1970 K20 Z62 Full Restoration

[IronCanine]

Eric came over today to lend a hand in setting the transmission and engine. I used the threaded holes that I think they used from the factory to set the transmission and the lift brackets on the engine to set that.

All things considered I would say that it was relatively drama free. I am trying so hard to seal this thing up. I have never had one that didn't leak somewhere.

I would have liked to have gotten more stuff on...but I'm waiting for some parts...like exhaust bolts. I did mock the right side exhaust manifold up there just for fun...but it's got to come off.

It is nice to have the drive line complete. A lot of work to get some rough pieces to this stage. I like this part the best.

[IronCanine]

One final pic tonight. This is not an NOS or rebuilt fuel pump, but a new reproduction. I do like seeing that AC on there. But also the original refinished hardware. The "f" bolts and "L" bolts. Love it.

[DeadheadNM]

Nice progress sir. The bolt affixing the fuel pump looks to have a real nice finish. Those bolts are neat.

[Ol Blue K20]

Looking great

[IronCanine]

Originally Posted by DeadheadNM

Nice progress sir. The bolt affixing the fuel pump looks to have a real nice finish. Those bolts are neat.

Originally Posted by Ol Blue K20

Looking great

Thanks guys!

[IronCanine]

I was lucky enough to put together two NOS exhaust manifolds. I had them ceramic coated as we have done in the past. I had a nice heat stove that I had ceramic coated as well...but it honestly didn't turn out too great. The black was too flat and the silver on the inner panel just made it look painted. In the meantime NOS bird dog Pete, alerted me to an NOS outer panel that I jumped on. We elected to strip the enamel and paint it with high temp. I had another nice inner that looked great in its original finish out of the electrolysis tank. The original finish kind of looks galvanized.

As an aside, few things are more mechanically satisfying than a nice fold over lock.

[IronCanine]

Dave (DaHos) came through on the elusive 1970 K truck (with J70) oil fill tube. It was a nice example that cleaned up well. The rubber gasket came off a regular valve cover oil cap.

The style of oil cap that goes on this tube is kind of ubiquitous. I had a lot of NOS options available to me at reasonable cost (how often have you heard that in the last couple of years). But I don't know what the finish should be. This example has a phosphate finish. They put chrome ones on Corvettes (at least the higher HP versions). Dave did not have the OE cap. The pics of the original tube/cap earlier in this thread could be phosphate...could be raw. I don't think it was painted black.

We'll leave it as is for now, until hopefully more info emerges.

[IronCanine]

I started putting on some of the accessories and you know how I love to get in the weeds (as much as I can) on the plant processes.

So the engine shows up from Flint at the Fremont plant assembled and painted. The A/C is obviously installed at the truck assembly plant. The (honestly insane) bracketry that holds the compressor has mounting points on the intake manifold and water pump. The bolts that hold the intake and WP on are too short to hold the brackets too. So instead of chucking bolts in the trash, it appears that they repurposed the three intake bolts to the back of the compressor and the long water pump bolt got moved up to the top water pump bolt hole. Then new longer bolts are added where necessary. So you end up with a mix of painted (but scratched up) and unpainted bolts from the process.

I also finally got to break out my date coded Frigidaire decal that I've been sitting on since we did that run back in 2019 (I think).

[IronCanine]

I also got the alternator and power steering pump installed.

I found a date code correct alternator that Jason at Advanced Electrical Rebuilders did for me. I've used Jason before and he does a great job. I was on the hunt for a long time for a date code correct starter core to rebuild as well...but it still hasn't materialized.

I don't know if the PS pump that was on this motor was original. Honestly...if the brackets hadn't been on it I might question them as well. Sometimes there can be a stamped date on the reservoir but there wasn't in my case.

I will say..of all the trucks we've done, the pulleys line up on this one best.

[IronCanine]

Eric sprayed the firewall on Saturday. Which meant it was time to write in the wet paint. The Fremont paint shop put what looks like an "A" on my truck, which I tried to copy as best as I could. It is a one shot deal...so I was happy to have that instead of the "N" or other tougher looking marks. Several practice runs on a spare panel before letting it rip.

I am so excited about the color. It looks fantastic in person. Eric even caved and gave me a few "factory style" runs.

[68bowtie]

Wow just beautiful.