72 K20 been parked for 31 years!!

[FRENCHBLUE72]

Good looking truck congrats...

[leddzepp]

Originally Posted by Vintage Windmills

Thanks Tim.

Another question for you guys. I bought a set of nice seatbelts from a 72 that was parted but they say 71 on the tag. Would these be correct for my 72? Do I need to see if my Vin was a later or earlier build in 72?

I pull seatbelts all the time. The majority of them have a date code that preceeds the truck by one year....nearly every 67 set I have pulled have 66 on the tags.

[Vintage Windmills]

Door tag is there but unreadable where build date is. I'll have to look at the vin and see when it may have been built.

On a separate note, got the engine out and its ready to tear down! Tranny had cranberry colored fluid and engine shows no rust in distrubutor area or in valve covers yet that I can see. Engine code is V021OTRL. Do you think that is original? Sure looks like it was never out of the truck. Here's a pic of it out

[Vintage Windmills]

Just found the following on the z28 site: http://www.nastyz28.com/gm-chevy-cod...s-suffix-8.php

TRL 1972 350 conv. cab, a/t - 175hp 4bbl model K-20

Looks right to me! Also the sticker on valve cover says it was built in 1972. Now I just hope it passes the magnaflux test. I am kinda into the numbers matching thing on this truck since it's so stock.

[Rooster's 67]

Hey that fuel filter is not stock either. Great find, especially for your neck-o-tha woods

[Vintage Windmills]

Here we go, I guess I'm down the road of rebuilding this truck. I definitely don't need more to do at the moment, however, I really just want to work on it- I cant help myself. Goal is to fully overhual driveline and get it running by spring unless I decide to frame off restore it It needs so much it may be easier just to do that and make it new again.

Got the trans and tcase out, evertything pressure washed and am disassembling the engine. Yes, those are acorns jammed in every port I've got it torn down but am now stuck since some of the pistons are. I guess I just need to unbolt the ones I can and tap them up and out of the block? Any other ideas for getting it to turn and get access to the connecting rod caps? Bottom end has no rust, was still full of oil.

[Maxxd07]

Diesel fuel, and let it soak for a while. Sweet find BTW!

[tkeduk8r]

Heres an oldtimer trick that I have used on many a tractor restoration and it almost never fails me....

Take 2 cups of either fuel oil/kerosene/diesel fuel and pour in stuck bore on top of piston. Let it soak for the night....

Come back the next day and if there is still a 1/2 inch or more on top of the pistion (add if needed) light the remaining fluid. It is smoky so make sure you have good ventilation. Might be a trick to get it lighted so I have used what the old timer had told me (corncob) or ive used my oxyacetylene torch with success...

Now the magic happens... as the flame above the fuel oil gets hot it expands the cylinder wall/bore. The unburned fuel oil keeps heat off the piston. After a little while you will hear a POP or a TINK as the cylinder bore separates enough to break the rust bond and all the remaining liquid fuel oil will drain past the rings....

Now a couple light taps with a round block of wood, and roundy round the crank will spin freely once again!!!!

I just did thsi last fall on a farmall M engine that was stuck in our school shop... worked like a charm....

Good luck from up north.... we shoudl try to hook up one of these days!!!
--Mike

[Meatman]

Originally Posted by tkeduk8r

Heres an oldtimer trick that I have used on many a tractor restoration and it almost never fails me....

Take 2 cups of either fuel oil/kerosene/diesel fuel and pour in stuck bore on top of piston. Let it soak for the night....

Come back the next day and if there is still a 1/2 inch or more on top of the pistion (add if needed) light the remaining fluid. It is smoky so make sure you have good ventilation. Might be a trick to get it lighted so I have used what the old timer had told me (corncob) or ive used my oxyacetylene torch with success...

Now the magic happens... as the flame above the fuel oil gets hot it expands the cylinder wall/bore. The unburned fuel oil keeps heat off the piston. After a little while you will hear a POP or a TINK as the cylinder bore separates enough to break the rust bond and all the remaining liquid fuel oil will drain past the rings....

Thats something Ive never heard before. Would like to see that in action!

[bmfm64]

PB Blaster works well if you don't have diesel around too. let either of them work for at least over night and then try it again.

[SS Tim]

Jud,
I'd say to roll the block upside down so you have at least some bore below the pistons and full up what you can with Ed's Red. Cover to reduce evap. and use a recovery tub to contain the mess. Or since you are going to like this stuff, make about half a drum or so and soak the whole motor


http://www.frfrogspad.com/homemade.htm

[Vintage Windmills]

Thanks guys, I've got it soaking in some 3 in one penetrating oil for now until I try your ideas this weekend

Originally Posted by tkeduk8r

Heres an oldtimer trick that I have used on many a tractor restoration and it almost never fails me....

Take 2 cups of either fuel oil/kerosene/diesel fuel and pour in stuck bore on top of piston. Let it soak for the night....

Come back the next day and if there is still a 1/2 inch or more on top of the pistion (add if needed) light the remaining fluid. It is smoky so make sure you have good ventilation. Might be a trick to get it lighted so I have used what the old timer had told me (corncob) or ive used my oxyacetylene torch with success...

Now the magic happens... as the flame above the fuel oil gets hot it expands the cylinder wall/bore. The unburned fuel oil keeps heat off the piston. After a little while you will hear a POP or a TINK as the cylinder bore separates enough to break the rust bond and all the remaining liquid fuel oil will drain past the rings....

Now a couple light taps with a round block of wood, and roundy round the crank will spin freely once again!!!!

I just did thsi last fall on a farmall M engine that was stuck in our school shop... worked like a charm....

Good luck from up north.... we shoudl try to hook up one of these days!!!
--Mike

Sounds awesome. I will try it.

Originally Posted by bmfm64

PB Blaster works well if you don't have diesel around too. let either of them work for at least over night and then try it again.

I've read that PB blaster doesn't penetrate as well as Kroil, liquid wrench and others. The best according to the test was a homebrew ATF/Acetone mix, which is like what Tim mentions below

Originally Posted by SS Tim

Jud,
I'd say to roll the block upside down so you have at least some bore below the pistons and full up what you can with Ed's Red. Cover to reduce evap. and use a recovery tub to contain the mess. Or since you are going to like this stuff, make about half a drum or so and soak the whole motor


http://www.frfrogspad.com/homemade.htm

Good info thanks!

[eurospec1]

Why do people take the time to block out a license plate number on a picture, when thousands of people will see it as you drive down the road.. Its not a credit card number?

And BTW Nice score, im Jealous!

[Vintage Windmills]

While its soaking heres a couple more pics. The tcase and trans had the hardest grease, tar and clay on there I've ever encountered. It was unreal the way it baked on there. Took 3 hours with warm water pressure washer, 2 degreasers, putty knife, screwdriver, laquer thinner to get it off. At least I can now see the bolts. I did find "20" and "81" scribed in chalk on here though, i assume that was an assembly marking. I still need to chip some residual spots of grime off with a hammer and screwdriver... Unless I just put the sandblaster attachement I got from Northern on the pressure washer. Still has the original orange on tcase and black paint on the shifter mechanism. The clay formed a protective cocoon

Back to the engine, The step at TDC is about 0.010" (0.020" diameter difference) I'd guess. I wonder how much I can punch this thing out to get through the rust pitting? Only one cylinder has significant pitting.

[RenoKeene]

Good progress....the flaming cylinder thing is a great trick, never heard that before.

[Vintage Windmills]

Originally Posted by eurospec1

Why do people take the time to block out a license plate number on a picture, when thousands of people will see it as you drive down the road.. Its not a credit card number?

And BTW Nice score, im Jealous!

Thanks! I am pretty stoked about this score.

Not sure on the license plate thing either, guess it doesn't hurt to block it out. Also I didn't have the title in hand so i was extra careful. Probably didn't need to since the last registration was 30 years ago so it probably isn't in a computer

[Dieselwrencher]

tkeduk8r, that's a great idea!

As far as PB Blaster, I have never had any luck with it as far as trying to get engines un stuck. Diesel fuel and ATF and mineral spirits have worked decently for us. But the flaming diesel sounds like it would be the ticket !

I had a truck that had that same concrete grease on it all over the bottom side. I feel your pain for getting it off! Keep up the great work!

[domeier]

I can't believe you dropped the t-case, trans and drive shaft as a unit - you are a REAL man!

[Vintage Windmills]

Well guys, so far no luck with the fire method... I let it burn a good 15 mins and heard plenty of "tinks" but no fluid drained past any piston and no movement after hitting each piston pretty hard with a block of wood and hammer. Think I'll let it sit while I deliver a windmill and think some more. It doesn't look that rusty so I'm surprised it won't move. Maybe i'll unbolt the couple of pistons I can and see if they won't tap out the top?

[Dieselwrencher]

You very well could have more than one stuck so you might want to let more than just that one soak and see what happens.

[Vintage Windmills]

Originally Posted by Dieselwrencher

You very well could have more than one stuck so you might want to let more than just that one soak and see what happens.

I soaked and fired alll 8 Some are pretty near the top of the bore so there wasn't much room for heating. Fortunately these cylinders look clean.

[mrein3]

Originally Posted by Vintage Windmills

While its soaking heres a couple more pics. The tcase and trans had the hardest grease, tar and clay on there I've ever encountered. It was unreal the way it baked on there. Took 3 hours with warm water pressure washer, 2 degreasers, putty knife, screwdriver, laquer thinner to get it off. At least I can now see the bolts.
snip

I picked up a NP205/th350 used out of a Blazer a couple of years ago. Before I rebuilt and installed I of course cleaned it all up. I had the same experience. The stuff stuck on there was stuck good. It was like the clay/dirt/grease formed to the t-case and tranny and was made part of the metal. I finally had to use a putty knife and many soakings with grease remover to get mine clean.

That NP205 is a heavy little hunk of iron isn't it.

To install mine I bolted it all together and used a combination of a cherry picker to get it on a tranny jack then the tranny jack to get it in the truck while it was on a lift so I didn't have to lift much for that move. However while it was apart that thing was a bear to move around the shop.

What did you end up deciding on the engine? 350 when you're done or are you going to stroke it?

How about that th350? If I could set the way back machine to the day before I brought my th350 to the rebuilder I'd bring him a 700r4 with the Advanced Adapters output shaft instead of my th350.

[special-K]

I use Brakleen to cut that greasy crust off the drivetrain. It melts it right off. With the stuck cylinders,sounds like some great remedies. At least you don't have to worry about ruining the pistons since you definitely need to overbore.

[Vintage Windmills]

Pistons are out! I was able to unbolt most and tap a few mm's to get the bond broken but some wouldn't slide very far until I got it to spin due to clearance issues. All except 2 unbolted before it would spin, that was a nice feeling to see the crank turn. I think the fire method definitely helped since they seemed to slide right away when tapping on them unbolted. Course I had a steel rod and a 3lb hammer to do some coaxing. made me nervous tapping near the crank journals but I didn't touch it once with rod or hammer.

Speaking of the crank, there is some staining (rust) on there, but not enough to feel with fingernail. I'm assuming it would need to be reground? If so, that may make the stroker a more attractive option since I can't just use crank as is. Maybe steel wool (ultra fine) it if I have nothing to loose? Also, the bores look better than I thought they would, may not have to bore too much. Actually, it looks like bore amount may be dictated by the lines in the walls (see horizontal lines in 3rd pic). I think those are from the rings when I smacked with the hammer and wood block? I was surprised to see that! thought the walls would be more resilient than that.

[One Chevy Scotty]

Well, ya got it apart now... might as well do it right the first time.


...that project looks like a whole lotta fun....I am still wondering where you got squirrels small enough to get acorns in the exhaust ports