68 "Sea 10" K10 art truck build

[68isgreat]

In March of '23, I bought a 68 C10 factory stock height short step and got it running and driving, and was close to finishing it, but I'm an avid bird hunter, and decided it wouldn't meet my long term needs. Sometimes you just need a 4x4. Luckily, I happened across this factory 68 K10 4x4 on fb, and was able to work out an almost straight across trade, where I got to keep my 1990 tbi 350 motor and my new 31" BFG tires and wheels. As you all probably know, these are fairly rare trucks, and only 1706 short step K10's were made in 68. I feel very fortunate to have stumbled onto this one. Here it is in my driveway after I got it a month ago in mid February:





I'm also a professional oil painter (you can see my work at www.marklarsonart.com). My tentative concept for this truck will be an art truck that I can bird hunt in, but also use as a traveling advertisement for my art work. I can use it at art shows, do pop up art shows with carpeted panels out of the bed, etc. I'm thinking of painting it in turquoise with dark ivory top and grille, with the sides fading to subtle wave forms and sea foam imagery (hence the "SEA 10" play on words) painted over muted gold or silver leaf, and variegated red gold leaf pinstriping. Lots of thin, transparent glazes to allow some of the metal leaf to show through and shimmer in the light, and clear coating. My business name will be on the tailgate. That's my plan. We'll see how it goes.

I especially like that it has a gun rack, and these original stickers on the roof are awesome. I'm definitely keeping them:

[68isgreat]

This truck had a 6 cyl/4sp originally. I'm dropping in a new 350 tbi crate motor and rebuilt 700r4/241c passenger drop combo from a 1990 Suburban. I'm almost done painting the frame (waiting for the rain to stop here in Oregon) and will drop in the motor/trans later this month hopefully. Then re-do the brakes, including a front disc conversion that I bought from Horsepower Sales (https://www.horsepowersales-llc.com/), do some rocker repairs to the cab, paint, reassemble, finish wiring, do some custom art on it, and voila! Done by May/June. Fingers crossed. It will basically be a 1990's OBS truck with a 68 body. That's the plan anyway.

[MySons68C20]

Nice truck congrats!

[68isgreat]

Originally Posted by MySons68C20

Nice truck congrats!

Thanks! Can't wait to get it done and use it this fall.

[Shifty One]

Love the sticker!

[68isgreat]

Finished painting the front of the frame today, using the KBS chassis paint system. Cleaner, zinc coating, and rust seal paint. Wow, that stuff is tough. Amazing. It's a gloss finish, and they provide a can of satin top coat. It took a day and a half to paint the frame using a brush though, so I may just use satin rustoleum as a top coat to speed it up.



I also installed a new quick ratio steering box from a 78 square, to replace the old 68 version. So I went from 4.5 turns stop to stop to 3.5. And, because my frame is straight without the ps box indentation, the p.o. mounted the old box with nearly 3/4" of stacked washers to provide clearance. That couldn't have helped the steering geometry. The new box is flat and mounts flush to the frame. A really satisfying upgrade. The p.o. did weld a thick frame reinforcing plate behind the box, and welded a crack nearby also, so that's good. No other cracks that I can see, so it's in good shape. Here's the old box and the new one installed:





You'll also notice the drag link was repaired in the past with a thick weld. It shows no signs of failing, but I don't trust it. I'm going to replace it with a newer version that has the adjusting sleeve so I can fine tune the centering of the box. That said, does anyone know off hand if a drag link from a square has the same tie rod ends as the 68 and older version?

[68isgreat]

Originally Posted by Shifty One

Love the sticker!

Yeah, me too. It really takes me back. The 70's font really sells it. It's all wrinkly and old, and I thought about having it reproduced and replaced, but I think I'll just paint around it. So cool.

[raggedjim]

Checked your site, you truly are an artist. When I was in college my professor told me I was great at looking at things and recreating them but I would never be an artist because I couldn't envision new things and create them. So I became an engineer, where I envisioned new things and created them!

Good luck with the truck, Rg

[68isgreat]

Originally Posted by raggedjim

Checked your site, you truly are an artist. When I was in college my professor told me I was great at looking at things and recreating them but I would never be an artist because I couldn't envision new things and create them. So I became an engineer, where I envisioned new things and created them!

Good luck with the truck, Rg

Thanks! It's a blessing, but sometimes I wish I could just leave well enough alone too. Lol.

[68isgreat]

Moderator, please feel fre to move this thread to the 4x4 builds section if necessary.

[68isgreat]

I've been busy the last week or so. After painting the frame on my 68 K10, I installed the gas tank, installed new shocks, dropped in my new crate 350 tbi/K case 700r4/241c combo, and installed a new 4 row aluminum radiator. I ended up using a trans crossmember from a 1990 Suburban, which fit great, except for having to drill new holes in the frame. The height using the stock 87-95 rubber trans mount is perfect, giving me a 4 degree engine angle (I might shim it up to 3 degrees), and clearance for the front driveshaft is wonderful. The double cardan front driveshaft, also from a wrecking yard 1990 burb, fits perfectly, extended halfway down the slip yoke after installation. The rear is at the driveline shop being shortened. Rear pinion angle is 7 degrees, so I'll have to shim it up to 3-4 degrees once I get a full gas tank and bed on it.

Here are a few pics:

[68isgreat]

Forgot to mention, the wrecking yard also has a skid plate to attach to the mounting holes on the trans crossmember. They want $50 for it though, and I'm not sure it's really necessary. I'm not going to be doing hard core wheeling with it, just steep rutted 4x4 roads for bird hunting and such. What do you all think, worth it?

[raggedjim]

Originally Posted by 68isgreat

Forgot to mention, the wrecking yard also has a skid plate to attach to the mounting holes on the trans crossmember. They want $50 for it though, and I'm not sure it's really necessary. I'm not going to be doing hard core wheeling with it, just steep rutted 4x4 roads for bird hunting and such. What do you all think, worth it?

Sounds like cheap insurance to me...

[68isgreat]

Originally Posted by raggedjim

Sounds like cheap insurance to me...

In the grand scheme of things, you're probably right. Thanks.

[Chaparralman1974]

Very cool build! I am looking forward to following along.

I am curious about your powersteering setup.....was it powersteering before tearing it down? If so, did you have any clearance issues with the steering arm on the knuckle hitting or anything? I am restoring a 1967 K20 myself while I opted to just rebuild and reinstall the manual steering gear, I am thinking that I would like powersteering in the future. I want to keep the original front axle as well, so any powersteering setup would have to work with the stock steering arm.

Thanks, Clay

[68isgreat]

Originally Posted by Chaparralman1974

Very cool build! I am looking forward to following along.

I am curious about your powersteering setup.....was it powersteering before tearing it down? If so, did you have any clearance issues with the steering arm on the knuckle hitting or anything? I am restoring a 1967 K20 myself while I opted to just rebuild and reinstall the manual steering gear, I am thinking that I would like powersteering in the future. I want to keep the original front axle as well, so any powersteering setup would have to work with the stock steering arm.

Thanks, Clay

Thanks! It did have ps, with the older 68 style ps box with the bulge on the side. The post above shows that in detail. I swapped it out with the newer '78 quick ratio box and used the pitman arm from the 68 box. No issues with that swap whatsoever. I would highly recommend doing the swap. Well worth the medium amount of effort.

[Ol Blue K20]

You never know when one of those ruts might bottom you out. $50.00 is cheaper than a cracked transfer case.

[68isgreat]

Originally Posted by Ol Blue K20

You never know when one of those ruts might bottom you out. $50.00 is cheaper than a cracked transfer case.

Very true. Better safe than sorry. I pulled the trigger and bought it this afternoon.

[68isgreat]

I've managed to get quite a bit done the last few weeks. I got my new crate engine all assembled, but when I went to prime it with a distributor priming tool, I discovered the oil pump was missing the oil pump shaft that engages the distributor. Aaargh! So, I had to jack up the motor from the mounts, drop the pan, re-install the pump with the shaft, and then install the distributor. I wired in the cs130 105amp alternator using the inline diode resistor method I read about here, and it started right up and it runs fantastic! It purrs like a brand new motor. I couldn't be happier. Well worth the effort and expense. The alternator is putting out 14.3 volts too, so good to go there. I put a 1" throttle body spacer in and also spaced up the bracketry so the tv and throttle cable geometry stayed the same. Throttle response seems excellent.

I also had new driveshafts made and installed, and I installed the skid plate I bought earlier under the transfer case. I also installed vents on the transfer case and front pumpkin. Here's the double cardan front shaft, which is stock length from a 1990 Suburban, but the grease fitting was broken off the original on the slip yoke, and the seal was leaking, so I had Precision Driveline in Portland install a new yoke and u joints. It fits absolutely perfectly, no adjustments needed. The rear shaft is only 38" long, with a pretty steep 16 degree shaft angle, so I may have to go to a double cardan setup if I get vibrations with it.



Last weekend I installed new brakes and drums in the rear, and the old shoes were completely missing any pad on the right side. Wow. Here's a before/after:






While I was there working on the rear, I also put in new wheel bearings and seals since there was a bit of forced wobble. Much tighter now, although if I really put my weight into it and push into the axle, there's still a very slight clunk. It just feels like the tiny bit of axle end play from the clip groove sliding back and forth a tiny bit. No up and down play, just a tiny bit of forced in and out play ever so slightly. Does anyone know if this is normal? It seems like it should be, but I've never replaced an axle before. The axle looked fine and not worn, but I'm no expert. Fun times.

The chassis is almost done. All that's left is the front closed knuckle disc brake conversion and brake lines, then on to fixing the cab, paint it and put it back on, and reassemble. Easy peasy. I had a new grille and inner/outer fenders delivered too. It's really coming along! I got juried into a big Portland art festival in June, so I have to pivot to that, but I still hope to have the truck done by July/August at the latest.

[68isgreat]

I took some more pics. Forgot to mention I installed a new mini starter, and man, that thing is awesome! I love how much room there is now, especially if/when I install headers in the future.



Transfer case vent and new skidplate:







throttle body spacer:



new grille and headlights:



Anyone use these cam operated battery posts? Love these things and all the extra terminals.

[68isgreat]

Here's a dumb question. Has anyone ever painted a battery before? As long as there's no battery acid leaking or seeping, it should be fine, right? That black plastic is boring. Maybe I'll paint it and put a cool sasquatch sticker on it or something.

[raggedjim]

Originally Posted by 68isgreat

Here's a dumb question. Has anyone ever painted a battery before? As long as there's no battery acid leaking or seeping, it should be fine, right? That black plastic is boring. Maybe I'll paint it and put a cool sasquatch sticker on it or something.

Just because no one has doesn't mean you can't!

[68isgreat]

Originally Posted by raggedjim

Just because no one has doesn't mean you can't!

I picked up a like new '97 grey split bench seat yesterday with power bolsters and head rests, and my overall color scheme is now fern green metallic with dark ivory grille and top, and grey interior with black accents and a spot of red here and there. I might have to re-think the entire "Sea10" concept (which is probably better suited to a hot rod C10) and just go with solid color for now and do custom paintings on it later. The battery color will be fun to play with.

Here's the paint color I'm digging: https://tcpglobal.com/products/rsp-u...xoCiNcQAvD_BwE

[loudchevy]

I like that paint color. I used TCP paint (Frost Green Metallic - Single Stage) on my C10 and it turned out pretty good.

Good progress so far!

[68isgreat]

Originally Posted by loudchevy

I like that paint color. I used TCP paint (Frost Green Metallic - Single Stage) on my C10 and it turned out pretty good.

Good progress so far!

Thanks! I like that Frost Green Metallic also. I was considering that.

I'm getting ready to do the front disc brake conversion on the closed knuckle axle, which is pretty daunting, but I'm hoping it won't be as hard as it sounds. The rear axle bearings and seals wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. The kit I bought for the front from Horsepower Sales looks pretty comprehensive, with a machined spindle, so it should just be remove and replace. After that, it's just some rocker/floor repair, paint, and re-assembly. Can't wait to get this thing done and on the road!