My 78 K15 High Sierra build - Fish Tremble

[rgunlock]

Taking me longer to get this thread up to date than I expected - just like progress on the truck itself! Turns out it is a lot easier to read other people's build threads than to organize my pictures for my own. I'll be glad to get it caught up because posting updates while the pics are still on the camera has got to be easier

Anyway, moved on to the driver side fender. Most of the damage on this one was outer skin. Front lower patch went ok.

[rgunlock]

Over the wheel was a bit more of a challenge. Making that patch was definitely a stretch of my fabricating skills! I'm starting to remember at this point that I'm a lousy welder. The gobs on the lower lip/flange? are my attempts to fill the holes I was burning. Should have made a new lip rather than trying to weld onto the old one. Doesn't look too bad in the finished picture, but there is a pretty deep crease along the top of the patch that I'm not happy with. I don't think I was patient enough and let the heat build up too much.

[rgunlock]

The rear lower was a total botch. Might have been the liquid refreshments during breaks that was catching up to me, but I was having a hell of a time burning holes. You'll notice that I'm making patches to fix the large burnouts I was creating, and then having to patch over my patches in the original patch Not too happy how this job turned out either. I'm thinking I got my practice, and will probably just buy another fender.

[rgunlock]

Finally called that a done deal and mounted it back on the truck. Remounted the hood also. Initially, the driver corner of the hood was coming down on top of the fender. Managed to adjust it over enough to clear, but gaps were horrible. I think I jacked the cab out of square with the frame while I replaced the front cab mount bushings.

[rgunlock]

The cab wouldn't move much with the front sheet metal on, even with all the bolts loose. I still needed to replace the rear cab mount bushings also and was just ready to move on to the rear of the truck, decided to just put off dealing with that. So off with the bed, then the rear axle and suspension.

[rgunlock]

Frame got wire brushed and a coat of the Rustoleum hammered black. New springs and bushings went on. Rear axle got cleaned and painted, new gasket and oil (gears still looked fine). Hard brake lines are just wire brushed clean and reused. I did use a new extended brake hose. Brakes were already done in the initial stage, before this was going to be a "build"

[rgunlock]

New stance looks much better

[bilfman]

Keep up the good work, I like following this one!
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[mjensen]

That is looking great!

[MTCK]

Looks good! I like the stance. I had 3.08's in my old blazer with 36's. it was a PIG. So was my current 77 with 3.08's and 32's for that matter...
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[rgunlock]

Originally Posted by bilfman

Keep up the good work, I like following this one!
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Thanks bilfman. You have a great looking truck - looks like it belongs down here in Texas!

Originally Posted by mjensen

That is looking great!

Thanks mjensen. Looking at your thread, it looks like we've covered a lot of the same ground... and both computer geeks to boot!

Originally Posted by MTCK

Looks good! I like the stance. I had 3.08's in my old blazer with 36's. it was a PIG. So was my current 77 with 3.08's and 32's for that matter...
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Thanks MTCK. I like a lot of the upgrades you've done to your truck. Don't need all the cold weather improvements for mine, but will have to revisit your thread when I get to round two on my truck - upgrades from stock. I'm also concerned that mine is going to be a dog with these gears, but figure I'll get it driveable first and then figure where to go from there.

[mjensen]

Well from one geek to another...keep up the good work

[rgunlock]

These are the shocks I put all around. Bought them with the Tuff Country springs. I'd decided I didn't want to use the headers that came on the truck, so I cleaned up some exhaust manifolds from another donor, painted them in exhaust paint, and replaced the studs where the exhaust pipes connect. Later decided to put the headers back on so I could connect the existing exhaust till I could get to a muffler shop.

[rgunlock]

So by now, things were looking pretty good in front of the cab, and behind it. As I've mentioned, the cab wasn't square on the frame, so I had to remove the front sheet metal again to adjust that. BUT... I just couldn't leave it alone. The parts I'd finished looked too good, and I'd spent a lot of time by now (about 15 months into it by now) staring at the nasty firewall and the 1/2 inch of crud coating the transmission and t-case. I'd pulled the camo floor covering and found a good bit of rust in the floor board and lower edge of the kick panels. Spent about another week arguing with myself about that line I'd drawn on how far I was going to go with this build. You probably can guess what the next post is...

[rgunlock]

Yes, I broke down and decided to pull the cab so I could finish the chassis. Built a dolly for the cab based on others I've seen on this forum, and some upgrades from previous ones I built for the apache cabs you may have noticed in some of my pictures. This one is stout, and a few screws remove the step-up for a flat top when I need it that way.

[rgunlock]

Some of what I'd been staring at that just had to be dealt with. Didn't really capture all the rust in the cab floor at this stage of the build, but most of you have seen it yourselves. I'm getting close to being caught up to where I am on this build. These pictures were from around Christmas time last year. Heading to the shop to do some work on the truck rather than this thread.

[MTCK]

Looks good! You'll be glad you did it when it's all done... That dolly is a good idea. I bet some 35's will look just right with your lift, if you're going to regear down the road anyway. There is always the granny low to get rolling Keep up the good work.

[rgunlock]

Tonight's posts are not all in the order I progressed. These are before and after of the transmission and tcase. My daughter came home for a visit and decided she'd rather help me clean parts than go shopping with mom, so she's helping scrape off the grunge.

[rgunlock]

I don't have the tools or knowledge to rebuild these, so after we cleaned them up, they went to a drivetrain shop. First pic is after we cleaned them up, and then the "afters". At this point, I'm still debating whether to try to convert over to a hydraulic clutch from the manual setup you can see here. I'm sure it won't be any easier to do it after I get the truck further back together.

[rgunlock]

While the transmission and tcase were out for rebuild, I worked on the fuel system. I wasn't able to start the engine, and when I pulled the fuel line off the carb and cranked, I got nasty orange stuff squirting out. I had a new fuel filter, so hopefully that crap didn't get into the rebuilt carb. Probably could have cleaned and relined the tanks, but found the Spectra Premium tanks (PN GM11A) on RockAuto for about $75 each and figured it was pretty cheap insurance to use new tanks. I'd seen a number of good reviews on Spectra Premium tanks on this forum and other places. Gas gauge was all over the map so got new sending units, also Spectra Premium (PN FG05B and FG05J for right and left) which cost almost as much as the tanks. Also got new straps.

[rgunlock]

Also redid the fuel line from the mechanical pump to the carb using my new tubing bender from Eastwood. I had previously tried to use a tubing bender I picked up at the local O'Reilly's parts store, but it got bent up worse than the tubing - total POS. This was a real challenge for me, but eventually got it where I was OK with it. The Eastwood bender worked great, the problem was figuring out all the bends. Also had to do a double flare on one end. We'll see whether or not it leaks somewhere later down the road.

[rgunlock]

Then came mounting the tanks onto the frame. All the donors I'd stripped down had some sort of padding between the straps and the tank. One had asphalt roof shingles, so I figured I'd use that as I had some stuck away. Big tip for anyone doing this. First mount the tanks without the padding. Tighten them down good and use a hammer to tap in the bends as you tighten to shape the straps. Then take it all loose and add the padding. As I discovered, you can spend half the day trying to mount a tank with new straps with the padding in place - there just isn't that much slack available! The shingle padding went in with the smooth bottom side against the tank.

[MTCK]

Looks great Rick. Having spent a couple hours the past few days laying on my back cussing, my vote is to do the clutch linkage swap now if you are going to!
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[rgunlock]

Thanks! I'm seriously considering it. Only thing is I've already got all new linkage for the manual clutch setup and haven't even tried it out yet. I've still got time to think on this.

[rgunlock]

Here are a couple of "befores" of the exhaust on the truck. I was impressed at how they reduced from the muffler output to the size of the tailpipe, and also the patch job