1969 K10 CST Full Restoration

[IronCanine]

Originally Posted by Ol Blue K20

It's looking great!

Thanks Dale!

[IronCanine]

You know that feeling like you forgot to put something on the engine before you dropped the cab? I do. Not fun but we got it.

[IronCanine]

When I bought an NOS prop valve for the Blazer it was the last one on a shelf in a Georgia dealership. At the time the parts guy said there were only 20 left in the system nation wide. When I called to get one last year there was only one left and it was in a dealership in Virginia. She's out of the box and on a truck now. Brake system compete save for one wire. A little more wiring and plumbing to do and it's time to start hanging some sheet metal.

[DeadheadNM]

Classy. Love it.

[IronCanine]

Cleaned up and painted the vacuum reservoir. All AC vacuum lines terminated except the one to the heater bypass valve.

[IronCanine]

Here's a pic I've been looking for. 10lbs of stuff in a 5lb bag. (The screws that come with the reproduction glove box liner are wrong and will be replaced.)

Also I haven't noticed a thread on it, but for the 70 Blazer and this 69, the replacement door jamb switches commonly for sale are too long...requiring disassembly and shortening of all components (shaft, sleeve and spring).

[IronCanine]

Originally Posted by DeadheadNM

Classy. Love it.

Thanks my boy.

[DeadheadNM]

Tell me about the vacuum hoses you guys used for the ac controller. I couldn’t find a good source for hoses of the same OD and repurposed oem examples for the k20 and the blazer.

[IronCanine]

Originally Posted by DeadheadNM

Tell me about the vacuum hoses you guys used for the ac controller. I couldn’t find a good source for hoses of the same OD and repurposed oem examples for the k20 and the blazer.

I don't know how close we are to OE on the OD to be honest. I'll check it when I'm back at the truck. Because I do have the invoice with me, I can tell you the NAPA part number is H-457. I couldn't get that to come up as a good number just now over at NapaOnline when I went searching for specs. But I bought it from, shall we say an 'established', NAPA...so it's conceivably old stock. But my method was simplistic, "here's my OE tee, what fits?". I'll try and get you better info today or tomorrow on the OD.

[Madkidd007]

Originally Posted by IronCanine

I don't know how close we are to OE on the OD to be honest. I'll check it when I'm back at the truck. Because I do have the invoice with me, I can tell you the NAPA part number is H-457. I couldn't get that to come up as a good number just now over at NapaOnline when I went searching for specs. But I bought it from, shall we say an 'established', NAPA...so it's conceivably old stock. But my method was simplistic, "here's my OE tee, what fits?". I'll try and get you better info today or tomorrow on the OD.

Correct number is H457, technically washer hose and thicker wall than standard vacuum hose. Oh did I ever mention to you that I work partime at the store on Atlanta highway, which owns the watkinsville store. Even though that store has been there forever you’d be amazed the inventory they go thru. Hey if you’re at it tomorrow text me and I’ll bring those shocks over.

[IronCanine]

Originally Posted by DeadheadNM

Tell me about the vacuum hoses you guys used for the ac controller. I couldn’t find a good source for hoses of the same OD and repurposed oem examples for the k20 and the blazer.

Here's a pic of what we used next to OE. You're right, there is an OD difference. The OE line has a larger outside diameter. I haven't noticed that it's a problem on the firewall...but I do have to order a new 3 hole grommet as I don't seem to have a new one in our ever dwindling cache of parts.

Originally Posted by Madkidd007

Correct number is H457, technically washer hose and thicker wall than standard vacuum hose. Oh did I ever mention to you that I work partime at the store on Atlanta highway, which owns the watkinsville store. Even though that store has been there forever you’d be amazed the inventory they go thru. Hey if you’re at it tomorrow text me and I’ll bring those shocks over.

Thanks for the correction. That's cool that you've spent some time at NAPA. I spent three happy years of my life behind a CarQuest parts counter. Back when it was catalogues and the only search engine was your brain....thanks for the offer on the shocks. But we took yesterday off. We've been hitting it pretty hard and I've spent every spare minute at Eric's working. I'm worried I'm going to wear out my welcome.

[DeadheadNM]

Originally Posted by IronCanine

Here's a pic of what we used next to OE. You're right, there is an OD difference. The OE line has a larger outside diameter. I haven't noticed that it's a problem on the firewall...but I do have to order a new 3 hole grommet as I don't seem to have a new one in our ever dwindling cache of parts.

Great follow up thanks. Better smaller OD than larger OD - I was bumbling and had what I recall was larger OD replacements that were tough to wedge through the grommets before cleaning and using the OEM stuff. Oy, why not straightforward.

[DeadheadNM]

Very nice touch sir!

[IronCanine]

We've had a bit of a hiccup on the core support. For whatever reason it didn't like the paint or the paint didn't like it, so poor Eric has been working on taking it back to bare metal (all while fighting a cold). Since we had the tank in, it seemed like a good idea to drill some holes and get the tank carpet in. This is the carpet we've been working on with ACC to replicate the factory original. I think it turned out great. Here's the thread where you can see how we got to this point with ACC and our install process:
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...=268050&page=2

[IronCanine]

Originally Posted by DeadheadNM

Very nice touch sir!

Thanks Pete!

[Yerboogieman]

Very clean and nice. I would not mind feeling how they drove when they were new.

[IronCanine]

Originally Posted by Yerboogieman

Very clean and nice. I would not mind feeling how they drove when they were new.

Thanks. I can't wait to drive it. On the point of feel...when we did the Blazer, everything was new or reconditioned or rebuilt. But the detents on the column shift for that truck didn't feel near as good as this one. It's not remotely vague. The Blazer was good, don't get me wrong...but I thought it would have been better and figured, 'well this is as good as they get'...but I was wrong. This one shifts tight and lands confidently and crisply on the marks. It was a very pleasant surprise.

[Ol Blue K20]

Originally Posted by IronCanine

Thanks. I can't wait to drive it. On the point of feel...when we did the Blazer, everything was new or reconditioned or rebuilt. But the detents on the column shift for that truck didn't feel near as good as this one. It's not remotely vague. The Blazer was good, don't get me wrong...but I thought it would have been better and figured, 'well this is as good as they get'...but I was wrong. This one shifts tight and lands confidently and crisply on the marks. It was a very pleasant surprise.

My column is sloppy too. When I looked at it I figured it was because it hadn't been lubricated in so long . They forced it out of park without being able to pull back on the lever. Hopefully the tilt I have is better.

[IronCanine]

Travel and colds have slowed us a bit...add in the usual restoration struggles and we find ourselves farther from the end than we'd like, but inching closer nonetheless. The core support finally relented. Luckily it gave in before Eric did.

[IronCanine]

Today Eric polished on the window stainless and I tried to tackle some odds and ends. Classic Auto Air slid farther down my list today. They'd installed a non vented blower motor...with silicone instead of a gasket. Not a huge problem to fix, but it's more time. Got a new motor and sourced a vent hose and gasket, then moved on to running heater hose. Again referenced Jim Pontious' 69 as well as other K truck pics I'd collected. Thanks to member WETOWM for the repro upper radiator hoses.

[Chulisohombre]

Great job. Two more systems down. It’s coming together nicely.

[IronCanine]

Originally Posted by Chulisohombre

Great job. Two more systems down. It’s coming together nicely.

Thanks. Getting there.

[IronCanine]

Tough week. Spent two nights after work trying to install the windshield. No dice. Tried to make use of the wealth of info on here about it and almost nailed it on the first try...but one spot of the trim didn't lay down and on the second attempt the weatherstrip began to split at the corner...all down hill from there. New weatherstrip on the way, so we'll try again. Waiting on the correct condenser to finish up the A/C. Not getting it from ClassicAutoAir/OriginalAirGroup. I may post a review in the vendor section. Needless to say my experience with them has been wholly negative and I could not in any way recommend them for A/C restoration. We've 're-restored' everything ourselves. Since we've gone about as far as we can assembly wise...the old girl got rolled out and saw sun for the first time in a while so Eric could break the doors back out and prep to shoot some more color. It was nice to see that much blue out in the daylight.

[Ol Blue K20]

Looking great! The color looks really good outside.

[DeadheadNM]

Thanks for the update. Bummer on the windshield and good luck for the next attempt. You guys got farther than most professional installers can accomplish anymore. The truck already looks like a million bucks.