1972 K20 Super Cheyenne - Modernized Classic

[Farm Shop]

I'll start off with some history of this truck: My older brother, Chad, bought his 1972 Cheyenne Super K20 in Wyoming in 1999 when he was 16 while on our family summer vacation out west. Long story short, it was sitting by the road at a small dealership, our dad made a deal on the spot, and we drove it 1500 miles home.

As far as we know, it is a factory K20 Super with a shortened frame and factory short bed. It has a 1965 passenger car 396, SM465 4 spd, and NP205. Since Chad has owned it, he's rebuild the front hubs, replaced small things as needed, new 35" MT's, and rebuilt the 396 top to bottom in 2003. Unfortunately, until this past summer, life has gotten in the way and the truck has only been driven about 2000 miles in the last 8 years.

That brings us up to this summer. Chad was finally able to fair weather daily drive the '72 all summer, and even do a leg of Hot Rod Power Tour. He got along well, but no electric choke, a torn accelerator pump boot, squealing v-belt, and no overdrive became bigger annoyances than they had been in the past. We've discussed options like an EFI 6.0 LS and 4L80e swap, maybe drop in a 1996+ Vortec 454, or even a Holley EFI on the current BBC. After a lot of deliberation, we decided to EFI the current 396 since we know its a strong engine, it matches the DNA of the truck, and in an "LS THE WORLD!!" environment, the BBC is a welcome site.

The requirements for this winter are:
- Convert the 396 to EFI
- Overdrive manual trans
- Keep 4x4 functional
- Serpentine accessories

This project will start some time in December, and right now we are still collecting parts. So far we have:
- 1996 NV4500 4x4 5 spd trans
- 1996 serpentine accessories off a 350
- NP208 transfer case
- Holley MPFI intake and throttlebody
- Walbro in-line 255lb/hr fuel pump, lines, filters, etc
- A good friend that is a lot smarter than we are is currently configuring the Mega Squirt MS2 ECU.
- Donor EFI harness from a 2008 LS4 Impala that I will use to build the MS2 harness

I will keep this thread updated in real time as we start turning wrenches in a few weeks. In the mean time, here are a few pics of the truck and parts we've accumulated and will be using.





Ready for HRPT 2015:







Bringing home the trans donor:


I had some excitement bringing the parts truck home. . .