78 k20

[pugraham]

Hey everybody this is my first post, I just bought this truck, its a 1978 K20 4x4 Longbed, 350 (5.7L) with a TH350 tranny and np203 tcase. Its sitting on 33" and has dual flow masters. I am fairly new to the whole truck thing, I hope to rebuild everything on this truck (eventually). I am a junior in college and have no where to fiddle besides my apt complex parking lot or going home for the weekend.

Truck had no brakes when I bought it, so I threw a new booster and master cylinder this weekend and got moving, the bleed valve on the pass front brake caliper is stripped and locked in, if anyone knows please share but I'm guessing that auto zone or someone will sell new valves which I'm guessing are pretty standard size, at that point ill force out the old one. Still need seat belts, insurance and mirror so its still gotta sit til this thursday when I plan on picking it up and bringing it back to my place.

As I said I don't know much but am excited for all I'm about to learn haha, any and all help and input (pos or negative) is welcome, Ill be posting a lot of pictures of progress as I notice there is a lack of jacked 4wd trucks on here, tired of the slammed 2wd trucks

First plan of action is to re-wire the entire truck, someone has tried some poorly done homemade patches all over, I am studying electrical engineering technology and can do that stuff in my sleep so that seems to be the most logical first step, its also a low cost project.

Welding the holes will be next


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cab corners are non existent


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Take a guess on whats new under here haha, sticks out like a sore thumb


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The floor boards are pretty wasted, I found the front half on LMC, the back I plan to just patch up, I have never welded but have watched and plan on learning, I currently am watching a MIG welder at a local pawn thats only 150 bucks

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The bed floor needs patched (or plain replaced)

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and finally mine and my brothers trucks, his 93 dodge w150 and my 78 k20 and 93 s10
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[74 shortbed 406]

Welcome to the board, i just recently picked up a truck like yours. They are good ol trucks and become sort of an addiction.

[pugraham]

Short update, I got seat belts and mirror installed this weekend, took her up to speed for the first time but the steering is loose and I don't feel safe going much over 30 or so, found that the inner (or front) tie rod end is bad, will be replacing it next weekend, in the photo I used a jack to put pressure on that joint and push the tie rod into the pittman arm to see if replacing that joint would fix the wobble, and it seemed to, granted it was only stationary but the wheels seemed very responsive the wheel movement

[Car'n'Guitars]

Nice truck but you can definitely tell it's from Indiana, and also by the large open fields surrounding your location.

[pugraham]

Yeah I am jealous of those south western trucks with no rust

Update: Eventually got the new front tie rod, ended up replacing the rear because auto zone sold me the rear when I tried to buy the front, I decided might as well just not return it and put it in. I also was having idling issues, the 350 was idling around 1k rpm. I thought that the spring in the throttle linkage was just old and stretched out so i went to ace and just bumped the tension a bit. Worked great but after 20 min of driving the gas stuck at about 3.5k rpm. After quickly driving back home i found that the new tension was too much and bent the hinge that the throttle rotates on, I bent it back and put the old springs back in, I let is soak in WD40 for a week and that loosened up the whole throttle assembly and now the truck idles at a better range, around 600 rpm.

I have a slight alignment issue in that the passenger front tie is slightly toed out, has anyone tried doing this at home, realistically how effective can you do an alignment in your parking lot?

[Car'n'Guitars]

Yeah I am jealous of them too, but being a Indiana truck yours is not too bad, how do you plan on fixing the rust on the seat hump part? I have the same thing on my truck but don't really know where to start on that.

[pugraham]

I am not entirely sure yet, LMC sells the floor panels from the hump to the firewall, but not the rear area you are talking about, I think I am going to cut and replace the front half with the LMC patches (only like $40) and just use some sheet metal scraps to patch up the raised area under the seat, it won't be visible so I'm not as worried about the looks of that section

[Car'n'Guitars]

Yeah I'm not really worried about the look either I just don't want mine spreading even more than it is now.

[survivingalone]

lovin those old jackman wheels! rare rare rare!

[pugraham]

Originally Posted by survivingalone

lovin those old jackman wheels! rare rare rare!

I am not familiar, just googled jackman, whats the story? do they have value?

[pugraham]

Update:

So last weekend I was planning on making the trek back home to Lafayette but broke down only 10 miles into the trip



I initially thought it was the transmission but after some playing with it I am pretty sure that the transfer case is the source of the problem, I am currently searching around for a cheap sm465 and np205 to make the swap. I've wanted to change the tranny and tcase but wasn't planning on doing so soon, but if I have to replace the tcase might as well just do it all





On another note I did do a few touch up things before all this happened, I highlighted the CHEVROLET on the tailgate and the bow tie on the front grill






I also cleaned up mine and my brothers trucks





and finally I wired up the fog lamps that were on the front bumper when I bought it, I decided to go with low intensity bulb to use them on the road and the fact that they are 1/3 of the price

[Car'n'Guitars]

Originally Posted by pugraham

Update:

So last weekend I was planning on making the trek back home to Lafayette but broke down only 10 miles into the trip



I initially thought it was the transmission but after some playing with it I am pretty sure that the transfer case is the source of the problem, I am currently searching around for a cheap sm465 and np205 to make the swap. I've wanted to change the tranny and tcase but wasn't planning on doing so soon, but if I have to replace the tcase might as well just do it all





On another note I did do a few touch up things before all this happened, I highlighted the CHEVROLET on the tailgate and the bow tie on the front grill






I also cleaned up mine and my brothers trucks





and finally I wired up the fog lamps that were on the front bumper when I bought it, I decided to go with low intensity bulb to use them on the road and the fact that they are 1/3 of the price

Sorry to hear that man, but at least you get to put int he transmission and transfer case you want. And if you don't mind me asking where you coming from as in how long the trip was going to take you?

[pugraham]

only 38 miles haha, luckily I had my dad following me just in case because we had to pull my truck with his off the main drag until the tow truck arrived.

I have a few leads on the tranny, got one from a late 60's chevy, claimed running for $125

Have another who would be interested in trading my TH350 for his SM465

[Car'n'Guitars]

That's not a bad deal for $125. Good luck man. It was good thing your dad was behind you. Something similar happened to my family we bought a Pontiac Bonneville from Fort Wayne from a used car dealer, on our way back mind you this is in the middle of winter at the time. We get going and we are on the toll road maybe 45 minutes outside Fort Wayne when the motor blows up in the Pontiac. There was nothing we could do because the car was from a used dealership so there was no warranty of any kind. When we got the car home we find out they had put gear lube in them motor to hide a knock in the engine.

[pugraham]

"When we got the car home we find out they had put gear lube in them motor to hide a knock in the engine."

classy

[Car'n'Guitars]

Originally Posted by pugraham

"When we got the car home we find out they had put gear lube in them motor to hide a knock in the engine."

classy

Yeah and since then the transmission has blown up too, so the car should be good for at least another 10 years.

[survivingalone]

your Jackman wheels look to be 16.5x9.75. they havnt made theses wheels for many many years. rare wheels, rare size. all the old school lifted trucks would run theses in the late 70s early 80s. you see a set on Ebay maybe twice a year, they always go for big $. hang on to them they are worth alot of $ to the right guy. some doing a restoration or wants that oldschool look would pay aloy for a matching set of 4.

[pugraham]

Originally Posted by survivingalone

your Jackman wheels look to be 16.5x9.75. they havnt made theses wheels for many many years. rare wheels, rare size. all the old school lifted trucks would run theses in the late 70s early 80s. you see a set on Ebay maybe twice a year, they always go for big $. hang on to them they are worth alot of $ to the right guy. some doing a restoration or wants that oldschool look would pay aloy for a matching set of 4.

How much we talking here? ballpark me

[survivingalone]

ballpark.....$300 to $400 for a set. no joke. a set of new wheels would cost alot more. if someone would sandblast and powercoat them.....they would have a new set of wheels. these look killer on any older 3/4 ton chevy or ford. im not into the newer 18-20 inch wheels. alot of people love the older style rims.

[pugraham]

$300-$400 for the whole set is not big $...

[survivingalone]

for used wheels over 20 years old it is. i was just saying you dont see them anymore and alot of guys doing a restoration would rather have something period correct instead of 20 inch plus wheels with way too much BLING.

[pugraham]

UPDATE:

As I mentioned before I don't have much room to work at my apt complex parking lot so I am starting on some small mainly visual repairs and clean ups, working on the dash and dressing up the engine a bit currently.



torn apart dash



crackled original padded dash, the previous owner glued on a plastic molded cover, I plan on cleaning and repainting the cover before re-installing



cracked and carved out bezel... not sure if going to repaint and make work or just buy a new one



door panels... or whats left



picked up a spare quadrajet for parts, $25 on craigslist



This is the sm465 I am rebuilding to eventually install, picked it up for $125, claimed to be working fine but new seals, gaskets, ext won't hurt



old air cleaner



new air cleaner, I estimate around 8-10x more airflow, claims to give 50-60 more horsepower, I was doubtful but very surprised when I felt and heard a noticeable difference



Even though the booster and mc are only a few months old the spilled brake fluid really did a number on them



painting with some metallic red engine enamel



This is where I sit currently, next plans involve chrome mesh covers with metallic red ends on all water and vacuum lines. Also plan on putting on chrome valve covers with the metallic red CHEVROLET
Then to just clean up the bay in general with touch up paint and deep cleaning

I don't plan on having this engine more than 3-4 years so I don't plan on doing much mechanical, I hope to build and put in a bbc 454 once I get a place with a yard and shed of my own






I found these on craigslist for $500, tempted to buy, they are 16.5" jackman wheels exactly like mine with 36.5" tires