Charlotte - A Stock 1970 K10 Build

[Love 70 Chevys]

These are the requested pics. Seat pic is best I could do with my phone and no dome light. Will try to get a better one when I am home in actual daylight. (Weekends only) Motor was easy as front clip is off. Third picture is us winching the old girl out into the world and into the trailer last weekend for the first time in many, many years!

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/a...1&d=1487642379

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/a...1&d=1487642379

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/a...1&d=1487642379

[Love 70 Chevys]

I have not posted in a very long time. My progress is slow but steady and I felt I should "save-up" until adding new material, but I am realizing I soon forget things. After reading the things other people share on here, I now know I need to improve my detail. It is super useful when people share what tools they used, part numbers they bought, torque values etc. I have pics of everything I have done (far too many to put on here) but I will be going from memory for what I will put up over the next few days. I promise to improve! I am 57 and this truck is my retirement project, but I am not quite retired yet. I tend to work 60 hr weeks, but I cherish every hour I get on the old girl. I bought this truck before I was really ready, but it was a once in a life find that I could not pass up. Another of my hobbies is woodworking and my shop is all set up in the basement. I really am not set up very well in my garage yet, so the first thing I had to do was to at least get a good solid workbench in place. I built this one and it is strong enough to put a V8 on it. If anyone would like to make one, I can send a pdf of the plans.

[Love 70 Chevys]

These are photos I took at the P.O.'s storage the day we picked her up. She had been there a long time, and the front end of the truck had been torn apart long ago. Parts scattered about, not all of them there. My fellow club members were able to borrow an axle dolly and we were able to winch it into a trailer. You can see here I had some work ahead of me!

[Love 70 Chevys]

My first goal was to get the Dana 44 front axle rebuilt and get her (Her name is Charlotte by the way) back on four wheels. This cross-section I found in the GM chassis manual was fantastic. As I mentioned, I did not have all the parts and would not even had known what I was missing without it. It is tough to put something back together when you are not the person who took it apart!

[SonnyBoy]

Welcome !!
Beautiful
Beautiful
Beautiful
What a cool truck .Your a lucky man !

[Ken B]

That is one heck of a score for sure! Need some side view pics when you get a chance.

[Shinysideup]

Your detailing is on point !

[2014sierraAT]

Awesome truck, what a find!

[Greg58]

The grill turned out great, keep the progress going.

[70LonghornCST]

Welcome to the board! Very nice looking truck. I'm excited to see this as you complete your build. Have fun with it!

[renegade6]

Great build. Love all of the details you are putting in it.

[Andyking1203]

Great looking truck... and your doing great at bring back the good of the old!!!

[Love 70 Chevys]

So here goes...taking the carb apart. I will be rebuilding it using a kit from Mike's Carburetor Parts in Chehalis, WA. It is kit K4007 with the PK106 upgrade. (Adds a new float.) He also has some really good videos on YouTube. First step is to remove two screws and the air cleaner bracket. Screws came out very easy.

[Love 70 Chevys]

Next step is to take out six bowl cover screws. They are different lengths, so I bagged, tagged and made a diagram of what went where. They also came out very easy. Got out lots of little bins and old pill bottles to hold all the small parts so things will stay organized.

[Love 70 Chevys]

A couple of love taps with a rubber mallet, and the bowl cover separated from the float bowl assembly. Upper picture is the underside of the bowl cover and the lower is the float bowl assembly. You can start to see all the cool stuff that makes a carb work. The gasket was dry and crumbly, I scraped it off with a razor blade. The kit contains all new gaskets.

[Love 70 Chevys]

Next was removal of the vacuum brake diaphragm. It is located in the bowl cover. The bowl cover contains the choke plate. The cover has two screws. Again, no struggles. The kit contains a new diaphragm. (The old one looked fine, but I will replace anyway.) The link assembly was also removed for cleaning.

[landarts]

Really nice work you are doing on the K10. I love where you are going with this, it will be a beautiful truck.

[Love 70 Chevys]

Next little project is to rebuild the master cylinder. It probably would have been less expensive just to buy a new one, but I was able to buy an aftermarket rebuild kit on E-bay. The master cylinder was the original Delco and I just can't give up on anything that is original to the truck. This is what it looked like to start.

[Love 70 Chevys]

First step of disassembly was to pop out the c-clip that holds all the guts in. No matter what small pick or screwdriver I used, I could not get it out. So I drilled a 1/8" hole in from the side and then I could pry it out with a small diameter drift pin so that I could get a hold of it with needle nose pliers. Used a bolt and a big squeezy clamp to push in the plunger and relieve the spring pressure on the c-clip so I could drill and pry. Rebuild kit came with a new c-clip.

[Love 70 Chevys]

Took out all the old stuff. The seals were pretty gummy and things were coated in semi-solid old brake fluid. Luckily, the bore still looked pretty clean with only some very minor pitting. Cleaned it all out, soaked the casting in evaporust to get rid of external corrosion and then used brake fluid and a honing bar to clean-up the bore and make it smooth. The new parts and springs were an exact fit and sealed very nicely.

[Love 70 Chevys]

Bench bled the cylinder and then installed in the truck. Left the new stainless steel brake lines not hooked up and temporarily plugged the master with some wood screws until I could get the rest of the new brake lines installed.

[68bowtie]

I really appreciate your attention to detail, and also taking the time to picture and post about it. I also think it's pretty neat you're rebuilding parts instead of replacing them. I didn't know you could even do some of the things you've done. Keep up the good work.

I'm subscribed to your thread and will be watching for future posts even if it takes a while.

[53 292]

Sub’d for updates! One of my favorite trucks on the board for sure.

[Love 70 Chevys]

Thank you for the encouragement 68bowtie and 53 292. You guys have put together some very nice trucks! A great aspect of this hobby is the fantastic people you meet on line and in person. Just met a really nice guy today here in Orlando, FL. Our kids live here now, and whenever I visit, I like to scout out parts that have not seen road salt. If you are ever in the area, key in "67-72 Sanford" into Clist or Fbook marketplace and you will find him. He has lots of parts trucks and had two things I need that are totally impossible to find where I live. My wife scratches her head, but this steering column support bracket and leaf spring hanger are total treasures to me!!! Taking the bracket in my suitcase, and he will have the rear leaf spring hangers off for me when I come back in the spring.

[53 292]

Any updates on the truck?