1970 K20 Rebuild

[kopfjaegger]

This is my 1970. I got it for less than a grand and she runs like a champ. I've been slack on putting up pictures so I've got a lot to catch up on on here. I have no big plans as far as putting hi-po parts or the like. Just work with what I have and stay within budget.

The major change is swapping out the body since it's pretty much rusted to heck. The donor truck is a '68 half ton. It is a desert truck so there's not much body cancer, if any. I also like the front end better than that flat fron the later years came with. The '70 is a 4x4, 4 speed w/granny gear, dana 44 in the front but I don't know what that is in the back. I really don't know anything about 4x4's so I'll be learning as I go along.

I'll appreciate any input as I go along.

Thanks

These pics are the beginning, I took the front clip off first, of course.

[kopfjaegger]

These are the second day. I actually drove it around the neighborhood like this showing the guys. I felt all road warrior... the boys got a good laugh.

You can see the rot under the cab and in bed, fenderwells, etc. the cab floor was so bad, that the PO filled it in with some kind of construction filler. From what I understand, it comes in tubes and you squeeze it into gaps in buildings, then it dries like a crunchy, dry sponge.

Anyway, more to come

[kopfjaegger]

I set up the bed to lift late the second day. I waited until the next day to actually lift since it got dark. Except for shoddy work and neglect by the previous owner, the frame and suspension components are very solid. I used this truck for over a year around the farm, and it runs awesome! The whole body is shot from being a Colorado truck.

[BurnoutNova]

Thats an HO52 rear end you have there. Very strong rear end thats for sure!

[Dieselwrencher]

Nice start for sure! That AZ body should make that one nice truck. What's up with the firebird/camaro in the backround?

[kopfjaegger]

Thanks guys,

I had no idea what that rear end was. When I bought the truck, the gentleman seemed to think that it was a Dana 60 up front and unknown rear end. Thanks for ID'ing it for me, I'll research on it.

As for the Trans Am, she's my baby. She's a 2001 T/A Ram Air with the 6 speed. I have since moved her to an undercover shelter. I try not to driver her to keep the mileage low.

Here's a couple of shots of her before I moved from Virginia.

I'll post more progress pics in a little while, thanks for the comments guys and any advice is gladly welcomed and appreciated.

[kopfjaegger]

Ok, I digressed...

Here are more pics of the truck.

The cab is toast. I'd have to do an awful lot of welding to repair it. I might save it and do it for practice. The floor was actually redone by taping flat tin pieces to it.

[kopfjaegger]

The cab minus tranny hump and ready to lift. I finished that late in the day so I'm saving the lift for early in the morning.

[kopfjaegger]

Lifted the cab...

[72BlckButy]

Nice progress, and beautiful T/A!

[kopfjaegger]

Spent all day getting dirty with degreaser and wire brush. I needed to see what was underneath that thick coating of grease and dirt.

[kopfjaegger]

Thanks for the comment 72BlckButy.

[kopfjaegger]

Ok, this is with the engine out. Yuck, this is covered with muck and grime. Time to take a break.

Thanks for all the input guys!

[84 400]

looking good

[70 beast]

excellent progress!

cant wait to see the finished project.

whats your plans for it?

[Dieselwrencher]

Nice progress! NLucky for you it has the SM465 and NP205. And also very nice TA! I bet it is a blast. my wife has a 95 Formula. Too bad it is an auto though.

[kopfjaegger]

Thanks for the comments on the T/A. She's a real blast Dieselwrencher, she was a divorce present for myself. I love it.

I have a question for you, can you elaborate on what is so good about the SM465 and NP205 combination? I'm green to 4x4's and am trying to learn as much as I can. Is that particularly good for low end torque, or high speed, or is it just more of an all around combo?

To answer 70 beast; my plans fo her are pretty basic. What I really want is an all around vehicle. Not a serious rock crawler or anything like that. Just something I can drive around, use on the farm, and perhaps drive to El Paso (about 30 or so miles) once in a while to pick up my son. Perhaps do a little four wheeling. I am also a member of the local search and rescue team, so it would be nice to be able to drive this out to missions and training. The final color scheme I want is bright, annoying yellow with black rally stripes.

The following pics are of some of the engine components as I worked on them. I apologize for the lack of quality. My camera took a dump so I'm having to do with the camera phone. Sorry they're so crappy but I wouldn't stop forward progress just for the lack of camera.

I treated the fan, water pump, pump pulley, fuel pump, etc, to a couple of coats of engine primer and bright yellow engine paint. I degreased and wirebrushed each part as well as the engine. My arms are sore as hell. Next I'll post about the intake manifold.

[kopfjaegger]

This is the Holley Contender Manifold the truck came with. I sand blasted it and had the boys at work power coat it for me. I think it came out pretty good. I mocked it on the engine along with the other stuff just to see what it looked like. I'm not done so don't fret.

I know there are people that know a lot about engines and will probably say this isn't the best manifold to use. I'm using it primarily because it came with the truck so it helps me stay within budget. If anyone has any advice as to why I should or should not use it, please let me know. For now the plan is to use it along with the rochester carb that came with the truck. If I have a few bucks before I mount the carb, I'll buy a Holley or Edelbrock for her. Any advice on which would make the best combo would be appreciated.

Time for a break for now.

[jeremy zander]

Very cool.. I cannot get enough of these 3/4 4x4s.The sm465/np205 has a low first gear.fun for pulling,mudding or slow driving.I would reuse your whole drivetrain with everything rebuilt..just my opinion.Keep up the good work.JZ.

[Dieselwrencher]

Just like Jeremy said. The SM465 has an extra low first gear, and the NP205 is a very stout sought after transfer case. It is gear to gear and will take a lot of abuse. A lot of these trucks in 69 and 70 came with a lesser strength rockwell transfer case. Your intake looks awesome! It is a dual plane so as long as you don't install a big cam, it should work fine for what you want to do with the truck. I'm thinking it is a classic anyway so just run it and not worry about it. Keep up the great work! It is looking awesome!

[kopfjaegger]

This is the A/C evaporator box. It was pretty bad inside. The last two are the valve covers out of the ol' 327 sitting in the donor truck's frame. I wire wheeled the heck out of them and ground the tabs off.

[kopfjaegger]

These are the valve covers. I might stencil something on them or detail them somehow. For now, I wrapped them in newspaper and put them in a box for the build later. I also started wire wheeling the frame.

[kopfjaegger]

Along with the engine compartment stuff, I worked on the frame. Due to space considerations, I divided the frame into four sections; (1)front bumper mounts to bell housing, (2)cab section, (3) bed section, (4) suspension. I started wire-wheeling the engine compartment section and gave it a coat of chassis black. The center things (I don't know the name of those) got a coat of primer, and a couple coats of yellow. I know, I went overboard with the grade 8's, but they have a yellowish tint I couldn't resist.

[70 beast]

i also was told that the sm465 was great for towing due to the granny first.

[kopfjaegger]

So, I took a break over the holidays (read, got lazy), and now it's catch-up time. While the engine is out I cleaned it up, slapped some fresh paint, and just got busy on it. I replaced all the bolts I could on the frame and motor with new ones. Those old valve covers will be replaced with the freshly painted ones later so they don't get banged up.