68 "Sea 10" K10 art truck build

[68isgreat]

Here are the '97 Chevy seats I bought yesterday for $300. They are like new and fit awesome in the cab, with power bolsters also. Although I do need to move the steering wheel in 2-3 inches, and will have to section the bases so they fit level. They came with 3 point seatbelts also. With the rear gas tank removed, there's quite a bit of space behind the seats for hunting gear, paintings, whatever:

[68isgreat]

Still plugging away on the chassis. I dove in and decided to replace this long ago welded drag link. The weld may have been ok as is, but I couldn't trust my life with it, and it's not adjustable either:


67-68 drag links aren't available anywhere, so I had to piece it together using one for a square body K10. The tie rod end for the pitman arm fit great, since my ps box is from a '78 square, but the rearward one was way too big and wouldn't seat in the steering arm, and after ordering a couple different ones and nothing fitting, I ended up having to order a ball joint reamer to make the hole larger, which did the trick. Now I have a new, much stronger and beefier drag link with adjustability:



I also tackled the front disc brake conversion, which was a chore, but I figured it out. Nice having new wheel bearings and axle bushings and some stopping power. I decided to do the conversion rather than an axle swap, since newer axles don't come with 4:11 gears like my rear has, so I'd be looking at a re-gear, which is about the same cost as the conversion. And, I like the idea of keeping it original and having 411's with my 31 inch tires and 700r4 with overdrive. I could always go up a tire size eventually if I need taller gearing:



I went with Mile Marker hubs. Wow, they work as good as they look. Effortless:



I also had a leaking front pinion seal, so I replaced that today. I've never done it before, and the hardest part was getting the yoke nut off. I couldn't do it with a breaker bar, so I had to buy an impact wrench, which took it right off. After that, it was simply a matter of removing the seal and replacing it with a new one, a new nut, and torquing it down. I thought about having a shop do it later, but I'm money ahead, even after buying the wrench and parts!



Lastly, I scored on craigslist last week. I picked up a set of new TMI door panels, a fitted black carpet (for a low hump, but I will make it work), new keyed ignition and headlight switch, and black 3 point seat belts, all for $450. The TMI panels go for $1200 by themselves. I wasn't planning on going with a grey and black interior, but it will look fine with my planned fern green metallic paint and grey bench seat. The black inserts will look great with the black gauge bezel, black carpet, black steering column details (I'm leaning towards keeping my original steering wheel and painting it and the column body color with black leather wheel wrap, hand painted silver leaf wheel spokes, chrome 68 horn button, and black seat belts. It should all tie together. All I need now are grey sun visors and dash pad to complete the ensemble:

[68isgreat]

All that's left for the chassis now is to install a Slip Yoke Eliminator kit for my 241C transfer case that I bought from Tom Woods Driveshafts. I thought about running my current setup as is, but the working angles are around 12 degrees, and even if parallel, I don't want to be worrying about breaking U joints (and who knows what else) down the road. So I'm doing the SYE and double cardan shaft for peace of mind. I'll have to raise my pinion up a few degrees with shims. Do it right the first time, and all that...

After that's done in the next week, I'll move on to fixing the cab, paint, and reassembly. I hope to be driving it in July or August. Stay tuned!

[68isgreat]

Finally have my chassis pretty much done! Ready to move on the cab and paint/body next. Installed a slip yoke eliminator from Tom Woods Driveshafts, along with a custom made double cardan driveshaft. Fits and works perfectly. I'll have to raise my rear pinion up a few degrees after I get the cab on and check the final angles under load, but long term, I won't have any worries about broken/worn ujoints from too steep working angles. Full steam ahead!

[Chaparralman1974]

Your project is coming along nicely!!! Great job!

I had the same issue with my steering arm ball joint. The new adjustable drag link ball joints were too big. So, a little worth with the ball joint reamer and they fit perfectly!

You mentioned in another thread that you had a PTO on the Rockwell transfercase that came with your truck. Do you have any pictures of that setup? Do you still have the PTO winch setup? I am thinking about putting a PTO winch on my 67 K20.


Clay

[68isgreat]

Originally Posted by Chaparralman1974

Your project is coming along nicely!!! Great job!

I had the same issue with my steering arm ball joint. The new adjustable drag link ball joints were too big. So, a little worth with the ball joint reamer and they fit perfectly!

You mentioned in another thread that you had a PTO on the Rockwell transfercase that came with your truck. Do you have any pictures of that setup? Do you still have the PTO winch setup? I am thinking about putting a PTO winch on my 67 K20.


Clay

Thanks! Appreciate the feedback! I don't have any pics of the pto unfortunately. The PO took it off and sold it as part of the deal we made when I got the truck. I was able to trade straight across with a 68 C10 step I had that was 2/3 done. I still have the pto big round knob on the left dash. I'm going to leave it and paint it red and paint "Eject" on it. Lol.

[68isgreat]

I've been making major progress, and am actually only a couple weeks away from having it on the road. Here are some pics of the usual cutting and replacing rusty metal, from the rockers and lower a pillar to floor supports:

[68isgreat]

I was having issues with door gaps and fitment, but managed to get the gap issue resolved. The passenger door still had a solid 1/4" overhang at the bottom however that I wasn't able to fix, so I welded a 1/4" steel rod to the edge of the rocker and ground it with the door on so it matched the overhang exactly. Voila! No more overhang!

[raggedjim]

Always satisfying getting the rust repaired on the cab. Nice work!

[68isgreat]

After getting all the cab bodywork done, here it is all painted and ready to attach to the frame. The color is TCP Global's Frost Blue Urethane metallic, and it looks awesome in the sunlight. I tried using an electric spray gun I had for the primer coat, and it worked so well that I used it for the final finish. I didn't like the blue I used on the top of the dash, so I repainted that with a graphite metallic that I used on the rally wheels.



Here's the interior. You'll notice the dash is cutout for one of those 3d printed bezels so I can install a touch screen double din am/fm cd radio with backup camera. I really need the camera since I have to back up out of my driveway a lot and can't see who's walking by on the sidewalk. This is going to be my daily driver main vehicle, so it needs to work for me.



After a test fit on the cab, the floor was hitting these brackets on top of the transfer case. They aren't needed, so I cut them off.



After another test fit, the floor was still hitting, but just a bit. So rather than cutting the floor, I decided to lower the transfer case by putting 3/4" spacers under the crossmember. This dropped my engine/transmission angle down to 6 degrees, which I can live with. If it becomes an issue, I can always bend up the floor and high hump cover a bit right where it hits with a bfh and push it back up. After several fittings, I got it nailed down and cab secured. I'm doing all this in my driveway with an engine hoist btw, so if I can do it, anyone can!

[68isgreat]

Originally Posted by raggedjim

Always satisfying getting the rust repaired on the cab. Nice work!

Thanks! It's coming along nicely.

[68isgreat]

Here is the cab attached with a new windshield installed a couple days ago. The engine is in the rear position, and it's such a tight fit against the firewall which I'm not thrilled with. I couldn't move it to the forward position due to clearance issues with the front axle, so it is what it is.



All that's left is to finish the fender, door and bed bodywork, paint and reassemble. I hooked my tbi harness yesterday to the existing harness and fired it up from the new dash ignition switch for the first time. Runs like a new engine, which it is. I have a cs130 alternator, so I'm finding I don't need the external voltage regulator wiring at all. I tested voltage output at the battery and it's 13.7 volts, so all is good for now.

I'm going to be installing the brake booster and new tilt column over the weekend and next week, along with finishing the front end bodywork and paint. Then the bed and door bodywork and paint, wrap up the interior and I'm close to being done!

[68isgreat]

I do have an opinion question for the members here. I'm going to be painting the grille vanilla, and was considering doing the same to the top. What do you think? Paint the top or leave it alone? Curious what people here think.

[raggedjim]

I like the white painted tops, Chrysler has a white called Cool Vanilla that would look great.

Paint looks great, hard to believe it was from an electric sprayer!

[68isgreat]

Originally Posted by raggedjim

I like the white painted tops, Chrysler has a white called Cool Vanilla that would look great.

Paint looks great, hard to believe it was from an electric sprayer!

Yeah I was surprised too. I'm at that point now I just want to get it done. I have a vin inspection appointment for Aug. 8th, so my goal is to get it drivable by then. Still debating on painting the top or not. I'll see how the grille looks after I paint it vanilla and decide then.

Yesterday I installed the restored heater inner and outer box with new heater core, cables and chrome control panel. Wow. What a difference. The new heater control works awesome and is so smooth. Will post pics soon. Also installing new short CPP tilt steering column today/tomorrow, finishing the brake booster install, new digital gauges, then final fender/door/bed bodywork and paint.

Also had an issue with the new rebuilt engine. It started running like crap the other day after I moved the Painless harness into the cab and replaced the heater box with new heater hoses, and then let it run for an extended time. After it warmed up it would slowly run worse and then stall out like it was being choked. Jumped the A&B pins on the ALDL and got a code 33, map system issue, low vacuum. Replaced all the vacuum lines, new map sensor and EGR solenoid, checked voltage at the sensors to make sure wiring was ok and it is, replaced the EGR solenoid pigtail from the Painless harness since it wasn't seating fully, and took off the new GM EGR valve I had put on back in February and cleaned it, and then made sure it was torqued down so the gasket sealed correctly, and hooked up the vacuum hose to the brake booster. Engine runs better now and doesn't stall and no code, but still has a slightly rough idle and sputters a bit. Going to reset the base timing and see if that's the issue. Also wondering if the EGR valve itself is the right one. I also don't have a vacuum canister hooked up to the throttle body, so I'm considering adding one to see if that helps. After that, I may have to take it to a shop to get it fine tuned. I'm not a mechanic, just a guy working on my truck in my driveway, so there's a limit to my knowledge and skills. No harm in that, it is what it is.

[loudchevy]

Originally Posted by 68isgreat

I do have an opinion question for the members here. I'm going to be painting the grille vanilla, and was considering doing the same to the top. What do you think? Paint the top or leave it alone? Curious what people here think.

I love a 2 tone cab with a white top. Since you already have the windshield installed, I'd lean more to leave it as is.

I used TCP Frost Green Metallic on mine. Frost Blue was on my final list of colors too. Your cab looks great from the pics.

[68isgreat]

Originally Posted by loudchevy

I love a 2 tone cab with a white top. Since you already have the windshield installed, I'd lean more to leave it as is.

I used TCP Frost Green Metallic on mine. Frost Blue was on my final list of colors too. Your cab looks great from the pics.

Thanks. I was thinking if I do paint the top, I would leave the front windshield pillars body color and just paint the top and rear from the gutter back. I don't have the rear slider in yet.

I almost went with their fern green metallic too. They have great colors to choose from.

[68isgreat]

Been a long time since my last post. Truck is up and running now, so here are some catch up pics:

Grille assembled and front clip painted:



Bed and hood put on. Hinges are shot, with rear of hood raised up, but I have to live with it for now until I can get new ones installed. Ran out of time and good weather to get the bed painted, so will have to finish it next spring. My plan is to use body color on the light green areas on the bed, and custom paintings in the negative rusty areas, blended into the doors and cab, followed by gold leaf pinstriping along the sides. Custom art on the tailgate, with my business and website:





Frenched tail lights from a 49 Ford. Got these off Speedway:



Seats and TMI door panels installed. I cut out the radio for a double din radio bezel. I'm going to install a double din cd stereo with backup camera. I also refinished the steering wheel, and used antique silver leaf on the spokes with red showing through underneath. I'm going to use that same treatment on the radio bezel border, glove box border, and gauge border so it all ties together. I'll be doing a custom painting on the glovebox. Steering column is a CPP 1.5" shorter than factory tilt column.





Engine compartment close to being done. I might eventually upgrade to hydro boost brakes with Wilwood master. This also shows the new old stock tbi throttle body I bought off ebay. It had been sitting in the box on a shelf for decades:

[68isgreat]

At the DMV getting licensed and titled:

[raggedjim]

Great job so far. I tend to prefer stepsides and your's is looking good.

[68isgreat]

Originally Posted by raggedjim

Great job so far. I tend to prefer stepsides and your's is looking good.

Thanks! Me too. Such a distinctive look, and it really stands out in the sea of black, silver, white and grey cars and trucks.