82 K-30 Crew Cab Short Bed

[72longhornTX]

So I picked up a new truck this week. I have always wanted a crew cab square body and finally found one I liked.

It is a 1982 K-30 that was converted to short bed already. Has a 454 in it, although it is a little worn out with some valve rattle.

This is a list of everything already done to it when I got it. I have a few more things to do to it before I call it good.
-37" Goodyear MTRs on Allied Racing Beadlocks. 5 of them.
-Completely rewired wtih Painless Wiring harness from headlights to tail lights.
-4 wheel 1 ton disk brakes with all brand new calipers, rotors, pads, steel braided brake lines. Hydroboost system.
-Upgraded steering shaft (no rag joint).
-Superlift 4" lift, all new shocks, dual steering stabilizer.
-Transmission is a HD 700r4 (overdrive) wired with a "Painless wiring" tranmission kit to run without the electronic controls.
-Brand new black carpet, new dash cover. old school custom seats.
-Truck is fully sound deadened with "RAAMat" sound deadener. (doors, floors, inside fenders, roof etc).
-Rear axle is a 14bolt full floater with a brand new Detroit locker in it. 4:10 gears. Superlift rock ring on the outside. (and converted to 4 wheel disc with eldorado calipers for a functioning parking brake assembly).
-Front axle is a 3/4 ton D44 that needs a ring gear installed. I have a replacement, just have not installed it. Rebuilt wheel bearings and new calipers/rotors/brake lines/shocks.
-New custom steering wheel.
-Nordskog gauges. GPS driven speedometer and all other gauges.
-Rhino lined bed, bed sides, fender liners, rockers,
-New floor pan and rocker on drivers side. All other bad rust cut out and patched. Temporarily patched "cab light" holes to keep water out.
-Frame painted with "POR 15" rust preventive paint when the cab and bed were off.
-Rebuilt steering column(no wiggle).
-Rear doors converted to power window and lock.
-New custom "micro suede" headliner.

I need to finish the power window conversion on the front doors and wire everything up. I started that today but didn't finish. Margaritas were sounded much to good at 5pm.
I have almost everything to convert to a 91 style grill. That will come at a later time.
Need to get cab lights off a newer Dodge. Probably the recon style smoked out.
Finish installing the new 4.10 gears in the front axle.
Work on the dash some. The gauge install is quite shoddy in my book so those will most likely get replaced with a redone original gauge cluster.
Need to get a new radio for it and install it better than the one that is in it.
Eventually I plan to do a diesel conversion. I would like a 5.9 cummins but the 4bt cummins has started appealing to me lately.
A few little things here and there to make it a nice truck.

Well here are what it looked like when I got it. Looks the same now. Some of y'all may have seen this truck on CK5 forums. This was a trail clean up truck build.
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/a...1&d=1316421574
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/a...1&d=1316421574
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/a...1&d=1316421574
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/a...1&d=1316421574
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/a...1&d=1316421574

[72longhornTX]

More pics

[Greenlee]

Sweet truck! That thing has a lot of potential.
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[madcow75]

Nice truck. Great enthousiasm. It's goning to be a nice truck when you are done.

[rocking chevy]

Nice I doesn't look like it needs much more.
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[72longhornTX]

It really doesn't from what I can tell. I got the power windows done today. Greesed them all up and they move up and down real smooth. Then while out for a drive to get dog food I stopped at the local Best Buy. Got me a real like $60 Sony radio. Nothing fancy but it works.

Only issue I have is the power locks don't work. Everything is hooked up right but just doesn't work. That big silver relay on the harness that goes under the dash, is that the relay for the locks? I think it might be bad. The harness got rained on last night while it was in the bed. Need to figure that out so the locks work.

I think I might build a custom center console tomorrow for the radio and some speakers for the front. Don't really want kicker panel speakers.

[rocking chevy]

Im not sure about the relay, do they work if you try to lock it at a different door, the switch could be bad.
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[72longhornTX]

They don't work on either door. I am going to get a new relay today and try that.

[68Timber]

Love it, nice score.

[my4by2]

Sweet truck man, can't wait to see it come along!!!

[Walts_restoration]

http://coloradok5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=269386

http://coloradok5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=189369

And so my dream truck lives on....


Kansastwister over there. Good luck on the build!

[xolta]

Thats a nice score. I've actually been trying to chase down the guy that did own it recently. Wanted to do a trade with him. oh well, on to the next and excited to see what you do to it. I actually joined this forum to follow it

[72longhornTX]

Thanks for all the complements. I found the threads on that site after I talked to the guy I bought it from. From what I understand the guy I got it from bought it and had it shipped to San Antonio. He didn't do to much to it in the year he had it. Just really drove it around a little to lunch. Well he needed to sell it so I saw it on craigslist and went and looked. He had all kinds of extra parts for it. So a little dealing and I ended up with the truck.
It ran real rough and the guy didn't know why. I didn't want to mess with it there just incase I had to drive it 180 miles home. Well he towed it to Brehnam which is 50 miles for my house so we met there. Drove it home and started working on it. I timed it and it ran better real quick. Runs like a champ now. Still has a valve rattle so not much I can do there. I did have to replace the positive battery cable as someone used Rockford Fosgate Amp wire on it. Started burning up so replaced it.

So I have done the windows already and then yesterday I went to make the wipers work so I can get it inspected. Figured out the switch wasn't grounded I wired it up and it worked great. Although the truck didn't start afterwards. So I pulled the gauge cluster back off because it looked like Ray Charles wired it up. I started cutting the gauges off and pulled all that out. Then disconnected everything inside the dash and soldered all connections and heat shrinked it all. Looks a lot better. Organized it and hooked it all back up. Although I managed to make a custom gauge cluster that the original guy from Colorado started. Looks better but not the best. Works great though. Will get pics in the morning. That is about all I did the last two days. I did have to buy a battery today. Red top Optima. Little chunk of change haha.

[STOCKISH]

Awesome truck. I almost bought that truck a few months back but the shipping company kept delaying the process and I finally got fed up. The P.O. seemed like a stand up guy. Hope you enjoy it, looks awesome!

[OYMC]

Cool truck! Looking forward to seeing your future work on this ole rig

[72longhornTX]

Still haven't any pictures yet but today I did manage to pull the mirrors off and paint them black. Look good but I would rather powder coat them. Guess that is a project for another time.

[72longhornTX]

Got some pictures of the gauges and mirrors. Didn't get anything done today. More of a lazy day and cleaning up around the house.

[72longhornTX]

Alright so a little update. I managed to come across a 1991 Cummins 12v with 80,000 miles. It is a full take out so it has everything but the transmission. It has a 904 but I am going to put a nv4500 in it. I have done a lot of research. I need a GM nv4500 4x4 and install a Dodge input shaft in it. Then get the Dodge bell housing and clutch and it will be good to go in. Still have to work out details on how I want to do the fuel system.

More news to come.

[Dieselwrencher]

Originally Posted by 72longhornTX

Alright so a little update. I managed to come across a 1991 Cummins 12v with 80,000 miles. It is a full take out so it has everything but the transmission. It has a 904 but I am going to put a nv4500 in it. I have done a lot of research. I need a GM nv4500 4x4 and install a Dodge input shaft in it. Then get the Dodge bell housing and clutch and it will be good to go in. Still have to work out details on how I want to do the fuel system.

More news to come.

That's good to hear! That thing should have a 727 in it not a 904. Also the fuel system should be cake. Your cummins will have a diaphram style lift pump on the LH side of the block below the tappet cover about 6-8" from the rear of the block. Run at least 5/16" fuel line from the tank to the lift pump. I usually do 3/8". You will have to run a return line as well. 5/16" will be fine there.

[72longhornTX]

Originally Posted by Dieselwrencher

That's good to hear! That thing should have a 727 in it not a 904. Also the fuel system should be cake. Your cummins will have a diaphram style lift pump on the LH side of the block below the tappet cover about 6-8" from the rear of the block. Run at least 5/16" fuel line from the tank to the lift pump. I usually do 3/8". You will have to run a return line as well. 5/16" will be fine there.

So that pump pretty much acts like the manual fuel pump on a 350? That is good news if it works. Everything was said to work but I will see once I get it cleaned up and installed. I was looking at doing an Air Dog or FASS fuel system like my 06 Dodge had. But if I can use the stock lift pump I will do that.

[arrover]

Really cool truck! I'm enjoying reading about it. Question: With 37"s and 4" of lift, do you get any rubbing anywhere? Has there been any work on the fenders or anything to clear those tires? It doesn't look to have a body lift. Is that correct? I ask because that is the combination that I would possibly like to try.

[72longhornTX]

Originally Posted by arrover

Really cool truck! I'm enjoying reading about it. Question: With 37"s and 4" of lift, do you get any rubbing anywhere? Has there been any work on the fenders or anything to clear those tires? It doesn't look to have a body lift. Is that correct? I ask because that is the combination that I would possibly like to try.

There is no body lift. Only a 4in Superlift on it. Now there are an ass load of leafs so it may sit a little higher. But with the 37s the only time I get rubbing is when the front axle travels all the way up. Non while turning. Seems to work well.

[Dieselwrencher]

Originally Posted by 72longhornTX

So that pump pretty much acts like the manual fuel pump on a 350? That is good news if it works. Everything was said to work but I will see once I get it cleaned up and installed. I was looking at doing an Air Dog or FASS fuel system like my 06 Dodge had. But if I can use the stock lift pump I will do that.

Yep, honestly an AirDog or Fass on a VE is a waste unless you have a 14mm head on your IP. Don't get me wrong the added filtration is nice, but you could add another filter in your line too. My VE engine makes a good 300hp on a stock lift pump. Save that money and put it into a better clutch or a better turbo. If you need some help with parts let me know. I can get you just about anything you want.

[72longhornTX]

Originally Posted by Dieselwrencher

Yep, honestly an AirDog or Fass on a VE is a waste unless you have a 14mm head on your IP. Don't get me wrong the added filtration is nice, but you could add another filter in your line too. My VE engine makes a good 300hp on a stock lift pump. Save that money and put it into a better clutch or a better turbo. If you need some help with parts let me know. I can get you just about anything you want.

Well thats good to hear. Save me a little money. I don't plan to put a ton of power into the truck right away. Over time I will add parts to the engine.

[Dieselwrencher]

That's a good plan. You'll need a stronger rear axle or spend money on parts for the 14 bolt once you start making power. I tried 14 bolts behind a healthy cummins and I wasn't real happy.