Project 1966 K20 adventure rig

[chtr65]

Just read through your build thread. Really like your work. I would like to ask where you got the dashboard AC air deflect vents chromed. The 2 ball deflectors are plastic, was it hard to find someone to do those? I am looking to have my originals rechromed. I have a 66 K-10 that I am working on currently. I plan on keeping it the way it left the factory.

[cwcarpenter98]

Originally Posted by 72cs20

As the song says - " Life is hard when you're dumb ". A seriously bad plumbing mistake. Two in fact. Yikes!!

Hey, at least you found out before you were cruising down the highway and needed to make a sudden stop. Part of this truck stuff is learning from mistakes and having something you can laugh about a couple years down the road

[72cs20]

[QUOTE=chtr65;8822524]Just read through your build thread. Really like your work. I would like to ask where you got the dashboard AC air deflect vents chromed. The 2 ball deflectors are plastic, was it hard to find someone to do those? I am looking to have my originals rechromed. I have a 66 K-10 that I am working on currently. I plan on keeping it the way it left the factory.[/QUO

I'll try and dig up that information tonight.

[350TacoZilla]

Originally Posted by 72cs20

As the song says - " Life is hard when you're dumb ". A seriously bad plumbing mistake. Two in fact. Yikes!!

haha Yeah we all have done something like that I'm sure. Its also strange to think of the rear line going to front brakes VS the more common setup where front line goes to front and rear line goes to rear.

[72cs20]

All is good with the brakes now. Re-plumbed with the correct size lines into the correct ports of the prop valve. New wheel cylinder and brake shoes at the problem wheel. A little more fine tuning at the pushrod should make it just right.

Regarding the clutch. I'm pretty sure the slave is not correct for this application. It is for a Land Cruiser and it just doesn't seem to push the clutch for in far enough to completely dis-engage the clutch. I took a chance using it because it fit the bracket I have without modification. I do have a slave which is supposed to be match for the master but I'll need to modify the slave mounting bracket in order to use it. I'll play around with it this week and see if I can figure something out.

[72cs20]

Originally Posted by 350TacoZilla

For reference what bore size and travel are your current master and slave setup? I know you can play around with how much pressure it takes on pedal and how far the master has to travel for clutch engagement with bore diameters.

If all else you can also move the placement of the master on the pedal for different travel ratio but not sure if you will have to go that far.

You hit the nail on the head. The master and slave were two different sizes. I bought the brake booster bracket and clutch master cylinder from Captainfab. He sent the appropriate mc for the slave that I had planned on using. But I ended up using an Advanced Adapters kit consisting of a slave cylinder, slave cylinder mounting bracket and fluid line. This kit is specifically designed to mount a clutch slave cylinder to the old style Chevy cast iron bell housing. A very clean set up.

The slave cylinder used in the kit is the exact same one used for the 60-62 trucks. These slaves have a one inch bore. The slave I had originally wanted to use has a 7/8 inch bore, thus the 7/8 inch bore master from Captainfab.

So this week I obtained a new Wilwood one inch bore mc to match the slave and now all is good with the clutch.

And worth mentioning. I also had to change out the brake booster to a smaller 9 inch unit. The new clutch mc is bigger than the old one and came into contact with the 11 inch booster being used.

Photo of the new set up -

[350TacoZilla]

Glad you got it worked out! So now that you have it running are you starting to get the itch that you need to rush to get it together and drive it? I know when I hit the part of a build where it can move under its on power I really feel motivated to get it together quick and get the first real drive in.

[72cs20]

Originally Posted by 350TacoZilla

Glad you got it worked out! So now that you have it running are you starting to get the itch that you need to rush to get it together and drive it? I know when I hit the part of a build where it can move under its on power I really feel motivated to get it together quick and get the first real drive in.

The itch is there alright but I have to be patient. I still have some restoration work to do on both doors, seat and console configuration, flooring..... The list still seems endless.
This week the task is to figure out how to fit four shift levers through the tranny hump. Got some ideas though. Stay tuned.

[72cs20]

Update for this week.

I worked on making holes in the transmission cover for the all the levers. The cover is new from LMC. It is well made but will require the grinding wheel in a couple of areas for proper fit. I'll show that coming up soon.

Making holes for the transmission and overdrive shift levers were pretty straight forward. The hole for the twin stick t-case shifter is way more complicated for a fabrication novice such as myself.

First off, I am not using the cable operated shifter mentioned in an earlier post. I couldn't make it work with this truck. I ended up going with ORD's (Off Road Design) twin stick shifters that use rods and heim joints. The ORD shift levers are at least twice as tall than the one's for the cable shifters. They look more old school, kinda like you would see in an Napco truck. I did use the nobs from the cable shifters on the ORD levers because they have the shift patterns on the knobs themselves. ORD only gives generic round knobs and a sticker to show shift pattern.

There isn't enough room on the trans cover for the twin sticks to mount flat on the cover. My mock up was to make a flat extension off to the passenger side of the cover using some sheet metal. The man that is going to do my exhaust is also a talented sheet metal fabricator, and he can definitely work off this idea.

I also changed out the throttle linkage rod. I was temporarily using the stock V8 dog leg rod. Finally got a proper straight rod and swivel joints. Nice and smooth now.

[350TacoZilla]

What about just forming the metal plate down on that one side to follow the tunnel shape? Maybe too much of a turn for the boot material to bend?

[72cs20]

Originally Posted by 350TacoZilla

What about just forming the metal plate down on that one side to follow the tunnel shape? Maybe too much of a turn for the boot material to bend?

No can do. That bent up sheet metal under the shifter plate is to represent an extension of the trans cover to the passenger side. This is because the part of the shifter assembly underneath is too large for the cover. I had to cut out a good chunk out of the side of the cover to clear the shifter pivot point.

I'll try and post better pics of all this later. Right now everything is covered for door jam painting.

[72cs20]

Moving forward with re-assembly while waiting for my appointment for the exhaust and trans cover sheet metal work.

I re-installed the passenger side door along with new door weatherstrip gaskets for both sides. Then I got the passenger side fender to cab seal done and re-mounted that. At the same time I put on my new fender emblems in place of the stock "20" ones.

One thing with my Vintage Air system that I didn't like was how the condenser moved around so much. I could see how it would shake and possibly break the mounting points on bad or wash board roads. But the condenser has some tabs that can used to attach additional support brackets to. So I made one for each side, and that made for a much more solid attachment.

Lastly, I worked on getting the front light harness out to the core support. This was also a good opportunity to fab up a headlight relay mod for lo and hi beams. Threw in the horn too.

[72cs20]

Well things are still moving along. A lot of the boring tasks are getting finished up as well as some of the more interesting things.

Finished up the headlight on new grill. Also installed new bezels and headlights.

[72cs20]

This week I was able to get the truck down to the shop to address the transfer case shifter mounting issue and have the exhaust system fabbed up. Here are some pics of the t-case shifters. I think it came out perfect.

[straight6chevyguy]

That came out really nice!

[72cs20]

Originally Posted by 350TacoZilla

What about just forming the metal plate down on that one side to follow the tunnel shape? Maybe too much of a turn for the boot material to bend?

You know, upon re-reading your comment, I think we were both on the same page. The sheet metal that I bent up was only for basic mock up purposes and then the shop did the pro level work. And now the shifter boot will have a nice flat surface on which to sit.

And this week has been good too. Front and rear glass is in with the front being new and re-using the existing rear one.

Exhaust is finished with two inch pipes from the manifolds into a three inch single pipe with a cat and magnaflow muffler.

[inskeep1951]

I read through your build but didnt see it.
The overdrive and where did you get it.
Thanks
Ken

[72cs20]

Originally Posted by inskeep1951

I read through your build but didnt see it.
The overdrive and where did you get it.
Thanks
Ken

The OD is from Advanced Adapters. It is called the Ranger Torque Splitter. I bought it through Summit Racing.

Striaght6, thanks for commenting!

[inskeep1951]

Thanks
I bought a lot of advance stuff over the years.
Again Thanks
Ken

[inskeep1951]

So I cant find the overdrive for GM on Summit or the advance site
You would not know the part number.
Thanks for your time.
Ken

[72cs20]

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/add-760002m-27

[72cs20]

Time for an update!

More little things and some bigger things getting done. Worked on the tranny cover some more to get it to fit the floor properly. It needed most bolt holes dremeled out a little bit at the 11 o'clock position and the front upper edge ground back slightly. I got this cover from LMC and overall it's a well made piece.

Next was the floor covering. I laid down a heat/sound layer and then a vinyl floor cover. That vinyl covering is a pain in the neck to install but came out not half bad. If I had to do it again I would go with rubber or carpet. I still need to adjust the area around the t-case shifter so it fits around that tranny cover extension a little better.
With the vinyl covering in I got the shifters and boots installed. Still need to order the main transmission shifter boot.

[72cs20]

Pic of the mostly finished flooring. Glove box door and temporary driver seat also installed.

[72cs20]

Also got the t-case linkage finished up(I've trimmed up the vertical linkage extensions since this pic was taken). So now there is 4 wheel drive function!

Will soon be having the ac system charged up. But first had to terminate the power and grounds for the Vintage Air unit as well as clean up some of the wiring near the battery. With the exception of the cold air function, the VA unit tested good, although the fan switch is very inconsistent. I'll need to speak with VA about that next week

I started to play around with bed ideas too. I grabbed some 2x6's and mocked up something to look at. At this point I'm leaning towards 80 inches wide by 102 inches long.

[72cs20]

After settling on a blurred vision for a bed configuration I went ahead and ordered some steel. It will mainly consist of 2x3 and 1 1/2x1 1/2 rectangular tubing. All with 3/16 wall. The decking will be 2x6 wood. Don't know what kind of wood just yet, although I can get some redwood free.
When I got the steel home I did another basic mock up to get a visual.