OCHRE 72 K20 Restoration

[AZ Chev]

Hello All,

I'v been a member of this community now for several years, and during which time have had the pleasure of collecting a lot of really cool parts and wisdom from a lot of really cool folks who are also part of this community.

I'v been collecting 47-72 trucks here in southern Arizona for quite a few years and have nearly filled up several old barns on the ranch here with cool old trucks. I'v worked at my projects without ever putting a whole lot of thought into doing a build thread.

Over the past few months I'v been drilling down on finding correct and specific quality parts for this K20 build, and have found myself spending a lot of time combing through Pete's (DeadheadNM) and Brad's (IRONCANINE) build threads. These threads have been so much help, and have now inspired me to do my own build thread project.

This purchase/build began in Feb. of 2019 with the purchase of the truck. The project is currently far from finished, though my sons and I are quite a ways down the road with the project. I wont tell you where we are at with the project until I catch up to date with the build thread. We'll keep you guessing for the fun. I intend to post a little at a time as time permits.

My next post will take us back to Feb. of 19, and we'll build from there.

Hope you all enjoy.

[AZ Chev]

So several years back, I came across this picture (I found this picture on line, not mine, so if this belongs to a member, beautiful truck). I love the way this truck looks, so I began my quest to find one to build.

[AZ Chev]

Im sure there are many of them out there, but I had never seen an Ochre and white truck in person in my neck of the woods, and that color combo fit my fancy. I specifically wanted a highly optioned K20 truck with the option code 463 White & Ochre, and it had to have AC with original SPID in tact. My intent was to build it as close as I could to the factory SPID while possibly adding a few more cool factory options along the way.

A couple of years into my search, (around Feb. of 2019) I came across a craigslist add with two trucks for the price of one about 1300 miles away in Oregon. At first glance, the first truck appeared to fit the bill. It was exactly what I was looking for, in the colors I was looking for. A 72 K20 Cheyenne, White & Ochre, with a long list of options, including AC, sliding rear window, tilt steering, Saddle interior, etc. It had some rust, but nothing that wasn't easy to repair, and had a freshly rebuilt engine and trans. It originally belonged to an Oregon Logger.

Truck #2 was also a 72 Ochre Cheyenne, but it had rust in the cab and hood, and was not an AC truck. It had nearly all of the original parts truck #1 was missing, such as original engine manifolds, carburetor, air cleaner, sliding rear window, and had some really straight clean body panels/fenders as well.

After talking with the seller a few times, I talked the wife into a road trip, promised some good food, a nice hotel, etc., and for the most part, kept those promises. The plan was to load up the first truck complete, and dismantle the second truck and haul home everything I wanted from it, making it all one trip. It all worked sort of as planned, all except for the snow storm that moved in... about the time I moved in.

We arrived late Friday Evening, and I had a hotel for Friday night, planning to load the trucks on Saturday. We stopped to look at the trucks Friday evening before going to the hotel, and in spite of the fact we could not get truck #1 to start, everything looked pretty close to what was described. I wasn't too worried about the truck not starting, as the seller had receipts for all the work that was done, and the engine and trans were obviously fresh. The seller said we could pull #2 truck into his garage to dismantle due to the weather.

When Saturday morning rolled around, the seller changed his mind and didn't want the mess in his new shop, so needless to say, a long, wet, cold day in the snow followed.

By late afternoon, I had pulled the engine, trans, windows, fenders, and all the other parts from truck #2 I thought I needed for my build, and headed back to the hotel. We spend the last hour at the hotel drying wet tools I had brought along for the job, then loaded up and headed out.

We had a long night ahead of us heading home, going over mountain passes on Ice and fresh snow, but made it home safe.

More to follow....

[DeadheadNM]

I'm on board! Good luck with the build.

[69Tom]

I'm in!

[IronCanine]

This is gonna be a good one. Can't wait.

[AZ Chev]

Thanks for joining fellas!

[rharris]

my favorite color. My ultimate daily driver would be an ochre (or medium green poly) K20. Jealous, and excited to see this one through.

[mr.mud1]

hi,i'll be watching too,that's going to be a sharp truck.sounds like a road trip i'd do,and i have trip waiting for me to do,my 72 cheyenne super 20 is in Ogden,Utah.i'm waiting for the border to re-open after the covid mess calms down,so we can go get it.you're truck is going to nice.take care.

[AZ Chev]

Once we arrived home, I began a detailed inspection, building a spread sheet of items to do and items needed to complete the build. The intent will be a full frame-off nut and bolt restoration with all of the options on the SPID, and maybe a couple of extras. I want the build to be all original, with the exception of dual exhaust, and a small lift, and possibly slightly wider steelies than original, with original caps.

Truck appears to have all original paint, except for below the lower trim behind the left rear tire. Upon further inspection from behind the panel, there appears to be a little bit of body work/filler there, but no rust. Overall, the sheet metal is surprisingly straight, as is the tailgate, which is what I was hoping for. I was hoping to use all of the original body panels on this truck, but may have to re-think a couple of panels simply to eliminate the need for body work. The passenger bed side may be a candidate for a clean OEM bedside replacement I have on the shelf, as it has some dents length wise, like deep scrapes, and a couple of cracks in the metal around the wheel well. The bed floor doesn't have rust to speak of, but has some decent sized dents, and has seen it's fair share of heavy loads. It sags a good bit between bed braces. This, and inner rockers will most likely be the only non-OEM panels I will have to use. The RF fender cup has been cut to fit the larger tire, so I may use one of the super-clean OEM front fenders from truck #2 for that location. Other than that, it looks as if the only other body panels I will be replacing is the outer rockers due to rust holes in the door sill between the inner and outer rockers. I have NOS rockers for their replacement.

A couple of other interesting observations:
The front fenders must have been painted and primed with a different process or something from the factory. The paint on both of them are showing quite a bit more deterioration than the rest of the truck, and they both definitely appear to be original paint with original primer. It seems the front fenders on other original-paint trucks I have seen in the past didn't exactly hold up to the weather as well either. Interested in comments on this.
K20 with sport mirrors? It's on the SPID. Seems a little out of place.

[AZ Chev]

One other question I'd like to throw out there, has anyone ever seen an original grill and surround painted like this one before? They are definitely original parts, and the paint on them appears original, but I'v never seen one painted the same as this before. Comments?

[DeadheadNM]

Keep the updates coming.

That outer grille is painted as per the 71 model year - very nice piece for someone with a 71. The 72 outer grilles lack that outer paint band and all the NOS replacement grilles I've seen lack this as well (which is to say they are correct for the 72 MY). I'm wondering if the front clip was swapped from a 71 pickup given what you've observes with the fenders.

[IronCanine]

Very interested in the stance on this one...as I am considering a slight bump up too. If you are tweaking the SPID a bit, hard not to do the '72 DG4s.

[underliner6]

Great truck and great story of acquiring it. Looking forward to the build!

[AZ Chev]

Originally Posted by DeadheadNM

Keep the updates coming.

That outer grille is painted as per the 71 model year - very nice piece for someone with a 71. The 72 outer grilles lack that outer paint band and all the NOS replacement grilles I've seen lack this as well (which is to say they are correct for the 72 MY). I'm wondering if the front clip was swapped from a 71 pickup given what you've observes with the fenders.

Interesting. I really like the black on the grill better than without, and if it were correct for this year, would definitely go with it on the build. The date on the blue door jamb sticker is 5 of 72. Do you think there is a chance this one may have slipped out of the factory that way? I wonder if there are date codes on the fenders or grill, and if so where. That would probably help prove/disprove the 71 front clip theory. All the bolts on the entire front clip are original and correct, so if it was replaced, someone did a quality job.

The existing grill surround is available for pickup, and is in excellent shape with no dings, just a little sand blasting from many years of use. The inner grill has cracks and is loose. I have a NOS grill and surround I'll be using for the build.

[AZ Chev]

Originally Posted by underliner6

Great truck and great story of acquiring it. Looking forward to the build!

Welcome aboard.

[AZ Chev]

A couple of more observations:

The truck has saddle interior. The area behind the dash pad is painted the dark saddle color. I'v never seen that before, is it common? It appears to be original.

I'v read on some of the other threads that if a truck has comfort tilt steering (N33), the dash pad is usually black to match the steering wheel and column. This truck has comfort tilt steering and is missing the pad, but has the saddle paint behind where the pad would be, up to the holes where the pad mounts. There are marks in the paint where the pad sat on top of the paint, so it was definitely painted that color before dash pad was installed. Am I safe to assume this was originally a saddle colored pad?

I would like to get the truck running before tear down so I con confirm the function of the recently rebuilt engine and transmission. I decided to pull the plugs and do a compression check, one, to inspect the plugs, two, to make sure nothing is wrong with the new motor. Plugs are very fuel fouled, and compression is exactly what it should be. Truck has spark, and it tried to start each time we attempted to start it, it just wouldn't ever fully start and run. Something wrong with the new Edelbrock carb? I guess I'll have to pull and inspect it to find out. First, an oil change and new plugs.

[69Tom]

I'm pretty sure, even with a tilt, the color of the dash pad matched the interior color with the exception of Highlander and parchment interiors which got a black pad. And hence, the upper dash color matched the pad in a satin/suede type paint to reduce glare.

[AZ Chev]

Originally Posted by 69Tom

I'm pretty sure, even with a tilt, the color of the dash pad matched the interior color with the exception of Highlander and parchment interiors which got a black pad. And hence, the upper dash color matched the pad in a satin/suede type paint to reduce glare.

Yep, it was satin, it looked just like the satin paint for the interior vinyl parts.

[AZ Chev]

Originally Posted by IronCanine

Very interested in the stance on this one...as I am considering a slight bump up too. If you are tweaking the SPID a bit, hard not to do the '72 DG4s.

Tweaking the SPID on a replacement OEM glove box door, but keeping the old glove box door and SPID in tact, and in the file.

[DeadheadNM]

For sure that outer grille is painted per the 71 model year and unlikely to be anything other than an original GM piece (owing to issues w paint adherence and no similar reproduction). How it got bolted on there and when is open to speculation. I doubt it left GM with that grille especially that late of an assembly.

Originally Posted by 69Tom

I'm pretty sure, even with a tilt, the color of the dash pad matched the interior color with the exception of Highlander and parchment interiors which got a black pad. And hence, the upper dash color matched the pad in a satin/suede type paint to reduce glare.

Agree. That saddle paint atop the dash should be original. That's the lighter saddle (not dark saddle) interior. LMK if the defrost vents are painted saddle to match please. Is the seat vinyl parchment?

[DeadheadNM]

Here's a helpful thread that gets at the 621 saddle RPO: http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=654175

To my chagrin, I'm mistaken and this does appear as the dark saddle for 72. However, the same color uses RPO 688 in a 72 K5 and this led to my confusion. It would appear that RPO 621 for a pickup and RPO 688 for K5 are synonymous and denote the same dark saddle. If anyone knows otherwise please chime in.

EDIT:
Scrounged up this image posted by another member that lists the RPOs of interior colors. Note saddle only available w Cheyenne/Super level trim packages and those for buckets differ from that for a bench (same RPOs for parchment though, oddly). The saddle for a 72 K5 is only available with CST level trim.

[cornerstone]

Cool truck and story! I'm in for the ride.

[AZ Chev]

Originally Posted by cornerstone

Cool truck and story! I'm in for the ride.

Thanks for joining!

[AZ Chev]

Originally Posted by DeadheadNM

Here's a helpful thread that gets at the 621 saddle RPO: http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=654175

To my chagrin, I'm mistaken and this does appear as the dark saddle for 72. However, the same color uses RPO 688 in a 72 K5 and this led to my confusion. It would appear that RPO 621 for a pickup and RPO 688 for K5 are synonymous and denote the same dark saddle. If anyone knows otherwise please chime in.

EDIT:
Scrounged up this image posted by another member that lists the RPOs of interior colors. Note saddle only available w Cheyenne/Super level trim packages and those for buckets differ from that for a bench (same RPOs for parchment though, oddly). The saddle for a 72 K5 is only available with CST level trim.

Thanks Pete for sharing your research. This one definitely has dark saddle for the door panels and seat belt retractors, dash pad was missing. Glad it all checked out. I have a 69 CST10 with saddle buckets, and the saddle on the interior parts of that truck are definitely lighter.