'72 K/30 Longhorn Conversion
 

Hey guys allow me to introduce myself!

Im from Santa Rosa CA, and my beautiful wife let me buy myself my first Chevy truck for my 26th birthday its a 1972 Custom/20 Longhorn. (she is pretty awesome!)

I got the truck out of Modesto CA, it was an old farm truck and its previous owner passed away (RIP) but he took amazing care of it! Its all original with 60,000 original miles.

I plan on doing a 1 Ton 4X4 conversion with a 6" lift and eventually replacing the 292 strait 6 with a 454 and making it a big boys truck.

So this will be my build thread I hope you guys enjoy it as much as i will!

Here are some pics of the truck as i got it.

Re: '72 K/30 Longhorn Conversion
 

welcome, great starting point. Love your build plan - have seen a few folks on here make that combo and it's a great one. Enjoy and I look forward to seeing the progress!

Re: '72 K/30 Longhorn Conversion
 

Beautiful truck! I like the 454 idea! Cant wait to see how this project goes!

Re: '72 K/30 Longhorn Conversion
 

That is a nice truck! Sounds like you have a good wife too. .. I'll be watching this truck

Re: '72 K/30 Longhorn Conversion
 

Great truck!!! Good luck with it!! There is tons of useful info here to research. Keep us posted on the progress.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!😀

Re: '72 K/30 Longhorn Conversion
 

Where's the rust.....:lol:

That is one clean truck and a perfect base to work off of...almost hate to molest it.

Have fun with it!!!

Re: '72 K/30 Longhorn Conversion
 

What a beautiful truck. I'd like to find one like that but in the Cheyenne package.

Re: '72 K/30 Longhorn Conversion
 

nice truck!
AM/FM, power steering, and a 4 speed in a work truck. a real splurge for a 1972 farmer.

what plans do you have for the 4x4 conversion?

Re: '72 K/30 Longhorn Conversion
 

Thanks guys for such a positive response!

nobolt- for the 4wd conversion i have a Dana 60 front ready to go in and i plan on finding one to put in the back also. (tackled the hard one first.) I also have a Tuff Country 6" lift kit. Still need to order my High Steer kit to keep everything kosher with the steering. And Topping it all off with 35" BFG Mud Terrains KM2 on 17" rims.

Re: '72 K/30 Longhorn Conversion
 

Dana 60 front,
Tuff Country 6" lift.
4x4 donor frame for all my 4x4 mounts and brackets.

Re: '72 K/30 Longhorn Conversion
 

looks like you have a good start!
what was the donor for the D60?

Re: '72 K/30 Longhorn Conversion
 

you have a awesome plans but its such a nice truck allready.
all those goodies on that 292 is sure worth $$$ too somebody.

Re: '72 K/30 Longhorn Conversion
 

Well we pulled it from an '86 1/2 chevy but it wasn't original to that truck either. But I think the guy said it was from another '86

Yea I know it's a really nice truck as it is, but I'm not gonna be doing a hack job. And I plan on keeping the cab and body as original as possible just as if it came off the assembly line as a 4x4

Re: '72 K/30 Longhorn Conversion
 

Could you tell me more about the 292 "goodies" I have I'm not very familiar with the strait 6s

Re: '72 K/30 Longhorn Conversion
 

-
There have been a few guys on here go that route. Here is a picture of my Longhorn 4x4....

LockDoc

Re: '72 K/30 Longhorn Conversion
 

Welcome to the forum. You're among friend here.

Looks like you're off to a great start. I'm looking forward to following you're progress. I'm going to move this over the Projects and Builds forum.

Re: '72 K/30 Longhorn Conversion
 

Welcome to the forum. You're among friend here.

Looks like you're off to a great start. I'm looking forward to following you're progress. I'm going to move this over the Projects and Builds forum.

Re: '72 K/30 Longhorn Conversion
 

Well we are under way! We took the front end out(anybody need a 3/4 2wd front end?) and welded up the 2wd holes in the frame this weekend! The whole bottom is covered in thick undercoating (probably a big part of why the truck is in such good shape) but I'm going to grind it all of the frame to paint it nice. I found that applying heat makes it much easier to remove.

Re: '72 K/30 Longhorn Conversion
 

Looking good man! I'm in Santa Rosa too. Hit me up if you ever need a hand.

Re: '72 K/30 Longhorn Conversion
 

That 292 is a heck of a motor, I would give it a chance before you scrap it. But if you do get rid of it the power steering brackets are worth quite a bit. The offset air cleaner (to allow clearance for power brakes) is worth a decent amount too.

Re: '72 K/30 Longhorn Conversion
 

Thanks! Hopefully you will see me rollin around soon! I'll keep an eye out for you! I'll shoot you a message if I get stuck.

Re: '72 K/30 Longhorn Conversion
 

Thanks for the info! I have heard it's a killer motor, I just will want more power with such a big truck. But I'll be driving around with the 292 for while while I build up my 454.

Re: '72 K/30 Longhorn Conversion
 

Welcome ,Im in for this build too.

Re: '72 K/30 Longhorn Conversion
 

Yesterday i was able to finish cleaning off the undercoating off the whole front half of the frame. Had to lift the cab up one side at a time to do it but i think its looking good!

Also got a screaming deal on my tires and rims, 35" BFG Mud Terrain KM2s on 17 inch rims. Craigslist is awesome!

Re: '72 K/30 Longhorn Conversion
 

Wow ,those are huge .

Re: '72 K/30 Longhorn Conversion
 

Very nice Longhorn you have there.
And you are making great progress.

Gonna be a cool truck when it's done.

Re: '72 K/30 Longhorn Conversion
 

Hey guys! Just got back from a much needed vacation, but now back to the grind.
I found my rear 1972 Dana 60 with 3.56 gear ratio and a stock Detroit Locker in it! Now getting it all cleaned up and sandblasted for paint.
Does anybody know about the Detroit Locker from 1972 and if/how it's different from modern Detroit Lockers?

Re: '72 K/30 Longhorn Conversion
 

Here it is.

Re: '72 K/30 Longhorn Conversion
 

Hey guys!
I have been parts hunting all winter and have come up with some good stuff! I had gotten my original 4 speed transmission and 205 transfer case all cleaned up and painted when i noticed a crack, we tried to weld it but it just didn't work out so i ended up switching to a different plan.

So instead i found a 1993 NV4500 5 speed transmission with over drive and then located a new 32 spline 205 transfer case that came with the better front drive shaft that with an adapter from Advanced Adapter is working out great!

While looking around i also found a Dana 60 Rear with 356 gears and a Detroit Locker, Lucky find!

So now I am aiming to have it driving by June so that i can take it to Pismo Beach on a family trip, Wish me luck!!!

Re: '72 K/30 Longhorn Conversion
 

Truck is looking good.


Keep up the good work.

Re: '72 K/30 Longhorn Conversion
 

Sweeeet! Any more progress?

Re: '72 K/30 Longhorn Conversion
 

Sweet Longhorn 4x4 on EBAY for inspiration

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1972-Chevrol...16.m2518.l4276

Re: '72 K/30 Longhorn Conversion
 

Somebody's gonna get a great truck, I would have been all over this one a year ago! Time to get back to my build, I'm motivated!

Re: '72 K/30 Longhorn Conversion
 

Well got the NV4500 tranny and 32 spline 205 trasfer case married together with and adapter from Advanced Adapter, and we used the original bell housing by drilling and tapping new bolt holes in the transmission to match and it actually turns out looking pretty good!

I spent yesterday dedicated to getting the truck on the ground and rolling also got to put the tranny in as an added bonus.

But when we got it down on the ground as you can see we have some issues with the leveling as we found out the rear on this truck as it is a 2WD doesn't have the same tall front shackles/hangers the 4WDs have for the rear leaf springs so its dramatically lower in the back than the front...

So now I have two choices I either need to find a donor for the right shackles/hangers or I could use some 4" blocks I have laying around to level it out, which I really would rather not do.

Any ideas? or does anybody know where I can get the right Shackles/Hangers?

(the front of the cab is lifted a little making it look bent)

Re: '72 K/30 Longhorn Conversion
 

You should be able to find the correct 4x4 hangers on the parts board or I would send DLTRUCK1973 a PM.

I bet he has a set ready to go.


Keep up the good work.

Re: '72 K/30 Longhorn Conversion
 

I 2nd that suggestion! Replace the rear hangers with 4x4 hangers. Tom & Thomas (DLTRUCK1973) are great to work with.

Square body in the front position would be stronger but 67-72 fit better. The square body ones would need the tops trimmed off the bracket to follow the frame shape.

ORD makes a flip hanger for the rear position that I think would be perfect for your truck.

Re: '72 K/30 Longhorn Conversion
 

loving this so far

Re: '72 K/30 Longhorn Conversion
 

Alright! Well i was able to get ORIGINAL 1972 4x4 hangers from Tom & Thomas (DLTRUCK1973) Big shout out to them thank you so much! And thank you to Brett (7dee2) for the hook up! Here they are all prettied up and painted. Ill be mounting them up tomorrow more pics to come!

Re: '72 K/30 Longhorn Conversion
 

Well today the we took and mounted the 4x4 hangers and pretty much fixed the rear ride hight problem it might need just a little 1 inch block to totally level out as the front is still a little high with my 292 6 cylinder. It should settle into a perfect stance with the 454 when i get that worked out.

So we torched off the rivets, cleaned off the frame of the undercoating and drilled the new holes. I will be doing a bed off restore of the rear eventually so its not as pretty as i would like but that will come later.

We also worked on moving the engine and transmission forward by an inch so when i do get my 454 ready to install we will have enough clearance for the distributer cap and will be able to bolt it right onto the transmission.

Re: '72 K/30 Longhorn Conversion
 

Tom (MX289) did beat me to the punch on the hanger suggestion as well as the vendor. And he was right it looks good that does get it really close to level!

What did you decide to do for the rear hanger, rear position? In order of least to most lift would be the stock C20-30, then 67-72 K series, then square body 4x4 using factory type hangers (each step will change the pinion angle some). Here's a link to the ORD Shackle Flip Kit http://www.offroaddesign.com/catalog/shacklekit.htm if needed.