Curt's '72 K20 Resto-mod

[Curt's_72]

Originally Posted by Lugnutt

Looks very nice, same color as my truck, though mine's not two-tone. What are you choosing for inside door panels? I'm kinds stuck myself, can't find ones with the wood-grain.

Ah, the door panels. Got them put on finally. I actually worked on them a couple of years ago. I got the panels on eBay. They were NOS, and absolutely perfect! Perhaps the best score on the truck. And, less than 100 bucks.
I've included the GM stickers that were attached to back.





Now, the woodgrain inserts didn't come with the door panels. They were bought separately.
They weren't in very good shape, but they also weren't dented. I had some woodgrain left from a Blazer tailgate panel resto, so I thought I'd use it.

The raised surfaces of the insert just weren't going to allow me to cover the entire panel, so I simply trimed it to cover the flat part. Then, I took a can of brown Rustoleum and masked off the outer edge and shot it.

I thought it turned out good for my project.





Here they are installed, with Counterpart repop arm rests. They matched very good!

[Curt's_72]

Originally Posted by freakshow108

STUNNING! Enough said, I'm trying to catch up with you, thanks for the motivation!
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Originally Posted by dbash

your build is awesome. Great information and badass truck. Good Job. Thanks for sharing such valuable information and inspiration
Posted via Mobile Device

Thanks, as always. I'm really enjoying sharing the ride with everyone. I hope my pictures and dialog will help others, as I've gotten assistance this same way by following other builds.

[Curt's_72]

Got the tar backed underlay installed. It fit very well.
Some trimming as you would expect, but it will add to the insulation. That was one thing Wifey didn't like, was "it's too loud!" as we drove down the road.

[Curt's_72]

After completing the front end, I figured it was time to put the front wheels on.
I was wondering how much the new springs would raise the front, and then the relationship of the wheel size/fenderwell.

I think the 31x10.50's look good!



After putting them on, I saw lots of overspray on them.
I tried to clean them up, but with scrubbing the shine off, I didn't have much luck.




Good for me, I've got that other set of 8.25's that are freshly blasted and coated. When it goes to shop for alignment, I'll have them switched out.

[Fattback]

Looks great

[Chevy1TonFun]

Each time before I open this thread I have to go into the kitchen to put my bib on. Not a big fan of yellow, BUT DAMN YOUR TRUCK IS GORGEOUS! Definitely in the top five best 4x4 builds on the site. 10s across the board! Can't wait to see it finished. Keep it up.

[Curt's_72]

Originally Posted by Fattback

Looks great

Originally Posted by Chevy1TonFun

Each time before I open this thread I have to go into the kitchen to put my bib on. Not a big fan of yellow, BUT DAMN YOUR TRUCK IS GORGEOUS! Definitely in the top five best 4x4 builds on the site. 10s across the board! Can't wait to see it finished. Keep it up.

Can't thank you guys enough for the support. We're getting closer to being done. More to come!

I do enjoy following other's projects. The in-depth stuff is very appealing to me. Kinda why I'm going about this in this manner.

[Curt's_72]

Spent hours deciding what to do about the stereo, amp and the wiring.

I fianally decided to install a Painless auxiliary fuse panel. The install was very easy, but again, deciding the best location for the panel and wiring was a big issue.

The Vintage Air required a circuit breaker, which was in place already. The Painless panel required one, as did the Jensen amp I'm going to install. Once those issues were worked out, here's what I ended up with.





I really didn't want to drill a hole in the firewall for the wiring. I'd gone to great lengths to insulate that.

I figured that up through the floor would work great. A little modification the shifter bracket and here we are!

[Curt's_72]

I had purchased some car interior carpeting from Menards and some double sided carpet tape to cover the area where the jack lives. When you open the passenger door, that's the first thing I would notice, is no carpeting.

I wasn't concerned about the entire back, because the tank will cover it. I applied this stuff on both corners.

[Curt's_72]

Originally Posted by Curt's_72

Finally got a radiator pipe. Got it from board member blap. It's in great shape!
I've already blasted and powdercoated it. Looking forward to installing it.

Attachment 895470

Attachment 895471

Attachment 895472

Attachment 895473

I'll be searching for the hose lengths. I recently saw a thread asking for that.

Got the hose pipe installed. Bought 1 1/2" radiator hose and cut to fit. Pretty straightforward.
I did kinda follow the oem lengths I found, but not quite.





Makes for a cleaner look. Kinda to fathom why the General would use this design. Seems like they woulda just used a longer hose like the 2wd trucks.

[Lugnutt]

Originally Posted by Curt's_72

Ah, the door panels. Got them put on finally. I actually worked on them a couple of years ago. I got the panels on eBay. They were NOS, and absolutely perfect! Perhaps the best score on the truck. And, less than 100 bucks.
I've included the GM stickers that were attached to back.

Attachment 898019

Attachment 898020

Now, the woodgrain inserts didn't come with the door panels. They were bought separately.
They weren't in very good shape, but they also weren't dented. I had some woodgrain left from a Blazer tailgate panel resto, so I thought I'd use it.

The raised surfaces of the insert just weren't going to allow me to cover the entire panel, so I simply trimed it to cover the flat part. Then, I took a can of brown Rustoleum and masked off the outer edge and shot it.

I thought it turned out good for my project.

Attachment 898021

Attachment 898022

Here they are installed, with Counterpart repop arm rests. They matched very good!

Attachment 898023

Your panels look great. That is the bigest problem with re-laminating the woodgrain, having to stretch the material over the curves... or do like you did. Hmmm, you got me thinking.

Thanks

[Curt's_72]

Originally Posted by Lugnutt

Your panels look great. That is the bigest problem with re-laminating the woodgrain, having to stretch the material over the curves... or do like you did. Hmmm, you got me thinking.

Thanks

Glad to help. This isn't a full tilt resto, and most people won't see that it's not per GM. But it works.

[Curt's_72]

Got the tank in. It's from LMC. Couldn't have been easier. A slight clearance modification with the die grinder on one of the seatbelt holes.

I was concerned about how the filler neck was centered (or wasn't) in the opening. I thought about how to bend it, and finally after staring at it for awhile, I grabbed it and pulled down. It bent very easily.



I tried to install the filler neck rubber with the tank in place. Wrong move. I searched the site and got ideas, but I didn't have any luck.

After another round, I removed the tank and put the rubber in place. I lubed up the neck and the rubber with dish washing soap and put the jam to it.
It slid in so easy that I pushed the tank into the cab! Be careful trying this.

Glad I put that carpet in the back corners. It looks much better in place. I put edge guard on the tank, but it wasn't needed.



Fuel line and gauge wire installed.



Had the cardboard cover since I bought the truck. I didn't like the way it fit originally, so I never used it.
I looked it over and saw how I could make it fit better. Heavy staples on the folded edges and it fit great! Looks good too!

[TheWhiteElephant]

Great project, keep up the nice work.

[allchevy58]

Still looking good. Bet you can't wait til your cruising down the road in it.

[Curt's_72]

Originally Posted by TheWhiteElephant

Great project, keep up the nice work.

Thanks!
Your thread with the detail was a big reason for mine. I really like the way you've documented your efforts. Keep it up for all of us!

[Curt's_72]

Originally Posted by allchevy58

Still looking good. Bet you can't wait til your cruising down the road in it.

You're right..I can't wait to make that first shake-down run. To the glass shop! But a run regardless...

[Curt's_72]

After painting the column, I knew the factory wheel just wasn't going to pop. I set out to find an alternate for the oem I had, but the prices and styles weren't what I was looking for.
My body guy is more custom, and recommended painting the wheel parchment. I was leery at first, but went with it.

It turned out great, and he assures me it'll be very durable.



I had purchased a black horn button with a correct blue bowtie. Getting the bowtie out of it ruined the cap.



It went in well. A little glue and we're good to go.
He striped the base to add a little character.



Looking forward to getting it installed...

[Curt's_72]

Got the other kickpanel installed with the Alpine speaker. I thought I'd put them in last after the carpet, but it didn't make a difference.

A sea of black carpet. We're almost done! Routed the wiring and things are really shaping up.

[Gene]

Nothing to say here but simply beautiful!

[Curt's_72]

Originally Posted by Gene

Nothing to say here but simply beautiful!

Thanks, Gene! It's always great getting props from a peer.

[Curt's_72]

Got my new SPID label from Jeff Lampe. Nothing less than perfect! I can't say enough about his correspondence, knowledge and quality of product. Here is a link to his site.

http://www.outintheshop.com/

I highly recommend him for your restoration!!

[Curt's_72]

Got the 4x4 shifter installed. I put a light kit in the housing that it didn't have before. I just kinda thought it should have been installed the first time.

[SunSoaked]

Originally Posted by Curt's_72

New rockers went on smoothly. We discovered cab supports would be needed so those went on too.
Attachment 832030
A new header panel was put in. We did it by laminating rather than cutting out the entire panel.
Attachment 832032
The passenger door was excellent. It just needed touched up.
Attachment 832034
The driver's door need a new skin.
Attachment 832037
I considered a new door, but the rest of it was in great shape. The new skin fit well. Some minor massaging of the key hole was necessary later.
I've got many more indepth pictures if there is something you'd like to see in more detail. The frame and bed are next.
Curt

Nice job Curt-I'm curious how difficult it was to remove the inner skin from the door. I'm considering having the inside of my doors "line X'd" and would need to open them up to do it right.

[Curt's_72]

Originally Posted by SunSoaked

Nice job Curt-I'm curious how difficult it was to remove the inner skin from the door. I'm considering having the inside of my doors "line X'd" and would need to open them up to do it right.

It really wasn't that hard. We used a grinder all around the perimeter to the window to separate the pinch. I don't exactly remember what holds the top, where the window rubber attaches. There's no other means of fastening the skin, other than that.
A chisel and hammer to remove the spot welds on the folded over edge that is still fastened to door will be needed.

What is "line X'd"?