resto project 71 K20 input is welcome

[Mr.Goodbarf]

Body work is pretty much reconstructive surgery at this point.

I'm going to start with the body as this truck runs and drives well enough for me at this point. I registered it with a "Historic" license plate last month and drive it once a week about 10 miles.

My plan is to pull the bed off and run a flat bed while I attempt to put new bedsides on it. I have replacement rocker panels and cab corners in hand. Not sure about pulling the cab off to fix it. I have never done it

Original tailgate is functional and in great shape!
Need a new Grill
Doors are gonna be a nightmare
Dashboard? what dashboard?
There is still wood under the current steel plate in the bed. It looks like treated lumber though?


Medium Green with white bumpers....er eh bumper

All feedback welcome and appreciated!

[Mr.Goodbarf]

[Mr.Goodbarf]

[Mr.Goodbarf]

Ha! I think i heard a cricket. Should i scrap it or what?

[mx289]

Originally Posted by Mr.Goodbarf

Ha! I think i heard a cricket. Should i scrap it or what?

Scrap a K20 ?
No way !

Looks to be in ok shape and it has some good options.
Great truck to fix.

[Bigdav160]

Looks like a nice start to me.

[68shortwide]

Nah lol, I'm a lowered guy at heart so I usually slim past k20 threads lol whatcha wanna know?

[Mr.Goodbarf]

Originally Posted by 68shortwide

Nah lol, I'm a lowered guy at heart so I usually slim past k20 threads lol whatcha wanna know?

believe me, if this were a C10 it would get slammed.

I am mainly looking for do's and dont's with pulling the cab, bed and fenders off.

Im a little intimidated by pulling the cab as I have never done it

[Ironhorse]

Can't help with any info on pulling the cab as I did not do that when redone the truck. The bed is not really too bad if you have a lift/hoist or enough bodies to help. Some cold beer on hand AFTER the bed is pulled sometimes helps to get a few buds to show up, LOL. Pulling the bed is a really good time to clean up the frame somewhat and even consider moving the in-cab gas tank if that is a thought. I did mine at the time, made it much easier. Fenders are just a matter of removing bolts and such, some of which can be stubborn.

[tommys72]

Was it sitting in some tall grass? Doesn't look like a bad start

[Ironhorse]

Looks to be a good base for a K20 restore. Go slow, think about how far you want to take it. Nice driver, decent driver, mud truck, show, etc. There isn't much that time, money and effort can't overcome. Usually a lot of each, LOL. I have a K10 that was a real POS when I bought it. Changed the bed, doors, inner and outer fenders, tailgate, the only original metal to the truck is the cab. Replaced cab supports, rocker panels, cab corners, you get the idea. Most 4x4 trucks from back in the day were " used " as a 4x4 and a lot of them just didn't survive without re-constructive surgery.

May give some serious thought to becoming a paid subscription member for the power to buy needed parts and sell un-needed parts. Best $25 you will ever spend on your truck. Helps take the bite out of a restore and gives almost a "one-stop shopping" point over a period of time. Not sure I could have restored my truck without this board and its members.

Be sure and cruise any and all local salvage yards, swap meets and sometimes even a garage sale will produce some needed parts. Just don't expect to find a lot of 4x4 specific parts in a salvage yard, decent 2wd parts are getting harder and harder to find. Sorry for the long post but just a few thoughts from someone who has "been there, done that". Nice truck to start with, love the K10s and K20s in the 67-72 body style.

[Mr.Goodbarf]

Thanks, I was curious about how much to replace and how much to piece patch. I assume that more small patch parts will require more body work skill?

I am hoping to get it back to a good looking bone stock once a week driver. We have a small business and it requires some heavy hauling/pulling occasionally. (2000 lbs or less) This thing will look pretty cool with our logo on the door. As long as the ole v8 is running well I don't plan to go show room quality on the engine bay. The cab interior is workable, not all beat to hell. Dash pad is toast

The more research I do the more I'm leaning toward pulling everything but the motor off the frame. It is from what I can see a complete numbers matching rust bucket.

I would assume that linkage and wiring are a pain in the ass whilst pulling the cab?

Budget?