Big Bird - 1972 Longhorn K30

[BlueBullet]

Not a lot of progress tonight. Got valve covers blasted and powder coated. They turned out ok still learning. Cleaned the shop a little and brought Casper in from the cold. Went to loosen spark plugs and all of a sudden wtf. Anybody ever seen anything like it. WOW!! You know when you have a rusty truck when this happens. Thankfully it came out with an easy out.

[sweetk30]

acdelco plugs have been doing this to me a lot last few years .

and if you want a set of spicer hubs send me a pm . i have a set i might part with .

[7dee2]

Your K30’s moving right along, nice work! Ha, I’m afraid if tried to powder coat it’d turn into a this….

[BlueBullet]

Nothing overly exciting just working on putting everything on, in and around the engine I can before I drop the cab on. Was putting new plug wires on and noticed that there was only 7 plug wires in the kit I bought from Jegs. Excellent service!! I called and told them what had happened and they got a technician on the line and we figured out which one was missing. Will be here in a couple days. Since I put Ramhorns on the original oil dipstick wouldn't work. Also the tube was so rusty it snapped while working around the manifolds. I ended up going with a '80-'82 Chevy small block dipstick and tube. Worked out good. I had to cut 7/8" off the top of the tube to get the dipstick at the right depth in the pan. Has a mounting tab that lined up with one of the manifold bolts. Got the last cross member blasted and painted also. Here are some pictures.

[Vintage Windmills]

Hi Nathan,

Curious how you knew how to set the proper dipstick height? Measure the original protrusion from the block, measure the overall length, subtract the former from the latter and duplicate on new setup?

[BlueBullet]

Yep I laid the two side by side and lined up protrusions on the assemblies. The bottom of tubes were different lengths but I don't think that matters. The dipstick from the original was 7/8" longer then the aftermarket stick. I then just cut that much off the top of new tube so that it would go the correct depth into the pan. Hopefully that makes sense. I will get some pictures.

[BlueBullet]

Here's some pictures

[sweetk30]

I fixed a aftermarket one last year for a guy .

it ran o.k. but always had a tick he said . dip stick showed full to top with oil .

I drained the pan and got just over 2qt of oil ! ! !

so I changed it and filter put in 5 qt and run it . sounded 10x better . then I marked it on the stick and cut off the extra . problem solved .

[BlueBullet]

Made some progress the past few days. Got the last cross member installed and everything on the engine that I can at the moment. Cleaned up the bottom of the radiator support. This is the nicest one I had in the stash. I painted it with Eastwood's Rust Encapsulator. I figured this should put it to the test if it works or not. It says you can wire brush clean with some sort of paint prep and then shoot. Let it dry then hung it on the frame. My next step is to get what I can done on the brakes before I put the radiator in.

[BlueBullet]

Then on to the brake lines and brackets. I had to drill one hole different for the proportioning valve since the cross member is in backwards compared to a square body. Got the proportioning valve mounted and the rear line ran back and connected to the original rear line that runs the rest of the way. For those who are following and plan to do this same conversion here are a couple things to remember. I was on a mission and welded the large hole in the frame that would work out right for running front brake lines. I would refer to 7dee2's 72 K30 Build thread on which hole to leave. I got to that part of his thread after I was done welding .. Also don't install the bump stops until you get your final engine placement determined. Once again got ahead of myself and the bottom bolt was in the way of the cross member. I figured one bolt should suffice. I don't plan on taking it off and big jumps right away.. My plans for the brake line error is to keep the line tight to bottom of the frame then bring it around to the front inside the rail

[Turnip Truck]

I may have missed it, but what are your axles geared? 3.73 or 4.10?

[BlueBullet]

Good question I don't think I have mentioned that. The gears are 4:10.

[BlueBullet]

Got the brake lines done up to the proportioning valve. Waiting to finish the rest once I have radiator, fan shroud on and cab installed. So that was the next step. Got everything done to the point I am ready to drop the cab on. A friend of mine helped me solder a couple holes shut on the radiator Friday night. Saturday installed radiator, shroud, upper and lower hoses. Thought I had more pictures of front brake line routing but I guess I will have to add them later. There looks to be plenty of run under shroud to snake the lines up to master cylinder.

[BlueBullet]

I started in on taking apart the dash and removed pedal assembly. Did some research on the hydro boost setup and have a plan of attack when that time comes. Installed the clutch delete plate and hung the booster for brainstorming. Today I ordered a pile of parts from GMCPauls and Classic Parts. Also gave Big Bird a much needed bath. Shiny because it's still wet.

[BlueBullet]

Slowly plugging away. Got the cab back on the chassis hopefully for the last time for a while. Made the same brake pedal modification the other members have with relocating the pushrod hole and putting some more meat on the bone. Also got the pieces removed from cab that either need replacement or repair.

[BlueBullet]

I had cleaned the glovebox right after I got Big Bird home. I didn't pay a whole lot of attention to what was in there. I just cleaned out the mouse nest and stuff they had destroyed. When taking out the paperwork I saved to get ready to remove glovebox liner I took a closer look. Wow I can't believe what I found. Of all the trucks I have messed with this is the first to have this much documentation. Man am I pumped. I was truly as excited as a kid at Christmas. Can anyone confirm if the sheet with the red lines on it is the build sheet? I am pretty sure it is unfortunately there's not much to read. Paperwork on the far right is the registration papers through the years.

[Dieselwrencher]

Nice work on Big bird. I've been curious how well Eastwoods rust encapsolator actually works too. Nice find on the paper work! I think the red and white one is but I can't tell you. I've never found one in one of these yet either.

[BlueBullet]

Some more close-ups. Look at the price when new. Pretty cool!! Also there is a window sticker on passenger side window that I find fitting for the truck.

[BlueBullet]

Took off at noon today and started in on cab repairs. Went really well. I cut a piece out of a junk hood I had out back that had the right bends that I needed. Got the repairs done, high hump 4speed hole filled and cab cleaned and prepped. Feels good to have that job done.

[BlueBullet]

After the repairs I wire wheeled the rest of the floor. Vacuumed and cleaned with mineral spirits. Once clean and dry I wiped down the rusty areas with Rust-Oleum Rust Reformer. Once dry the rust turns purplish black.

[BlueBullet]

Here's a picture of the Rust Reformer dried and ready for top coat. Got it top coated with Eastwood's Rust Encapsulator for a double wammy on the rust. Rapped up the rear brake line connections. Also got the hydroboost all wrapped up. Placed a few original ground cables in CLR over night. Here's a before and after example. Cleaned up nice

[too much stuff]

That will be a nice one when you are done!

[MrBeast]

Cool project!

I am looking forward to seeing how it comes out.

[BlueBullet]

Thanks guys!! It's coming together just the way I have been hoping. Today I got 4 batches of parts powder coated, the steering wrapped up, throttle hooked up, refreshed the battery tray and installed the oil pressure line.

[BlueBullet]

The throttle cable I had on hand was a little too long so I had to give it a trim. This is the second time I have done this mod and it's pretty easy if anyone is not familiar with it. First step is to figure what you need for a length. Then cut cable stop off back side and pull apart. Then with a firm grip pull both ends off cable housing. This one didn't cooperate so I had to drill out using a 13/64 bit. Just barely put pressure on the drill and it will zip in and stop when it gets to the bottom of original cavity. I cut cable housing to desired length with a cut off wheel on an angle grinder. Once done push the ends back on and insert cable. I then installed and rest pedal and clamped on new cable stop.