1969 K10 CST Full Restoration

[IronCanine]

Originally Posted by Ol Blue K20

That was a lot of work but looks great. The seats will be nice

Thanks Dale! Hope so.

Originally Posted by chewychevy67

This is my kind of build. Some nice work here. I'll follow along

Thanks. You know I love the creativity and craftsmanship in yours.

[DeadheadNM]

Two thumbs up for all the effort you guys are expending. Thanks for the update.

[chewychevy67]

That's a nice color. That orange engine will glow in the bay. I'll have to measure my belts as soon as I can get my engine together. Thanks for the link.

[IronCanine]

Jambs painted as well as the dash. Gosh Eric has a ton of work in this cab. What's left to be painted on it will happen once it's back on the frame. Speaking of, it was nice to unwrap everything and see the roller again. It's been a while. Just a few things to button up (like driveshafts and maybe the spare tire carrier) before the impending union.

[Ol Blue K20]

Originally Posted by IronCanine

Jams painted as well as the dash. Gosh Eric has a ton of work in this cab. What's left to be painted on it will happen once it's back on the frame. Speaking of, it was nice to unwrap everything and see the roller again. It's been a while. Just a few things to button up (like driveshafts and maybe the spare tire carrier) before the impending union.

I'm sure you're tired of hearing this. But oh well, it's looking awesome.

[rowdy11]

Time consuming but worth it! Keep it going!

[DeadheadNM]

Thumbs up!

[IronCanine]

Originally Posted by Ol Blue K20

I'm sure you're tired of hearing this. But oh well, it's looking awesome.

Originally Posted by rowdy11

Time consuming but worth it! Keep it going!

Originally Posted by DeadheadNM

Thumbs up!

Thanks for the kind words and encouragement. It is much appreciated.

[IronCanine]

Since the roller is uncovered again I went ahead and placed the compressor decal that we had made. It is in fact a foil decal as the original was. My expectation was that it'd be the same vinyl as our valve cover decals. Needless to say I was very happy when I peeled off the backing. If any of you want to do one of these and know your model and code number I am willing to do them for board members. But it'll be more cost effective if we do a few at a time. In other words the graphic art cost won't be anymore if we do 10 different code numbers vs. 1, if we do them all at the same time. I'm not really going to market these, but if someone is doing a serious restoration, we've got this part licked and I'm happy to help out.

[IronCanine]

I also have been working on the 4WD shift decal and was able to pick up the final version today. Like every other decal the repro decal is incorrect. There are at least 3 different OE versions of these (probably more). First you've got differences in transfer cases as well as other subtle things like "Front of Vehicle" arrows. The reproduction gets things wrong like fonts and spacing and even the truck artwork (the little trucks point the wrong way for one thing). You can see the two original 69 decals that I used as references. One is from board member jrdv and the other I scavenged from the internet. I tried to match the layout, artwork and fonts...but shuffled the shift pattern to match the transfer case we put in the truck (an NP205). And since that makes it an odd ball, instead of a decal we made it a magnet. It's thin and looks great...and you can easily peel it off the glove box if you want.

[IronCanine]

As stated earlier in the thread, Nash Truck Parts (a local establishment) rebuilt and re-sized the rear drive shaft. Dropping in the automatic and NP205 made the original too long-so they corrected the length. They also reconditioned the front drive shaft, but did not reassemble it (at our request) so it'd be easier to paint. He sent us home with a new non-greasable Spicer centering yoke (or socket yoke assembly), part number 211544x. The Spicer greasable one which should be a direct replacement is 211355X. You can see the difference between non-greasable unit and the original. Dimensionally they were nearly the same. But the socket diameter was wider than the original which caused a problem. We could get the double cardan together but it wouldn't straighten out. The width prevented it from seating fully. A Moog 607 centering yoke was available from Advance over night that had the same profile as the original. I picked it up this morning and we were able to get the driveshafts together and in today. We also installed the metal vacuum line for the transmission and the kick down cable brackets in preparation for mating the cab.

[chewychevy67]

That makes me excited. Looks great

[4burbon]

Looks great. Loving the color. Attention to detail is unreal - wonder where that comes from?

[Ol Blue K20]

Looking great, it looks like a truck again.....

[IronCanine]

Originally Posted by Ol Blue K20

Looking great, it looks like a truck again.....

Getting there...

[Madkidd007]

I’m gonna have to give Tim crap about selling you a hood I would have loved to get. But with that said do you have the old hood in athens? I may wanna help you recoup some money, text me if you have my number still I’m on nightshift the next two nights.

[IronCanine]

I wish I was showing you this pic to illustrate the factory style primer finish line at the hump (I guess I kind of am...); but really it's to comment on another issue. I had read all the threads on the TH350/NP205 conversion issues for 69 trucks. Especially after realizing we had to slide the frame rail transfer case mount back a bit... I thought I had all our bases covered and did not expect to have an interference. Nevertheless once the cab bolts were torqued down, we were too close for comfort between the cab floor and the transfer case-though not physically touching. We considered (I believe) all variables. I honestly still think we should have had a bit more room than we did...but in light of evidence to the contrary the collective decision was made to shim the transfer case adapter cross member. Not an easy job (or decision) at this stage, but Eric tackled it last night. Fortunately it didn't take much in the way of shim thickness to get the desired result.

[IronCanine]

Now on to more fun stuff. Eric starting loading up both sides of the firewall. An easier job before the front fenders are on. A funny note about the brake pedal mounting bracket...This one was painted black from the factory and the one on the Blazer was raw. Again we mimicked what we had here.

[argonaut]

Originally Posted by IronCanine

I wish I was showing you this pic to illustrate the factory style primer finish line at the hump (I guess I kind of am...); but really it's to comment on another issue. I had read all the threads on the TH350/NP205 conversion issues for 69 trucks. Especially after realizing we had to slide the frame rail transfer case mount back a bit... I thought I had all our bases covered and did not expect to have an interference. Nevertheless once the cab bolts were torqued down, we were too close for comfort between the cab floor and the transfer case-though not physically touching. We considered (I believe) all variables. I honestly still think we should have had a bit more room than we did...but in light of evidence to the contrary the collective decision was made to shim the transfer case adapter cross member. Not an easy job (or decision) at this stage, but Eric tackled it last night. Fortunately it didn't take much in the way of shim thickness to get the desired result.

There are cross members with different depths. I found this out based on a similar experience to yours. One has a couple inches more drop, and that's probably the one that you need.

[Ol Blue K20]

It's looking more like a truck. Brake pedal assembly looks nice

[IronCanine]

We worked all weekend trying to get the firewall assembly and associated installations done. Not as far along as I might have hoped, but it wasn't for lack of effort. The main goal was to get the A/C components in which meant wiring and the center stack. I cleaned up and reused the Stewart Warner speedometer adapter. It codes out as correct for the gear we're running. But it is tall and really puts the cable at the floor.

[IronCanine]

As a rule I try to highlight positive vendor experiences, but I must confess that I am disappointed with Classic Auto Air(Original Air Group). When the time came to send our A/C parts off for restoration, my preference was and still is (board member) F.A.A.benny. Unfortunately at the time I could not get in touch with him. We collected our pieces and sent them to CAA. They had them a while, charged us a fair bit and sent back components that were a mixed bag of OK and kind of crummy. Old broken gaskets still on parts, incorrect finishes...and we were missing some pieces. We remedied things ourselves. I ordered what we needed and scavenged parts (from my poor 1 owner 71 that has been pilfered without mercy). But that does slow down the process when you have to pick/pull/restore as you go. But we're close. I'd hoped to have a good old nest of snakes pic for you, but alas we had to call it a night. Shout out to Pete for the referral to Zip-Corvette for the brass cap and correct foil Harrison decal.

Edit: In fairness, CAA was coming off a hurricane when we sent everything. But Benny will do my next one or I will.

[DeadheadNM]

Making quick work and it all looks impeccable!

Which manufacturer did the electrical harnesses and are you pleased with the quality?

[IronCanine]

Originally Posted by DeadheadNM

Making quick work and it all looks impeccable!

Which manufacturer did the electrical harnesses and are you pleased with the quality?

Thanks Pete. Mostly M&H. No real issues...other than the tape on the terminal end at the compressor (which you can see in the pics above). We've got to replace that with some heat shrink.

Column is another KevsClassics beauty and is mostly in. Thanks Kevin!

[Ol Blue K20]

It's looking great!