Swap Shop Chevy K20

[usernamessuck]

I've wanted a 1972 K20 for as long as I can remember. I just recently purchased my daughter a junk 71 K10 shortbox when I found this gem. I got the short end of the deal and traded a perfectly good rifle for this junk. This picture was taken back in November a couple days before I towed it up to where I work.

[usernamessuck]

The truck is mostly junk. I hate the dark green, but everyone seems to want a fortune for them anymore.

After I worked out the deal with the feller that has owned this since 1973 I had to drag it back to the shop. I manage a very capable fabrication and machine shop and they seem to have endless patience for the junk I'm always bringing in.

I finally got a chance on a nice November day to grab the truck with a good buddy of mine. We made it from the field to the highway before the front driver's tire went flat. Fixed that and we were on our way. I was giggling the whole time watching my friend in the rearview sawing the wheel back and forth trying to keep her between the lines.

Finally got it back to the shop and realized that the steering box was only held on by three very loose bolts.

The previous owner had recently had the local GMC dealer put a new vortec 350 in it. I bought a new fuel pump, rigged up a gas can, and it fired right up!

[usernamessuck]

About this time I was on the hunt for a bunch of straighter body work because basically everything on this truck is garbage except the cab. I found a feller over the mountain that had a nice bed save for a few bullet holes. I drove over and made a deal. While I was visiting with him I noticed he had a really nice 72 body for sale. On the three hour drive home I talked myself into just buying the whole body rather than the shot up bed. Made the deal and drug it home a couple weeks later. This was the Christmas present to myself.

[usernamessuck]

So I have about four more months worth of progress to post here but the forum won't let me post photos any longer. Does anyone have any ideas. None of the staff here will reply to any of my PM's or emails. I have built a bunch of parts and have a bunch of drawings I would like to give away but I'm not getting any help here.

[Dieselwrencher]

Cool truck you have and it definitely looks nicer than one I have. On the pic issue, are they just not loading or?

[cornerstone]

If you tell us the method you are using we may be able to help you post pics. It's been a while since I have posted any pics so I'll give it a try on my ancient build thread and see if I have any luck.

Edit/Update: It worked for me. The way I do it is go to "manage attachments", then "choose file", then close that window and select "preview post" to verify the picture is oriented appropriately. If you like it then select "submit reply"

[leddzepp]

If you cannot post pics 99% of the time they are too large and need to be resized.

[Ol Blue K20]

I'm in to watch this build. Try resizing your pics, it worked for me once I made them smaller.

[usernamessuck]

I can't thank you fellers enough for the help. I figured since I didn't resize any of the previous pictures that I could get away with it. Back to the mess...

I didn't take many pictures of the junk before I started. Somehow the PO hit something with just the bed on the passenger side. They hit something hard enough to brake half of the bed bolts. I tried for two months to give it away with one good bedside but no takers. The driver's fender is the good one.

[usernamessuck]

The tailgate was in great shape too. I probably should have passed on this truck as everything on it was trash. I like the process as much as the result though. I definitely would have saved money buying a better truck to start with.

[usernamessuck]

Since I have a little bed swapping in the future I decided to throw together a quick bit of rigging to help myself out. I'm super lucky at work to have ten tons worth of yank hanging from the ceiling. It makes light work of the heavy lifting. As expected most of the bolts were more rust than bolt and since the bed of this thing is a filthy substance called wood I did the right thing and used our bonkers 3M grinding pads to grind the heads off (literally the fasted way to remove those bolts). If anyone wants to spend their retirement savings on abrasives then let me know and I'll get you the details. I tried for months to give this bed away with no takers. Most of it was garbage but it had one good bedside. It hurts my soul to scrap parts for these trucks but I don't have space for it.

[Warrens69GMC]

I was going to build a adjustable jig for bed swaps after I get a gantry crane.

[usernamessuck]

Originally Posted by Warrens69GMC

I was going to build a adjustable jig for bed swaps after I get a gantry crane.

If anyone wants drawings or details on anything I have here just let me know. Some stuff like this is just junk I weld together but moving forward I build some stuff that might interest some of you.

[usernamessuck]

I've owned several of these trucks and it seems like every new truck has more junk welded and bolted to it. Grabbed the grinder and made short work of the lot of it all. I just realized how cool the mud flaps are and now I'm a little sad I threw them out.

[underliner6]

Nice progress. Good for you on saving that old girl!

[usernamessuck]

Originally Posted by underliner6

Nice progress. Good for you on saving that old girl!

Thanks! Too bad so much of it is total garbage. I probably would have picked something different if I could do it over. Stay tuned...

[usernamessuck]

I'm really torn and I'm hoping some of you fellers can help me decide on some wheels. I picked up a set of slots for this truck but they are 16.5's so I have a tire issue. I've decided to go with a 33x12.5 tire. Here are my choices unless someone can give me some better ideas:

1) Keep the slots but buy them in 17's to open up my tire choices and keep the vintage look. These wheels were on the truck I fell in love with when I was 13 years old.

2) Upgrade to a modern wheel in 17. I'm looking at this wheel from Method in black.

[cornerstone]

I vote slots! A classic truck deserves a classic wheel in my opinion

If you just want the wheels to shine real nice, polish your slots. It's possible to make them look nearly brand new.

[Ol Blue K20]

X2 on the slots!

[Bones72Super]

X3 for the slots! I got the 17" slots with 33x12.50r17 KM3 for my K20 build. Here's a picture to help with your decision

[usernamessuck]

I'm leaning heavy towards the slots. I think I'll order a set of the Super Swamper radials in my size to buy me some time to upgrade to the 17's.

[usernamessuck]

I teased it a few posts back but below is the bodywork this truck is going to get. The cab from this truck is going to replace the floorless one in my daughter's truck (hopefully saving me some work that I'm not very good at) and the rest is hopefully going to good homes.

This yellow truck is in pretty amazing shape. It belonged to an electrician that must have been able to drive because it has no real big dents and no filler in it. You can just make out the sign paint on the doors and bed. I'm hoping it will pop out a little more when I clean the paint up. There is no real rust in it and the paint is in pretty good shape. The dark green is my least favorite color these trucks come in so this will be an upgrade in many ways for me. I got a hell of a deal on it from a feller that has turned out to be a great resource for good parts.

[CG]

My old K20. The tires are Swamper Radial TSL 16.5x33x12.5. I had to wait a bit for the tires. Sounds like they make em in batches these days.

[Bones72Super]

Originally Posted by CG

My old K20. The tires are Swamper Radial TSL 16.5x33x12.5. I had to wait a bit for the tires. Sounds like they make em in batches these days.

What size lift did you have on that truck? I think it looks really good without being too high

[CG]

I think it was four inch. A little too high for me. Getting in and out was a pain, I'm not short just old haha.