1970 K20 Z62 Full Restoration

[72 tigger]

Great color!
Great detail!

[IronCanine]

Originally Posted by 72chevylover1

It doesn't get any better than this! That color is awesome!!

Originally Posted by Ol Blue K20

I'm loving it!! So beautiful.

Originally Posted by 72 tigger

Great color!
Great detail!

Thanks guys.

[IronCanine]

We got the tank in, but not without some trouble. There was an "NOS" tank on eBay some months back that Pete alerted me to. But it had more than a little (I'll call it shelf) wear. But of course the asking price wasn't scratch and dent. So it didn't seem worthwhile considering what would have been required to get it up to scratch to safely go in this truck. So I picked up a reproduction version from AMD while I was there picking up the bed. It seemed practical...no shipping and all. Well, mounting points did not line up and I was not happy with the exterior finish. The mounting was fairly easily remedied and the non factory finish was not so objectionable to me to delay progress.

We painted the neck black as it should be..(this is a detail I've missed in the past). I picked up an NOS gas cap. This truck carries the bright cap because of the molding option, not because of the trim level. I sent it in to be polished with my chrome. They didn't quite get it there. I think we'll have to try and take it a little bit farther if there is material to do so.

I used a repro neck grommet even though I had an NOS one. Partly because of the appearance, but mainly because Larry told me his NOS grommet cracked a few months after installation. What I don't like about the repro version is that I ended up with a few edges with "flash" that extends past the lip. I'm hoping I can rectify that.

[IronCanine]

An NOS condenser came in the big NOS A/C kit, but it is not the one I used. This condenser was ordered by a body shop in Hartwell, GA through Athens Chevrolet (!!!) almost 50 years ago. Unbelievably I bought it in from the same parts lot that had my NOS hood in Kansas City. It is so wild that its 50 year journey brought it back here to finally be installed. The little rubber boots that slip over the line joints are supple, but I don't know how long they'll survive now that they are out of the blister pack.

We pulled the color for the metal floor heater box off the protected (back) side. Amazingly that paint was metallic. It was a solid match. I've posted the mix for anyone who might need that.

[IronCanine]

As you know parts on these trucks varied depending on the vendor or the time they were produced. Here is another example. The first four pics below compare two different NOS tach lenses. The size and position of the font and graphics are different between the two. I "think" the fatter font is the older, more likely correct for my assembly line piece.

The last pic is a comparison between the fatter font NOS lens and a reproduction piece. Big difference.

[IronCanine]

It took two swings to get the color and sheen right on the dash vents. Eric nailed it as usual. That meant the behind the dash stuff could finally all be crammed in there and the glove box shoved home.

I put the 4WD decal where it was from the factory...but I think if they'd have centered it top to bottom on the GB door it would have looked better. Still cool though.

I picked up the tilt column from KevsClassics five years ago. An original 4sp tilt was hard to come by even then, so I was glad to get it. Kev did a great job rebuilding this one...as he always does.

Wheel isn't on permanently...just for the pic. Love that dash layout so much.

[IronCanine]

Let me wrap up tonight's posts with something I meant to highlight earlier. Got lucky and picked up an NOS parking brake cable from Dwayne. I already had the repro version. I think you might be interested in the differences. A couple of comparison pics below. Obviously the NOS is what went on the truck.

Also, Duplicolor makes a blue metalcast spray paint that works for these cable clamps.

Oh and one more thing. The rubber boot on the intermediate shaft...hard to come by...but as far as I can tell the A body version is exactly the same. And you can find those all day long as a reproduction piece. That's what we used here.

[DeadheadNM]

Signature “Blue Steel” pose