Re-Bertha: 71 C20 to 72 K20

[PeterHall]

This has been a build thats been a while in the making. I'm sure thats what everyone says. Dad bought Bertha in the 1980s as a work truck, a 1971 C20 custom camper. Since then its been one of the more reliable vehicles we've owned. We've always had plans to restore it, but never the time.

Well one day our lovely neighbor ran into the back of the truck while it was parked on the street. Apparantly the sun was in her eyes and she thought she had room. The truck jumped the curb and hit the telephone phone. The insurance ended up giving us an ok settlement after fighting tooth and nail with all the upgrades we had put into the truck. In their eyes it was a rusty hunk of junk. The neigbor promised to make things right, as she "loved" our truck, but we havent heard a peep from her since.







So this was the perfect opportunity to build the truck my dad always wanted. The old truck occassionlly got stuck so all wheel drive would be nice. Bertha had an after market AC that worked but dripped onto the floor rusting it out, so a factory cab was a must. Dad enjoyed the old big block and wanted to keep things simple so a modern motor was out of the question (for now).

Looking through Craiglist Dad found what he was looking for. A 72 K20 that was blown apart for a magazine build. Factory AC cab and the frame already had a 4 inch lift. Everything looked pretty clean so we picked it up and brought it home. The frame had been blasted and painted.

[PeterHall]

At home doing work. The floor pan and rockers had a few pin holes. Thought now was the time to replace them. So i replaced the outer floor pan and the rocker panels on each side.

[PeterHall]

During this time we made the decison to go to a 454 versus rebuild our old 396. So I drove to Las Vegas and picked up this Gen IV 454 crate motor and billet system. Supposedly it has low miles. We'll see how well it runs.

[PeterHall]

Also traded in the 700r that was in the C20 for a 480le.


Got everything mounted on the front end.

[86454k30]

Nice build. You need to put the center balancer bolt on the outside of the lower pulley so the center bolt also holds on the pulley.....atleast thats how they are from the factory, maybe the aftermarket pulley kit position the crank bolt behind the pulley???

[PeterHall]

Thanks! This was actually still a mock up. The motor came with a pulley that didnt work work with billets stuff as it didnt have a machined lip. Had to get an ATI one. But I'll double check the bolt placement.

[PeterHall]

Skipping forward we decided on Electron Blue for the paintjob and I practiced on the wheel liners. They just came back from being Rhino Lined today.

[cooperhw]

Looking good.

[PeterHall]

I was not happy with how the front bumper turned out. It had a ton of ornage peel and when I started to cut and buff it I hit primer. So I repainted it and made sure to go heavy on it.



Also started stripping the cab to bare metal. It was sitting outside for a bit and developed some surface rust. Any tips of removing dents on the top of the cab? There are a few deep, sharp dents right at the rear seam.

[PeterHall]

Bummer. Moved the pictures in photobucket and the links died after a few days. Guess I cant edit older posts?

Rebuilt the fresh air intake flap things. Took them apart, sandblasted, powdercoated and new gaskets.

[PeterHall]

Dad mocked up the carburetor. Its some holly street avenger. Dunno if its any good but it was running on the motor previously and came with it so might as well give it a try.

[swamp rat]

Lookin good!

[PeterHall]

Took the front axle apart. The bolt that holds the dust shield broke off so we took it to a machine shop to get tapped. While that was happening all the joints were replaced and everything was powdercoated by me.

[PeterHall]

Does this look right? We weren't sure about the orientation of the driveshaft.

[swamp rat]

Both yokes on the driveshaft are in line with each other, that's good but the big end should be toward the rear.. Nice work on the powder coating!

[PeterHall]

Its pretty fun powder coating at home. Now I just need a bigger oven...

Thats what I thought with the driveshaft but Dad thought differently. We saw pictures of it both ways. Whats the reasoning behind big end in front or back?

[PeterHall]

Does anyone know what these three smaller sheet metal screws are for? Thinking about removing them and welding up the holes. Same thing with giant phillips screw.

[PeterHall]

Has anyone done this? How does it sound? Originally I was going to mount the tweeters under the window vent in the door but I think the dash might look better.

[PeterHall]

Finally got the brakes finished. Both calipers were seized so we replaced them. Seperated the hubs and replaced all the bushings. Mounted the radiator and rigged something up for the power steering.

Also got the motor started. We bought it never hearing it run and its a good feeling knowing it does.

https://youtu.be/qzsLIg1LCHc

[swamp rat]

Every vehicle i have owned has the large end at the rear axle, i think personally it just keeps the slip yoke out of harms way, i don't think it will be an issue.

[PeterHall]

Originally Posted by swamp rat

Every vehicle i have owned has the large end at the rear axle, i think personally it just keeps the slip yoke out of harms way, i don't think it will be an issue.

Sweet. We flipped the drive shaft. Definetly makes some room for the exhuast. The old truck had an H pipe and we plan to add some exhaust cutouts.

Still been slaving away at getting the cab in primer. Tons of fun getting everything to bare metal than primer.

Also got these sweet weld on D brackets and rings. Plan to rig them up on the rear bumper. Dad bought oem front tow rings for a ridiculous price off ebay.

[PeterHall]

Since its taking me so long to work on stripping the cab, we dropped the hood, fenders, rear bumper, cowl, and doors at a sand blaster. A local shop recommended them as supposedly they do good work.

The rear bumper turned out really well. Cant wait till it breaks or bends and I can fab up a new stronger bumper.

Also trying to figure out the power steering lines. We're going from a stock gear box to a billet steering pump which is an AN 6 fitting or so. Ordered a stock line from Jegs that hopefully gets us closer

[PeterHall]

Local guy did a great job sandblasting everything at a great price. Got it all in epoxy primer over the weekend. I noticed a few cracks around some mounting points on the hood and fender that I'll have to drill and weld.

[inrustwetrust]

truck looks amazing! will be an awesome project. basically the k series everyone would want!

[PeterHall]

Originally Posted by inrustwetrust

truck looks amazing! will be an awesome project. basically the k series everyone would want!

Thanks. It will certainly be the truck we've always wanted but could never get around to building. The bed and fender came from a member on here that I bought like 3 years ago. They're super clean. This truck will be 100% rust free when its done.