1969 K10 CST Full Restoration

[IronCanine]

In 2014 I started a build thread for a 1970 Blazer. That build was a ton of fun for many reasons. I learned a lot and made a lot of friends through the process. This board is an amazing collective of intelligence and generosity. The best part of that process though was how into it my dad was. He followed along with the build thread and we talked on the phone about it often—in an easy and enjoyable way…which made those conversations different than almost all of the ones we had had in the nearly 40 years proceeding. I am very grateful for that truck and how my dad and I connected over it in what turned out to be the last year we had together.

[IronCanine]

Shortly after my dad died, my brother and I were talking and he asked what I would do if I did another one. I suggested a SWB K10, maybe even a 69 because there were so few, but the color choices that year were so good. He’s a bit of a savant with Craigslist, so I guess I shouldn’t have been too surprised that a few months later he texted me with this pic and asked me what I thought. Like a dinosaur skeleton in a museum, this jewel had had a hard life and all that was left was the frame. A factory KE SWB built in St. Louis, that amazingly came with the original pristine VIN plates and a clear Texas title. With so little to start with, I figured what could be more fun than rescuing a truck so close to brink of oblivion. Except maybe doing it with my brother.

[IronCanine]

He closed the deal and headed out to TX to bring it home. Then he set out to find some organ donors. Again to his great credit, he found this 69 K10 LWB with factory A/C and tow hooks built in Fremont (just a few short weeks ahead of his SWB) and still living in California. She also was no peach...a non runner in fact...but she came with a lot of good stuff we needed (including a 71 Dana 44).

[IronCanine]

We stumbled on to a few other cadavers to draw from and set out to make a whole truck. My brother lives about 3 hours from me in west central Georgia. We’ll build it here in Eric’s shop (and a fair amount in my basement) in north east Georgia….but make no mistake this is my brother’s truck. He writes the checks…and he’s a member, maybe he’ll post. But I’ll document our progress. His budding bone yard makes for a pretty picture.

[IronCanine]

We married up the donor cab and Eric got straight to metal repair and panel fitment.

[IronCanine]

As you know, the concession to reproduction panels means a lot of time massaging, working and cajoling to achieve the desired result.

[IronCanine]

Not a factory bucket cab...thanks to Roger Koop and atog for the under cab bracketry and braces to bring it up to spec.

[IronCanine]

While Eric continued to plow through sheet metal repair...a multitude of parts were labeled and sent to Kaehr Coatings in NM for refinishing. 71CHEVYSHORTBED402 has done a masterful job of documenting hardware and finishes and has been a great inspiration to do a better job of upping our bolt game this time around.

[IronCanine]

...and I got to work on the drive train. We're making a few period modifications and this is one of them. We're swapping the drum Dana for a 1971 disc brake version which was fortuitously already under our Fremont donor truck. It was clean and tight...so only a pinion seal in the middle...but everything new from the axles out. Two notes: #1) I will always hate ball joints #2) Just a reference pic for the copper washer version hub seal in case anyone should need it.

[IronCanine]

My brother found a lovely NOS Spicer hub dial set. The only hitch was they were yellow. Even though we are going with a disc brake axle, we still felt that the hubs should have a factory 1969 appearance. So we removed the Spicer label with epoxy and color corrected them using SEM's recommended plastic protocol.

[IronCanine]

Kaehr did a nice job on the dust shield and after a bit of frustration trying to find rebuilt calipers...I just decided to rebuild the ones that came on it. We did re-chrome the hub rings-just because they were a little dull after sitting in a box for 40 years.

[IronCanine]

Eric went ahead and blocked everything in and drilled all the holes for trim and emblems...

[IronCanine]

Then she got blown apart again and the cab mounted on a rotisserie for media blasting and final metal repair. The media guy came out and blasted the cab and the frame.

[IronCanine]

Nothing like raw metal to reveal past sins.

[IronCanine]

There was some consideration to procuring a rivet squeezer and re attaching this bracket as it came. Unfortunately, due to access, we'd have had to remove the adjacent cross member...which meant grinding and replacing upwards of 20 rivets. Heat and a hammer always seemed like a bad idea. My understanding was that the factory protocol for a bad rivet was to replace it with a grade 8 bolt. So if for no reason other than common sense, we are going to adopt that protocol as well.

[IronCanine]

Finished up the floor and mounted the bucket seat floor bracing. Then Eric tinted the primer to replicate the factory red/brown primer.

[IronCanine]

We had a big ding in the driveshaft and Nash Truck Parts here in Athens did an outstanding rebuild for us.

[IronCanine]

We have elected to make a select few period modifications to this truck. You've already seen the first one-it did not come from the factory with disc brakes. The second is the transmission. Per the book, in 1969 you could only get a K10 with a 4sp and a Rockwell transfer case. We've elected to swap that for a TH350 and an NP205. I've got a 70 K20 on deck that was a willing donor for those two pieces. The transmission went to a professional for rebuild and the transfer case came home with me...

[IronCanine]

All new seals, gaskets, and one new snap ring (which I hate almost as much as ball joints). Clean as a whistle and back to Eric for the inevitable paint touch up and a bit of clear.

[jaros44sr]

Glad your back at it with another great build, nice work so far, I'll follow along.

Keep up with pics, good read!

[IronCanine]

New springs from General Spring. We elected to paint the frame this time-even though the powder coat worked out well for the Blazer frame. I also spent a good deal of time trying to locate a date code correct block for this truck without luck. We finally elected to move in the same path as the Blazer. We bought a GM crate 350 and are dressing it out with all the correct pieces. The Fremont donor truck, had had (unbeknownst to us until it got here) a service engine (warranty) replacement. The Quadrajet, intake and other pieces all coded out correct for the truck (all mid to late year 68, for a truck sold on 11/14/68)...just not the block.

[IronCanine]

Originally Posted by jaros44sr

Glad your back at it with another great build, nice work so far, I'll follow along.

Keep up with pics, good read!

Thanks Jim!

[IronCanine]

The third of our five period mods (I'll try to build suspense for the final two even though they are obvious and boring) are the wheels. In 69-by the book-4WD trucks only came with plain black rims. No hub cap option. Of course Blazers came along in 69(all 4WD) with P01s and I assume P03s as well. Blazers also offered a TH350 and NP205 option. It doesn't seem to me that any 69 4x4 trucks made it out of the factory with white shoes-they might have...but this one definitely will have em.

[DeadheadNM]

Woohoo! Back at at. Love it. Happy to hop on board for the build. Best wishes guys. Pete

[Austinjay]

Beautiful work! I followed the blazer build and i am excited to follow this on as well.