1969 K10 CST Full Restoration

[Ol Blue K20]

Originally Posted by IronCanine

Hopefully setting the cab in the next couple of days...in the meantime, some progress posts aren't exciting or interesting but emphasize the point that it takes a lot of time and sometimes tedious effort to get these trucks done.

The repro core support fits but is obviously different from the OE version in many ways (for instance the upper member creases and the capture nuts). Our original core support like most, was worse for wear on the bottom. We wanted to save the good original bits. So I drilled out the 80 or so spot welds on the OE core support to remove rusty bottom and vertical supports as a unit and then ground the spot welds away from the repro one to dissect out that same structure. Eric spotted it all back together.

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

[chewychevy67]

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

[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]

Originally Posted by IronCanine

Picked up reproduction GM belts from gastanks.com.

Tried to learn from experience, and didn't even try the rear brake lines from InLine Tube. Just bent scratch ones ourselves.

I too went to gastanks.com this morning to get belts but I see they don't list trucks. Did you just get a kit for passenger cars?

[IronCanine]

Originally Posted by 72K5CSTDarkOlive

Awesome work guys! Cant wait to see that dark blue in the sunlight

Here are a couple of small freshly painted pieces out in the sun and an original paint truck. It's very blue...but it's so deep and reflective it absorbs everything around it. I think it's true to the original color, if you put an inch of clear on it

Originally Posted by DeadheadNM

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

Thanks for being awesome.

Originally Posted by chewychevy67

I too went to gastanks.com this morning to get belts but I see they don't list trucks. Did you just get a kit for passenger cars?

You've got two choices...do a deep dive in a Master Parts Catalogue and pick out your part numbers. (Every time I open that thing I'm feel like I'm sacrificing two hours of my life). They can look them up that way. Or you can order them by size(which is what I did), I got a couple of options and returned what I didn't use.

[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.

[IronCanine]

The best thing we got done today was marry up the cab and chassis. I was late for an appointment and didn't really get to savor it. We got it set, I snapped these pics and bolted. It finally feels like a truck and not just separate piles of parts. Fired up for the days and weeks ahead.

[72 tigger]

Has to feel good setting the cab on-looks nice. Top shelf work on everything as usual

[chewychevy67]

That makes me excited. Looks great

[4burbon]

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

[Madkidd007]

Originally Posted by IronCanine

Thanks...A disc brake axle is something we would have sought out if one hadn't been under our donor truck already. It was just a bonus. Disc brakes seem like the only way to go and a more than acceptable modification.

I looked and looked for a date code correct 350 and could not find one. The engine in our donor was a replacement and not correct. We elected to buy a GM crate 350 long block and just fit all the correct stuff to it. The PS pump, compressor, intake, carb, etc....are all date code correct.

The carb was rebuilt/restored by Sean Murphy (SMI). He not only rebuilds it, but re-plates and refinishes everything to original condition.

Just now reading thru all of this, night shift sure gives me a chance to read. For a minute I felt bad we didn’t meet sooner because the numbers matching drivetrain was in the burb but it was a 71. One of these days I’ll gwt by your place to have a look. Worth mentioning I always use Nash, he did the one for my truck and it’s been thru a lot. Also post 131 I think just made me decide on a paint color for the crew cab.

[Madkidd007]

Originally Posted by ironcanine

if you mean the shipping/invoice/window sticker...you can go to vintagecorrect.com. If you mean the decals, i work with a local sign company. They have a talented graphic artist and they indulge me as we agonize over font and color and arrangement etc. I've got a couple of other things they are working on for this truck and of course they did the decals for the bf avery too...i think i've become a bit of a joke in their office because i'm always turning up with a tattered piece of junk and a list with at least 10 bullet points. Literally i was in there on monday trying to explain (in unnecessary detail) the next thing i wanted to do...the young lady listened patiently and stared intently, then when i finished my monologue, she burst into laughter. Unfortunately i wasn't making a joke.

ako?

[IronCanine]

Originally Posted by 72 tigger

Has to feel good setting the cab on-looks nice. Top shelf work on everything as usual

Originally Posted by chewychevy67

That makes me excited. Looks great

Thanks guys.

Originally Posted by 4burbon

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

Thanks-yeah I wonder...btw, humbled you burned your first post on this thread.

Originally Posted by Madkidd007

Just now reading thru all of this, night shift sure gives me a chance to read. For a minute I felt bad we didn’t meet sooner because the numbers matching drivetrain was in the burb but it was a 71. One of these days I’ll gwt by your place to have a look. Worth mentioning I always use Nash, he did the one for my truck and it’s been thru a lot. Also post 131 I think just made me decide on a paint color for the crew cab.

Would love to have you and Nash is awesome. Agreed your CC would look great in blue.

Originally Posted by Madkidd007

ako?

Y.

[Ol Blue K20]

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

[IronCanine]

We had planned to use the hood that came with our Fremont donor. But as you can see, when stripped it turned out to be a real dud. Big thanks to Tim (board member Uncle) for hooking us up with a very solid replacement in the 1970 version of 508 blue.

[IronCanine]

Originally Posted by Ol Blue K20

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

Getting there...