1973 K20 Build Thread

[Dru]

Looking very good, after just cleaning a dirty old farm motor out of a truck, I can imagine the work it took to get around everything while still being inside.

Originally Posted by TheWhiteElephant

One of the things I've learned if you spend too much time on your vehicles, something else has to give (namely, family time), so I'm going to keep this on a budget of time and money.

I completely agree with you, material objects will come and go, but you can never get lost time back.

Originally Posted by TheWhiteElephant

I live in a neighborhood with a homeowner's association and am doing all this in my driveway, so I don't want to upset the neighbors with my junk in the driveway (my wife is embarrassed enough as it is).

lol, I'm surprised you got away with it, I have heard stories about neighbors getting irate because someone left their trash can out, in neighborhoods with associations. I live in a historic district myself, and its not quite as bad as some of the fancy neighborhoods, but I dont think they would appreciate me out in my driveway with a cherry picker. Have found a good solid tree in the yard to use back in the older days.

[GMC91]

Im loving this truck man. Nice work on the motor.

[TheWhiteElephant]

Originally Posted by Catfisher'

Dang, that looks good! I was thinkin bout paintin my engine orange. How hard is it to do?

Not hard at all, it just takes a lot of time.

Thanks for the kind words, folks. Updates coming soon.

[TheWhiteElephant]

Okay, let's get this thing going again. I have only worked on the truck about 3 or 4 days in the last 2 weeks. Check out the old spark plug wires. Several were burned and cracked, it is amazing the truck still ran as well as it did.

Here is a close up of my new power steering pump and brackets installed. One of the issues I had to deal with that I completely forgot about was the fact that I ordered a set of 8mm wires from Summit and I didn't consider the fact that I wanted to run them UNDER the ram's horn manifolds. The wires I ordered are the correct ones for the log manifolds and are designed to go OVER the manifolds, so they are shorter. Instead of ordering another set and/or buying universal ones, all one has to do is buy wires that are designed for vehicles with small blocks and ram's horns. Corvettes, older Chevys, take your pick. I remembered I had a new set in the garage that were for my '65 Impala, so I just used those. No biggie for an all original non-hi-po engine.

I used stainless steel bolts to mount the manifolds along with a healthy dose of anti-seize. The bolt that mounts the PS pump bracket was too short, so I ran down to Lowe's and got a 2 1/2 bolt and it fit up perfectly. For anyone who doesn't know this, Lowe's has a pretty extensive collection of automotive bolts/hardware/clips and other hard to find automotive hardware in the drawers in the hardware section. They even have the correct body bolts!

There is also a close up of my water-neck temp gauge and my QJet during rebuild. Here are the areas that are notorious for leaking on the older QJets. I put marine JB Weld on there. The verdict is not quite out on this, as some say JB Weld won't stand up to the heat cycles, and others say it will work. We'll see what happens. Many different opinions on this.

[TheWhiteElephant]

I also installed the Lokar locking transmission dipstick. Here is a view from the bottom. It slides in from the top and it has a nut that you tighten from underneath to create a positive seal. I got the firewall mount and you can see how I mounted it.

[TheWhiteElephant]

Here I have installed the other/new spark plug wires but have not yet arranged or routed them properly. I also bolted up the rebuilt carb. Seeing the carb on there made me see the light at the end of the tunnel...

I also removed the grille so that I could remove the old transmission cooler. Part of the reason the engine compartment was so dirty is because the cooler line junctions were all leaky. Mix oil and farm dirt and you get some nasty gunk.

Check out my "new" 1973 Texas ebay plates!

[TheWhiteElephant]

I was so pumped up about seeing the carb on that I decided to tackle the removal of the gas tank even though the sun had gone down long before. I knew the straps would give me issues, and sure enough, even with a healthy dose of PB Blaster, the bolts still broke off. I'm going to have to order a new set from Classic Industries, they have a 20% off sale right now. I'll also be buying a new sending unit from Oreilly's.

The original owner had installed a 2nd tank on the driver side that I will do away with. I will not need it and the PO never used it, either, so who knows how that that thing is.

I was surprised to see how clean the fuel tank was. The strainer on the sending unit had a huge hole in it. The only mess in the tank consisted of a few pebbles and some other minor debris, but no rust/slush/varnish. This truck sat for long periods of time in South Dakota.

Check out this rare sight: The plastic tank deflector that is missing on most fuel tanks, complete with an abandoned rat's/mouse nest. The second to last picture also has a shot of my long-time best friend, PB Blaster....

[TheWhiteElephant]

By the way, the large blue plastic square under the truck is my "Mexican creeper".

One day I'll invest in a proper one with wheels. haha!

[1985-GMC]

I love the plates!

[TheWhiteElephant]

Thanks!

[496 BB]

Make sure you get an A/C Delco sending unit or that damn gas guage will be bouncing all over the place. Trust me I know

[TheWhiteElephant]

Originally Posted by 496 BB

Make sure you get an A/C Delco sending unit or that damn gas guage will be bouncing all over the place. Trust me I know

Oh no--really? Dealer-only item, I'm assuming? Did you have a bad experience with the parts store one? How much was the Delco unit$$$$?

[496 BB]

Originally Posted by TheWhiteElephant

Oh no--really? Dealer-only item, I'm assuming? Did you have a bad experience with the parts store one? How much was the Delco unit$$$$?

Ive always heard on these older trucks to use Delco and Ive always used Delphi on my new trucks. I got an aftermarket one in mine now from previous owner and it sucks. Goes everywhere with the slosh of gas. Try Rockauto.com.

[kikkegek]

this engine?


sits in this truck?


talk about killer-contrast!

if you put as much time in the outside and the inside, the truck will end up as a killer-truck and make the front of many magazines!

keep it up!

[TheWhiteElephant]

"This engine sits in this truck?


talk about killer-contrast!

if you put as much time in the outside and the inside, the truck will end up as a killer-truck and make the front of many magazines!

keep it up!"

haha! Thanks. To be honest, my plans for this truck are a little out of the ordinary. I want to work on everything mechanical, get it running and functioning perfectly, and leave the body/exterior as is. Somewhat of a rat-rod inspired project. It will sit outside of the garage, so I don't want to have to worry about something happening to it.

[nbpro]

WOW just WOW man this build looks awesome

[blackout]

I liked what you did with the engine looks nice..im subscribing

[TheWhiteElephant]

I appreciate the kind words and thanks for the motivation, guys. I'll be updating here in the next couple of days. Got a lot done these past couple of days.

[TheWhiteElephant]

Something that has always baffled me is why GM didn't install drain plugs in the transmission oil pans. I bought one at Oreilly's and installed it in the TH350 pan.

[Zane M]

Originally Posted by TheWhiteElephant

Something that has always baffled me is why GM didn't install drain plugs in the transmission oil pans. I bought one at Oreilly's and installed it in the TH350 pan.

Little late to the party, but great build!

Back in the day all the OEM did have drain plugs on the transmission pans. However, people were just draining the fluid, but not changing the filter. So, to force you to drop the pan(and while you have it off, you may as well change the filter), the drain plugs were deleted.

[TheWhiteElephant]

Originally Posted by Zane M

Little late to the party, but great build!

Back in the day all the OEM did have drain plugs on the transmission pans. However, people were just draining the fluid, but not changing the filter. So, to force you to drop the pan(and while you have it off, you may as well change the filter), the drain plugs were deleted.

That makes sense!

[TheWhiteElephant]

I tackled the fuel tank next. I removed it, drained it, flushed it, and cleaned it. It was very clean with the exception of minor debris/tiny pebbles inside. I then wire brushed the outside, had to remove some tar-based undercoating--pretty easy with lacquer thinner, and then painted the outside with Eastwood's Rust Encapsulator in silver. I also painted the brackets and bought new tank straps from Oreilly's ($29.99 a set). I was impressed with the quality--they are very close to OEM. I had to grind out the rivets and I replaced them with new stainless steel flat head screws and hardware.

I found some rubber strips in the flooring section of Lowe's ($2.48 each) that worked perfect for some custom anti-squeak material. I also had some left over to make a new neck filler to bedside gasket.

[TheWhiteElephant]

I found that the fuel filler neck that is available at Classic, LMC, etc was $34.00(!!!) so I cross referenced the part number through the Oreilly's and Napa websites and found that Napa has a similar part. The hose is longer but you can just cut to fit it. I paid a more manageable $16 for it.

I did have a hard time with the neck filler vent hose, though. It has a 90 degree bend and is 1/2 inch at the neck filler end and 5/8 inch at the tank end. I had to use 5/8 inch straight hose and clamp it extra tight at the neck end. It looked okay, but when I installed the tank, the hose bent and has a kink that I don't like. It still works okay and will have to do for now, but I will look for a replacement that fits soon. If anyone has any suggestions, please offer them.

[TheWhiteElephant]

I wire brushed and then painted the frame where the tank attaches with Rustoleum, but in retrospect I should have painted it with the black Rust Encapsulator that I have. Here is the tank going in and installed. I ran in new brown wire (Napa) from the sender up to the harness as the wire that it had was way too long. I routed it with tie wraps along the frame and through the motor mount to keep it away from the exhaust and manifold.

[TheWhiteElephant]

The radiator support is in pretty nice shape with the exception of heavy surface rust on the area below the battery and coolant recovery tank. Here are some before and after pics. I wire wheeled/brushed the area, cleaned it with paint thinner, then applied a few coats of Eastwood's Rust Encapsulator. Stuff works great.