72 k20

[DarkFlounder]

Originally Posted by 57taskforce

If any one is wondering a longbed 4x4 fits on the uhaul trailer exactly with nothing to spare!

Great to know. Thanks!

[57taskforce]

Well I was able to get home unexpectedly for a few hours before I'm on the road again to phoenix tomorrow and Friday... Out of curiosity I scraped down the pad on the passenger side of the engine block to see what I could decipher about the motor(wondering if it was original). Here's what I found, don't mind the 1/2" thick sludge build up


If I'm doing it right it seems to break down as a flint built 9/20 1973 4bbl manual trans ls9 350 out of a c/20 or c/30... Close to original but no cigar....

[mechanicalman]

Originally Posted by 57taskforce

Well I was able to get home unexpectedly for a few hours before I'm on the road again to phoenix tomorrow and Friday... Out of curiosity I scraped down the pad on the passenger side of the engine block to see what I could decipher about the motor(wondering if it was original). Here's what I found, don't mind the 1/2" thick sludge build up


If I'm doing it right it seems to break down as a flint built 9/20 1973 4bbl manual trans ls9 350 out of a c/20 or c/30... Close to original but no cigar....

I don't know man, that's pretty darn close for coincidence, I wonder if maybe your 72 got a 73 engine?

Keep scratching until you find the VIN, if you find it and it matches the truck then it's the original engine IMO. If no VIN, then the engine was likely replaced under during the first year, possibly under warranty.

[57taskforce]

Did the trucks get the vin? I thought I read somewhere that they didn't? Where would it be at? I didn't try to get to the rear pad on the drivers side by the bell housing, but I'm not even sure if the older blocks have one.

[special-K]

I'm glad you found a K/20. Looks like one from back home, ay? Too bad you couldn't find one in New Mexico, but at least you have one. I'm sure Kevin must have given you a great deal to lure you so far from home.

No VIN on truck engines. That is whatever the code says. GM wouldn't have been able to put an engine from the next year in a truck the year before, obviously. The codes are accurate. That is the whole point of them.

[57taskforce]

Tim it's funny you say that it looks like it's from home. I figure most people out here probably wouldn't spend the time to fix this one. having spent my life in northern Va I can appreciate a truck that only has floor rust ha! All the other "normal areas" like around the windshield and such seem to be fine. My 3100 got a floor my dad and I did a floor in his 72 k/20 too so this is nothing new to me. I've almost come to believe every time you buy an old truck you should put money away for a floor too haha. At the end of the day it's another k/20 saved and getting ready for another 40+ years of life.

[Low Buck 55]

Originally Posted by 57taskforce

At the end of the day it's another k/20 saved and getting ready for another 40+ years of life.

Glad to see you saving it. I always liked K20's.

[special-K]

And for an original restoration it's a Cheyenne in an attractive color combo

[57taskforce]

In all honesty those two things aside from it being a real 350/4spd k/20 are the reason I'm saving it. Medium olive over dark seems to be pretty rare combo especially in a Cheyenne k/20

[57taskforce]

Got some time this weekend to play around a bit. Got it running with a splash of gas down the carb. It fired right up. So I threw some in the in cab tank... It primed and fired. One problem. The ghetto rigged rubber fuel line from the tank to the pump leakes bad. I only ran it for 2-3 seconds each fire. (15 mins apart) because the radiator is missing. I also pulled the inner fenders to check the toe boards out... They have the sexy original dark olive paint still on them. The floors and lower flange on the fire wall rusted from the inside out... Weird... Needless to say I'm making a patch panel and parts list and plans for late spring early summer to start fixing rust and get the old beast on the road. The worst thing I found in the whole day was the lower outer cowl "floor" where the drains are is all hacked up from the "custom" speakers some one put in the kick panels. Probably gonna be a blast to get that fixed up. I thought I too more pics but I guess I didnt. I'll get some more when I'm home from the road tomorrow night.... Pics to follow

[57taskforce]

[special-K]

Doesn't hurt that it's an A/C truck, either.

[57taskforce]

NHere's some more progress:
Before:


After

[57taskforce]

And some more:
Before:

After

[57taskforce]

The rear of the cab still needs a lot of bumping but the dent is mostly gone. Still gotta figure out how to get the top knocked out but the worst of it mostly taken care of. I'll get to the back of the cab when I get the bed bolts cut off and scoot the bed back...

[mechanicalman]

Originally Posted by 57taskforce

The rear of the cab still needs a lot of bumping but the dent is mostly gone. Still gotta figure out how to get the top knocked out but the worst of it mostly taken care of. I'll get to the back of the cab when I get the bed bolts cut off and scoot the bed back...

You've got some talent bumping those dents.

[57taskforce]

Thanks, I used to work in a body shop so it's certainly not the first time I've done it lol.

[57taskforce]

Got some more stuff done over the last week... Yanked the bed and aux tank, cut the old welded on ranch bumper off and cleaned up the rear frame rails where it was welded. The frame under the bed is in immaculate shape. No pitting and what appears to be factory paint all the way back with the exception of where the bumper was welded on. The biggest fun I've got to sort out other than the rust in the cab floor is the floating 14 bolt hack job... I'm hoping I can come across a 4:11 ho52 in the not to distant future of not I'll buy new perches and re perch and re center the 14 bolt. I don't have pics of the bed but I'll probably ditch it... If not I'll at least throw a passenger bedside at it. I also scored a nice set of straight rust free doors for $150 from my neighbor(details posted in another thread). I plan to start to clean and repaint the frame and repair cab floor pretty soon. Gonna pull the front clip over the next week or two and start thinking about rust repair. Kinda on he fence about the complete floor vs. patching the existing one. Patching will be a faster process I believe but the floor will be a cleaner build, patching is better on my budget, patching is less work, replacing is the better way to do it... Haha the thoughts of a mad man!!! Pics to follow!

[57taskforce]

Non leaking (1/2 full of old gas and water) NL2 tank.

[57taskforce]

[57taskforce]

[57taskforce]

I cleaned the rear horns of the frame up pretty nice but I don't have any pics of it on my phone.

[57taskforce]

Got some more progress pics to add. Been working like a dog 60 hours a week for the last several weeks so it's a little slow right now but I should slow down in June. My little family also takes priority over the old iron... Pics to follow! I've started to order patches and I bough the seat and the bed from this truck:http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=666266
I go to pick them up next weekend. I wanted a tool box bed, who knew I'd get one in the right color and all. I'm gonna have to cut a hole in the drivers bedside for the nl2 filler however. I'm shooting for sept-oct for a running driving truck minus paint which it will get later down the line when I can afford a body shop to do it. With a booth I could pretty easily do it my self but I don't have access to one here in New Mexico like I did in Virginia, so I'll let someone else worry about it later on... Any who enough rambling haha pics incoming!

[57taskforce]

L
Both cowl bottoms were cut/ bent to heck for the speakers so I cut the spot welds on both sides and straightened/ repaired them. I still need to weld them back in but they both fit nicely.



The lower firewall on the passenger side separated from the side of the cab. I assume because the lower Seam is rusted out. At any rate I'll plug weld it back together when I put the front floor pans in. IVe decided that I'm just gonna patch this floor up. The supports are still mostly intact so I'll patch it up rather than replace it all.


I cut the rockers off on both sides to see what was gonna need to be replaced. Not really any surprises. Both front pillar tips are surprisingly really solid with minor surface rust. The rears... Not so much I'll have to patch them.

[57taskforce]

Cleaned the frame up. Looks to be original paint thru out! Absolutely no rust(except the surface rust on the rear horns that I havnt touched up yet. No pitting anywhere.


I pulled everything but the gas tank,glove box door and wiring from the interior. I had to hose the whole inside of the truck out fire wall and all, the dust and dirt was so thick.
At some point the frame broke by the steering box. It's welded and plated forward of the crossmember, I guess they missed the broken rivet and tweaked crossmember. I'll fix that with a grade 8...