My 1967 Chevy K20 Build Thread

[Stickman]

Truck looks awesome, very well done.

[Chaparralman1974]

Originally Posted by Stickman

Truck looks awesome, very well done.

Thank you much! It is definitely getting there.


Clay

[Chaparralman1974]

9/3/2024 - 11/7/2024
Cab Painting, Wheel Painting, and Steering Column Rebuild
After tossing things around in my head, I have made the decision to have someone do the final sanding and paint on the cab and bed. First off, as I have mentioned in the past, paint and body work is an art. While I was able to get 95% of the way there on my own I really wanted the end result to be a bit better than I knew I was capable of so I found a paint and body guy who was willing to finish up my remaining body work and shoot paint. He made the cab look new again! He is still working on the bed, but the cab turned out better than I could have hoped for. We also opted to use spray in bedliner on the floor of the cab to offer a bit more protection and insulation. It will ultimately get either kilmat or dynamat underneath, but I figured that the extra bit of protection would be worth it.
I also was able to finally get the wheels sandblasted and painted. For those, I ended up just going with rustoleum paint mixed with some acetone and some Majik enamel hardener. I figured that it was worth it to see how they come out. Worse case scenario is that I have to re-blast them and have them powder coated, but for now I figured that this was a cost effective measure. I was also able to rebuild the steering column. This was a lot easier than I thought. I disassembled and cleaned everything, stripped everything down to bare metal, and then painted it with rattle can rustoleum. I also replaced all the wiring components in the column. I am still on the fence with the steering wheel. I am not sure if I will attempt to restore this one or just get a reproduction. The new reproduction ones are reasonably priced so that may be the better route.

[Chaparralman1974]

Freshly painted wheels.

[Chaparralman1974]

Rebuilt steering column.

[loudchevy]

Clay, that Cab looks great! I love the white wheels to go along with the white cab top. Nice job rebuilding that steering column as well.

[Chaparralman1974]

Originally Posted by loudchevy

Clay, that Cab looks great! I love the white wheels to go along with the white cab top. Nice job rebuilding that steering column as well.

Thanks Scott, I am getting closer to you. I am hoping to start the motor next month. :-)


Clay

[Jason Banks]

It looks so good!

[Chaparralman1974]

11/13/2024 - 11/18/2024
The truck has new shoes!!
I have been able to make a bunch of progress this past week on some of the smaller things. Additionally, I finally got new tires on it! Before I mention the tires I did have a bit of rework to do on the wheels. Even though I had painted them, I found that they scratched way to easy. I had bumped up against them in the garage with a piece of wood and make a pretty good chip and scratch in the paint. I ultimately said screw it, loaded them up in the truck and then just took them down to get powder coated. I am glad that I did….I don’t think I would have been happy with the constant painting of chips and scratches on the wheels. I wrapped the wheels in Pathfinder All Terrains (265/75/R16). As I am going for a stock look on a stock driver truck, these should fill the wheel wells nicely.
I also decided to go with the original Dana Hub Lok’s on the front end. As you may recall, I originally wanted to go with the Spicer Big Hub’s for nostalgia reasons, but after looking at the color scheme and the white wheels, I think that the original hubs look best, and they are just that….original. I was able to source some new orings and basically just give them a good cleaning and applied a liberal amount of grease. Now they work perfectly.
I spent a little bit of time aligning the cab as well. I made several measurements to get the cab in its correct location and orientation and then tightened down the cab mounting bolts. Prior to doing this, I leveled the frame on jack stands so that I could get the cab level to the frame. It did require a few shims on the front cab mounts.
The rebuild of the kick panel vents was also completed using new rubber that I ordered from Eckler’s. They now move and seal like they are supposed to. I also began the installation of the firewall insulation. That was a major pain. The stuff I got from LMC didn’t fit up right, but I managed to get it in there.

[loudchevy]

Good to see the cab on the frame! The white powder coated wheels look great against the blue.

[Chaparralman1974]

Originally Posted by loudchevy

Good to see the cab on the frame! The white powder coated wheels look great against the blue.

Thanks Scott! It was great seeing you again yesterday. Before you know it, we will be sitting at a car show drinking a beer and talking about the misery that is body work! LOL!

Clay

[rodstored-72]

agree with loudchevy!! truck is looking great!! did either of you guys check out Dino's ?

[Chaparralman1974]

Originally Posted by rodstored-72

agree with loudchevy!! truck is looking great!! did either of you guys check out Dino's ?

Thanks much!

I didn't get to go, but Scott did. My son's wedding was this weekend, so I missed the show.


Clay

[Chaparralman1974]

11/18/2024 - 11/24/2024
Steering column and pedal installation, front clip and door install.
The steering column and brake pedal assembly are now installed. I was able to verify that the rebuild of the steering box was a success as the steering is now crisp and tight. I also fitted the brake and clutch pedal assembly and connected the rest of the clutch linkage up underneath. The clutch return spring that I ordered from LMC a while back had to be modified, but I think it will work out ok.
With the truck completely level and on jack stands, I got the cab as square as possible by measuring from the rocker to the frame rail on each side until I had roughly the same measurement at four points. My painter finally called and let me know the doors were ready, so after bringing those home they went on next. It took a few hours to get them aligned, but I think that they fit rather well. The gaps are about as close as I can get them at this point. The doors didn’t fit properly in the opening when it rolled off the factory floor, so I am ok with some variance here.
I then moved onto the front clip of the truck. This took a bit of shimming under the core support and at the lower fender mounting location, but all in all, I think the panels line up nicely! I plan to get to the hood today sometime.

[Chaparralman1974]

Doors and front clip.

[1970cstblazer]

Absolutely breathtaking!

[loudchevy]

Great update! Love seeing this truck get put back together.

[jaros44sr]

Great build

I was wondering, when you get time, could you give me a part number for vent gasket near the floor, I went to ecklers site and couldn’t find it

[Chaparralman1974]

Originally Posted by jaros44sr

Great build

I was wondering, when you get time, could you give me a part number for vent gasket near the floor, I went to ecklers site and couldn’t find it

Hi Jim, here is a link to the gaskets that I ordered for the kick panel vents.

https://www.ecklers.com/rubber-the-r...l-18-041p.html


Clay

[jaros44sr]

Clay, thanks for the speedy response I’ll get them ordered tomorrow

[Chaparralman1974]

11/25/2024 - 12/16/2024
Major Painting Completed
After almost 3 months of waiting, I finally got the bed back from the painter. To be perfectly honest, I was a bit disappointed. My body work shows up a bit through the paint. I can’t blame the painter here. Technically speaking, I did contract him to prepare it for paint and shoot it. I just wish that he would have called me and said that it needed more work before shooting it. It is nothing that can’t be fixed down the road, but you can definitely see some waves in the bed sides. For what I am doing, it will work for now.
For the most part, I have the panels about 95% aligned. There are still some areas that need to be addressed up front. Specifically, with the hood hinges. On that topic….the reproduction hood hinges that I have found are just plain junk!! Somehow, I was able to bend two different sets! I was not putting a ton of pressure on them at all and they folded like wet paper towels. I was able to get a refund on the first set…the second set I was not so lucky. I eventually ended up sending my original set to hoodhingerepair.com which is probably what I should have done in the beginning.
I have also been tinkering around with the exhaust. I ordered that from Waldron’s. After more than 3 months of waiting, it finally showed up and didn’t fit at all. I am sad to report that this system doesn't fit a 1967 K20......It won't even fit a 1968 to 1972 K20 either. The bends are all wrong. The driver side pipe is about 1" too short to hook up to the mid pipe, and the passenger side pipe seems to be 2" too long. The entire system is jammed up against the driver side frame rail. About the only thing that is a match is the muffler. Using the supplied mid pipe, when connected I doubt this system would even fit a 327 on an engine stand. Unfortunately, at this point the only thing I can do is cut it all apart and reweld it properly. I did contact Waldron, and they are sending me out a new passenger side pipe so we will see how that fits.
It is getting closer for sure.

[Chaparralman1974]

Exhaust Pics.

[1970cstblazer]

Beautiful work.

I did see something that you may want to look into. The clutch pedal over-center spring appears to be upside down as compared to every other '67-'72 truck with that arrangement has. Not sure if it will affect operation.



Your truck:

[Chaparralman1974]

Originally Posted by 1970cstblazer

Beautiful work.

I did see something that you may want to look into. The clutch pedal over-center spring appears to be upside down as compared to every other '67-'72 truck with that arrangement has. Not sure if it will affect operation.



Your truck:

That is interesting. I took pictures before I disassembled anything and that appears to be the way it came out. Does anyone else have the spring arranged this way?

[Chaparralman1974]

Originally Posted by 1970cstblazer

Beautiful work.

I did see something that you may want to look into. The clutch pedal over-center spring appears to be upside down as compared to every other '67-'72 truck with that arrangement has. Not sure if it will affect operation.



Your truck:

Ok, just an update to my build thread. 1970cstblazer was spot on with regards to the clutch pedal over center spring. I fired up the truck and tried to move it, but I noticed that the clutch pedal didn't feel quite right. There was no freeplay in it at all and it felt way too tight. I tried adjusting the linkage to see if that was it, but nope.....I could not get any free play in the pedal before the clutch disengaged. I reversed the spring and the eye loop thing (which was a major PITA by the way) and now it functions like it should. I have adjusted it to have about 1 1/2" of free play and the truck can now move under her own power! When I took it apart, I put it back the way it came out, so the previous owner must have reversed it for some reason.


Clay