1977 Chevy K30 Crew Cab Build

[my4by2]

Originally Posted by jbclassix

What year did AAM start using the U-bolt style yokes on the 14Bolts instead of that junky strap type?

Did a little research on this (sorry it took so long) - WFO carries these parts & did the upgrade pretty much automatically. Here's a link to the page with the parts if interested:
http://www.wfoconcepts.com/pr/1350-U...3210/3312/3324

Hope this helps!

[my4by2]

Not 100% sure & honestly not 100% sure if the shop did this upgrade as I never really got to see this truck in its "original" state... They've upgraded everything else with stronger components, so figure it wouldn't be surprising if they did this too. That being said, this is actually a 2005 model axle, so could'a already been a part of that one.

[85chevy4x4]

man your truck is gonna be one heck of a head turner!!!! it gives me inspiration anytime i look at the few 4x4 builds

[Shawn5488]

Wow, just read all 8 pages, killer build!

[my4by2]

Thanks for the compliments on the build guys!!! Other trucks on this forum have given me inspiration, so it's good to know that mine can help do that for others as well!!! Hope to get you guys some more pics before the weeks over with - keep checking back!

[my4by2]

Found this pic from a truck that sold on eBay recently. It's an 89 1-ton crew cab similar to mine & looks as if it either came factory with a rear tank or they modded it almost identical to what I am having done to mine!!! Either way their filler door is positioned almost exactly where mine will be!!!

[y5mgisi]

Looks factory!

[my4by2]

Sure hoping that's how mine turns out!!! Working on getting Mario Novelli from Novelli Rod & Custom to handle all the body stuff & pretty sure it would turn out just as nice!

[Gordonr1973]

It's looking really good!

[my4by2]

Well, looks as if Trevor finally pulled the trigger & went with a whole new hydraulic clutch kit from McLeod. Looks like a VERY nice set-up - comes with the lines & a master cylinder too!!! This will also allow me to retain the Street & Performance headers I had originally purchased as well!
New fuel filler neck arrived today & they said that Beau would get it welded on today & then they can start all the final welding of the tank & mounts. So with any luck hopefully that'll all be headed out sometime soon to be coated inside & out so it can be final installed.
Finally got word from Ron Davis - the radiator is supposed to ship out of their place NLT than the 14th, so hoping it'll be in by the middle of next week... This will finally allow the front end to be fully mocked up so they can sort out the K&N intake kit & battery mounting prior to shipping out the core support & inner fenders for powder coat.
Progress is happening & sure that Del being back has helped that tremendously!!! He keeps everything so much more organized & on track!!! Hopefully will have pics to share on or before Friday.

[y5mgisi]

Nice! Sounds like its all working out!

[my4by2]

Here's a web shot from the McLeod website that shows what their hydraulic throwout bearing assembly looks like.

And here's what the kit included:
Internal Bearing/Slave cylinder assembly with (2) 11" stainless steel braided lines, (1) for bleeding (1) for input & (1) 3/4" Master Cylinder with remote reservoir.

Already had a new Centerforce clutch kit installed, so that'll just swap over from motor-to-motor.

[speedfreekk]

love your truck, susc.

[my4by2]

My fender badges are done & DAMN do they look freakin' AMAZING!!!!!!!!!! Cannot wait to see these things on my truck - and the cab side badges I showed you earlier in the thread will compliment this one as well! Steve over at Billet Badges is the best at what he does!!!!!

[3r!c84]

sweeeettt! badges! how much where they?

[y5mgisi]

Those are pimpin! Awesome!

[Gordonr1973]

Originally Posted by my4by2

My fender badges are done & DAMN do they look freakin' AMAZING!!!!!!!!!! Cannot wait to see these things on my truck - and the cab side badges I showed you earlier in the thread will compliment this one as well! Steve over at Billet Badges is the best at what he does!!!!!

These look awesome!! Build is really moving fast!

[my4by2]

Pricing for his work varies by what you want exactly, but I assure you it's VERY reasonable!!! This is the second time I've used him & his work is phenomenal!!! He cut me a little break because my truck will almost certainly be shown in a magazine or two & will be entered in a lot of car shows as well so I will mention him & his business frequently - but even without that, he's still priced great! Just have to discuss what you want with him & he'll let you know.

[my4by2]

Mario couldn't make it up today due to a meeting about his new shop location, but is promising me that Monday is the day! Looking forward to hearing his input on the body & paint plans. The guys at WFO didn't get as much done this week as we'd hoped due to another project getting ready for Rubicon, but that's life I guess... Will get more pics posted as soon as I can.

[SledBurban]

Badges look killer, the fab work is top notch and I love the level of detail your putting into this build. keep it up and keep the photo's coming

[my4by2]

Originally Posted by SledBurban

Badges look killer, the fab work is top notch and I love the level of detail your putting into this build. keep it up and keep the photo's coming

The real fab work in my mind has yet to begin for this truck & I am REALLY looking forward to it starting!!! The shop has to fully fabricate a custom headache rack, side rails w/ 3 steps on each side & a custom front push bar assembly with a Xmitter LED light bar on it!
The push bar (minus light) & side step basic designs can be seen on the rendering that's in this thread way back near the beginning, but the headache rack was only in the first version of my renderings - the one that appeared in last months Truckin' magazine. I also am attaching a few "example" pics of kind of what I have in mind for these two items.
On the side bars though, I want them build with square tubing rather the oval stuff used in these pics. Think that the square tubing will go much better with the whole "square body" design!
I have a set of diamond plate bed rails & caps that will be going onto the truck after being powder coated & the headache rack will also have diamond plate on the sides to match the appearance & go with the in-bed toolbox I already purchased.
They also have to fab me up a set of diamond plate mud guards to go behind each tire...
All of these will get powder coated black like everything else has, but the headache rack will hopefully incorporate polished aluminum for the center section. It'll also have LED brake lights built into it to follow the "all LED" scheme I am going with.
All-in-all I think these mods will really set the truck off & make it stand out a lot better. Wish there were "off-the-shelf" parts that would do the trick, but alas there was nothing that did it for me out there... Keep your eyes peeled & I hopefully will have pics of all of this happening in the near future!!!

[my4by2]

And BTW - the front push bar Keven's gonna be fabricating will get an Xmitter LED light bar on top of the lower cross beam to match the LED headlights I am going with. All told it's gonna be a heck of a lot of light coming off the front of this thing!!!

[my4by2]

Here's the first version of my renderings when it still had the headache rack. Wasn't included in the final rendering, but we've since decided to go back with it. Should pretty much look like it does in this pic, but we'll see once the fab starts shortly.

This rendering also had different wheels & lacked the diamond plate bed rails too...

[my4by2]

Another week ahead of us - hoping for some good progress!!! Radiator should arrive this week - YEAH! Will post more pics as soon as I get 'em!

[my4by2]

Mario made it up to the shop today to look over the truck. Looks like he wants to try to get it fully media blasted & primed prior to getting started on anything. Supposed to get me a bid out pretty soon so we'll see!