72 Chevy K20 Wrecker restoration

[1970cstblazer]

Originally Posted by sameyeam

Time for a quick update, the truck is almost ready for a return to the road. Its not painted, its just assembled with the essentials to get it going. I wanna have a driving project vs a full resto. The adapter between the th350 and the 205 still leaks really bad. Finally did my research and figured out the common issue there so I have a seal kit ready to put in there. Also had an issue with cab power. I replaced the fusible link with just an inline minifuse holder. Had a 20a fuse in there and it would blow that fuse when i went to start the truck. Im kinda thinking this is not the place for this type of circuit protection. Gonna either get a circuit breaker or another fusible link to put in there to make it more of a slow blow thing. Also now that I have the truck kinda how its gonna be weight wise with everything but the front bumper installed, it seems it leans towards the drivers side. There was a piece of metal bolted to the frame behind the leaf shackle to kinda stop it from swinging back too far. Was this factory? Ill do some more digging but thought I would ask.

That frame bracket on the driver's side was added to keep the leaf spring from going through the floor in the event of a severe front-end crash. A steel strap was welded to the front spring shackle by the bumper in addition to that bolted on bracket.

[sameyeam]

I am officially saying the truck is back on the road!!! Ok its been a while, sorry for that. I have been putzing with the truck for the summer and have gotten it to the point where I am comfortable driving it on the 55 mph highways and country roads. Hasnt left me stranded yet, well of course not its a chevy right? Now is when I start to find out what needs to be done keeping it on the road. So far I have found a bad transmission modulator, easy cheap fix. Found a bad o-ring on the kickdown cable which was the source of a huge transmission fluid leak which was nice to get fixed. Still seems kinda greasy grimey under there, maybe a shift shaft seal is in order. I also have a whole seal kit to put in the NP205 adapter but at this point I dont wanna pull it apart to do that till winter cuz I wanna drive it! Plus I read thats not a big deal and wont hurt anything. Just got wipers going the other day as well, just needed a switch and the wiring all worked great. Need new blades. 15 inch is what is called for? The blades on there get caught on the windshield trim so they are too long for sure. Next project I think is going to be getting some defrost working so I can still drive it to work on crisp mornings. Also would like to get the temp gauge working which has been kicking my butt. It just stays pegged no matter what I do with the sensor wire it seems. I need new front 4x4 hubs as the stockers are both broken. Also wondering if they make a bushing kit or something to clean up the slop in the 4x4 shifter for the np205? Thats being a little picky but its on the list. Also on the list is getting the wrecker lights back working. Grandpa made a contraption that would raise and lower the lights in order to fit into parking ramps. He used window motors and it worked at 1 time during my ownership but I took a cable cutter to that group of wires as it wasnt real pretty any more so thats on the sorta short list as well. Paint, idk, would like it to be kinda the right color and maybe ill try my hand at some of that this winter but for right now, who cares. I sanded off a bunch of white house paint and found the last rendition of color scheme gramps had done in the late 80's. 1 of the doors has his shop logo on it, unfortunately that door is in really rough shape. I have started putting patch panels in the bottom of the door. Never done sheet metal work before but kinda figure I dont have much to lose. Got the lower, inner, panel welded in, now gotta work on the outer lower and the upper hinge is all cracked out. Hoping I can get this welded up as i would like to put it on the truck. IMO the truck looks pretty cool in its current state and i dont have the budget to put some shiny paint on it right now so im in no hurry to do that. Really just wanna enjoy driving this project.
This may go without saying but man this forum is just gold for people restoring these trucks. Every question is answered and that really helps with progress and keeping me going and motivated to work on the truck. Along with some certain youtube channels that have, IMO, helped the car community grow in the sense that classic cars dont have to be perfect to take out and enjoy. I have really grabbed onto that mindset, obviously, and this is way more fun than a pile of parts that "ill get to someday". Anyway, ill try and update more frequently, hopefully can get some pictures up.

[IronCanine]

That sounds awesome. Pics pics pics please.

Unless you think your shifter slop is in the actual linkage/shift lever pin...I wouldn't sweat it until I was ready to drop the transfer case. Cuz that's what it's gonna take to swap out the detent balls and possibly the shift rails (if needed). And at that point you're gonna wanna re-seal it and replace anything else that needs it while you're in there. You only want to work on them once if you can help it.

My recommendation is to drop the transmission, adaptor and TC and just re-seal and gasket (and/or rebuild) them at one go. It's an aggravating assembly to deal with and it's just as hard to do minor repairs as it is to do it all...IMO. In for a penny in for a pound.

Congrats on getting her going. That is what it is all about!

[DeadheadNM]

Good to see an update. Congrats! Agree, pics when possible. I might have a usable set of OE hubs.

[sameyeam]

Hey hopefully these pictures will work. Its kind of a PITA to get pics to post but I know I appreciate pics in posts and will do my best to get some up. Currently driving the truck, gaining confidence that it wont strand me as I have limited help to get home. Looking to get the blower motor going for some heat. The wiring is cobbled for it, not sure how to tackle that. Gonna develop a goal list for the winter. May include some painting, just garage diy spray bombing but will make it the right color. Would like new front springs as I think the drivers side are sagged out. It sits 2+ inches lower on that side and I think that is why. thanks for reading along

[IronCanine]

Thanks for the pics! Awesome truck.

[DeadheadNM]

Congrats!

[Ol Blue K20]

I'm glad you're driving it! Congrats

[zicc1835]

nice work getting on the road .....good luck with the goal list

[72 tigger]

Nice progress!

[sameyeam]

Originally Posted by DeadheadNM

Good to see an update. Congrats! Agree, pics when possible. I might have a usable set of OE hubs.

DeadheadNM I sent you a PM about this

[sameyeam]

Snapped this pic yesterday while using the truck to help haul some brush around. Its kinda nice having 2 trucks sometimes. I am adding "fabbing a stronger hitch" to the list as I would like to pull a trailer once in a while. Prolly should get trailer light hookup working as well. Gotta get the blower motor working first though. Man that wiring is a mess. Is there actually a factory connector for the back of the fan switch or were they all just spade connectors? I am looking to drive this thing this winter but its gonna be tough with no defrost.

[DeadheadNM]

Originally Posted by sameyeam

DeadheadNM I sent you a PM about this

Reply sent

[PileDriver]

I enjoyed reading through your project build. I am just starting my 69 project. I have always wanted to do a 65 or 66 shop truck as a tribute to my grandfathers shop, but I've been thinking this 69 I picked up will end up being the canvas.

[connorm]

The truck looks great with PY0's! Keep the updates coming

[Dieselwrencher]

Great work on the truck! I'm glad you got it back up and driving. I'm no help on the new connector. I might have an old one on a parts cab.