Restomod 72 K10 "Good Memories"

[Richard]

Originally Posted by mr.mud1

WOW Richard,what a truck you're building,i just found it read through the complete build after seeing your comment about my truck.i hope my bed sides look as nice as yours?wonderful tribute to dad,he'd be proud i'm sure.i have a personalized plate on my 67 impala wagon that says "THX DAD" .people always ask if he gave me the car but he didn't.he was a car nut,racer,all around cool guy.he was with me in Blueridge,GA in 1999 when I bought the car,we worked on it for 2 days after it sat 10 years and then we drove it home.i learned a lot from him and miss him and mom everyday.very cool truck you have.take care,all the best.Greg

Thank you for the comment. Really appreciate it. Know my dad would be and always was proud of me. An awesome feeling to have. Though he would most likely be rolling his eyes at some of the stuff I am doing to this truck. Same as my last one. Really miss talking to him about stuff I am working on. Learned more than I could explain from him. Wish you well on your project!

[Richard]

Got some work done on the shock hoops. Was going to wait until they were done. Maybe someone would like to see the progress? Right hoop is ready to tack onto mounts. Was challenging and fun to make it clear the factory A/C box. Driver side pieces are bent up as well and just need to be put together. Wanted to come up with a design that works and mirrors. Still quite a bit to do on the mounts. Another "leg" in the center, the removable brace over the engine and then cut inner fender wells to fit. My plan is to fab covers over the cutout space for hoops/shocks. Do not want the water and debris in the engine bay. Some pics for all.

[Richard]

The hoops are put together and ready to be tacked onto the frame. Want some 1 3/4" tube for bracing as I am a little short. Trying to find a supplier that can provide without ridiculous shipping. Hoops are kind of crazy looking. You can see what I started with in the back of earlier pic from post #152. All done with hand tools. No reason to just use off the shelf stuff as is. You can do it with persistence.

[Richard]

Both hoops are tacked in place on the mounts and I made a couple of brackets for a center leg attachment point on frame. Lots of measuring, double checking and minor fitting today. Some 1 3/4" tube is on the way. Considering I have not done a project this extensive before, am pleased with how it is shaping up. Couple pics of drivers side and another.

[Richard]

Was going through some parts and found my new wheel, paddle shifter and cruse stalk. Been wanting to make sure I can clock the wheel correctly with the steering box centered and check clearance of paddle module to levers. So I threw it on. Don't mind the wires, they are all going away.

[Richard]

Removed core support yesterday and welded up all the holes that were made through the years. Worked at body shop again today. Took it with me to complete the repairs. A lot to do so I did not get to it. Going in again tomorrow. My tubing should show up Friday so I can finish the shock hoops next week. Took a pic without the core support in for a friend. Attached it. Never tire of looking at that motor.

[A.Delaney]

This is an inspiring build to say the least. I love it. Maybe I missed it somewhere but who makes the custom Dana 60 front end?

[Richard]

Originally Posted by Detroit steel

thats an awsome truck and i can tell by your knowledge its going to be a beautiful truck when its finished , i will be following this build . good luck and let the good times roll.

Originally Posted by A.Delaney

This is an inspiring build to say the least. I love it. Maybe I missed it somewhere but who makes the custom Dana 60 front end?

Thank you both for the posts. Will continue building the truck I would have done 25 years ago + the added upgrades technology provides. I am having a good time doing this. I surprise myself and most that have come by all the time with what I have done. Just takes time and dedication to get things done. Another thing I learned from my Dad.

The axle is from East Coast Gear. Was significantly less expensive than Currie or DynaTrac who both did not seem to want my money. Think they just want to build Jeep axles.
Bult to my specs- passenger drop, stock width, high steer and high pinion. A little disappointed pinion is not turned up as much as wanted for my CV joint on front drive shaft. They built with 12 degrees of separation (from knuckle to pinion) and I wanted about 16. Called and the owner was willing to take axle back on his dime. Did not want the hassle. May have some vibration at high speed in 4wd. Honestly, it will not be used much in that situation. I will cut and turn the knuckles if it is a problem.

Busy day at body shop again. Lots of stuff to do. Really love the gift of working there.
Today presented a challenge on an electrical part in a door. All repaired and working as it was my own. Did manage to get core support almost ready for paint. Always learning, Brad is still sharing his knowledge and wisdom with me. The best way I learn, invaluable. Will bring core support home tomorrow.

[mr.mud1]

more great work Richard,it's looking real good.take care.Greg

[Richard]

Originally Posted by mr.mud1

more great work Richard,it's looking real good.take care.Greg

Thank you. Core support came home today with me. Ready for install. Some pics later. When I arrived home sitting on the door step was my tube and the locker for the rear axle. Have been ordering some necessary parts again, will be a while until I get to this but I am so unsure about availability that I am trying to keep on top of things. The rear 5.13 gears and master install kit should be here next week along with the new 1410 yokes and flanges for t-case and diff. Had to get parts from two different places. Pic of a box, tube is less interesting than the box.

[Richard]

Worked all last week and probably most of this one. Enjoying the work. Getting the 56 F100 at the shop back together after months. Hope to finish up on Wednesday. Seeing a project come together after putting work into it is very satisfying for me. A 98 Chevy truck is also keeping me busy stripping paint to bare metal for a complete repaint. Typical Chevy clear coat fail wherever the sun hits it.

Not a lot to see on the 72. Put the cleaned up core support on the truck because it was the best place to store it. Not perfect but looks pretty good! Still need to make modifications for fresh air intake. Want to wait for that. Also shot some paint on the PSC steering box, did not care for the silver color. Masked off the caps that will not rust for a little contrast. Farming out some work this week since I am working again. Will drop off parts tomorrow. A simple pic to see.

[Richard]

My Radiator fan and shroud showed up today. It is an 850 watt 19" pwm fan and shroud assembly made to fit 64-67 Chevelle's. Their Square body assembly was to far off. Purchased through Summit from Vintage Air. Checked the fit. It is low profile but still spaces fan away from rad for better airflow. Fit was as expected and I started the modifications today. Nothing like the thrill of chopping up a brand new part, more fun making stuff work.
The motor and fan are branded Spal. FWIU the 850w motor and 19" fan are OEM parts. To be sold aftermarket they have to be application specific. Motor and fan not available separately.
Fan should move some air! 100a fuse for the power. Should only be running at 30% or less most of the time.
Plan A is to control fan from ECU. Think I have it figured out. Have a plan B if it does not work out.
Hope to mostly finish up with mods tomorrow.

[Richard]

I modified the mounting plate that goes in-between shroud and radiator for a cleaner air path and to make a complete seal to radiator. Moved the upper bar up about 1/2" and also opened up the top/bottom bulges as they did not need to be closed up as much as they were. About 1/2" was removed from the side vertical pieces. More free area will allow more airflow.

Original plan was to move both top and bottom bars and cut shroud. Decided the amount of work vs gain would not be worth it. Plus, getting the patched shroud to look as nice as it is now would be pretty difficult.

An interesting thing I noticed today when reassembling the fan. The fan blades have a reverse sweep. Meaning the outer forward swept edge of fan points into the direction of rotation not away like a traditional blade. Have seen this used on high end A/C units installed in the past. The design is supposed to reduce air noise generated by the fan.

[Richard]

Was able to get the left hand hoop brace fabbed and fitted today as well as the landing point on frame for right hand side. Should get RH fabbed up tomorrow and both braces tacked. Then I can start on the brace over engine.

[Richard]

Got the fan mounted to radiator. Plenty of room for intake tube, rad hose and airflow. Even with the Gilmer drive in front of engine. Like the simplicity of a single fan and the pwm drive. Worked out nice.
The right side hoop brace is also fabbed up and fitted. Still have not tacked up as I am still figuring out things for shock mount tabs and hoop over engine brace. It may be a bit before next update so here is a couple of pics.

[Richard]

Discovered the crossbar tube sent with the ORD kit is too short to accomplish what I want to do. Had to order more. Shipping has become totally ridiculous. Found a local supplier that delivered with total cost 1/3rd of all the online places. Prefer local anyway. Will pick up my tube at the body shop tomorrow.

The intake tube and filter arrived. I did some cutting and trimming for an initial mockup. Tube will be welded where it is taped together. An air box will occupy the area in front of left fender well. Will draw air from behind the grill. Think it looks good!

KC does not have any interest in what I do, just chillin on the porch.

[Richard]

A bit more done today. Upper shock mounts are sorted, tacked and finalized. Will bridge the shock mount tabs to the center down tube when hoops are removed and fully welded. Crossbar next week.

[Ol Blue K20]

Nice work, but, the cat made me laugh!

[Richard]

Originally Posted by Ol Blue K20

Nice work, but, the cat made me laugh!

Thanks for the comment! KC is a character, she makes me laugh as well. Originally a stray that came by to eat as long as 7 years ago. I am a sucker for strays. About 3 years ago she adopted us and became part of the family. Still an outside cat but is content sleeping and staying out of the weather in my "man cave" now.

Forgot to say- pretty happy that Brian @ American Off Road was willing to bend up my tubes for the strut brace today on the spot. While my HF bender works his hydraulic bender just make awesome bends. Brian's input for my project has been very helpful. His enthusiasm to be involved in the project is an awesome motivator. He is the one that pushed me to go with the coilover modification. Hoping to get on the brace tomorrow or Monday at the latest.

[72 tigger]

More great work- very professional looking. Enjoy following along

[Richard]

Originally Posted by 72 tigger

More great work- very professional looking. Enjoy following along

Thank you the supportive comment. Hit 104 today so I decided to spend time with my wife and Mother in law. Excited to finish things up on the front suspension now that I have the parts. Will get on it Monday regardless of circumstances.

[mr.mud1]

Originally Posted by Richard

Thank you the supportive comment. Hit 104 today so I decided to spend time with my wife and Mother in law. Excited to finish things up on the front suspension now that I have the parts. Will get on it Monday regardless of circumstances.

great work Richard,i'm following along.an awesome truck your building.all the best.Greg.

[Richard]

Brace is put together and cleaned up. Some trimming was done for an initial fit. The cope or notch is done with my 4.5" grinder using cutoff, grinding and flap wheels. Due to the center downbar on the hoops I do not have room to use the tube disconnects on the brace. Thought I may run into this so I purchased some mounting plates a while back. Will see soon what I am doing with them.

[Hatzman]

Awesome work and progress on this truck! Mine is taking much longer and isn't as spiffy as yours. That color blue really pops, great choice!

Where did you order the air intake tube from?

Following!

[Richard]

Originally Posted by Hatzman

Awesome work and progress on this truck! Mine is taking much longer and isn't as spiffy as yours. That color blue really pops, great choice!

Where did you order the air intake tube from?

Following!

Thank you for the kudos and taking the time to comment! Checked out your thread and subscribed. Looks like you are making good progress.
Forgot to answer your question- the intake tube pieces were obtained through Summit and are made by Spectre. The filter is a non oil type unit I obtained on Ebay.