71 K-20 tow/haul truck

[webfoot]

I have had this pickup for a few years now and only fixed an occasional bug. Original plan was to keep this until the wife's car was paid off, but for no more than I need to drive I have decided just to keep this and make it a little nicer to drive and look at. It hauls my snowmobile trailer in the winter and sometimes some yard crap. I am going to keep it at the stock ride height, which I can only guess is unusual.



This is how it sat when I bought it, and for quite some time after that. The grille was beat up and held together in the middle with wire, and painted black. There were also holes cut where a long ago PO decided to mount fog lights. The fog lights must have weighed about 125 lbs each based on the 3" x 1/8" angle iron bolted to the core support where they were mounted.

Also note the sweet side view mirrors. This thing hauled a camper at some point, as evidenced by the J hooks on the bed that rip my clothes when i walk too close. The dash even has a very old altimeter on it. I can only assume this truck used to fly but I have no evidence of that.

The turn signals never canceled and the horn never worked prior to today. It had on one of those cheap grant steering wheels with the way too thick grip on it. I had another decent steering wheel from a mid 70s pickup and that is in there now. The upper column bearing was junk too and I found a new one in a bag the PO gave me with the truck. MUCH better.

So far I have only replaced the grill but it looks a bunch better. I have ordered a new "show quality chrome" front bumper and going to replace the original shocks with some GR-2s. The bumper is squished in where I had to pull a broken down dodge out. Maybe I should get some tow hooks.



I am eventually going to repaint this but I am currently knees deep in a frame off resto of a 68 GTO ragtop. Here is my other driver:

[webfoot]

I swear yesterday I put that steering wheel on straight...

Snapped a few pics of the interior to show off the sweet "before" pics with the poncho seat cover and faded-to-purple black carpet. I was looking at the "seatz" brand seat covers from raybuck.com. Does anybody have any experience with those? I would like to get a set with black vinyl and charcoal cloth inserts. Also, I like the truck-ness of the vinyl flooring shown here: http://raybuck.com/i-156775-1967-72-...yl-manual.html

Anybody have any feedback on that?



Today I found out why my backup lamps have never worked. I removed the cover and the reverse switch had 1 prong broken off and the wiring harness was mounted up on the intake manifold, as if someone thought it was a water temp sender wire. (kinda looks like one) I ordered a new one from NAPA (NS6578) and routed the wiring down there. The switch will be here tomorrow morning so finally everything will work.

[Dieselwrencher]

Webfoot, that's a nice 4x4. Good descion to keep it around. Your Chevelle is freaking awesome man!

[VA72C10]

nice driver!!! And the truck looks like a good project!

[webfoot]

Got backup lights now! Only remaining non-functional item is the license plate lamp.

Bumper is supposed to be here thursday. I also ordered a new pair of parking light lenses.

[webfoot]

Bumper is installed. Really nice unit in my opinion. Parking light lenses aren't here yet so I refrained from putting the old ones on in anticipation of the new ones.



I also got some new front shocks installed. I used KYB GR-2s. The old ones were either the originals or very old replacements. They were frozen into a solid unit so it is no wonder this rode so rough as it was like I had a solid bar for shocks. Took it out to the gravel and over some washboards and WOW it is like a new truck. Going to order rears next.

Next up for front end treatment will be to mask and re-apply the black paint around the headlights. Also, I was informed that my new "sport" side mirrors shipped today.

[webfoot]

Redid the headlight surrounds today. The bezels will get replaced someday but good enough for now.

(before & after)

[Dieselwrencher]

Very nice! Man that bumper is sweet! And yes, the shocks can kill ride in a hurry!

[webfoot]

Got new lenses & bowtie, it will be time for some new interior pics soon, hopefully. Also mounted the 1 sport mirror that showed up. Can't see anything useful out of it but come to think of it, I couldn't on the old one either.

Molded vinyl carpet will be here 8/23. I have replaced the gauge bezel and painted the shift levers. Got samples of the "seatz" brand covers and I will be going with the vinyl/tweed design. Black vinyl bolsters with charcoal seating inserts.

Found out my RH window regulator where the glass sits is bent to heck, so gotta find a new one of those.

[webfoot]

Got my new rubber mat installed. It fits good but takes quite a bit of trimming. Still haven't ordered a new seat cover yet but hopefully soon. Next week I'll be getting a new windshield installed. This one is OLD and cracked clear across the whole width. Washed the center seatbelts in the dishwasher last night and will spray with dye today.

[webfoot]

I wish I could have taken pics of the seatbelts as I removed them. 40 years of dirt and grime, and all curled up on the sides. They were pretty faded from years in the sun. (hard to tell from the sun glare but you'll have to suspend your imagination and pretend they were a greyish white color in the 1st pic)




I love SEM vinyl/plastic dye. This particular color is landau black. One of the seatbelts is frayed but it is above the adjustment point of the belt (unless I get some big 'uns in there) so I will just run it like this. Total time invested in the seatbelt restoration is about 15 minutes which includes removal.

[etravis46]

Nice truck! I think it is a good idea to stick with the stock ride height. That way you can actually use the bed! I like the mods you're doing, simple but very effective in dressing the truck up.

[webfoot]

At some point someone added two auxiliary tanks in the bed. No way could I afford to use both of those so they hafta go. That leaves the hole in the bed.

I used a piece of the lower door I cut out to put a 6 x 9 in and bent it around. Used magnets to hold it to the bed and sprayed black paint through the hole to get a rough idea of where to cut. The magnets are very strong and are good at keeping flush edges. Aviation snips come in handy on both these patch jobs.

[webfoot]

Then there was this hole some PO cut for a CB antenna or some such thing.



Got the old camper mirror holes filled in too, so the pass side is solid. The tank in the bed on the LH side still has gas in it so I have to remove that one prior to patching the hole. At the bottom left are the 2 holes left for some J hooks. I can't wait to paint this thing, it would be pretty easy as straight as it is.

[litew8]

Curious what color you are going to repaint with. Also, got any side shots?

[webfoot]

I don't have a side shot yet cuz it usually sits between wifey's car and a trailer. I will paint it the original bronze metallic, I believe its called. Will post a side shot next. The driver's rocker is all ate through, but I am going to repair that as soon as my new spot weld cutter shows up.

Oh! and I got a set of hubcaps to go with my steelies. Hopin for some new tires this month.

[webfoot]

Coming along! Getting a glovebox door that matches the interior, and will hopefully get the radio delete plate painted up soon. Repro original type steering wheel is en route. Since last update I've also got a new windshield installed as well as a dash pad.

These are the seatz brand covers. I love the look and they are well made. Took me about 3 hours to get them installed. Half of that was because of the time it took to remove the 2 existing covers, including the factory original with duct tape repairs.

[litew8]

Looking real nice! My truck looks similar to yours, but mine says Med. Bronze.

[litew8]

np, I think there is a Bronze Metalic.
Also Copper (paint name) is a slightly brighter shade, but our trucks don't list it as "Copper", perhaps "Bronze" would be the equivalent.
I think there are maybe three different shades of "Bronze" for our trucks. Bronze, Med. Bronze and Bronze Metallic. (dark, med, light)

[webfoot]

I was just guessing at the name before, apparently. (or going off bad memory) I have since found my SPID in the glovebox and it says "m/bronze".

Forgot to mention, also put on the dodge dakota door weatherstrip. That was a great investment.

[71Sleeper]

Forgot to mention, also put on the dodge dakota door weatherstrip. That was a great investment.[/QUOTE]

Do you have any pics of the weatherstrip? How well did it match up? And what year model dakota did you order it from?

[webfoot]

The edges of it are visible in the photo with my upholstery. W/strip is from a 96 dakota. I am really happy with the fit. Presses on, no black goo needed. Go around with a deadblow hammer afterwards and seat it. There will be 4" or so of it to trim off at the end. Mine was Fairchild part number KD3010. I can get you a pic of it later.

Be prepared to slam the hell out of the door for a little while until this it breaks in. But, it does its job! When I first got my truck, wind noise would whistle in from everywhere. Now the only place I can hear it a little bit is from the driver's side vent window.

[webfoot]

Also, after some further research I have learned that PPG calls this "copper poly" and not medium bronze.

[litew8]

That's right, I forgot the "poly" part. But, I think "copper poly" is brighter in color, due to the "poly". Or is it the "copper" only brighter? I get too confused trying to cross reference them.
Check out Keith's build thread. He is using "copper poly", but I think it is brighter than Med. Bronze.

[Dieselwrencher]

Great progress and your patch work is looking great!