72 Chevy K20 Wrecker restoration

[sameyeam]

Hey all, welcome to my thread covering my journey on restoring my 1972 Chevy Custom 20 4x4 sporting a Holmes 440 wrecker bed. This is going to be a long process but we got going on it as of about a week ago and I've followed/read some really cool and thorough threads on full restorations and I think its a really cool way not only to share our journey in restoring this truck but also a good way to document it.

Lets start with some history........the truck was actually ordered new by my grandfather from Gibson's Chevrolet in Appleton, WI. It was ordered as a chassis cab then shipped to Chattanooga, TN to have the Holmes 440 wrecker unit installed. Grandpa then flew to TN and drove it home to start making money and bringing cars back to his shop for service. The truck was ordered in this configuration so the guys operating it could get into parking garages and pull out dead cars. Grandpa said it worked great for alot of years and he even bragged a bit saying he doesnt remember ever not being able to get a car out of where it didnt belong. Even big Lincolns that slid off the roads in the winter which is when this truck saw most of its use (as evidence by the rust). Grandpa retired and the truck sold with the business. Grandpa stayed in touch with the new shop owners and even went back to help out as vacation relief. He knew the truck was old so it was no surprise to him that the new shop owner sold the truck to a towing company in Appleton where it was likely a backup. From then the truck was sold again to a salvage yard where it was used to pull junk cars around for a while and there was a snowplow installed at some point and the push bumper was removed and left in the weeds somewhere which bums grandpa out. The truck was then sold again to a guy who remembered it towing cars around Appleton. He had plans to restore it and shoved it into a shed in Mackville, WI. Summer of 2012 comes and grandpa has a part time job delivering parts and the owner of the truck at the time is a mechanic at a shop grandpa delivers to. The guy recognizes grandpa and tells he has his old tow truck! So all through my childhood grandpa talked about his truck and how much he loved it so naturally i had an interest in this truck. Not to mention i also had a liking for the 67-72 body style anyway. Grandpa sets up a date for us to go look at the truck. At this point we think we are just going to see the truck and see how it has weathered since grandpa left it when selling his shop. We get and see the truck stuffed in the shed with other car parts all over it and have a good talk with the owner about how it was in its service days. Towards the end of the visit i asked the guy if he would consider selling it. After a long pause he says, "i know who you are and i know the story behind this truck, so if you wanna buy it, its for sale to you" WOW so we came to a price and i got to work finding a trailer to get the truck home. Winter came and we decided to wait till spring. Spring came and i got a buddy with a trailer to help me bring her home in late april of 2013. A few weeks of work getting brakes functional, rust out of the gas tank and a very basic tune up and i had it rolling, not really road worthy but drivable. Fathers day that year grandpa came over and we were able to drive down the road in his truck for the first time in almost 20 years. His smile was huge. We played with the truck pulling logs up the hill and bushes out for neighbors and the truck actually ran pretty good. Well life kinda caught up with me and I bought a house of my own and started a family and the truck went back into storage near my house in Stockbridge, WI. Well this summer I decided it was time to make room in the garage for the old truck to come home. About 2 weeks ago we went to the barn where it had been for the last 3 years and once we got enough juice to the battery she fired right up. My 12 year old son and I drove it the 4 miles home and cleaned the barn dust off of it. He had stars in his eyes as he has been hearing about this truck for quite some time as well. That brings us to today, we have started taking the truck apart, hence my want to start documenting the restoration. As i said its gonna be slow but I am happy to get started and bring my boy along for the journey. Also glad grandpa is still around so at least see the start and maybe hopefully the finish.

[cornerstone]

Now that's one of the best "full circle" stories I've ever heard. So glad your going to share your very col and unique build with us!!!

[zicc1835]

Im going to get HOOKED UP to this build thanks for sharing

[DeadheadNM]

Wonderful story. Looking forward to seeing the heirloom build. I’m in Eau Claire, let me know if I can help. Pete

[sameyeam]

thanks for your support guys, as of now we have taken the fenders and grill off, and looking to do a cab swap to a rust free cab I bought off a guy named crazy Eddie out of Iowa, great guy and really fair on the price. Ill need new cab mounts and Id like to have all new wiring in this build. 2 questions, what cab mount kit is best bang for your buck, and who have you guys had good luck with when it comes to wiring? Just looking for from the cab connector forward as of now but will eventually be all new. Also whats the best way to post pictures on the a thread? I wanna post a bunch but don't see an easy way how?

[DeadheadNM]

Get the cab mounts from Wes at Classic Heartbeat. He can set you up with a new harness also. There’s a tutorial on posting pics - I just click the go advanced tab below then upload.

[72 tigger]

Great story, following along

[sameyeam]

Hey guys, Elliott and I did some work on the truck last night, had it up in the air and pretty much got the bed prepped to come off of the frame. I disconnected the taillight wiring and the pto chain, also disconnected the harness for the warning lights. As it turns out (which I should have known), grandpa did a pretty legit job of not hacking up the factory harness that makes the truck function as a truck. The warning lights and such were kept pretty separated which is good. I may not need a whole new harness after all. We started testing some mounting bolts to see if they would come loose and to my surprise they all have so that's a good sign. I also started paying attention to the frame to see if there are any serious spots of concern. I did notice one cross member in between the cab and the rear axle that had some bad rot so that will need to be addressed. Other than that the frame looks pretty good I think. There is some scale rust but nothing else that looks to be serious. I will know more once I can get it in some real light with the bed and the cab off. I have some pictures ill post later showing what I am talking about. I have also been doing some research on what to coat this frame with before putting the new cab on. Eastwood seems to have some good products that I think I wanna give a try. My plan going forward is to get the cab off and maybe the bed. Then wire wheel the frame and get it as clean as I can. Will probably end up putting new brake lines and fuel lines on then paint the cab with a frame treatment and paint then put the new rust free cab back on. I have some other chassis work I wanna do as there are some broken leafs and some damaged steering parts that I wanna fix. So mechanically this thing will come along faster than cosmetically as I think that is what is in the budget at the moment (I can do the work myself) and aside from a few broken parts I don't think there is much wrong. Pics to come tonight, thanks for following along

[sameyeam]

A few pics of the current status as promised, one or 2 showing the rotted cross member and the scale i hope to clean up, treat with eastwood platinum rust coating and then chassis paint. Does anyone know if i can buy that cross member or is that something im gonna have to find off of a parted frame or make myself? Id rather not make it myself as i dont think it will turn out to me much more than a piece of channel and will look as such but if thats what has to happen then so be it. Anyone have any experience with that eastwood rust treatment and chassis paint? Seems to be good stuff, ive watched a couple youtube videos of people doing exactly what i plan on doing, one on a 70 c10 in fact, and the chassis looked great! Thats all for now, hoping to do some more this weekend. We are right on the brink of having the truck not drivable/movable under its own power so i am kinda holding onto that until i know ill have some real time to devote to it this winter. TIA

[DeadheadNM]

Thanks for the update. Maybe Randy is parting the frame on this k20 and could supply the crossmember you need: http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=792519

[sameyeam]

Did some work on the truck last night, well actually the work started last Saturday getting the wrecker box ready to come off. Well most of the bolts came out pretty easy, the most rearward 4 however were a struggle. There were 4, 1/2 inch rusty bolts in the very end of the rear frame horns that were also inside a cross member and behind an access panel in the rear inner fender. Really a decent design but rusted hardware had taken the ease out of it. Nothing a Sawzall couldn't help. 3 hours in and I have 1 bolt out of this back end, what a pain. Well I decided to regroup and try again last night, this time I put a little heat on the hardware through a factory hole in the crossmember. Boom! out they came. So now I spun the truck around in the lift and start picking up on the box. To my surprise it slid off pretty easily. This gave me a good look at the back of the frame and I think im in pretty good shape. I was worried I was gonna have to do a frame swap worst case but I think just 1 cross member is really suffering, maybe rear shock mounts as well. Like I said before I knew about the cross member but the shock mounts were a new discovery. I think I can make something that will work for both of these but if anyone knows of cross members and or shock mounts I can possibly buy that would be great. I told Elliott now we are going to become very familiar with wire grinding wheels and wire brushes and scrapers. Another issue im not sure I mentioned is the rear springs. The truck was ordered with F60 heavy front spring and G50 heavy rear spring options. The rear springs are badly broken. I think grandpa mentioned adding springs in the late 70's because Lincolns were heavy. I am wondering what this heavy duty spring option means and where can I go to replace them. I have some research to do but you guys are good at making things like this easy so might as well ask. Anyway happy wire wheeling, that's it for now.

[72 tigger]

Making progress! Thanks for posting the SPID

[Ol Blue K20]

Subbed to watch the progress.

[IronCanine]

I'm on board. Great truck and story. Hey...once you're done maybe you could loan it the International Tow and Recovery Museum in Chattanooga (where it started) for display. I'm sure it'd fit right in. A lot of great trucks there. My poor wife survived 3 short(for me) hours there a decade and a half ago. She still makes a face when I recommend it as a 'must see' to people visiting Chattanooga. Your truck would be a great excuse to go back!

Here's another Chevrolet with a Holmes on display there: https://internationaltowingmuseum.or...xhibit-copy-2/

[sameyeam]

For those of you following along, I apologize I havent done much over the winter except gather some info on parts. I did find some more rot in the frame that is gonna require some serious attention. From what I have read, guys have replaced major sections of frame rail with confidence so I'm looking into doing the same. Now being forced to stay home due to the COVID-19 crap, I am getting my "honey do" list widdled down and the truck is moving up. Probably planning on pulling the cab and the drive terrain and getting to bare frame, then hopfully turning the corner and going back together after the structural repairs. Thanks for reading, have a great day and stay safe and healthy.

[sameyeam]

Well I have done a little more frame repair and disassembly on the truck. I took the rear axle out and I am on my way to having both spring packs removed. After some thinking over the past few weeks i am making a change in my thinking about how i am going to restore this truck. I wanna be able to use it as i restore it. I was stuck in the mindset that as it goes back together it had to be show quality perfect. Well i dont wanna take that much time or money to do that so i have changed my mindset to that of get it safe and use-able. That being said i havent wasted any time so far as the frame needed to be repaired and the rear leaf packs need to be replaced anyway. I am going to continue repairing the frame and i need to figure out a solution or just start fabbing the replacement crossmember pieces so that can go back in as well as upper shock mounts. Then i can coat the back half with POR-15 and bolt the rear end back in. Ill post some pics of the frame repair and i plan on making some more frequent posts, thanks for following.

[IronCanine]

Sometimes they can be like delivering a baby sideways...repairs look good. Thanks for the update.

[Ol Blue K20]

Looking good, keep up the progress

[sameyeam]

A quick update, I ordered and received new rear springs, bolted those in and I had the axle all lined up and had the u bolts on and noticed that the springs weren't sitting flush down on the spring perch. I had the full weight of the truck sitting on there and they wouldn't sit down flush so I jacked the truck back up and made sure nothing was in the center pin holes and they seem clean, after some rough measuring I think the center pin heads are longer than the old ones and wont let everything come together nice. I am gonna try and clean out the holes a bit with some sand paper just to be sure they're clean and try again. If that doesn't work then I am gonna grind down on the center pin until everything sits flush. Then I have found a pick and pull yard with a good selection of 60s and 70's trucks and had several 4x4 67-72's that I was able to get some good parts off of including upper shock mounts. So I am gonna clean those up and paint them and put them on. I also found a center drag link for the steering (mine is bent) which I found out was very expensive to buy new so I snagged that and will put new tie rod ends on that. Another change in my build is I have decided to go down to at least a roller and have the frame media blasted. After several hours of wire wheeling and brushing and needle scaling, I am unhappy with how some of the nooks and crannies are turning out so I decided I don't wanna skimp on this step and I am gonna have it blasted and then I will paint it with my Eastwood frame paint and that should be it for the frame the rest of my time with the truck.

So not much changed physically lately but I do have a sustainable plan and Ill be working towards getting a roller chassis to the media blaster in the coming 2 months most likely.

[sameyeam]

Did some work on the truck last night. I think we are about ready to pull the cab. Might pull some stuff out of it first like the seat and the doors as I think I am gonna re use both. Anyone ever put the patch panels on the bottom of the doors? My drivers side seems good but the passenger side is rotted but LMC shows several door patch panels that I am considering trying. Also last night I was looking at the front leaf springs and unfortunately I don't have any pics to post right now but the front leafs seem to either be sagged out or I just don't know what a set of front leafs actually look like. The have no U shape to them. They are either flat or slightly "convexed" for lack of better term. What is your guys opinion? They seem to have spring left in them the little that I can get them to budge by bouncing on the front cross member. I'm gonna get the cab off and take to power washing everything and see if that reveals anything new. Might also have a conversation with the spring shop to see what they think.
Anyways will post pics soon and especially when the cab is coming off. thanks for following along

[DeadheadNM]

Front OEM springs have a "negative" arch to them. I'd replace those as well for an improved ride.

[gmc684x4]

Nice truck great story and family history behind it

My truck i am replacing the back frame cross members to a pair i salvaged from a square body suburbon to make installing burbon gas tank easer and make it look dtock

Poor aftermarket door fitment i would look at repairing your stock doors

Talking to a bodyman years back about restoration of classic trucks he brought up always replace cab corners and rocker panels on the fact you would hate to have those rust out after 2 to 5 years after you finish with new paint

Door repair
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=D74PBZaAdfI

[LT7A]

Great story and cool truck. Thanks for posting about it.

[sameyeam]

Well we pulled the cab off the frame Saturday night. A good and overwhelming feeling but progress none the less. Next is to pull the drive terrain out and give the TH350 to grandpa to go though. He said he wanted to tinker with it. It has a 305 in it now but that is going away. In its place I plan to put a Vortec 350 with plans to make that plenty stout. Possibly 383 for torque but I am being honest with myself, this truck is never gonna be a hot rod speed demon. I just want it to run good, have some good torque and pulling power and a mild 383 that makes good vacuum and good low end power should be plenty of fun. But anyway that's long in the future. For now just wanna get the frame stripped down and media blasted then painted and back to a roller ready for new brake lines, rear wiring and anything else that's easier to do without a cab on. This winter's goals.

Thanks for following

[DeadheadNM]

FWIW - there's a 72 K20 listed on CL here in Eau Claire as a potential parts source if needed (not mine).