Re: 69 K10 From the Field
 

So the work today will be getting the driver side rocker tacked in and the driver side kick panel lower section new metal cut out and tacked in also. I spent yesterday afternoon cleaning up the shop and putting away a few tools from the kitchen remodel so I could wheel out the cab to get going again. Then I cut out the lower section of the kick panel with a air reciprocating saw and small die grinder that has a metal cutting bit. Made a few templates from card stock to cut out the new metal with. Then treated the cut out area with Rust-oleum rust dissolver spray gel which is Phosphoric acid in gel form.

The gel form of the Phosphoric acid works well converting the iron oxide "rust" to iron phosphate. I wait until it all dries good then mechanically remove with a the solution with powered wire wheel, grinding pad, wire brush etc. If you try to remove the gel before it dries with water it leaves a white powdery film that does not paint well. Anyways I have had good luck with this and for areas like this I use a little acid brush to move the gel around into the cracks and places that are hard to get in to.

Re: 69 K10 From the Field
 

While I was letting the rust remover dry I decided to pull out the doors and get started on them while I am working on the cab. When filler or primer is drying I will work on getting both doors ready for the cab. The door in the pictures is the passenger side door, you can see the metal damage under the trim locations. I will be grinding down the areas to get to good metal and body work those areas. There are two areas that will need to be cut out that are rust through areas at the bottom corner of the door and front bottom corner of door interior. The trim holes will be welded shut and worked to get things right. After sanding down with a DA I marked areas that were high with a "H" using a black marker and outline where to cut out the rust and fix.

Re: 69 K10 From the Field
 

It did make it to mass at my shop but I can’t go to mass to see it can’t make this stuff up to bad it would give me something to do shipping was 1400.00 from Cheney wa to cape cod ma if anybody wants the driver phone number pm me that’s cheap and he was good but practice your russian

Re: 69 K10 From the Field
 

I had the same guy a few weeks ago I kid you not. He was hard to understand on the phone not so bad in person.

Re: 69 K10 From the Field
 

Here are a few pictures of the passenger door rust repair and welding up 12 trim holes and 3 mirror holes. Rust repair was for exterior bottom corner and bottom interior corner of the door. Both typical places where they rust out from poor drainage. Cut out the rust and clean all that I can get to and treat the metal inside to stop future rusting.

Re: 69 K10 From the Field
 

Here is the first round of filler on passenger door after doing a little work with the hammer to knock down a few high spots.

Re: 69 K10 From the Field
 

Looking good!! Keep going....

Re: 69 K10 From the Field
 

Last coat of skim on the drivers door and that good for now. Finished roughing out the inner bottom side of the door and while filler was drying I striped the passenger door of all the items so it can get its turn for stage one of metal repair and body work. All of the items that came out of the door will be getting dumped into the tub of Oxalic acid to rid it of the surface rust.

Re: 69 K10 From the Field
 

Here is the passenger door getting the once over, grinding down the areas where the trim was and prepping to spot weld holes shut. Also have few areas where the mirrors were mounted that are setting high so I will knock those down before welding.

Also you can ss the tub of Oaxlic acid with all the parts from the door insides, also a set of bumper brackets and rear light housing. After dropping them in the tub I put the lid on it and will go back and visit this weekend to see if it is ready to come out and be rinsed off.

Re: 69 K10 From the Field
 

Ok so a few days ago while working on the drivers door body work, I had just layed down some body filler over the areas that I welded shut for the trim locations. Waiting for the filler to set up I decided to start striping the other door of all the internals and window rubbers, wind wing etc. Once it was all done I tossed all the parts, nuts and bolts into a 37 gal black storage tub from Home Depot that was full of a mixture of Oxalic acid and water to remove the rust.

This morning about three days later I went out to garage to get set up for the work being done today and thought I would take a peak in the tub to see the results.

Photo 1 is the before
Photo 2 is the after
Photo 3 is the product I used (link to Amazon)

I ordered it from Amazon, cost about $15 dollars. I used 1/4 cup of the Oxalic acid and about 30 gallons of water. I just leave it in the tub with the lid on it. This is the second project I have used the same mixture on. The last project the 68 Second Chance I used it on the seat sliders and other parts.

How I came about using the is one day I was reading an article about a guy who restores old bicycles. I followed the article link to the actual build thread of the bike and was amazed at what this chemical could do. He took an entire bike apart that was 100% rust and soaked it in a kiddie pool of the Oxalic acid. When the bike came out of the pool it was a red and white bike with all the decals still left on the bike. After reading further I found out that it is used as a wood bleach and thought what the heck I will give it a try.

Re: 69 K10 From the Field
 

Got the piece of metal cut out and prepped for repair the rust in the bottom of the kick panel on passenger side. Tacked that in and hit it with the grinder to knock down the welds. Applied first coat of filler to both the kick panel and the drivers door that was welded up this morning.

While filler was setting up I decided to pull a extra dash I had saved a few years back and mock up a glove box in the lower middle to see how it would look for extra gauges and winch controls.

After tacking on the passenger side rocker I should be real close to being done with any metal work on the cab and doors. Then move onto the the body work phase.

Re: 69 K10 From the Field
 

While I was waiting on more filler to dry I pulled a spare 68 drivers side fender I got from a load of parts last year off Marketplace. I needed to repair the fender of a few nasty dings and dents so I can use it on the 67 GMC K1500 that I am getting ready to sell. That truck came with a really bad drivers front fender that the farmer must of hit a tree or fence post with and peeled the front fender outward. Damaged the fender and the inner fender but spared the grille.

This fender is a good fender meaning it has no rust repair needed. It has a few typical dings and dents as most fenders over 50 years old do. This fender has two areas in the front eyebrow that have disrupted the body line. I have fixed these before with a little Map gas heating and a few specialty tools that I have made out of items laying around in the shop. The most useful one is a extra long eye bolt, the roundness and size seems to really work well for this area.

Heated it up and pounded out a few different times until i was in the ball park. Then I cut off the old bolts that were there to hold on the eyebrow trim, still need to weld those shut. Then moved on to shaving the marker light opening and replacing with some fresh new metal. I use a metal bar stock to follow as a guide for the metal cutting blade then after the new metal is prepped I use the magnets or the butt weld clamps or both.

Re: 69 K10 From the Field
 

After getting it all clamped down and the metal prepped for weld I tacked around the edges spacing out the welds to distribute heat. There were a few times I had to do a little hammer and dolly to keep it going in the right direction. Got it all ground down and ready to go to filler stage next.

Took a break and washed the old 72 Cheyenne Fixrupr and took it for a spin around the neighborhood. Planning on a longer drive later this afternoon before the sun goes down, have a few hills behind my house that are pretty cool to watch the sunset.

Re: 69 K10 From the Field
 

Almost there with fender for the 67 GMC k1500 4x4. A few more minor skim coats and the front of the fender will be ready for some primer soon. Last picture is the truck it will be going on to replace the drivers fender.

Doors are in the final stage of skim coats after that I will be mounting temporarily to see if I am even close on the rockers. Then back of for later for final finishing. Top of cab has now been stripped of all remaining seam sealer in rain gutters and no signs of rust anywhere. Will be pulling out the windshield and back window later today to get those areas prepped.

Re: 69 K10 From the Field
 

Nice metal work! Good progress

Re: 69 K10 From the Field
 

Thanks for the props....head down going after it.

Re: 69 K10 From the Field
 

Finished up the final round of filler work on the front eyebrow area of the fender. Used Rage Extreme as main filler, Upol Gold for glaze and SEM black high build for primer. Not sure how much more repairs I will do on the fender since my goal was to replace the bad fender with one that could allow for proper restoration or just a driver . Most of the rest of the items on the fender are small dings or scratches just like the rest of the truck. I will need to weld shut the four holes that were for the C20 badge and finish that area then scuff and get the fender into white primer before I mount it.

One of the pictures shows how much filler dust was sanded off using Durablock sanding blocks of various sizes. It is amazing how much work it takes to get that area looking right again.

Re: 69 K10 From the Field
 

Started on getting the rocker installed this morning by getting out the engine hoist to use as a method for hanging the door so I could adjust the rocker for a proper fit. After about four tries I got the door mounted back in the old location that I marked before taking off. Got the rocker mounted and one screw at each end for temporary mounting. then worked both corners with a pick hammer to get it to fit closer to the body locations needed. Drilled a few spot holes and began welding. Next on to grinding the welds, and filler work on rocker and cab trim holes that i also got welded this morning.

While filler was drying I removed the back window. The window opening looked almost brand new on the sides and top, and had three location where there was a little pitting of rust. i will grind out those locations and just spot weld and grind to fix.

Man cant tell you how happy I am with this cart I built last summer. It is so easy to move around in the shop depending on where I need lighting or even roll it out on the driveway when the weather is right. One really big plus for this cart is the working height for me. I can sit on a chair and work rockers or when standing everything is at the right height for me to work comfortably.

Re: 69 K10 From the Field
 

A buddy of mine that is a transporter was able to pick up the 68 K20 Long bed Stepside truck I made a deal on a few weeks ago. Here are few pictures of him loading it up and getting ready to head to Idaho to my stable. I am excited about this truck, dont see many K20 long bed stepsides.

Re: 69 K10 From the Field
 

Like the GMC. Looks like you are making steady progress on your truck.

Re: 69 K10 From the Field
 

Richard, thanks the GMC will be a nice truck and yes I have been putting in a couple hours everyday. Goal that I set once Idaho has a stay at home order tile end of month, trying to get the cab done and painted by end of lockdown. Also bought three other K20's this month, two are now here waiting on the last from Washington once the lockdown in both states are over.

Re: 69 K10 From the Field
 

Worked on getting the bulk of the cab dings filled and a once over on the trim holes. Need to grind down one spot on rear window where it is pitted and spot weld. Then need to pull out windshield and check the metal for the same. Still need to address the rear cab corner aprons are both bent out a little bit so will need some hammer and dolly work then more filler. Should be ready for primer by end of weekend after a bunch of DA sanding.

Re: 69 K10 From the Field
 

Looking good! Sneaking over to the body shop myself tomorrow to check on progress and help out a bit.

Re: 69 K10 From the Field
 

Cleaned up the rear window bottom channel where there was a little surface pitting with a twisted wire wheel on the grinder. Then hit it for a Passover with the flap disc attached. Drilled four spots that looked like they were close to be a rust through spot to get to good metal. Welded everything up and just used a file to knock down the spot welds. Then laid down a small bead of Rage Extreme across the bottom channel. Knocked it down with a file and a long thin Durablock with 120 grit. Will be putting a layer of etching primer next.

While the back was setting up I grabbed a razor knife and started cutting around the seam of the windshield so it can removed and inspected. Once out the channel looked great only a little of surface rust in both of the top corner locations where the metal is sorta does an overlap and where it is seam sealed. Heated up the seam sealer with a little map gas on the torch and used a pick and flat blade screw driver to get it out.

Re: 69 K10 From the Field
 

Had a few side projects to get wrapped up on Saturday morning. I had purchased a LS motor a couple of months ago and needed a stand for storage so I built a set from some 1x2 thick wall tubing and some 1/4" plate. Also bought another K20 a few days ago it is a 68 GMC long bed stepside. The drivers side step and bottom front corner of fender have been crushed in at some point. Trying to find a used one for a long bed stepside is difficult, so I decide to give it a shot a trying to fix. This is where I got after about 2 hours working on the step and fender. Used map gas on a small torch and two different body hammers along with an assortment of dollies. Pretty surprised what I was able to pound out and will still have a challenge to get the small body seam that goes around the entire wheel well. The step will also need a little more work fabricating the back part that wraps around the fender, that small piece was not fixable. I will need to make a reverse template off the passenger side step in order to fabricate the part.

Re: 69 K10 From the Field
 

Impressive sheet metal work

Re: 69 K10 From the Field
 

Thanks, still has a ways to go on the fender. On the step I decided to go out to the trucks passenger side and remove the bolts between the fender and the step and see if I could get a piece of card stock between the two to trace a template for the remainder of the step that is missing. I was able to get it traced out then in the shop then will flip the template over since it is for the drivers side and cut out the metal and start to work that into shape.

Re: 69 K10 From the Field
 

Love following your work.

Greg

Re: 69 K10 From the Field
 

Thanks Greg, not a lot happening to post except for a bunch of sanding right now on cab trying to get it ready for primer and paint.

Re: 69 K10 From the Field
 

Nice job on the fender and step.

Re: 69 K10 From the Field
 

Thanks I appreciate it!

Re: 69 K10 From the Field
 

X2, good job of getting it de-smashed!!! :lol:

Re: 69 K10 From the Field
 

Thanks, really like the term de-smashed.

Spent the weekend doing K20 related items. In order to work on trucks at my house because of CCR rules, all vehicles must be in operable order. I have the 68 K20 long bed step side truck that I picked up over Easter weekend. It does not run or drive yet. Motor needs some work on it and the center tie rod link is bent so you can not turn to the left. So when I looked into what it would take to make it run I pulled plugs and squirted a little transmission fluid in each hole and when I got to plug in the 5 hole it looked really bad so I to pull the valve cover on that side to take a look see. The number five piston was missing the exhaust port pushrod. So instead of dumping money into this motor right now and chase down all the issues I decided it would be faster to drop in another motor that runs and deal with this at another time. So I spent about two hours getting all the bolts, wires, hoses, radiator and linkages disconnected or removed so it can come out.

The truck also has a bent center link tie rod so i also removed that so it can be replaced. So this week I will remove the motor and install another on Monday afternoon. Make all final connections and have it running by Tuesday afternoon. Deal with the tie rod issue on Wednesday and take it over to DMV to get registration and plates. This will resolve the inoperable vehicle issue.

Was able to get more sanding done on the 69 cab and a few touchups on the drivers door. Ordered all new steel bed strips and hardware to redo the long bed step side bed. Then went down to the local hardwood supplier and picked up my order of Ash wood for the bed that I placed on Friday. I will need to plan the wood down a 1/4 inch and cut to length and dado cut the grooves before I can put the finish on it and install.

Also had another 71 K20 delivered by my two sons that went up to Pullman Washington area to pickup a truck I purchased a month ago. Spent the day Sunday just joy riding the truck and in the afternoon took my 16 year old son over to the foothills and taught him how to drive a stick shift. He got the hang of it pretty fast, should have got a photo of the grin on his face when he was able to shift through all gears and actually drive it with a stick shift.

Pict 1 - 68 K20 getting everything ready to remove motor
Pict 2 - 68 K20 getting the center tie rod removed
Pict 3 - 71 K20 being towed back to the stable for a little cosmetic restoration

Re: 69 K10 From the Field
 

Most of you already probably know all this stuff but thought it might be good information for reference. I pulled the 327 V8 motor out of the 68 K20 since the motor was bad. To replace with a 292 6 cylinder. There are a few items that are unique when switching from a V8 to inline 6 into a 4x4 truck. I will post the pictures of the different items in comparison as they go in.

• crossmembers are different
• shifter zbar are different
• linkage to the carb is different
• oil pressure line hookup is different
• radiator hoses are different
• fan shroud different I think, not sure on this one????
• exhaust system

Picture 1 - shows the V8 crossmember
Picture 2 - shows the 292 6 cylinder crossmember
Picture 3 - shows zbar linkage , one on top is from V8, bottom one 292 6 cylinder
Picture 4 - 292 going in
Picture 5 - 292 in a bolted down

Re: 69 K10 From the Field
 

Looks like it’s been a pretty productive few weeks! Nice work!

Re: 69 K10 From the Field
 

Thanks 57 taskforce , Yes I have been busy getting this 68 long bed stepper running and driving so I can get it out of shop and start spraying the cab and interior on the 69 K10 from the Field. Excited to start getting the drive train back together on the 69. I have a few surprises coming for the 69.

Re: 69 K10 From the Field
 

After I got the motor bolted in on the 68 Long Stepper I decided I would do a test with two different degreaser products I had in the shop. So I put a large piece of painters plastic drop cloth under the truck to catch any of the oil drippings and muck from the motor.

One side I sprayed with Gunk degreaser from a spray bottle with a trigger and the other side sprayed with a Walmart brand foaming degreaser. Both of them said wait 10 minutes before wiping or spraying off. The side that I put the Gunk degreaser only did a little bit of good while the other side was really working well. In the areas that were heavily baked on oil I used a brush to help clean it up. I eventually sprayed the Gunk side down with the Walmart brand item since it was doing a much better job. Let it all run down and drip on the plastic on the garage floor for about another 15 minutes.

After a bit I rolled up the painters plastic with all the residue and muck and tossed it into a small box and into the garbage. Push the truck out of the garage and fired up the power washer to do the final wash off. I was a little surprised how well it did cleaning the motor.

Here are the before and after pictures. The dark spots on the clean motor are not grease or oil it is where the paint did not stick from previous painting of motor.

Re: 69 K10 From the Field
 

I've had good results with oven cleaner

Re: 69 K10 From the Field
 

Yes I agree the oven cleaner works also very good. I thought this was worth a try since it says right on can says to was off with water. This was a little more friendly when it comes to burning skin and the fumes oven cleaner causes. I did this in the garage since I did not want the sun to be a factor out in the driveway.

Re: 69 K10 From the Field
 

Cleaned up nicely.