1970 K20 Rebuild

[kopfjaegger]

These pics were should actually have been put in before the engine pics, but I'm all disorganized so here they are out of order. I think you can get the idea anyway. I cleaned and serviced the tranny and transfer case as best I could. I cleaned and painted the mid point section of the frame and replaced the worn out tranny mounts with fresh new ones. Of course, a fresh coat of annoying yellow was put on certain parts of the tranny with clear on the remaining ones. I also put the donor cab on it's back and wire-wheeled the entire bottom section. I then applied several coats of undercoating. It is in remarkably great condition which stands to reason, being a desert truck. You can see the original cab in the background as well as the door and bed.

[70 beast]

looking good. im digging the paint combo.

[Dieselwrencher]

Great progress! The way you're moving, it shouldn't be long now!

[kopfjaegger]

Thanks guys! I appreciate you taking the time to look and comment on my pics. Progress this weekend is going to be slow to non existent. I don't know if you watch the news but New Mexico is getting hit by some crazy weather. It's durn cold out thar!!! My garage is open and not heated so I may or may not go out there and work. I do have small stuff I can get done, but I'll have to play it by ear.

The plan right now, is installing the engine and underhood components. I got some cool little bolts for the headers, they have a hole in the head so you can run this steel wire thingy so they don't turn lose. We used to use the same bolts in the military for aircraft, except we used safety wire on them. That's what I"m going to do on these. I'd like to also prep it so use a second battery as well. If any of you have advice on this, please let me know. I want to run some off road lights, and maybe run a winch eventually. I'd like to hear pros and cons to this. I need to be able to go out in the boonies for days and not worry about running out of juice. I have to start on the wiring soon.

I also decided to keep the original Rochester Carb. I was told that it is a good carb and just didn't want to fork out the 250 to 350 bucks for a Holley or Edelbrock right now. I got a rebuild kit (Sorensen #96-209B was the only one available) since it came with the base gasket which I couldn't get by itself. I don't know if I'll tackle this or have someone do it. I do have a couple of carbs sitting around that I can practice on.

So any suggestions, please, keep 'em coming. As a newbie, I appreciate all the comments and any suggestions.

j

Since I don't have new pics of the k20 on this post, here are a couple of my Honey's 1500. Eventually I'm going to do some work on it and I'll be sure to post it in the proper forum. Yes, we are a Chevrolet family.

[Dieselwrencher]

Sorry to hear about the cold weather. I know how you feel. I just dug my truck out of a 4.5' drift on Friday. It was in the 30's and Saturday it was raining cats and dogs and Sunday it was sunny in the AM and got colder until it started snowing around 8:45 pm. This storm was supposed to be a dusting but so far we got around 7" and 30-40mph constant winds.

Anyhow, on the carb rebuild, try to clean it really well before you tear it apart. Then lay everything in order when you take it apart. Make yourself notes if you want to so you have something to reference when you reassemble it. They are pretty easy once you feel comfortable messing with them.

For the dual batteries, make sure you use the same size batteries so one isn't pulling more than the other. Try to use 0 gauge cable to run to the batteries when you do this. I would also look into purchasing a bigger alternator to be able to keep them charged as well.

[kopfjaegger]

Thanks 70 Beast, I'm glad you like it. I'm going for a "Subtle Black/Loud Ass Yellow" combo. I like folks to see me... lol. Much respect for what you did with that Jimmy. And thanks for the advice Diesel, I will definitely follow it it during my build. I really hadn't thought about the batteries being the same. That makes sense as well as the bigger alternator. I'm going to the parts store this weekend. Hopefully I'll have some updates as well.

[msgross]

nice project...

only thing I see that i'd change might be that flex fan on the front. I've heard some bad stories about those rivets giving loos and taking our a hood or two.. Plus with no clutch on it you will eat more horsepower vs an electric fan, or clutch fan...

That cab might be rough for NM, but for PA it's a decent find...

[my67chevytruck]

looking good.

[kopfjaegger]

Thanks again guys,

MSGROSS, I have heard about those things flying off and, at best, punching a hole through the hood, at worst... well, hate to think about it.

I think this might be another reason for adding another battery, perhaps. Can you recommend any electric fans? The reason I ask is because looking through JCWhitney, Autozone and such, I see the low end at around 75 bucks, with the high end coming up to almost 500 bucks for a dual fan setup. I've never messed with electric fans but have heard they are great as far as helping the engine keep some of its power and having great cooling capacity. I don't really need anything fancy, maybe a single fan that will do the job. If the Autozone ones are ok, I'll pick one up this weekend and work it into the rebuild.

We got some more bad weather today, but it's suposed to clear up for the weekend. I'll have more progress pics to post soon.

Again, thanks guys.

[renegade6]

If you aren't worried that much about loosing a little power, go with a regular fan and fan clutch. You can pick them up pretty cheap at a pick-a-part and if you look carefully, you can find new ones. They are much quieter than the flex fans.

[Dieselwrencher]

Ebay is a good source for electric fans. I have ran several I have purchased off their on diesel trucks and if you size them right they work great.

[Alex7191]

Awesome project and k20! this is exactly what i hope to do one day. hopefully soon

[kopfjaegger]

Wow guys, great input from all!

Brandon (Renegade6) brought up a point about using a clutch fan. I'm posting pics of my donor truck with the 327. It has a clutch and fan and perhaps I can clean it up and put it in (provided that it fits). I can take it out when I decide on an electric fan. I know it will steal a little horse power but it is free. Plus, there are so many darn choices that I don't want to make a hasty decision. I will use whatever is best though. Here are pics of the donor truck, see what you all think. If it's too much trouble I'll get an electric fan. Not much work going on today, it's muddy and I'm waiting for the snow to melt. Yes, it snows in southern New Mexico.

I will definitely post more pics this weekend.

[kopfjaegger]

Well when it rains it pours. My computer went down this weekend and all my pictures went with it! I'm on my computer at work, which had the USB hubs disabled due to government regs so I can't upload jack on this. I'll keep taking pics and eventually I'll upload them. Sorry guys.

[Dieselwrencher]

Good luck, and keep up the good work!

[70 beast]

well im sure when you upload pics itll turn out great!

[Chevymaniac]

Any new updates to post?

[Hoods69BadBowTie]

Hey looks awesome so far. Really like what you have done with it. Can't wait to see it done and see some pics Keep up the good work man!

[kopfjaegger]

Ok, guys, got my computer fixed and I'll have to play catch-up this weekend! There's a gun show in El Paso so I'll probably be doing most of my work tonight and Sunday. There's plenty of work to do so I'll be getting elbow deep in it.

Pics to follow.

j

[Chevymaniac]

Well it's good to hear, i can't wait to see the updates.

I need some inspiration when I start my project.

[Yukon Jack]

Very cool project!

[Chevymaniac]

I was excited to see your project need the top of the projects page, eager to see the lastest updates, but there was none. Maybe next time.

Don't keep us in the dark for too long.

[kopfjaegger]

Sorry guys, I know it's been ages since I posted any progress on this truck. My dad took a bad fall and I suspended any and all work on anything. Since then, I realized how badly a truck is needed so instead of trying to hurry up and rebuild the entire thing, I acquired another one. I started another thread titled "Fixing up my 69 K20". That truck is running and looks reasonably good. It should require minimal work to just use as a driver. I'll still work on my 70, but not as quick, let's just say it will be my long term project.

Hope you all don't mind. I'll post progress on both as I go along. As always, comments and suggestions are welcomed and encouraged.

Jorge

[madmopar]

Very cool. I'm digging the colors. You're motor looks amesome. It will be really awesome if you continue that color scheme throughout the whole truck.