Here we go again... The Tumbleweed 69 K10 Shorty

[57taskforce]

Some of you may have seen mention of this truck in the 67-72 general forum last year. About a year ago I made a deal on this truck with a close friend. In short we agreed originally on a deal of $500. Later the same day he approached me on doing some mechanical work getting an old front end loader running so he could sell it, in return for the truck (aka no cash required) I wasn’t really in a place where I was ready to start working on the truck so I just left it at his place for the time being. Well funny how time flies when your having fun with a wife and two little kids. A little over a year later, I called him up yesterday and asked when he wanted to work on the loader or if he wanted some cash. He said come get the truck and we’ll work on the loader when he’s ready. I’m shooting to go pick the truck up on Friday. He owns a pawn shop that deals with lots of vehicles, equipment, trailers etc. This one went dead pawn long long ago and has been sitting for a good while. It appears to have spent a long time in New Mexico judging by the rear license plate. He believes it’s a 72 and of course I’m an idiot and didn’t take any pictures of the interior when I took these pictures, and I didn’t even really pay attention when I took them to remember if there was a rear view mirror pad, Plastic door panels or vent window screws. The outer grill shell is no help as the blackout and/or ‘71 striping is long faded away. I do know it’s got a later small block with an sm465/205, no ac and the cab appears to have been medium green originally. It didnt appear to have a ton of rust in the floors and supports which is good. Cab roof looked good to. I’m sure it’ll need some lovin but I’m in for the build. I doubt I’ll really start working on this one Too heavily for another year or so. For now I’ll probably do the basics and shoot to get it running and driving and leave it at that for a while since it doesn’t have A Fred Flintstone floor like my K20 did. I haven t seen the spid yet but based on the chrome vent windows and no cargo light I’m gonna assume it’s a 72 custom deluxe, anyone want to make some bets?? I will report back as soon as it’s home. Here we go again with another truck build thread! Here’s a few pictures.

[57taskforce]

Couple more for now. Updates to come when I pick it up. Pardon the ford mirrors they will surely find there way off the truck...

[Orange71shorty]

What a deal! Looks pretty solid, have fun with the build.

[Jeff's bowtie's]

Nice truck!! Looks pretty solid can’t wait for the work to begin!!

[57taskforce]

Thanks guys. I’m excited to get it home and start making some plans for it. I’ve been looking the pictures over and my bet is it’s a ‘71. I’ve always understood 72 4x4 frames to have had the strap welded across the front of the drivers front spring hanger in conjunction with the bracket at the rear of the spring to keep it in place in the event of a crash or broken bolts. I’ve previous only dealt with K10 longbed and K20s which use the same frame so maybe the shorties and blazers didn’t get this strap and bracket? Here’s a brightened up picture of the drivers spring hanger and a picture of the 72 hanger on my K20.

I also don’t see any tow hook holes in the shorty frame and I believe all 72’s had hook holes. Again maybe longbed frames only?

[Ol Blue K20]

I'm in to watch!.....

[CUSTOM/10]

I believe I have one of those brackets kicking around if you're looking for one.
My 72 swb has it.

Gary

[57taskforce]

Good to know, as I start to work on it I may take you up on that.

[57taskforce]

Soo.... here’s some more pictures and info. I picked it up today. It’s actually a ‘69 that someone slapped a 71-72 open knuckle 44 with blue dials, and drag link as well as a ‘71 grill. ( they actually left the 69 signal lights behind the grill). along with what looks like a 4” lift and 33/12.5’s. No complaints here! I didn’t even look at it very close last year when we made the deal I just knew what it was and didn’t care how good or bad the body/rust was. Well.... it’s got all the original Cab corners, rockers, floors etc. there’s a minimal amount of rust. The only spots i saw I will detail later this evening or tomorrow. It’s got a Factory tach in it too. The interior has what looks to be house carpet and a reupholstered seat. Both of which will go along with the wood at the bottom of the doors. The frame looks decent, the steering box area on the frame cracked out but it’s been repaired with plate. It is missing the front crossmember though. I’ll likely fab one out of square tube and plate. The one crappy thing about it is someone painted the spid over so I don’t know as much about it as I’d like. I believe originally it was medium green but that’s all I know for sure. Here’s some pictures!

[57taskforce]

More

[jamie72]

great deal, even a tach. good luck with it.

[Ol Blue K20]

It looks like a great find and a good starting point....congrats!

[57taskforce]

Thanks Jamie and Dale, I’ve got a bunch more pictures to load today. Yesterday I took it by the shop and gave it a good cleaning with the heated power washer as well as vacuuming out the carpet and seat and cleaning the mouse nest from the glove box. I found several papers and receipts from the early 90’s in the glove box so I’m sure it’s been sitting for a long time, the most recent thing I found was from 2000. So the good on it all is I’m confident it’s a legit shortbed truck even though the spid is painted over. The cab mounts are all riveted to the frame, and I see zero evidence of a chop. I’m going to measure the thickness of the steel soon, that will tell the tale for sure as the shortbed and blazer frames are made of a thinner steel than the longbed frame is. The vin on the cab and title is a 4x4 vin. The cab has the rosettes and it matches the frame and title so it is legit there. Someone has swapped in atleast a square body 465 shifter maybe even the whole 465 as well as an Np205. I’m glad the Rockwell is gone honestly. The square body shifters have got to go I favor of 71/72 4x4 am 465 shifter and 205 shifter. I’m pretty confident it’s an original 4 speed truck looking at the steering column, clutch boot and clutch linkage. As I said before the cab panels are all original and in nice shape given there age. The frame looks good except for a few issues, as said before the front cross member is missing, and around the steering box has been repaired- I will be re doing this repair I believe with the ord kit I used on my K20. Also the outside And top of the rear frame rails have been plated. I’m kind of afraid to remove the plates and see why honestly. There’s no rust in the frame that I can see. It’s got 4 or 5 different colors showing different panels have been different colors they the years. The bed passenger door and fender are not original to the truck. The cab drivers door and fender are all showing medium green under a layer or two of other colors. The bed was originally 508 dark blue I believe. And that’s what I’m thinking I may repaint the whole truck. My great grandfather had a 508 truck that I’m thinking I may pay tribute to. My dad also had a 71 medium green K10 when I was a kid so maybe I’ll paint it medium green idk. As far as the cab metal goes all I’ve found major are dime size holes drilled in the roof for lights I assume, 1 hole on the outside of each A pillar for a light I assumed, and 2 holes knocked in the back of the cab mid way up on the passenger cab corner. This is why the lower passenger cab corner has a little rust thru. I’ll buy a corner and only replace the little bit that rusted thru, the weld the holes up in the upper cab corner, a pillars, and roof. As for the engine I’ll probably try to get It to run and see what up with it. I’ve got vortec 350 on a stand that needs a home too so I may go that route a little ways off in the future.
Immediate plans for now are:

Get that nasty carpet out and seal the cab up from all leaks
Thoroughly clean and Disinfect the interior
Change all fluids
See if the engine will run
Go thru the brakes- probably add hydraboost and hydraulic clutch like my K20 has
Replace the double cardan joint on the front drive shaft and install it

Once that’s done and it’s running and driving all gradually start making it into what I want it to be. Pictures to follow.

[57taskforce]

Incoming, I got a kick out of the 69 marker lights still behind the 71 grill. You can also see the holes in the upper cab corner and the small hole and bubble in the lower corner.

[57taskforce]

More randoms

[57taskforce]

And some more
Who paints hood hinges purple??? It’s also got some wonky stuff going on with the brake booster, one more reason to go with a hydroboost, I’m sure this booster started life in a different generation of truck. At worst I’ll use the vacuum booster from my K20 Along with a new master before I do the hydroboost swap. You can also see the plate on the outside and top of the rear frame rail.

[57taskforce]

Last night my brother and I yanked the old nasty carpet out of it. Didn’t find much in the way of surprises other than a small hole in the passenger floor and a little rot in the drivers lower kick panel. Not enough to worry about right now. I’ll focus on getting it running and driving before I even begin to think about metal work. Also I believe the truck probably had a saddle interior originally, the visors are dark brown and the belts are a lighter brown. The in the picture has a 68 date code but the others have 69 codes and are the same color.
We also ran the suffix code on the engine... 1980 Camaro 305 rated at 155 hp. Yea... not even worth the time to get it running. I swore I was done building old small blocks in favor of the LS platform but I’ve got a couple decent vortec 350’s still laying around. I’ll swap the cam on one of them and slap it in with an HEI and carb manifold/ quadrajet and inline fuel pump and see how it does. I pulled the heads off of the swap motor a few months ago and the bores are perfect. Today I pulled the oil pan and main/rod caps and the bearings/crank show virtually no wear. So I’ll slap it back together with a bigger cam and new gaskets/seals and call it good. I’m gonna get my machinist I use for all the engines I build at work to go thru the heads. For less than $500 All in, (At work we pulled the 350’s off of natural gas compressors a few years ago and I was able to snag a few of them for free) I’ll have a virtually new motor. Can’t go wrong with that. Natural gas is quite a bit easier on the cylinders than gasoline because it doesn’t wash the cylinders or oil down so the engine lasts a whole lot longer. This will also be the perfect opportunity to swap to an aluminum hydraulic clutch bell housing (same deal have a ton of those floating around too) and the captain fab hydraboost and hydraulic clutch setup that I ran on my K20. Here’s some pictures

[57taskforce]

Here’s a few updates, I haven’t worked on this truck much as I’ve been hitting my K20 really hard over the last few months. Today I did score a set of new aluminum heads drilled for both vortec and standard manifolds. They are 64cc chambers with 190cc runners. My plan is to run them on the vortec 350 with a weiand street fighter dual plane, lt4 hot cam or similar, and a to be decided four barrel and Hei. I may end up switching to a holly sniper setup later down the line. I think this setup should be pretty good for 400ish hp at my almost 6,000ft elevation. I also picked up a front crossmember to replace the one missing. I’m hoping to jump on this truck this winter but we will see how things go. It all comes down to time and money as always.

[Richard]

Rust is not to bad. I feel lucky when I see what people had to start with.

[57taskforce]

Quick update, I’ve been gathering some parts here and there for this truck. I recently acquired a ‘70 only manual transmission NP205 shifter for it. I’ve got it blasted and about ready to paint. I plan to swap both the square body 465 and 205 shifters to 67-72 4x4 appropriate stuff. I really haven’t done much to this truck yet as I’m still tinkering on my K20 more than anything else. Maybe I’ll start messing with it more this summer. The engine I was building for this truck is going to temporarily end up in my K20 while i save up for stroker kit for my 6.0.

[57taskforce]

Ok… time to get a little more serious on this one. I pulled the front clip off of it tonight to assess the steering box area frame repair. It’s not good. I’ll have to basically do the same repair I did to my K20 except it’s gonna have to get the holes for the front crossmember re drilled on one side. Id love to kick some idiots ass for the way this thing was repaired and then run for a long long time with no front crossmember at all. I’m going to snap some pictures tomorrow… in short, the time has come for this truck to begin to rise again.


Edit: here’s some daytime pics of what I’ve got to start with. The truck is going to the same shop where I did a lot of the early work on my K20 in the next month or so. I’m going to pull the bed and inspect the rear frame rails as well. Then once at the shop I’m going put the ORD frame repair plates on it as well as fixing some small rust holes in the passenger cab corner, passenger toe board, front passenger floor support, and passenger outer cowl. For some reason the passenger side rusted a little more than the driver side. All repairs are pretty minor, not even requiring patch panels.

[Louisvillekytruck]

Nice project

[Sand Wrench]

Originally Posted by 57taskforce

Last night my brother and I yanked the old nasty carpet out of it. Didn’t find much in the way of surprises other than a small hole in the passenger floor and a little rot in the drivers lower kick panel. Not enough to worry about right now. I’ll focus on getting it running and driving before I even begin to think about metal work. Also I believe the truck probably had a saddle interior originally, the visors are dark brown and the belts are a lighter brown. The in the picture has a 68 date code but the others have 69 codes and are the same color.
We also ran the suffix code on the engine... 1980 Camaro 305 rated at 155 hp. Yea... not even worth the time to get it running. I swore I was done building old small blocks in favor of the LS platform but I’ve got a couple decent vortec 350’s still laying around. I’ll swap the cam on one of them and slap it in with an HEI and carb manifold/ quadrajet and inline fuel pump and see how it does. I pulled the heads off of the swap motor a few months ago and the bores are perfect. Today I pulled the oil pan and main/rod caps and the bearings/crank show virtually no wear. So I’ll slap it back together with a bigger cam and new gaskets/seals and call it good. I’m gonna get my machinist I use for all the engines I build at work to go thru the heads. For less than $500 All in, (At work we pulled the 350’s off of natural gas compressors a few years ago and I was able to snag a few of them for free) I’ll have a virtually new motor. Can’t go wrong with that. Natural gas is quite a bit easier on the cylinders than gasoline because it doesn’t wash the cylinders or oil down so the engine lasts a whole lot longer. This will also be the perfect opportunity to swap to an aluminum hydraulic clutch bell housing (same deal have a ton of those floating around too) and the captain fab hydraboost and hydraulic clutch setup that I ran on my K20. Here’s some pictures

Love the truck, looking forward to watching! Hey, use caution switching over to the aluminum bellhousing, it makes it pretty much impossible to pull the engine on a 67-72 4x4 without pulling the transmission as well. The oil pan hits the crossmember before the pressure plate clears the transmission input shaft, so the only way to remove it is to pull the pressure plate bolts and leave it sitting on the input shaft until the engine is out; and you can't really do that with the one-piece bellhousing. I love SM465, but they can be a PITA on these trucks. Good luck!

[57taskforce]

Thanks man, Appreciate the insight. if I come to that problem I’ll pull the crossmember, I’ve got the hydraulic clutch and aluminum bellhousing in my K20 and love it. It’s so much easier and more reliable then the bellcrank style and the slave is an off the shelf part which is nice. I pulled the engine out of this truck and I’ve got the frame repair plates in the mail-should be here Friday. I’m hoping to get the truck to the shop this weekend so I can start welding the plates on and moving forward on it.

[57taskforce]

Little more… I was able to actually locate the remnants of the drivers side front crossmember rivets. The top was under a puddle of buggary welds and the bottom was ground smooth on the top and bottom of the frame. With a little grinding thru crap welds I was able to get the top out with my air hammer and a punch tip. The bottom came out with absolutely zero effort of the air hammer. I was afraid I might end up having to drill at least the top hole. Glad I got lucky. Here it is with a new to the truck front crossmember re-installed. I got the repair plates in for the frame so hopefully this week I’ll get them welded in.

The inner plate that a PO poorly welded in is going to have to come back out as well as it sits a 1/4” or more off the actual frame rail. I think I’ll modify it and then re weld it back in for added support. These short bed K frames are quite a bit thinner than the longbed K frames. The inner, outer and lower plates along with an ORD steering box brace should fix this up for a long time to come. I’ve got some things I’m going to try as far as mounting the front crossmember and engine crossmember that I think will help keep frame flex down a bit too. More on that to come soon.

Speaking of pervious owners and here bad welding, the outside of the frame rail repairs are pretty rough too. Some people just shouldn’t do their own work, period!