1979 K20 "War Wagon"

[Fw190d9]

While this is not a new build thread, I thought it would be cool to show some pics and history of the beloved War Wagon that I have owned and modified for the last 25 years.

WW history: 25 years ago I was working at the family ranch as the one and only mechanic. I took care of Cat D7s, backhoes, motor graders and a gaggle of ranch trucks in South Texas. One day while visiting one of the hunting camps, I came across this old K20 sitting in the weeds, no wheels on it, abandoned and with a mesquite tree growing up thru the passenger floorboards and out thru the passenger door window. I had some time to kill that day so I poked around a bit on the old custom delux and while it looked pretty sad, I thought it had some potential. The motor looked sound and all the running gear was in place. The roof was completely rusted out and it had an old bus seat bolted to the roof for drive hunting. I noticed it was a K20 and had a really solid frame and the beefy 14 bolt to boot. I asked around and was informed that the original owner had abandoned it and was long gone. My boss said son, if you want that old pile of crap, you can have it. Sweet! I returned to the camp next day with a flatbed and winched(drug) it up on to the trailer and carted it back to the shop. Once I started looking at it, I found the reason for abandonment, it had 2 broken leafs on the front. Following a scheming session, I went to the local yard and found an 82 blazer that had been rolled. It had a rancho 4" lift on it, so I swiped the springs and shocks and put em on the K20. A little tinkering got the old 350 running so I started driving it around the ranch a bit. We do alot of bird hunting down here so I thought it would make a great quail hunting truck. Out came the torch and the rusty roof and bus seat went bye bye along with all the doors. I was big into oxy/acy welding back then so I cut pieces of sheet metal from the roof and welded over all the openings between the panels that were exposed when the roof came off. The first outing with the truck with 8 guys with shotguns caused my boss to declare it looked like a War Wagon. Thus the WW was born. I sure wish I had pictures of it from back then but the earliest I have is from about 10 years ago. By this point I had fabbed a front bumper seat set up along with the "kid cage" elevated seat in the rear. Here's a pic of my daughter getting her first driving lesson.

[Fw190d9]

The ol War Wagon soldiered on at the ranch pulling some season duty but not driven much. The original 350 expired sometime about 4 years after I started the mods. At this point I painted it flat green over the original tan.I concentrated on the driveline for a while, replacing all 7(i think) U-joints along with installing a stock goodwrench 350 motor, keeping the trans and tcase original. It still had the original q-jet which I got really tired of rebuilding every year as it usually sat during summer months. about 7 years ago, the second 350 started burning lots of oil, so it was time for another motor rebuild. This time I did another 350 but I decided to put some fuel injection on it, figuring it would start right up after sitting off season. I installed a full 97 throttle body system on it and rebuilt the original TH400, mainly to stop the leaks. It ran beautifully with this set up for the last 6 years. At this point, I had the entire interior rhino lined and new seat covers installed. I had nowhere to keep the truck so it sat at the ranch out in the elements all year and really started to look run down. The South Texas sun is a killer. Feeling sorry for it, I brought it up to my shop in Seguin to give it some love last year. Since this truck never sees the open road, I decided to give it some pizazz (at least where the deer couldnt see). She got a new flat green paintjob along with some camo stenciling that was my Son's idea. The original hood would bend in half whenever you closed it so I got a new one from LMC truck along with new hinges. Looking at that expanse of hood, I just knew it would look good with a "Screamin Chicken" on it. (yes, I do like TAs). So here are some pics from last year's mods:

[Fw190d9]

New wheels and tires, Rigid LED light bar, new original style speedo and fuel guage along with some autometers to replace the idiot lights. The shift lever was a present from my daughters

Evan Q

[Fw190d9]

All 3 of my kids who are now off to college, got to learn how to drive on the trusty War Wagon. Here's a shot of my son, now 18 years old getting some practice in, probably back in 2004 or so.

Evan Q.

[Nodnarb76]

Very cool, love seeing stories like this.
Looks like a lot of fun and good memories!

[Fw190d9]

Thanks dude! Yeah, lots and lots of good memories with this old truck. Its amazing just how tough chevy built them back in the 70s and 80s. This thing is a tank!

Evan Q.

Shooting range duty from back in 2004. and again in 2013.

[Fw190d9]

And now this just happened.

[Fw190d9]

Scored a nice Ls 6.0 out of a 2011 Silverado 2500 with only 14K miles on it. Keeping the Th400 and Np205 to keep it simple. Dirty Dingo mounts and a speartech harness to go with. Bolted right up to the th400 with the LS flexplate and a summit racing adapter/spacer. Also replaced the leaky steering gearbox and replaced all the spring eye bushings which were toast. New sway bar bushings as well. Looking forward to cruising the ranch a bit more quietly.

E.

[Nodnarb76]

Awesome! Great choice.
I'm in the process of swapping a 6.0 into my Burb too.
Here is my build tread if your interested.
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=693824

[68Timber]

Cool truck and story! Especially since it was abandoned to rot.

[ruffrida2005]

Sweet truck you got. Yall do any hog hunting out there. I've been trying to find a place to go to. I'm up at Ft. Hood.

[Fw190d9]

Paul, Its a working deer hunting ranch. I have 3 lease members who hunt all season and we usually run across a few hogs. Ive been keeping the numbers down last couple of years and haven't seen many recently.

E.

[Oberon67]

What I especially love about this truck is that it's not for road use and therefore doesn't need inspection, registration, or even a title. You bolt to it whatever you want on it, and off into the brush you go!

[El Dorado Jim]

what a cool rig!

[Greenlee]

Nice hunting rig! A few years ago I went on a quail hunting trip in the War Wagon's cousin.

[Fw190d9]

GreenLee, Awesome! These types of hunting trucks are actually pretty prevalent in Texas. Alot of hunters like to use Jeeps but the WW does everything better.

ElDorado,Oberon, Thanks!

This week I'm going to concentrate on finishing up the install of the Ls, plus the exhaust system, intake, fuel systems etc. Once Ive gotten it running, I plan to put disc brakes on the rear, new brakes and master cylinder and booster up front, then finish up by freshening up both axles with new bearings and seals. I just got in new lift pad extensions for my rotary lift so I will be able to lift WW up to ease the work, tired of crawling underneath to do stuff!

E.

Found another old WW pic, Probably about 2007 or so. My son and his cousin enjoying some ranch time.

[Fw190d9]

Got a bit more work done in between other projects. I want this truck to be stealthy so I can sneak up on critters. So I decided to use exhaust manifolds and a 2 into one system like a stock truck. I originally purchased the hooker ls manifolds but they didnt fit at all. The collectors ended up hitting the transmission flange. The 6.0 came with the original 2011 silverado manifolds and to my surprise they fit extremely well. I was also able to keep the original steel braces that the 79 came with that go from the motor mounts to the lower cover on the Th400 and also the long one that goes from the transmission to block mounting flange all the way to the tcase. To fit the smaller braces, I had to fab up an aluminum plate to space them further apart as the LS oil pan is several inches wider than the old 350 pan. Also got the oil cooler block drilled and tapped for the oil pressure sender for the autometer gauge. Coil packs installed along with new MSD wires. Biggest time killer was removing all the stripped exhaust flange studs from the 6.0 manifolds. Had to weld a nut on each one to get em off.

E.

[Fw190d9]

More work done on the ol WW this week. Ive been trying to use up all those left over items from other jobs on this build. I had a power steering pump and remote reservoir left over from a corvette build so I decided to use it as the stock Ls power steering pump and reservoir hit the frame and could not be installed. I also have a large collection of AN fittings Ive recycled over the years and put them to good use as well. The Griffin LS crossflow radiator that Im using fit very well but was 2" shorter than the original. To keep it secured with the original rubber mounts, I took the 79 upper radiator support, sliced it down the middle and welded in a 2" extension to take up the space. I also got a repo fan shroud from LMC that fit the Ls fan perfectly. Next job is to finish the wiring for the charging system, exhaust install and fuel lines. Should be running soon.

Evan Q.

[ruffrida2005]

That exhaust looks really good.

[Fw190d9]

Originally Posted by ruffrida2005

That exhaust looks really good.

Thanks Paul! I kinda like getting some TIG practice in. Here's a system I scratch built for the 69 vette I built a while back. Full length 3" system with crossover and pipes thru the crossmember and over the Diff so keep ground clearance. HTC coated the entire system.

E.

Gotta drop the WW tank tomorrow and hook up all the fuel lines. Should be running soon!

[ruffrida2005]

That's sweet. Are you buying pre-bent tubes and piecing it together?

[Fw190d9]

Paul, Exactly, I get the pre-bent sections from Summit, cut and weld them together. Summit sells them individually or a kit with just about all the bends and pieces you need for a full system. I did the vette exhaust all out of stainless but the 2 C10s, the Warwagon and the 69 blazer were regular aluminized steel pieces.

E.

[Fw190d9]

Well, I think the ol War Wagon is just about done. The LS swap went off without a hitch. Runs like a swiss watch. I decided to spread the love a bit and update the brakes and axles as they havent been serviced in about 15 years. Went ahead and changed all the bearings in the 14 bolt FF rear, put new bearings in the hubs along with new seals and a disc brake kit. It even got one of those Eaton no slip posi units that replaces the spider gears in the original carrier. Gotta have some traction for those muddy ranch times. New rotors and calipers in the front along with new seals and bearings. I went to check the oil level in the original 10 bolt front and discovered it only had about a pint left in it! Evidently the pinion seal was toast and its been leaking for quite a while. The bearings still look ok(probably have at least 2 years left) so I just put a new seal on it. If it goes south, Ill have to take the axle off and rebuild it. While replacing the pinion seal I discovered the original slip yoke had been broken and brazed back together by the P.O. Must have been a pretty good brazing job as its still holding. I went ahead and replaced the U joint as one of the caps had some rust. Ranch life is hard on these trucks! Additional improvements include new LED lights for the rear(gotta see to load dead critters at night), a flaming river remote battery cut off so I can kill the power when its going to sit for awhile, some gussets for the middle bar as it was starting to crack from passengers yanking on it and lastly a new basket for the upper cage with drink holders and ammo storage. Hope to have it back in "God's Country" next week.

Evan Q.

[Fw190d9]

Still cant figure out why all my pics come out rotated?

[Fw190d9]

Here's the brazed up slip yoke!