1971 K20 Rat Rod Resurrection

[chewiebarker]

The worst part though...he had the seats and wheels a month ago but sent the whole thing with the frame, front and rears, interior, all...to the crusher...

I just missed it he said.

[chewiebarker]

WHEELS!

After several weeks of pouring over CL ads, and this board, and EBAY, and visting 3 states and 3 diffferent salvage yards, I finally gave in on the dream of finding stock 16.5x7 rims for a decent price and instead chose to find 16 inch rims. It still took a week and a half, but I finally found some steel wheels that accept the 3/4 ton hubcaps!! (pic below) I immediately had to pop one one in order to see how they look, and they look GOOD (even though I know I will have to ditch these C20 hubcaps for the 4x4 versions)! Although...the guy selling the wheels on CL only had 3, so the hunt continues....these wheels only cost me $60.

These rims are off of a mid nineties - ahem, ahem - Ford 350. They are stamped Accuride 29508. According to the Accuride catalog, this number is no longer valid and they refer you to part number 29576 instead. (see pic below) I will clean/paint them up a bit but will likely leave them gray. Or maybe black...

To wrap them, I ordered 4 Mickey Thompson STZs in size 265/75r16 from autoplicity.com for $132 a piece. I thought this was a great price compared to many other options, and lesser tires, that I was finding. Today, these were listed for $142 a piece as prices can fluctuate frequently online. (pic below) I went with the STZs rather than the MTZs (which look tougher) because: 1. I am more inclined to lean towards more of a 'stock' look than a mod look and the MTZs are too chunky for that. 2. I am going to be driving roads 100+ times more frequently than off roading or mudding and on the occasion that I do want to travel a little rough terrain, these will be sufficient to do that, and 3. THE PRICE WAS SO MUCH BETTER!

In addition to the cost issue with the MTZs, I would have preferred a 255/85r16 or even a 235/85r16 in order to get the additional inch plus in height (33 inch versus 31.7 inch) but I was not willing to do that for an additional $100+ in cost PER TIRE. Some day, when I am feeling particularly wealthy, perhaps I will spring for the extra inch. For now, it doesn't matter. I saved some dough, which will allow me to do other things with the truck and I will have some great wheels as well! Can't wait to get them all wrapped up and on the truck!!! (and find 4WD caps of course....)

[chewiebarker]

Wheel Update:

Here is a step by step of what I did to clean up my steel wheels. I can't figure out how to insert pics among the text, so this will be in several posts.

First I taped off the valves so that they would not get damaged during rust removal and not sprayed during painting.

I then got a 3" wire cup brush that attaches to a power drill and a stiff wire brush and removed all the rust and flaking paint that I could.

[chewiebarker]

I am using Duplicolor Wheel Coating in Silver for the wheels. The instructions recommend that bare metal gets a coating of primer first so, once the wheel was stripped of rust and loose paint I washed the wheels and let them dry ompletely.

Once dry I cleaned up the surface with acetone. This removes any waxes, grease, dirt or other remnants and actually softens up the base layer so as to better accept the paint.

I then applied a Rustoleum flat black automotive paint that I had on hand. I did it sparingly, in layers, so there were no drips and after a couple of passes I got a nice smooth surface. With painting, patience is key.

[chewiebarker]

Finally, after letting the primer set for 30-45 minutes, I applied the first coat of silver paint. This layer was thin/sparse enough to allow the primer to remain visible. Adding thin layers one at a time will result in a smooth surface.

Every 30 mins or so, I went back and lightly re-coated the prior layer. After three layers, or so, I had a nice finished product!

Can't wait to get the rubber on them!

I am going to replace the lug studs on the truck and get some short chrome lug nuts. I plan to run these wheels typically without hubcaps, however I did order some crappy CHEAP 3/4 ton caps that I am going to repaint. Since I am not building a show car, I don't see any sense in spending a lot on things that can simply be resurfaced/refinished with a little elbow grease and paint!

Good luck with your build!

[LockDoc]

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Wheels look good!

LockDoc

[Burbs]

Ahhh, this thread gives me hope. I have a 69 I have to put back together.

[chewiebarker]

If the current condition of my vehicle makes others feel grateful for the heap they have, that is all well and good for me!

[chewiebarker]

Originally Posted by LockDoc

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Wheels look good!

LockDoc

Thanks, Doc! It is a nice, easy, start for a rookie like me! When I have to figure out how to rebuild a transmission then I will really need to figure out what I am doing!

[chewiebarker]

Got rubber mounted on the wheels and after an alignment was able to register the truck. Below are pics of the rims on the car with good condition white caps and another version with beat up chrome caps.

I like the way the white original caps pop, but I am listing them for sale on the parts board right now. I think, rather than keep the white ones, I am going to paint the chrome ones silver to match the rims, and repaint the spoke black and the bowtie chevy blue.

[chewiebarker]

By the way, for those keeping track of the cost, I bought the wheels for $85, primer and paint cost around $30 and tires ran about $130 each. I bought the beat up chrome caps -that are going to need a lot of reshaping due to the amount of dings - for about $85 on ebay. The white caps were part of a deal I made when I bought a spare nose, front and rear bumpers, clearance lights, and ashtray locally off of CL for $350.

[rusty76]

I think I might just have to go along for the ride on this one. Keep up the good work. I'll be watching.

[chewiebarker]

Thanks Rusty. Glad to have you on board!

[chewiebarker]

The weather was a beautiful in MA this past weekend - and all I wanted to do was work on the truck!! - but responsibilities at home (yardwork, kids lacrosse, paying taxes, etc.) got in the way of that so, it was a no go. If only I could quit my job and spend all my time working on fun projects, like my truck!

I did take advantage of giving my 12 y.o. son a little work to do though, and he spent some time hammering dents out of hubcaps and cleaning them up. He used a sandbag as a backer for hammering and also piece of square steel tubing (that is stuck in the ground and holds my garden hose) to shape the sharp corners. He was pretty dilligent about it and now I am wondering if I should bother paining them silver or just keeping them chrome! They are pretty pitted looking up close, but from 20 feet away they look really good.

[chewiebarker]

Some parts arrived today!! I picked up a steering wheel on Ebay for $1 (plus $24 shipping) - which is obviously a great deal but it will require some filling of cracks and refinishing. I look forward to this and am just glad that i will have an original wheel!! I love the look of the original 1971 wheel! And now that it has arrived, I love the size, feel and weight of it! I can't wait to restore it!



Also, I picked up an original air cleaner and a heat riser tube for about $75. I thought this was a decent price, and would allow me to get the engine back to stock (except for the rusted headers). However....as soon as I bought it, another member on this site posted an air cleaner and heat riser tube WITH the correct spacer for the cleaner! So I bought that one too - for less. Once it arrives, I will decide which is the better of the two and re-sell the other. Pics below.

[Average Joe]

Lookin good! Cool to see your son taking an interest in it as well.

[chewiebarker]

Decided to finally get rid of the billet grille and swap to the stock one. I will be selling the billet one, after I figure out what they go for. It was only a few screws to get it off, but they were rusted in with stripped heads pretty good, so it took a bit of effort.

[chewiebarker]

Once I got it off though, and got the stock center grille off the donor clip, I came to realize that I could not mount the stock center grille unless I removed the outer grille.... I had to loosen the front bumper too in order to slide the outer grille out from behind it. Geez they really designed it to fit all together nice and tight!

[chewiebarker]

And....since the outer grill is now off, I decided that I might as well either repair the bent and dented driver's side o.g. that came with the car (the PO was supposedly hit by a deer...haha) or repair the ding in the top left front of the o.g. I picked up as part of the donor front clip.

Here is a shot of the two options - and some close ups of the work that will need to be done.

You can see that the one on the right in the first pic has a lot more damage around the driver's side light. It actually makes the truck look cock-eyed. BUT that damage seems easier to fix to me than the other damage, which can be seen in the second pic because these are deep dings right on the creases that I am afraid I will never be able to eliminate.

[chewiebarker]

One of the outer grilles is riveted to the braces which mount to the fenders, and the other uses screws. Can anyone tell me which was O.E.? The screws are badly rusted so I will have to replace them if I end up using that grille. The rivets look neater/cleaner but I don't want to do that if that is not correct.

[chewiebarker]

Look at the beautiful, smooth, medium olive paint that was located behind the outer grille on the front fender. Gee I wish I could have gotten hold of this truck before the PO rat rodded it.

It looks so shiny and new!

[chewiebarker]

One more discovery. It looks like the transmission radiator is pretty badly deteriorated by rust. I seriously doubt fluids are circulating in it at all - or that they are cooling much. I will look for a replacement but I have been told it is not O.E. so I have no idea what to look for in terms of a replacement. One thing is sure...I will spend some more $$$$$$$...

[chewiebarker]

Is anyone familiar with these Derale transmission pan coolers? They are designed to replace you stock pan with one that has tubes through it that allow air to cool the fluid. Pretty cool concept, but I wonder how effective they are. If I could use this, I could ditch the one in the front end.
http://www.etrailer.com/Transmission...id=19711029412

I love innovative products! But I don't want to gamble on it if it is ineffective. Also it looks like the traditional cooler can be had for 1/3 the price. Since the lines are already run, the cheaper option would be just to replace the existing. Money saved could be spent on other things....

[chewiebarker]

I had 20 minutes before heading to work this morning so I completed Hart Rod's gas strut conversion on the liftgate/hatch (Original link to his conversion here: http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s....php?p=6307193). It was so easy, once I had the correct parts, yet very satisfying.

The key was to get ball studs with 1/4" studs on them (and 1/2" length). I found them on Amazon for around $11 (for 6) and they arrived yesterday. I had previously ordered two 30lb gas struts which had 10mm ball sockets, but the studs that came with were 3/8" and didn't fint into the holes. Rather than tap new holes, I decided to find substitutes.

I am a little concerned about how thin those 1/4" studs are, and the fact that the hatch is now supported by one stud on each end versus the two screws (on the brackets). In fact, one stud snapped off in the upper hole when I didn't have it screwed all the way in and the hatch accidentally closed jamming the strut and shearing the stud. I will be keeping an eye on them for stress/wear.

The reason I ordered 30lb struts was because on another thread someone had actually weighed the hatches and they are estimated to be around 51-52lbs (and at about $14 a piece they are cheaper than larger struts). I was very pleased to find that estimate to be a good one because one strut was not enough to support the hatch but two were absolutely perfect! They are also thinner than larger struts so they fit into the jamb without rubbing and I think they look more balanced when the hatch is open.

The opened height is a little lower than it was with the stock braces, however, I do have a a few more inches I can gain if I swap the lower studs into the top holes of the opening (as can be seen in the final pic). If that is not sufficient I can look for a slightly longer strut, but I don't want to go to the 70lb struts that Hart Rod originally used. I want to be able to close the hatch sometimes!

I highly recommed this conversion for its low cost, ease of implementation, and vast improvement over the original tech!!

[infinite-foamies]

Trannsmission fluid can be ran through a radiator with a built in liquid cooler and then into the axuillary cooler. It does look bad but if it is holding fluid give it a shot. It may have been added because the stock one(if there is one) was clogged up.

Here is what I use on my F350 dually diesel: Amazon.com: Hayden Automotive 405 Ultra-Cool Tube...