want to leave it as stock as possible. So the bulk of this "build" is gonna be replacing the rusted out portions of the cab and whatever body work will be done before paint. I'll get patch panels for most everything, but the inside of the cab roof above the windshield will be a special case.

The driver's door is pretty beat up and will prob, be replaced. The wiring needs cleaning up and I'd like to find a gauge cluster from a C50 or something so I can have real gauges in it.

Re: 62 K20 Fixer-Upper
 

Good looking truck!

Re: 62 K20 Fixer-Upper
 

Welcome aboard! Glad to see you are keeping it a nice survivor.

Re: 62 K20 Fixer-Upper
 

Welcome to the forum :D

Looks like a decent truck and it even has the ultra rare '60-'62 V8 fan shroud!

Re: 62 K20 Fixer-Upper
 

Wow, I guess I better be careful around that fan shroud! Thanks for the welcome.

Re: 62 K20 Fixer-Upper
 

Nice K20. Did I see this on a trailer going through the town of Seeley about a month ago? I followed behind someone with a truck similar to this one on a trailer. Glad to hear you are keeping it mostly original. They are great looking trucks the way they are. I myself just found a 66 K20. Welcome aboard.

Re: 62 K20 Fixer-Upper
 

Man that thing is nice! I love the tall skinny tires too but would probably look for later 1 piece 16's and put something like 9.00-16's on it to get rid of the split rims but thats a personal hate for those rims.

With that dash I always think about a pig\bull nose hood like the 60-61 trucks, they are ugly and yet somehow good looking.

Re: 62 K20 Fixer-Upper
 

Welcome , what a cool truck .

Re: 62 K20 Fixer-Upper
 

Thanks, guys. I don't know where Seeley is, but it was indeed on a trailer going through eastern Montana a little while ago.

Re: 62 K20 Fixer-Upper
 

Cool k20. Got one myself. Not too far from you in Preston. Used to live in Rigby. Have family in IDAHO falls. Brother in law snap on dealer in I.F.

Re: 62 K20 Fixer-Upper
 

Howdie neighbor!

Re: 62 K20 Fixer-Upper
 

Finally got my other project done and some money saved up for parts so I can get going on this thing. I started bangin dents on the grill and grill support while waiting on patch panels to arrive. I got a little surprise in the amount of bondo to be found in the grill support, but it's coming along.

Re: 62 K20 Fixer-Upper
 

The grill support is a real tricky piece to try to bang back into shape, ax heads, heel bars, and punches were some unorthodox body tools that had to be employed. I nice chunk of hickory ax handle was real handy. I had no idea this thing was bent in so many wrong directions...

Re: 62 K20 Fixer-Upper
 

Kinda ran into the same thing with the hood....

Re: 62 K20 Fixer-Upper
 

One more of the hood, coming along well.

Re: 62 K20 Fixer-Upper
 

Nice work. Stud guns are a really great invention.

Re: 62 K20 Fixer-Upper
 

Thanks, Capt. That stud gun is about invaluable, and I've been having a lot of fun learning how to use a planishing hammer. And how the rules for expansion and shrinkage of metal are different on a curved piece.

Re: 62 K20 Fixer-Upper
 

Nice looking truck and some quality work you're doing there. Im always amazed at the skill that it takes to bring some of these parts back from the grave. Great job!

Re: 62 K20 Fixer-Upper
 

Thank you Chris!

Re: 62 K20 Fixer-Upper
 

I work a 15 day-on / 13 day-off schedule, so my posting here will be rather sporadic. I was so busy working on this thing during my last time off that I hardly took any pics. But I did some more dent flipping on the hood and started on the cab floors. I got the driver's side outer floor piece in and was going to start on the rocker for that side and realized that the inner rocker portion of the piece I just spent a day and a half putting in is defective, its' bottom edge does not reach down far enough to meet with the bottom edge of the outer rocker. I called Classicparts.com and explained to them what my problem was and got nowhere with them, I sent them pics and measurements so they can see that it ain't right and they said that all of the outer floor panels,(driver's side), that they have on the shelf measure up like mine so that must be the way they're supposed to be. I spent a thousand bucks with them on these patch panels and they won't be seeing another dime from me.

Re: 62 K20 Fixer-Upper
 

Then it was time for me to screw up badly, I started on the driver's door skin and bottom replacement. Somehow I got my measurement really wrong when I cut the inner door bottom off and ended up with a large gap, but managed to save it by using a piece of copper plate as a backer for the welds and planishing each one as I went along and it came out pretty good. However, I neglected to get a pic of the finished job before I left home.

Re: 62 K20 Fixer-Upper
 

Awesome, original K20, I love how you're using original parts where possible. Metal work takes talent!

Re: 62 K20 Fixer-Upper
 

Thanks Eagle!

Re: 62 K20 Fixer-Upper
 

I hate seeing fitment issues with the sheet metal like that but it seems to be the norm sadly. I've spent considerable hours searching for the best place to source it from and it seems like most everything comes from the same factory and is rebranded. There's good and bad reviews from nearly every vendor I've found. It looks like you are doing a killer job of making things work so I appreciate the motivation keep up the nice work!

Re: 62 K20 Fixer-Upper
 

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Re: 62 K20 Fixer-Upper
 

Well, I had a bit of a set-back,but was able to come back and make some good progress. I decided that the best way to remedy the inner rocker issue was to cut out the front half of it and the floor panel inner rocker portion would replace it. So I got the die-grinder and cut it out and, and as I was trying to pull the front portion of the outer floor panel out from behind the lower pillar, I learned the hard way about the burr that a cut-off wheel will leave on the bottom edge of the metal as the piece I was reefing on broke loose and my hand hit the burr and it cut through my glove and through the tendon behind the little finger knuckle. 8 weeks of recovery time later and I'm back at work, but I did manage to use some of my time off to get some work done on it.

Re: 62 K20 Fixer-Upper
 

I decided to tackle the roof above the windshield. They don't make a patch panel specifically for the pre 64s and I knew that the 64 and later patches would work with some extra effort and I think I made the right choice in not trying to utilize both ends of the patch with the sunvisor holes. I cut out about a foot from the pass. side where metal was good and had more freedom with modifying the dr. side end at the corner. I read the other threads that detailed the roof skin removal and was curious as to what I'd find in the way of mouse nests,( with this being a north Montana ranchers' truck and all). I didn't have a mouse house, I had a mousy condominium complex, complete with a deceased former resident. Now I know why the original seat was replaced, because all the stuffing got tore out and put into the roof! It was kind of a nasty job cleaning it out because of the several decades worth of mouse poo packed into the seam above the windshield, also dangerous because that dried out stuff can make you sicker than hell if you breathe in the dust.

Anyway, I got the inner and outer pieces put in and had to fab a little piece for the pillar beyond where the roof patch would reach, it looked kinda rough before it went in but, considering my abilities and experience, I was pretty proud of it, it filled the hole and looked pretty good when it was welded in. I cleaned up under the roof skin and painted it with some rust converter and put some insulation up there and welded it back down.

Re: 62 K20 Fixer-Upper
 

Roof continued

Re: 62 K20 Fixer-Upper
 

A couple more

Re: 62 K20 Fixer-Upper
 

Oh man, that's a lot of grossness from the mice! I'm probably going to find a nest or two once I dig into mine.
So did you use the 60-63 outer replacement piece and the 64-66 inner piece (with the incorrect ends cut off)?
Your repair looks great. Unfortunately, I think I'm probably going to have to do something similar with my truck

Re: 62 K20 Fixer-Upper
 

Thanks! Yes I used a 60-63 outer and a 64-66 inner with one end cut off and the other end modified. If I remember correctly, I don't think it was even long enough, If you needed both ends then you might have to lengthen it.

Re: 62 K20 Fixer-Upper
 

Ok, thanks! I actually have both inner and outer corners of the windshield that's solid from a donor cab. I just need the middle section, so I will have to order that section

Re: 62 K20 Fixer-Upper
 

Tackled the cab corner, something, sometime, hit the door and moved along to the corner and tried to fold it on over. I got a patch panel for it and briefly had fantasies about seeing if I could straighten out the rest. My limitations were quickly shown to me and I ended up making the little patch above and also another at the back side.Pretty happy with how it turned out. It's so nice to not see all those wrinkles....

Re: 62 K20 Fixer-Upper
 

Looks good.

Re: 62 K20 Fixer-Upper
 

Thanks, Capt.

Re: 62 K20 Fixer-Upper
 

Just read through your build so far. I am impressed with your lack of fear tackling all the welding jobs, especially the roof! Very impressive! Keep up the good work.

Re: 62 K20 Fixer-Upper
 

Thank you! But after 25 yrs. of welding and fab work as a diesel mechanic, I would still have been really shy about some of those jobs without seeing cortcomps' roof removal thread on this forum and gibson63s vids on youtube.

Re: 62 K20 Fixer-Upper
 

That's a great truck - awesome work on the sheetmetal too!

Re: 62 K20 Fixer-Upper
 

EXACTLY the same issue i have!! I just never called them, guess i was assuming what they would say. I just plan to extend and cut as i need, unfortunately.
Your's is looking good so far!

Re: 62 K20 Fixer-Upper
 

Long time no posting, lots o' working. Thanks to a bout of the Corona, I got some more time at home to get this project moving forward. I started out doing some repair work on the doors and fenders so I could get them mounted and check the gaps. Drivers' side door was pretty bad between my repair on the rear pillar and the door skin, took a little welding to build up the edges and get it closer.