1972 K20 Custom Deluxe "Bruce"

[Nitis]

nice looking rig! wish I had your skills for sure mine is in about the same condition yours started

When its all said and done I want to add the white cab and just the upper molding

Keep up the good work

[Ol Blue K20]

I really like this truck. Nice work so far.

[Graham57a]

Originally Posted by Nitis

nice looking rig! wish I had your skills for sure mine is in about the same condition yours started

When its all said and done I want to add the white cab and just the upper molding

Keep up the good work

Thanks man, all it takes is patience. I haven't really messed with paint and body work much so it's a learning process. But I find some peace of mind in knowing that if I screw it up I can just sand it down and start over

Originally Posted by Ol Blue K20

I really like this truck. Nice work so far.

Thanks man, looks like we have similar taste

[rowdy11]

Can't wait to see the progress!

[Graham57a]

Originally Posted by rowdy11

Can't wait to see the progress!

Thanks for tagging along! I did spend some time under the hood this past weekend. Bruce got new points, cap, rotor, plugs, wire, alternator, and a quick resto / re-gasket on the exhaust manifolds. I also haven't really taken any photos of the interior for you guys but it's come a long way since I got the truck. I'll take some in the next day or so

[Graham57a]

Finally got around to polishing this old girl up. I wet sanded and polished the entire truck, then a good wax and buff to seal it all up. I’ve finished the pass side, half of the hood, and half of the drivers side, hoping to wrap up in the next day or so.

[Graham57a]

Also decided it was time to install some sound deadener in the cab and finish my carpet install. I’m planning on driving this old girl down to Charlotte in a few weeks for the Piedmont C10 Cruise so I felt like a few dollars spent on sound deadener might be worth while. I used a cheaper product that I found on amazon called Noico, it was $65 for 36sf instead of $170 for Dynamat

[Ol Blue K20]

Sure is pretty!

[Graham57a]

Today I finished the sound deadener and put the carpet in

[MDPotter]

That is one beautiful truck. I'd love to have a K20 or even a C20 longbed to haul stuff in, but it wouldn't be nearly as nice as yours!

[Graham57a]

One more with the seat in

[72Cheyenne454]

Looks great!

Share your thoughts on that sound deadener once you log a few miles.

Thanks

[Ol Blue K20]

I'm jealous....looks very good

[harrisoncole4]

Great looking rig!

[IronCanine]

Oh I like this. Nice truck. I've got a 1970 version of this...Z62, 538 white/dk blue. So this fires me up! Thanks for all the pics. Would love to see some engine bay pics, especially if original.

[Graham57a]

Originally Posted by MDPotter

That is one beautiful truck. I'd love to have a K20 or even a C20 longbed to haul stuff in, but it wouldn't be nearly as nice as yours!

Thanks man, this supposed to be my "Not Nice Truck" I guess I should stop rubbing on it

Originally Posted by 72Cheyenne454

Looks great!

Share your thoughts on that sound deadener once you log a few miles.

Thanks

I've logged a few miles with the sound deadener. It's hard to know how it would compare to Dynamat or something more high end but it made a HUGE difference in this truck. I would say before my sound was at a 8 or 9 (I also didn't have carpet in), now with the Noico and carpet my sound is probably a 2. I can't even hear the truck idle at a stop light, I have to roll my window down lol. I guess that's one way to fix the exhaust leaks

Originally Posted by Ol Blue K20

I'm jealous....looks very good

Thanks man

Originally Posted by harrisoncole4

Great looking rig!

Thank you

Originally Posted by IronCanine

Oh I like this. Nice truck. I've got a 1970 version of this...Z62, 538 white/dk blue. So this fires me up! Thanks for all the pics. Would love to see some engine bay pics, especially if original.

Very cool. I'm happy to take some more pics for you guys, I will take some pics under the hood tomorrow. It is very original, all of the little brackets and clamps are all still there. Let me know if you want to see anything specific.

[Graham57a]

Originally Posted by IronCanine

Oh I like this. Nice truck. I've got a 1970 version of this...Z62, 538 white/dk blue. So this fires me up! Thanks for all the pics. Would love to see some engine bay pics, especially if original.

Here ya go

[Graham57a]

A few more

[IronCanine]

Dang dude. That is sick. You even got the Fremont paint booth signature...albeit under some factory runs (which is cool in it's own way). Keep that girl original forever, she's a stone cold gem.

...thanks for posting the pics.

[Graham57a]

Originally Posted by IronCanine

Dang dude. That is sick. You even got the Fremont paint booth signature...albeit under some factory runs (which is cool in it's own way). Keep that girl original forever, she's a stone cold gem.

...thanks for posting the pics.

Thanks man, I don't plan on doing much more to her. I am considering new exhaust and manifolds, possibly swapping the inner fenders for a powder coated set that I have sitting on my shed, and getting the AC back in operation, but that's about as far as I plan on taking it. Maybe a re-gasket on the motor one day to stop the leaking but its really not bad.

[Graham57a]

Thinking about putting a receiver on this old girl, any opinions on what to look at? I like the idea of hiding it behind my license plate but I don't like the thought of cutting my license plate frame. I also still have my factory spare under the bed and I'm not crazy about taking out out, what would you guys do?

[Graham57a]

Slight update on Bruce. My wife and I drove him from Asheville to Mooresville for the Piedmont Traction Cruise And Cookout last weekend. We logged over 400 miles in two day’s and shook a few bugs out while we were at it. The drive down went really smooth. The only slight issue we had was at one of our rest area stops I noticed some smoke coming off of the transfer case. I pulled the fill plug out and watched atf dump onto the ground. I guess I need to plan on new seals in the future. After that little adjustment the smoke went away and everything ran fine on the way down.

Once we got there I helped my dad move some trucks around his property and put the 4wd and tow hooks to work. On the way to the first cruise meet up location I noticed my battery gauge dropping left of 12:00. Once we got there I pulled out my multimeter and measured 11.2v on the battery while the truck was running. Thinking maybe something odd just happened I let the truck idle and charge the battery for about an hour while we hung out. When we left that stop we drove about 15 min to the next meet up and I turned the truck off. Thankfully she started right back up when we left that location with no issues. The next stop the truck wouldn’t crank so I had to get a jump from another truck. At this point I was a little nervous but we had to keep going. The last stop we hung out for maybe an hour or so and I knew it wasn’t gonna start so I got a jump. At this point it was 10:30 and we were heading back home. This was the first leg of the trip where I needed headlights so of course the battery started draining quicker and my lights were extremely dim. The truck died probably 5 times on what should have been an hour drive home. Needless to say it took us over 4 hours to complete the entire drive back.

So my only guess at the issue is the charging system. I put a brand new ac delco alternator on the truck before the trip but I used the old voltage regulator that was mounted to the firewall. The truck was charging fine before we left the house (over 13v while charging) but I guess the regulator could have quit working mid ride. The old alternator was internally regulated so the voltage regulator hadn’t been used in a while. I ordered a new voltage regulator and hope that fixes the problem. I also started hearing a slight knocking sound from the power steering pump so I’ll add that to the list.

All in all it was a great trip and despite our troubles I am trusting this old girl more and more.

[Graham57a]

Pics

[Ol Blue K20]

Looks good, hopefully a new regulator will straighten out the charging problem.