1971 K10 Stepside - Getting a Roller Roadworthy

[pjmoreland]

Originally Posted by CUSTOM/10

Those shims are a PITA... I honed out a set of bearings & races to a slip fit to mock-up the gear pattern. I was changing the gear ratio so the shims were totally different. It was still a PITA.

Good looking work.
Gary

Good call on the honed out bearings. That may be in my future if the front or rear gears are noisy.

I was under the impression that the gears in my truck were the original gears since 3.73 was standard equipment, and the SPID doesn't list the ratio. I was reading the optional equipment list in the sales brochure for 1971, and it says a 350 engine gets 3.07 gears. My SPID lists a 350 engine. It is obvious that someone has worked on both the front and rear gears on this truck, so it was probably to swap the original 3.07 gears for 3.73 gears.

['68OrangeSunshine]

Originally Posted by pjmoreland

Good call on the honed out bearings. That may be in my future if the front or rear gears are noisy.

I was under the impression that the gears in my truck were the original gears since 3.73 was standard equipment, and the SPID doesn't list the ratio. I was reading the optional equipment list in the sales brochure for 1971, and it says a 350 engine gets 3.07 gears. My SPID lists a 350 engine. It is obvious that someone has worked on both the front and rear gears on this truck, so it was probably to swap the original 3.07 gears for 3.73 gears.

I'm not claiming to be a total expert, Pat, but from what I've gathered; the 3.73 Ratio was standard for Manual Transmission trucks, while the 3.07 was for Automatic Transmissions.

[pjmoreland]

Originally Posted by '68OrangeSunshine

I'm not claiming to be a total expert, Pat, but from what I've gathered; the 3.73 Ratio was standard for Manual Transmission trucks, while the 3.07 was for Automatic Transmissions.

Hmm. My SPID lists a 350 engine and a 4-speed transmission. Here's the table from the 1971 sales brochure that had me wondering about the gears. The brochure also says that 3.07 will be included with a 350 engine.

[loudchevy]

I love the consistent progress! What's next on the list to tackle?

[pjmoreland]

Originally Posted by loudchevy

I love the consistent progress! What's next on the list to tackle?

I missed your post a couple of weeks ago. Sorry about that! Here's my rough to-do list at this point:

Reassemble front hubs
Finish patching door speaker holes
Replace the center section of the dash to fix a butchered radio hole
Replace rocker panels
Replace rear window
Clean and paint frame rails
Rebuild entire brake system (new hard lines, booster, master cylinder, etc.)
Install parking brake cables
Convert 2WD NV4500 transmission to 4WD by replacing output shaft & tail housing
Replace NP205 long input shaft with a short one
Install engine, transmission & transfer case
Measure for rear driveshaft and get ordered
Clutch linkage
Go through entire electrical system and make repairs as needed
Build a tach gauge cluster
New bed wood
Reupholster seat

Those are the big items at this point.

['68OrangeSunshine]

OK. IDK.
My '71 GMC Jimmy K/1500 was originally equipped with V8 350/SM465/NP205/ 3.73 w/Posi.
I have a 1972 Chevy K/5 Blazer Tub/Chassis out the 'Back Forty'. While it has no Engine, Transmission, or Transfer Case, and no Glove Box Door [ergo, no SPID], the Rear Differential was a 3.07 when I opened it up and counted teeth. This Blazer was originally an Auto Tranny truck.
Flint build.

[pjmoreland]

Originally Posted by '68OrangeSunshine

OK. IDK.
My '71 GMC Jimmy K/1500 was originally equipped with V8 350/SM465/NP205/ 3.73 w/Posi.
I have a 1972 Chevy K/5 Blazer Tub/Chassis out the 'Back Forty'. While it has no Engine, Transmission, or Transfer Case, and no Glove Box Door [ergo, no SPID], the Rear Differential was a 3.07 when I opened it up and counted teeth. This Blazer was originally an Auto Tranny truck.
Flint build.

Does your '71 Jimmy still have the SPID, and does it list 3.73?

['68OrangeSunshine]

Originally Posted by pjmoreland

Does your '71 Jimmy still have the SPID, and does it list 3.73?

Yes it does. OK. I get it. The Original Buyer _opted_ for 3.73 in his differentials.
Since White Fang and 919 both were 3.73 trucks, I made the assumption 3.73 was always STD.

[pjmoreland]

Originally Posted by '68OrangeSunshine

Yes it does. OK. I get it. The Original Buyer _opted_ for 3.73 in his differentials.
Since White Fang and 919 both were 3.73 trucks, I made the assumption 3.73 was always STD.

That makes sense.

The funky shims in my rear diff, and new bearings in the front diff point to a gear swap.

[pjmoreland]

Originally Posted by '68OrangeSunshine

Yes it does. OK. I get it. The Original Buyer _opted_ for 3.73 in his differentials.
Since White Fang and 919 both were 3.73 trucks, I made the assumption 3.73 was always STD.

I wish my SPID were as clean as yours. Mine has been exposed to the weather for who knows how long because the windshield was missing.

['68OrangeSunshine]

Originally Posted by pjmoreland

I wish my SPID were as clean as yours. Mine has been exposed to the weather for who knows how long because the windshield was missing.

It is surprizingly clean. The paint shop that shot Maui Blue over the Factory 522 Medium Bronze took pains to mask over the SPID. I think the PO's FIL owned the shop and the blue paint job was a wedding present. They were from LA. [Venice Beach, and their PO was in Newport.]
As an inner-city security feature, the Door Lock Knobs and relay rods had been deleted. The doors were kept locked and when picking up the spouse, she/he had to user their key to open the door, they told me.
About 4 or 5 years later I made a road trip up to the Bay Area, and Jerry Moss gave me a pair of Relay Rods, when I bought a Blazer Windshield Frame from him.

[pjmoreland]

I finished a batch of dummy filler necks two days ago and had some two part epoxy paint and primer left over that needed to be used up. This evening I cleaned up the front brake caliper brackets/dust shields, some little parking brake parts and some original stepside rear bumper gravel shields and painted them.

[CUSTOM/10]

It's hard to find those dust shields still intact. Yours look solid, there usually rusted away or damaged.
Gary

[pjmoreland]

Originally Posted by CUSTOM/10

It's hard to find those dust shields still intact. Yours look solid, there usually rusted away or damaged.
Gary

I straightened out a couple of bent corners on them, and one appears to have detached partially from the caliper bracket at some point and got welded back on. The metal is still thick and solid though. I noticed that the single mounting screw for each dust shield is missing.

[CUSTOM/10]

If the threaded hole in the knuckles isn't there, then I would suspect either the knuckles or front axle have been changed at some point. You could look up the axle numbers.

My dust shields were in about the same shape.
Gary

[pjmoreland]

Originally Posted by CUSTOM/10

If the threaded hole in the knuckles isn't there, then I would suspect either the knuckles or front axle have been changed at some point. You could look up the axle numbers.

My dust shields were in about the same shape.
Gary

The threaded holes are there, and thankfully there aren't snapped off bolts in them, which is what I was half expecting to find.

[pjmoreland]

The truck should be down off of jack stands soon.

[CUSTOM/10]

Nice, so that's most likely the original front end. After 72 those holes were no longer.

[1970cstblazer]

Originally Posted by CUSTOM/10

Nice, so that's most likely the original front end. After 72 those holes were no longer.

As shown on this NOS 360046 passengers side knuckle currently on everyone's favorite auction site!





This part number is used from 1971-74 in the later parts catalogs.

[pjmoreland]

Originally Posted by 1970cstblazer

As shown on this NOS 360046 passengers side knuckle currently on everyone's favorite auction site!

Looks like it would be easy to add the missing dust shield tapped hole.

[CUSTOM/10]

Except the boss in the casting is no longer there.

[pjmoreland]

This evening I installed the rear brakes. Lubed up the parking brake cables and installed new rubber boots on them. Installed the shoes and hardware. I was missing one parking brake strut spring, so I had to run to the auto parts store to buy some. Installed 67-70 style drums because i had an extra set already. The rear wheels are back on and sitting on the ground.

['68OrangeSunshine]

Pat, Was your '71 K/10 Stepside originally an Air Force truck? The darker metallic blue suggests that to me. But internet colors get distorted.

[pjmoreland]

Originally Posted by '68OrangeSunshine

Pat, Was your '71 K/10 Stepside originally an Air Force truck? The darker metallic blue suggests that to me. But internet colors get distorted.

Unfortunately I know next to nothing about the history of this truck. The original paint was dark olive, and now it's covered in gray primer. One bed fender and the interior are still green.

['68OrangeSunshine]

Originally Posted by pjmoreland

Unfortunately I know next to nothing about the history of this truck. The original paint was dark olive, and now it's covered in gray primer. One bed fender and the interior are still green.

Quick reply! I was about to edit, since I backtracked and pulled up the SPID. While the OEM color was Olive, the SPID looks commercial, as Gov't trucks had a government property placque riveted inside the Glove Box and often no SPID.
And the Air Force never ''borrows'' trucks from the Army.
[Only the Marine Corps has a 'tradition' of assimilating vehicles from other branches -- usually when they ain't looking.]