My childhood dream

[darb79]

I have wanted a 72 since I was 12 and on January 9, 2012 I finally made a trade for a 72 gmc k20. It still has the factory am radio, had the dealer installed ac, original 350 and 4 speed (judging by the grime on it) and was solid olive green (rattle canned brown primer now). Its a solid truck overall with relativley minor rust issues. Mainly the cab rockers (one was already removed) and the passenger door. The doors are takeoffs from another rig and I do have the original drivers door and \is in better shape than the one that is currently mounted. The body is straight with minor body work done. It is easy to find the bondo work on this because no prep or finish work was done to it. The whole exterior has been rattle canned brown primer with no prep done prior. The half a$$ work continued under the hood. The fuel line from the switch at the drivers seat was all rubber hose labeled "not for fuel use". And with an XXl filter at the motor (easy to see in the pics). It has been cam'd and timing gears installed (4 teeth wrong of course).

I'm not planning on a complete tear down and rebuild for a few more years, I only need it to be my duck hunting and fishing truck. But for all the crappy work done to it I will more than likley be close to a complete tear down. I have a 96 burb that the electronics fried on so I have a vortec 350 that I will start rebuilding soon, leather buckets, 40 gal fuel tank, and some other misc parts here and there that I can use.

My goal at this point is to have it up and running by june 30 with the vortec mated to the 4 speed (havent got the numbers off it yet to see what it is), rockers replaced with other minor body work, fuel tank mounted, and bucket seats in it. I probably wont worry about paint until next year, just have to see how things go.

My only real concern with what I want to get done is mating the vortec to the 4 speed. I havent played alot with the mechanics but I would guess without having the 4 speed out to look at I dont have all the info I need yet. Just wondering for those who have done it if flywheel and sutch are the same or had to round up different parts.

I apreciate any info and input, I have seen the rigs on here and am amazed by the craftmanship (take it easy on me, I'm only a carpenter by trade and a railroader by profession).

[darb79]

I started a breakdown in the cab today to see what kind of rust I will be dealing with. The whole time until I pulled the tank it was like "drum roll please"! Really minor issues for the cab. The corners have been puttied in (no suprise there) and the rockers are the only real issues. The majority is just on the surface.
Now this week I will see about pulling the bed to see what I will need to mount the 40 gal tank. As long as the wy weather holds (I have an outdoor shop with a dirt floor).
On a side note, I was planning on running it until the weather was better but I had an issue with a stuck float on the carb drowning the oil with fuel. Permenant damage to seals/rings possible? I pulled the plugs and will spray some wd in the cylinders when I pick up a can. Not that I'm running this motor in this rig again, but for selling it as running or core block.