Restomod 72 K10 "Good Memories"

[Richard]

Removed core support yesterday and welded up all the holes that were made through the years. Worked at body shop again today. Took it with me to complete the repairs. A lot to do so I did not get to it. Going in again tomorrow. My tubing should show up Friday so I can finish the shock hoops next week. Took a pic without the core support in for a friend. Attached it. Never tire of looking at that motor.

[Detroit steel]

thats an awsome truck and i can tell by your knowledge its going to be a beautiful truck when its finished , i will be following this build . good luck and let the good times roll.

[A.Delaney]

This is an inspiring build to say the least. I love it. Maybe I missed it somewhere but who makes the custom Dana 60 front end?

[Richard]

Originally Posted by Detroit steel

thats an awsome truck and i can tell by your knowledge its going to be a beautiful truck when its finished , i will be following this build . good luck and let the good times roll.

Originally Posted by A.Delaney

This is an inspiring build to say the least. I love it. Maybe I missed it somewhere but who makes the custom Dana 60 front end?

Thank you both for the posts. Will continue building the truck I would have done 25 years ago + the added upgrades technology provides. I am having a good time doing this. I surprise myself and most that have come by all the time with what I have done. Just takes time and dedication to get things done. Another thing I learned from my Dad.

The axle is from East Coast Gear. Was significantly less expensive than Currie or DynaTrac who both did not seem to want my money. Think they just want to build Jeep axles.
Bult to my specs- passenger drop, stock width, high steer and high pinion. A little disappointed pinion is not turned up as much as wanted for my CV joint on front drive shaft. They built with 12 degrees of separation (from knuckle to pinion) and I wanted about 16. Called and the owner was willing to take axle back on his dime. Did not want the hassle. May have some vibration at high speed in 4wd. Honestly, it will not be used much in that situation. I will cut and turn the knuckles if it is a problem.

Busy day at body shop again. Lots of stuff to do. Really love the gift of working there.
Today presented a challenge on an electrical part in a door. All repaired and working as it was my own. Did manage to get core support almost ready for paint. Always learning, Brad is still sharing his knowledge and wisdom with me. The best way I learn, invaluable. Will bring core support home tomorrow.

[mr.mud1]

more great work Richard,it's looking real good.take care.Greg

[Richard]

Originally Posted by mr.mud1

more great work Richard,it's looking real good.take care.Greg

Thank you. Core support came home today with me. Ready for install. Some pics later. When I arrived home sitting on the door step was my tube and the locker for the rear axle. Have been ordering some necessary parts again, will be a while until I get to this but I am so unsure about availability that I am trying to keep on top of things. The rear 5.13 gears and master install kit should be here next week along with the new 1410 yokes and flanges for t-case and diff. Had to get parts from two different places. Pic of a box, tube is less interesting than the box.

[Richard]

Worked all last week and probably most of this one. Enjoying the work. Getting the 56 F100 at the shop back together after months. Hope to finish up on Wednesday. Seeing a project come together after putting work into it is very satisfying for me. A 98 Chevy truck is also keeping me busy stripping paint to bare metal for a complete repaint. Typical Chevy clear coat fail wherever the sun hits it.

Not a lot to see on the 72. Put the cleaned up core support on the truck because it was the best place to store it. Not perfect but looks pretty good! Still need to make modifications for fresh air intake. Want to wait for that. Also shot some paint on the PSC steering box, did not care for the silver color. Masked off the caps that will not rust for a little contrast. Farming out some work this week since I am working again. Will drop off parts tomorrow. A simple pic to see.

[Richard]

My Radiator fan and shroud showed up today. It is an 850 watt 19" pwm fan and shroud assembly made to fit 64-67 Chevelle's. Their Square body assembly was to far off. Purchased through Summit from Vintage Air. Checked the fit. It is low profile but still spaces fan away from rad for better airflow. Fit was as expected and I started the modifications today. Nothing like the thrill of chopping up a brand new part, more fun making stuff work.
The motor and fan are branded Spal. FWIU the 850w motor and 19" fan are OEM parts. To be sold aftermarket they have to be application specific. Motor and fan not available separately.
Fan should move some air! 100a fuse for the power. Should only be running at 30% or less most of the time.
Plan A is to control fan from ECU. Think I have it figured out. Have a plan B if it does not work out.
Hope to mostly finish up with mods tomorrow.

[Richard]

I modified the mounting plate that goes in-between shroud and radiator for a cleaner air path and to make a complete seal to radiator. Moved the upper bar up about 1/2" and also opened up the top/bottom bulges as they did not need to be closed up as much as they were. About 1/2" was removed from the side vertical pieces. More free area will allow more airflow.

Original plan was to move both top and bottom bars and cut shroud. Decided the amount of work vs gain would not be worth it. Plus, getting the patched shroud to look as nice as it is now would be pretty difficult.

An interesting thing I noticed today when reassembling the fan. The fan blades have a reverse sweep. Meaning the outer forward swept edge of fan points into the direction of rotation not away like a traditional blade. Have seen this used on high end A/C units installed in the past. The design is supposed to reduce air noise generated by the fan.

[Richard]

Was able to get the left hand hoop brace fabbed and fitted today as well as the landing point on frame for right hand side. Should get RH fabbed up tomorrow and both braces tacked. Then I can start on the brace over engine.

[Richard]

Got the fan mounted to radiator. Plenty of room for intake tube, rad hose and airflow. Even with the Gilmer drive in front of engine. Like the simplicity of a single fan and the pwm drive. Worked out nice.
The right side hoop brace is also fabbed up and fitted. Still have not tacked up as I am still figuring out things for shock mount tabs and hoop over engine brace. It may be a bit before next update so here is a couple of pics.

[Richard]

Discovered the crossbar tube sent with the ORD kit is too short to accomplish what I want to do. Had to order more. Shipping has become totally ridiculous. Found a local supplier that delivered with total cost 1/3rd of all the online places. Prefer local anyway. Will pick up my tube at the body shop tomorrow.

The intake tube and filter arrived. I did some cutting and trimming for an initial mockup. Tube will be welded where it is taped together. An air box will occupy the area in front of left fender well. Will draw air from behind the grill. Think it looks good!

KC does not have any interest in what I do, just chillin on the porch.

[Richard]

A bit more done today. Upper shock mounts are sorted, tacked and finalized. Will bridge the shock mount tabs to the center down tube when hoops are removed and fully welded. Crossbar next week.

[Ol Blue K20]

Nice work, but, the cat made me laugh!

[Richard]

Originally Posted by Ol Blue K20

Nice work, but, the cat made me laugh!

Thanks for the comment! KC is a character, she makes me laugh as well. Originally a stray that came by to eat as long as 7 years ago. I am a sucker for strays. About 3 years ago she adopted us and became part of the family. Still an outside cat but is content sleeping and staying out of the weather in my "man cave" now.

Forgot to say- pretty happy that Brian @ American Off Road was willing to bend up my tubes for the strut brace today on the spot. While my HF bender works his hydraulic bender just make awesome bends. Brian's input for my project has been very helpful. His enthusiasm to be involved in the project is an awesome motivator. He is the one that pushed me to go with the coilover modification. Hoping to get on the brace tomorrow or Monday at the latest.

[72 tigger]

More great work- very professional looking. Enjoy following along

[Richard]

Originally Posted by 72 tigger

More great work- very professional looking. Enjoy following along

Thank you the supportive comment. Hit 104 today so I decided to spend time with my wife and Mother in law. Excited to finish things up on the front suspension now that I have the parts. Will get on it Monday regardless of circumstances.

[mr.mud1]

Originally Posted by Richard

Thank you the supportive comment. Hit 104 today so I decided to spend time with my wife and Mother in law. Excited to finish things up on the front suspension now that I have the parts. Will get on it Monday regardless of circumstances.

great work Richard,i'm following along.an awesome truck your building.all the best.Greg.

[Richard]

Originally Posted by mr.mud1

great work Richard,i'm following along.an awesome truck your building.all the best.Greg.

Thank you again. Cannot wait to see your truck back from paint!

Thought I might document the making of the strut brace more than I have other parts. Had two pieces of pipe bent up with 65 degree bends at both ends. The angle was determined with a digital sliding T-bevel. Cut the bends off with pipe to spare. Final cut length is trial fit for me. 1.5" tube just fits inside of the 1 3/4" tube. Pieces of the smaller 1.5" tube are cut to sleeve inside of larger tube. Holes are drilled in outside tube for plug welds to add strength. The butt joints are beveled and will be welded. Once I get this together there is still plenty of cutting and fitting to get it in place.

[Richard]

Brace is put together and cleaned up. Some trimming was done for an initial fit. The cope or notch is done with my 4.5" grinder using cutoff, grinding and flap wheels. Due to the center downbar on the hoops I do not have room to use the tube disconnects on the brace. Thought I may run into this so I purchased some mounting plates a while back. Will see soon what I am doing with them.

[Hatzman]

Awesome work and progress on this truck! Mine is taking much longer and isn't as spiffy as yours. That color blue really pops, great choice!

Where did you order the air intake tube from?

Following!

[Richard]

Originally Posted by Hatzman

Awesome work and progress on this truck! Mine is taking much longer and isn't as spiffy as yours. That color blue really pops, great choice!

Where did you order the air intake tube from?

Following!

Thank you for the kudos and taking the time to comment! Checked out your thread and subscribed. Looks like you are making good progress.
Forgot to answer your question- the intake tube pieces were obtained through Summit and are made by Spectre. The filter is a non oil type unit I obtained on Ebay.

[Richard]

Heard the old saying "you know you are getting old when your back goes out more than you do?" My lower back was toast for a while. Back not really a problem in the past. Got out of bed one day and could barely move. All good now.
Worked at body shop at end of week and was able to get to the Dapper headlights that arrived fitted. They are the V2's with the larger 64mm projector. Got the classic style lenses and inner halo on them, also got HID bulbs and ballasts. Maybe not appeal to some but will be great for nighttime driving. Stock headlights are like holding a match in front of a pie tin. The sealed beam upgrades are not much better IMO.
Purchased a pair of reproduction buckets to modify in case it did not work out. New lights now fit fine in the buckets and stock radiator support. Cut off back off buckets and reshaped to allow headlight to fit.
Included some pics to show what I did. Took some time for the cutting and stretching of metal on the buckets.

[NDM]

Originally Posted by Richard

Received the new oil pan. Good price and great service from Summit again! Free shipping and got it in less than two days. Supposed to receive 7 boxes full of front suspension components tomorrow, will see as UPS has been somewhat unreliable lately.
As you can see motor is set in place! Moved crossmember forward for first fit. Have plenty of room to slide it back 1". Headers fit well. Very minor clearancing on frame rails was needed. Passenger side header would need reworking if I was using the leafs as it barely interferes with the shackle.
Had to throw the engine cover on to see what it looks like in truck. Passenger pic shows clearance to firewall. I was thinking I would need to modify firewall due to others saying my headers hit.
For those that are interested. Last pic shows PacFab crossmember clearance to diff at stock ride height with stock springs. Think it sits about 1/2" higher due to the aluminum block though. Guessing stock springs have sagged bit. For me this issue has no bearing at all. Easy to see why they recommend a 2" lift. Lowering bump stops would be necessary as well.
Test fit the new master and adjustable proportioning valve as well. Blew something out in my knee today and it is as big as my thigh. May be a few days before I get the trans mount done start the trans mods.

May I ask which oil pan and headers that you used in the photos (part numbers from summit). I am planning my 72 LS swap with a l96 and 2wd 6l90e. My other swapped vehicle (76 Buick Regal) had major fitment issues for the headers, It looks like yours are perfect fit.

[57taskforce]

Looking awesome Richard! This truck is gonna be real cool when it’s done! Nice fab work.