Longterm 1972 K10 LWB Restoration/Maintenence Thread

[Malibu Monte]

This is going to be the long term restoration thread of my 72 K10. This truck was bought by my father in 1991 to be used as a daily driver while he restored his 64 K10 SWB. I was two at the time. Things happened and the 64 got sold, but the 72 stuck around. I grew up in this truck. This was my Dad's daily driver until around 2004. This truck picked me up from day care, took me to school, sports practice, and everything else required of it. It received a single color repaint and trim delete in the mid 90's, but by 2004 it was getting pretty rough. I drove it to high school a little, but a few issues caused it to be parked. I took a corner hard and the rear bumper brackets were so rusty the bumper decided to remove itself from the truck, the bed was so rusty that the taillights seldom worked due to grounding issues. After I was pulled over for taillights three times in one week Dad decided the truck needed parked until money was there to fix it.

The first two pictures here are some of our early times with the truck. It was painted Olive Green and White when we first got it. But on a previous thread I posted the picture of my SPID and found out for sure that it did not originally have the middle painted white.
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=696692

[Malibu Monte]

Around late 2007 I decided that I wanted to drive the truck again. I still didn't really have any money to really fix the truck, but we had came across a decent usable bed so we decided to swap that on there. I bought some used 33x12.50's and some glasspacks, you know those things that every teenager thinks they need? The truck was big, loud, and about six different colors, but I drove it like that for a few years. That is the stage the truck was in in 2009 when I joined this forum and these pictures actually came from my original introduction thread. Then the next stage of my life happened; A real grown up job, a house in town, marriage. I didn't think my neighbors or my bosses would appreciate a big loud multicolored truck so after I used it to move into my house I parked it out at my parents housed and let it sit again. A year later I was building a drag car and decided to sell the 33s while they still had some value. The problem was that really didn't leave me with any decent tires for the truck and it was usually sitting on four flats a sad time in the life of the truck for sure.

[Malibu Monte]

In the winter of 2015-16 I guess I quit caring about what my bosses and neighbors thought and decided that the truck was more important. I bought some more practical 31x10.50x15's All terrains and some turbo style mufflers and started driving the truck again on a semi-regular basis throughout the winter. I parked it back at Dad's for the summer but change was in the air. We now had two small children and the house in town was getting small. We were able to sell the house in town and buy an old farmstead in the country. I decided that since I had a farmstead I needed a farm truck. Around the same time I had seen another 72 K10 around town that was semi gloss black with a white top and it motivated me to do the same to my truck. I hated to just spray paint on the truck with the condition of the cab and rockers, but sometimes a change in appearance can be a motivational factor. One thing I really got to start enjoying during this time is my children with the truck, they both absolutely adore it. We get to use it around the farm for picking up brush, cutting wood, hauling mulch etc. I also used the truck as a daily driver throughout the winter again. The one change I made for this upcoming winter is the seat. It has always had an incorrect seat in it and it had really gotten rough. I found a very nice parchment seat out of a 70 CST this summer and put it in the truck. This seat has made me fall in love with the truck all over again and make a promise to myself that it will finally get to some of the repairs that it needs. That is also part of the process that brought me back to this forum and start this thread.

[Malibu Monte]

The last post for today will be future plans. I have lots of sheet metal for the truck, but I have always avoided replacing any because I thought was cab was too rough to fix. After seeing some of the cabs fixed on here I have decided that mine isn't that bad after all. I will start probably next spring/summer with patching up the cab, replacing the doors and fenders with some decent ones I have stashed. I will probably just put all of that back in flat black to avoid the expense of good paint for the time being.

The other plan that I have considered it finding a nice C10 or C20 LWB with very little rust and nice paint and swapping the good body onto my frame. I have more recently been leaning away from that due to the high cost of good trucks and my poor nature.

Long-term paint plans have changed over the years. I had debated Cheyenne style two-tone and trim in olive/white, hugger orange/white, or bronze and white, but most recently have been considering just putting it back to original. Who knows what I will decide to do when the time comes? For now I am enjoying still using the truck and the semi-gloss black suits me for that.

[Malibu Monte]

I am back! Three years after starting this thread. I have been following the forum regularly, but haven't posted any progress on my truck, because there hasn't been any! The truck has been licensed and insured this whole time and is still being called on occasionally to do some work around the farm. I now have an 02 2500HD Duramax that is kind of a beater that does most of the work anymore. I don't think I have drove the truck off of the farm since I bought the my Duramax last year. I think it is time to retire the old 72 and give it the restoration it deserves.

I came across what was left of this K20 a couple of years ago and I tried to contact the owner to buy it, but I was unsuccessful. A friend of mine farms the ground surrounding the property this was on and he was able to buy it. He used the axles, two rear crossmembers, and 10" off the end of the frame on the passenger side. I ended up buying what was left because this frame is still better than mine.

When I first seen the truck from afar I could tell it had tow hooks and I sure hoped they were factory, but unfortunately they are something aftermarket.

I am going to try and restore this frame before I take my truck apart and have it done and ready before I restore the body. Are the rear crossmembers 4x4 specific or would a 2wd crossmember work if it is a leaf spring truck? I know the 2wd coil spring truck crossmembers would be different. Looking forward to making some progress on the old girl.

[harrisoncole4]

Love the story behind the truck. Looking forward to seeing more progress

[Malibu Monte]

Originally Posted by harrisoncole4

Love the story behind the truck. Looking forward to seeing more progress

Thanks! Hopefully I will have progress to show soon.

[Malibu Monte]

Well it has been a while since I updated as not much has changed since 2020. The truck is still running and I have been driving off and on some. Starting to get sick of the sagging doors, holes in the floor, rusty headers, and lack of cab seal; not a good combo. I sold my long-term hotrod '78 Malibu this last month and have some money to spend on some other projects. I had an internal debate for a few week as to which of my projects would get my attention first. I about decided to focus on my '56 Chevy and '70 Chevelle, but then I drove the truck. I decided that it needs first priority. So this past weekend I roadtripped to the KC area and visited Classic Truck Parts and LMC. I got a lot of the items needed to restore the truck; Full floor pan, front inner fenders, R fender, batt tray, door bottoms, all seals and felts, dashpad, carpet, sill plates, trim, body mount bushings, transfer case bushings, and more I can't think of right now. I have a seat cover on order since they are super backed up right now. Excited to blow it apart and get started on making this a solid truck finally!

[Malibu Monte]

Well after years of talking about it, I have finally started restoring my old truck!
The final motivational push came when I finally found my "dream wheel" a set of 6 lug 15x10 slots. I found a set within driving distance and at an affordable price earlier this spring and got them bought. Just recently I found a set of used 35x12.50x15s and got them mounted up and put on the truck. I went ahead and tried them with the stock wore out mismatched leaf springs and of course they rubbed, but it was enough to see how it was going to look. So on Father's Day I got to work installing the front lift springs that I got when I bought the spare frame. I still might end up and use the spare frame, but I figured it wouldn't hurt to go ahead and get the springs installed while I was motivated. I was kind of thinking I might would continue to drive the truck as is with the new springs/wheels/tires. But after getting the spring swapped out I was so motivated to work on it I pulled the hood and front fenders off and mocked up my new fenders.

[Malibu Monte]

After I got the fenders mocked up I decided to just keep going. So I cut the carpet out of the cab to assess the extent of the rust on the floors, which as you can see in the photos, was extensive! Glad I have the full floor pan bought already! I also got all of the bed bolts broke free. After that I spent a good hour powerwashing, trying to break as much grime and caked on grease off of the drivetrain as possible. The photo below in the grass is the last photo of it complete, with the 4" lift up front and my beefed up stock leaf pack in the rear. I am thinking it just needs a Off Road Designs zero rate spring/block in the rear to level it out. When I drove it back to the shop after powerwashing It would be the last time it will be driveable for a while. I pulled the bed off and started prepping the cab for floor replacement. I pulled the windshield, back glass, seat, gastank, and seatbelts one evening last week. On Saturday I went to work getting the cab ready to lift of the frame. It wasn't long before it was ready to lift.

[Malibu Monte]

I couldn't get the cab lifted up high enough to roll the frame with the engine in it under it backward so I had to roll it forward. I have my Chevelle project in my shop too that I have been working on since Nov 21. It has all of the sheetmetal replaced and runs and drives, but needs final bodywork, paint, and interior. I am kind of burnt out on it and need to work on something else for a while, which works out in the trucks favor! Anyway I had to pull the truck frame right up to the Chevelle, but I was able to get it far enough forward to get the floor cut out of the cab. I finished that Saturday and it was hot so I didn't go any farther. I have ordered the bottom of the A and B pillars and while I am waiting on those I will work on cleaning up the areas the floor attaches to at the toe board and rear of cab. Hopefully when the pillar patches arrive I will be about ready to lower the cab on the new floor and start getting things squared up!