1977 Chevy K30 Crew Cab Build
 

Here are pics of my 77 K30 after I purchased it & before any work had begun on it. It's an original CA truck & has been there all it's life - I am the 3rd owner from what I can gather.

Re: 1977 Chevy K30 Crew Cab Build
 

Here are the 3 seperate renderings of my truck I had done by Ryan Curtis of SIN-Customs to see what my truck is going to come out looking like.
The truck is being built by WFO Concepts in Auburn, CA & is getting a lot of custom touches including custom badges from Billet Badges.
I decided to go with a 2008 GMC 6.0L LY6 engine that had only 3,700 miles as well as a new GM NV4500 5-speed rather than the stock 454 big block & SM465 4-speed although both were in tip-top shape.
It's also getting an '05 rear 14-bolt axle with factory disc brakes - 4.10 gears & Eaton posi. The front axle is the stock Dana 60 that has been fully rebuilt & has Mile Marker stainless hubs. Both axles are getting Mag-Hytec covers & full powdercoat (as well as the frame).
I am going back with a Skyjacker 2.5" lift (front & rear replacement springs) over the older Pro Comp 3" currently on it, but getting a crossover steering set-up, Offroad Design shackles, custom built tie-rod assemblies & custom rear torque arms among other things!
It's gonna be my daily driver & one sweet ride!

Re: 1977 Chevy K30 Crew Cab Build
 

Here are some recent pics of the build process. No work has been done on body or interior - focus right now is on frame, steering, brakes & driveline. Rear axle isn't finished in these pics so no powdercoat or new diff cover...

Re: 1977 Chevy K30 Crew Cab Build
 

Oh, we also decided to ditch the factory dual tanks in favor of a custom fabricated 35-40 gallon unit they will install between the rear frame rails. We'll be shaving the current fuel filler locations & installing a late model Suburban gas door behind the left rear wheel well for a cleaner look.

Re: 1977 Chevy K30 Crew Cab Build
 

Wow really nice!

Re: 1977 Chevy K30 Crew Cab Build
 

Awesome. I saw a similar one on ebay a while back.

Re: 1977 Chevy K30 Crew Cab Build
 

Thanks for the great comments! I am hoping that it lives up to all my dreams of it!!! That may have been my truck you saw on eBay as that's where I bought it from a while back. Never even got to see the truck until I flew out to the shop last month while I was home on vacation. Will be posting more pics as Trevor sends them to me!

Re: 1977 Chevy K30 Crew Cab Build
 

Here's a pic of my new fabricated transmission crossmember test fit prior to going out to powdercoat. This shop has some killer fabrication skills!
Also a few shots of my almost fully gutted interior. Basically everything is getting replaced & going back with a set of custom Corbeau Moab seats in the front then custom covering the rear to match those.
Passenger floor pan had some rust issues due to a poor clean up job from a heater core leak at some time in the trucks history... No biggie though - getting a whole new pan on that side from LMC Truck!

Re: 1977 Chevy K30 Crew Cab Build
 

Here's a pic of the custom billet badge I am having made by Billet Badges (design courtesy of Ryan Curtis) - it's based off of a stock Custom Deluxe badge (also pictured). Billet Badges is also making me a set of replacement badges for the cab side "3+3", but it's gonna get changed to say "4x4" & have polished aluminum accents to match this other badge.
Also included a shot of the Corbeau seats I had made - they are all vinyl as I am not into leather & don't want to worry about stains or the like with cloth! The flooring is gonna be rubber as well so this truck can actually get dirty when it needs too! Of course it'll have a nice layer of Dynamat under it to soak up the road noise a bit!

Re: 1977 Chevy K30 Crew Cab Build
 

Some additional pics of previous progress shots - Dana 60 in process of rebuild, NP205 transfer case after rebuild with billet "goodies", Pacific Fab LS engine crossmember prior to frame powdercoat, initial engine test fit in frame with new Street & Performance mid-length headers installed.

Re: 1977 Chevy K30 Crew Cab Build
 

he dude thanks for checkin my truck out....that looked like a very clean truck to start with nice find...and nice build so far ill be keeing my eye on this rig..

Re: 1977 Chevy K30 Crew Cab Build
 

Definitely going to be following this one. This is going to look awesome!

Re: 1977 Chevy K30 Crew Cab Build
 

Nice truck! Why a 6.0 and not a Cummins or Duramax?

Re: 1977 Chevy K30 Crew Cab Build
 

My original thoughts were to go with a Cummins 4BTA engine - I absolutely love the Cummins engines & actually got rid of an '07 Ram 3500 with the 5.9L to start this truck... Thing is with the diesel is I would have gone back down the same road I did with the Ram - continually modifying it for more power! It's freaking addictive once you start doing all that...
I did do a lot of research on it & it was hard to get a good solid road map as to what I wanted done & to what extent. I have always liked the way the GM 6.0L gas engines drove in the 2500HD trucks & since they are so plentiful and easy to drop in I decided to go that route. And one other added benefit - this engine weighs a LOT less than a heavy Cummins!!!
The engine won't really be "stock" per say though as it'll have mid-length headers, a K&N intake kit & is getting a full custom tune done by a GM specialist that will knock out all the extra BS & emissions crap I don't need on this truck.

Re: 1977 Chevy K30 Crew Cab Build
 

Here's a couple of pics of the gauge cluster I had built out of two seperate clusters by Shannon at Redline Gauge Works. First shot is of the left side of the completed cluster before they got the tach work done - all the gauges have new modern internals specific for the 6.0L LS motor - the clock is an N.O.S. part I scored on eBay!
Second pic is of the finished tach from another cluster installed. It also has all modern internals & was converted from a 4,000rpm diesel tach. I choose this one mainly for the fact that it has the fuel gauge built into it which you really don't see all that much!
All the internal bulbs were converted to LED to match the rest of the truck so it should look really good once installed. Also got an all new bezel from LMC Truck to compliment it. Will post installed pics down the road when we reach that point of the build.

Re: 1977 Chevy K30 Crew Cab Build
 

Here's some shots of the numerous shelves of parts the poor shop accumulated when I went on an ordering frenzy at the beginning of the project... Couldn't help myself & didn't want them having to wait on parts to come in as they went along! Hindsight being what it is, I would've let them order them as they went along, but oh well huh...

Re: 1977 Chevy K30 Crew Cab Build
 

Here's a generic shot of the wheels I am going with. They are Mickey Thompson Classic Lock's. They will have the polished aluminum beadlock rings removed & then be powercoated black to match everything else. Should look hot with the polished rings re-installed as well as the chrome lugs & center caps!!!

Re: 1977 Chevy K30 Crew Cab Build
 

Where did you buy thoese poly engine mounts?

Re: 1977 Chevy K30 Crew Cab Build
 

Trevor at the shop ordered them, but if I am not mistaken they came as part of the Pacific Fab LS crossmember kit.

Re: 1977 Chevy K30 Crew Cab Build
 

I'm not a 4x4 guy at all,... but this truck is COOL.

Re: 1977 Chevy K30 Crew Cab Build
 

Thanks a lot man! I somewhat prefer 2WD's most of the time too, but need the capability at times that only the 4WD can offer, so that's what I went with.

Re: 1977 Chevy K30 Crew Cab Build
 

Nothing new to post this week unfortunately.... Last of the wheels should be at the shop come Monday, so hopefully they'll be at powdercoat soon after. Floor pans are in, so that should get done this week as well. Most of the steering linkage is fab'd I am just waiting to get pics of it to post on here...

Re: 1977 Chevy K30 Crew Cab Build
 

Wow..nice build so far. I'll be taking notes when I build mine. Keep up the great work!

Re: 1977 Chevy K30 Crew Cab Build
 

build looks great!!!

Re: 1977 Chevy K30 Crew Cab Build
 

WOW sweet build man Merry Christmas to all, and a happy New Year

Re: 1977 Chevy K30 Crew Cab Build
 

Ok, so it looks as if nothing much is gonna get done until after the holidays come to a close... That's Ok though - everyone needs to enjoy them with their families!
Right now I am talking to a local engine shop in Sacramento about doing some upgrades to the 6.0L - gonna have it torn down & gone through as well as putting a little better cam in along with full roller rockers & a roller timing set. The shop also has an engine dyno, so they can do the ECM tune there as well - plus give me solid numbers as to what it's putting out prior to installing!
Also looking to change out my BFG's for a set of Mickey Thompson Baja Radial ATZ's. Hate to do it since I already bought the BFG's, but hopefully Trevor can work a good trade! Anyone out there ever have experiance with these tires - like how they wear, road noise, etc.?
One other thing I am contemplating is having a local Vortex spray-on liner guy come & do all the undercoating rather than having the shop apply like the Dupli-Color spray-on can stuff. Anyone out there ever use this stuff? I usually go with Line-X, but they won't come to you....
Anyhow, Happy Holidays & a Merry Christmas to all of you back in the good 'ol USofA - surely wish I was back there for the holidays, but guess it wasn't meant to be this year...

Re: 1977 Chevy K30 Crew Cab Build
 

Well, year's almost over so the work should be commencing again shortly... Ordered a whole new Painless chassis harness for it today along wth the Powerbraid kit to make it look factory again! Leaving the engine harness portion up to the shops discretion, but sounds as if they might go with one from Howell.
I promise I'll post any new pics that I get on here just as soon as I get them!!!

Re: 1977 Chevy K30 Crew Cab Build
 

nice start so far looking forward to the progress on this

Re: 1977 Chevy K30 Crew Cab Build
 

I want!! Nice build,lppk forward to updates!

Re: 1977 Chevy K30 Crew Cab Build
 

Great looking build. Should perform nicely with that drivetrain!

Re: 1977 Chevy K30 Crew Cab Build
 

I am enjoying your build. Makes me want to jump back out on mine. Keep us posted.

Sorry you were not able to be in the states this Holiday season. Been there before. Will Say a toast to guys like yourself at New Years.

Re: 1977 Chevy K30 Crew Cab Build
 

Well, truck offically goes back on the lift tomorrow & should get the floor pans in same day. Bought a used Suburban overhead console today for it. Will replace the bottom pieces for new ones from LMC Truck & then will have the blue parts covered in matching black vinyl. This should look great against the charcoal headliner!
As soon as Trevor gets me some pics I'll post them on here for all to see!!!

Re: 1977 Chevy K30 Crew Cab Build
 

how did you wire you gauges?
do you have pictures of the back side of the gauges?

Re: 1977 Chevy K30 Crew Cab Build
 

I had a company called Redline Gauge Works build the cluster. It was a 91 Suburban cluster to start with that they installed an older model tach with that built in fuel gauge. They re-did all the gauge inner workings to modern stuff to go with my new 6.0L engine. Sorry I can't help more, but you can call Shannon at Redline if you want more info.

Re: 1977 Chevy K30 Crew Cab Build
 

so does your 6.0l harness just plug in to the cluster now?
did you have to supply the gauge cluster?

Re: 1977 Chevy K30 Crew Cab Build
 

Well, the shop's still working on the engine harness... Probably gonna come from Speartech & they'll build it to be plug & play with the parts I have installed. I didn't "have to" supply the cluster, they probably could'a made it work, but I wanted it to have a tach in there & didn't like anything the way it came from the factory...

Re: 1977 Chevy K30 Crew Cab Build
 

Well, floor pan is finally going in... Still a little filler panel to add at the end which they have to custom fit, but overall it looks like a great installation.

Re: 1977 Chevy K30 Crew Cab Build
 

Here's a shot of Keven making the filler piece for the floor pan. He's the one in charge of all of the fabricated & weld-up items on my build. The other pic is the 100% custom rear bumper he fab'd for his Dodge Ram - freakin' SWEET!!!

Re: 1977 Chevy K30 Crew Cab Build
 

Your build looks awesome. Keep up the good work and I can't wait to see the finished product

Re: 1977 Chevy K30 Crew Cab Build
 

Floor pans all in finally - just needs to be painted. The whole underside will be getting new spray-on undercoating - maybe Vortex brand but not 100% sure yet. Also including a few shots of the new AGR steering gear box installation. Frames starting to get a little dusty isn't it....