1970 K20 Z62 Full Restoration

[IronCanine]

Eric got the doors hung and the glass in and started loading them up. As stated the plating is a problem when restoring hardware. Striker plates still needed a little love when they got back from getting re-phosphated.

The silver door plug has been a problem for a bit. The reproduction ones pop out and poop out pretty quick. Now silver isn't available anymore (that I know of). These come black and have to be painted. But they seem pretty decent quality.

Got the born on date decal on. Thanks as always to Jeff (member ChipFlyer) who does such a great job with these and the SPIDs.

Speaking of...member Roger Koop restored our vent windows and did a great job too. We did swap out the glass for date coded versions.

[IronCanine]

The blue interior pieces didn't match each other from the factory...but it really is hard to get new pieces that talk to each other now.

The vinyl reproduction panels are ok...not awesome. As they were when we did the Blazer 10 years ago, the wood grain doesn't match OE. I still had some 3M Di Noc that I'd put on those panels. It seemed 10 years old. I didn't love how it laid down. I think I'm going to order fresh and replace that.

The panels themselves are a pretty good factory color match. But reproduction pulls and escutcheons are not even close. I color matched those bits.

The texture, trim and "puffiness" of the panel is also off as you can see in the pic.

Panels are just on for the moment..will come off for mirror brackets and trim installation.

...Also, it is crazy how light affects your perception of these colors. The pics on the ping pong table are closer to what you see in real life...not baby blue.

[IronCanine]

Eric also got the booster and MC on. Hard to believe that this huge assembly did not have a brace. Also got the throttle linkage, ground straps and several vac lines on.

Something that I didn't realize until we got to work on this...but these trucks had a jumper line/extension of the lead that went to the brake distribution block. The harness line is still shorter than needed, but we'll have to make up this extra lead too.

[Ol Blue K20]

It all looks great. I swear ol blue has a brace on the booster. I'll look when I go to my shop Tuesday.

[IronCanine]

Originally Posted by Ol Blue K20

It all looks great. I swear ol blue has a brace on the booster. I'll look when I go to my shop Tuesday.

Thanks! 71 and 72s definitely had braces. I'm not aware of any 70 3/4Ts that had em from the factory.

[72chevylover1]

Wow! Checking this thread and finding a new post is always exhilarating!

[1970cstblazer]

Originally Posted by IronCanine

Thanks! 71 and 72s definitely had braces. I'm not aware of any 70 3/4Ts that had em from the factory.

None of the '70's I've seen had any additional booster braces from the factory. I definitely know my grandfather's 1970 K20 never had them. I added both to my 1970 Blazer when I added the 1972 disc brake setup.

[72chevylover1]

Another question Sir, what color code is this truck? Does it have metallic? Almost looks like it in the pictures. Thanks

[IronCanine]

Originally Posted by 72chevylover1

Another question Sir, what color code is this truck? Does it have metallic? Almost looks like it in the pictures. Thanks

The color code is 538, which is the conventional two tone code for dark blue 508 and white 521.

508 was the code for dark blue for several years...but it wasn't always the same dark blue. 1969 508 is different from 1970 508 and 1971 508. This dark blue as previously stated was a 1970 only color.

It is most definitely metallic. This is the main reason that the exterior paint is base/clear. It gives us the luxury of being able to buff the paint and address any issues pretty easily without affecting the metallics.

Because we wanted to recreate the Fremont firewall marks, we painted that (along with a few other strategic spots) with single stage.

[72chevylover1]

Originally Posted by IronCanine

The color code is 538, which is the conventional two tone code for dark blue 508 and white 521.

508 was the code for dark blue for several years...but it wasn't always the same dark blue. 1969 508 is different from 1970 508 and 1971 508. This dark blue as previously stated was a 1970 only color.

It is most definitely metallic. This is the main reason that the exterior paint is base/clear. It gives us the luxury of being able to buff the paint and address any issues pretty easily without affecting the metallics.

Because we wanted to recreate the Fremont firewall marks, we painted that (along with a few other strategic spots) with single stage.

Ok that makes total sense. Some areas looked glossier than other areas and that makes sense why. Absolutely love your color, this might be taboo to say here but I want to paint my 72 K20 either the dark blue poly or medium blue poly with the white 521 on the cab and between trim molding. I know it's only 70 specific but man that metallic is stunning! Love your truck! Also how did you find a cab top with marker light mounts? The before pictures it didn't have them, or maybe I'm blind here. Just found a full set of NOS marker lights on ebay

[1970cstblazer]

Since the Blazer is almost completed, My next project will be a clone of this which looks just like my grandpa's K20 except his had 10.00-16.5 tires.

[IronCanine]

Originally Posted by 72chevylover1

Ok that makes total sense. Some areas looked glossier than other areas and that makes sense why. Absolutely love your color, this might be taboo to say here but I want to paint my 72 K20 either the dark blue poly or medium blue poly with the white 521 on the cab and between trim molding. I know it's only 70 specific but man that metallic is stunning! Love your truck! Also how did you find a cab top with marker light mounts? The before pictures it didn't have them, or maybe I'm blind here. Just found a full set of NOS marker lights on ebay

Originally Posted by 1970cstblazer

Since the Blazer is almost completed, My next project will be a clone of this which looks just like my grandpa's K20 except his had 10.00-16.5 tires.

I like a lot of the factory colors, but this is probably my favorite and one of the big reasons I bought the truck. There aren't a lot out there, so the more the merrier.

With regard to the roof skin...you are correct, this truck did not come from the factory with cab lights. I wanted to add them. I had sourced a donor skin off of a parts truck. But I got lucky and Pete (DeadHeadNM) found and alerted me to an NOS cab light skin on eBay. It's one of only two I've ever seen. I of course jumped on that immediately. It's one of the 2 or 3 biggest scores on the project to me.

[72chevylover1]

Yeah those cab lights look super