Project 1966 K20 adventure rig

[Android04]

insane build, love it.

[72cs20]

With this update I hope to keep this thread rolling a little faster from now on. I finally finished up the cleaning, welding, patching, cutting and painting the inside of the cab this past week.

That new gaping hole above the radio opening is for the factory style ac vents. Cutting that was nerve wracking.

At this stage I can finally start the re-assembly and get this project moving!

A few pics -

[1971 GMC SHORTY]

What. BADAZZZ Build... Sub

[350TacoZilla]

Looks great ! Personally I can rip a motor out or cut suspension off etc without any problems but that dash hole would take me about a week of planning and working up the courage to make the cut.

[72cs20]

Thanks!

I've had a bunch of vintage GM trucks over the years and this is the only one that didn't have the dash cut for whatever reason.

Here is an ugly close up and one with the vent panel taped in place.

[72cs20]

Here we are in the middle of a total re-wire using AA classic update harness. At the same time the wiring for the tbi fuel injection and the Dakota Digital instrument panel is also being worked in.

I'm waiting for the Vintage air system to arrive as it has some parts I need to finalize placement of the efi computer and instrument panel controller.

Pics of the somewhat organized mess -

[straight6chevyguy]

Looking good!

[72cs20]

Thanks straight6!

The wiring job keeps going. It's an exercise of patience for sure. Starter and alternator done as well as fuel pump, gauge wiring at fuel tank, reverse light switch and the Dakota Digital sensors.

The Vintage Air kit also arrived so I got that rolling. Got the cowl vent block off covers painted and started on setting up the evaporator for install in the cab.
Unfortunately, there are a couple of issues with some parts of the kit that I need to resolve with VA. So that part is on hold for now.

[Budget63]

I'm liking everything about this! Looking forward to your progress.

[72cs20]

Thanks Budget63!

Just a quick update. Was drowning in wiring this but it's better now. The ac evap and hard lines are in and the upper bracket serves as a good place for the fuel system computer.

On the driver side kick panel is the instrument panel interface box.

[72cs20]

Still plugging away at the little stuff. Almost finished with the main wiring. Started getting other things in like the steering column and the a/c controls in the dash. I went with the rotary style controls mounted to an reproduction panel. The panel does not fit very well and I can see changing back to the factory lever style later on.

Ididit tilt column is in along with new brake light switch. Also put on my 64 Impala wheel to see how it looked. I think it works!

Lastly I got the instrument panel attached to a new bezel with new paint.

[cwcarpenter98]

Lookin good! Sometimes I want an Impala wheel, other times I like my stock wheel. It's tough to decide

[EagleScreech]

What did you dislike about the vintage air kit? I'm about to pull the trigger on the same setup, want to make sure it's not junk! $$$

[72cs20]

Originally Posted by EagleScreech

What did you dislike about the vintage air kit? I'm about to pull the trigger on the same setup, want to make sure it's not junk! $$$

I like the vintage air kit very much. This install is my second. My first one worked perfectly. I just had some mistakes made in my order on V/A's end. All resolved now. And btw, that panel I said didn't fit well (where the V/A controls mount to) is not a vintage air part. I bought that from different vendor.

[72cs20]

Continuing on with the dash assembly. Everything but the glove box door is in. Leaving it off until a/c system is finished.

[72cs20]

I've been holding off on installing the core support and inner fenders while deciding what to do about strengthening the frame around the steering box. I finally decided to box this area. I made a template of that portion of the frame and my neighbor cut a nice piece of 7/16 plate on his plasma table. Some welding and drilling and steering box is good to go. I have some spanner bushings to go between the plate and frame to finish it off. Those should be here this week.

[72cs20]

Re-assembly continues with fit up of the inner fenders and radiator core support. Got them cleaned and touched up the paint a bit. The driver side inner fender fit up to the core support like a glove but the passenger side was a real fight to line up the bolt holes. I hung the outer fenders with a bolt or two to see how everything is lining up.

[350TacoZilla]

Good work man, it's already starting to look like a truck again.

[72cs20]

Thanks 350taco!

Just continuing on with all the little jobs that need to be done. This past week or so I concentrated on the front fenders, radiator and shroud fitment, ac system and some in cab wiring.

The front fenders only needed attention on the inside. They are in pretty good shape and have had the lower rear sections replaced at some point. I knocked off the dirt and loose scale then brushed on some rust converter primer and then some white paint.

[72cs20]

Next up was making sure the radiator, fan and shroud are going to work together, especially since this radiator is taller and narrower than the one that came out. The fan is a reverse rotation 6 blade unit with a fan clutch for an early 90's truck tbi 350.

This large two core radiator is from a company called " Cold Case " and the tanks on it are the same size as a 4 core. Being taller meant I had to cut the top clamp and put some spacers underneath it. A pair of old lug nuts serve as spacers for now. Finishing the top clamp will a punch list item for later.

This is a long water pump engine so the fan shroud will to be adjusted for proper fan placement. I used my stock original shroud for mockup purposes but ordered a new one for final installation.

[72cs20]

The fan shroud mounting brackets also needed some help. They were pretty rusty and bent up and in need of seals. So I hammered them as straight as possible and put on new seals. When I test fitted these brackets to see how well the seals looked on the radiator it was obvious the seals were not going seal up against the sides of the radiator. The taller, narrower radiator strikes again. So I made some seal extensions out of a leftover radiator top seal and that closed the gaps.

[72cs20]

Got the engine bay side of the a/c system finished up. The condenser, dryer, hard lines and compressor lines all in. Was in the middle of the system wiring when I was chased out of the shop by the heat.

[72cs20]

One last thing for today. I used the old choke cable hole in the bezel to install the two position switch that selects and programs features in the Dakota Digital gauge panel. The aluminum knob to the left is the dimmer control for the gauge panel.

[Captainfab]

You always do such nice work.

[Classic v6 GMC's]

Very nice build! Following along