69 K20 Fire Truck
 

Picked up the 1969 K20 long bed step side truck with service bed out of Washington. The truck was retired from the Quincy Washington Fire Department in 1998 so the story goes. Everything on this truck is original except for the altered factory bumper on the front and added diamond plate bumper in the rear. The truck at some point was painted white over the fire department red color shows underneath.

The truck is very straight as the body and grill goes. No rust to repair and only a few very small dings here and there on the body. Has a 350 V8 with 4 speed transmission with Dualmatic locking hubs on front. Mileage on truck says 11744 not sure or saying that is original or not. Will need to do the forensics on this to determine. One thing that points toward that direction is the wear and tear on the pedal pads. Another in the other direction is that the seat cover is not original. One way or the other it does not matter to me.

Cant wait to get started this truck needs to be driven and not sitting in a field for another twenty years. Might need to sell a few of the other K20's and K10's I have in storage to get this one to the front of the line. Lots of research to be done on this one. Love to know the backstory.

Re: 69 K20 Fire Truck
 

Awesome! Gun rack in a fire rig, love it! ;)

Re: 69 K20 Fire Truck
 

Yes I thought the same thing. I would imagine who ever bought it in 98 at auction and painted it white, probably installed the gun rack.

Re: 69 K20 Fire Truck
 

Oh, my! Outstanding truck! Pics under the hood when you get a chance?

Re: 69 K20 Fire Truck
 

It just needs a Unity Cop Spot in the driver's side A Pillar.

Re: 69 K20 Fire Truck
 

It's great for an ex-fire rig as far as not a lot of equipment mounted creating a zillion holes. I love the side bins on the Stepside. Even cooler than a utility bed.

Re: 69 K20 Fire Truck
 

Here are a few pictures of under the hood. When I bought it the air cleaner assembly was on the passenger floor board. The engine bay and engine is covered in dirt, dust, chicken feathers and bird droppings.

I went over to storage about a week after I purchased it to see if I could get the old girl started. Checked all fluids, hooked up a battery, added a new coil since it was missing. Disconnected the fuel lines since not sure if the lines are clogged or full of bad gas. put a little marvel Mystery oil in a squirt bottle and filled the bottle with gasoline. Squirted some down the carburetor and when I turned the key it fired right up and held an idle. Very surprised, however there is a valve or lifter sticking. I went back a few days later with a blower, Brake Kleen, a few brushes and items to clean up the motor around the valve covers so I could pull them off and see if there was anything visual I could see that might be causing the noise. I was surprised how clean it was under the valve covers compared to the gunk on the outside.

If you guys have any ideas a good way to fix or diagnose the issue I would love to hear about it.

Here is a link to the video of the truck running. https://youtu.be/Ffxs7gAwTeU

Re: 69 K20 Fire Truck
 

Probably for the Polanski axes. Fireman's best friend.

Re: 69 K20 Fire Truck
 

Pull the valve covers off and push down on all the rockers one at a time when the rockers are relaxed(tdc on each cylinder). If it’s a collapsed or not primed lifter you should be able to tell which one it is. Might be as simple as a rocker or two that are backed off. You can take a dead blow hammer or rubber mallet and smack the valves one at time when the rockers are relaxed and check to see how free the valves move. I would bet it’s a lifter not priming up or a rocker nut that is backed off/rocker stud that is loose or pulled.

Re: 69 K20 Fire Truck
 

I like it, nice find!

Re: 69 K20 Fire Truck
 

Very nice find! What a cool truck. Factory K steppers are pretty scarce!

Re: 69 K20 Fire Truck
 

I just had a 1960 Impala I bought that had been sitting for 35 years. Fired right up and ran just fine. It had a pretty good lifter tick in it. I just let it run with fresh oil ( and also some zinc additives) in it and after about 15-20 minutes of running it slowly went away. That car ran like a champ and hasn’t ever made a lifter noise again.

Re: 69 K20 Fire Truck
 

Looks like it had one once. I see a 1/2'' hole in the Driver's A Pillar.
Unity is still in business in Chicago, and P/N 202 is the number of the [LH] front mount accessory for 67-72 GM trucks.

Re: 69 K20 Fire Truck
 

That is great to hear and I think I will give it a try. Just ordered up some Risoline with zinc. Thanks for the suggestion.

Have not noticed that but if there is a hole already then it will be getting a spotlight. Thanks for the mentioning of that.

Re: 69 K20 Fire Truck
 

I also like that 1 year only maroon interior. It would be cool to paint it back red but I know it would be a ton of work.

Re: 69 K20 Fire Truck
 

If I decide that I am going to keep this truck I might just go that direction.
If not I would probably go Maroon outside with Maroon and white interior like the picture below.

I have a crew cab build coming up next for myself.
So really not sure if I will be keeping any of the six K20's that I have or sell a few so I can concentrate on K20 Crew Cab build.

Re: 69 K20 Fire Truck
 

A crew cab is on my list as well. 6 K20s, you're the man!

Re: 69 K20 Fire Truck
 

Reading over again I see you said "altered factory bumper". I can see what they did but could you get some pictures next chance you get?

Re: 69 K20 Fire Truck
 

Here is the best picture I have for now until I drive back over to storage lot. Looks to me that they cut of the ends and boxed it in to make a area for tools. The positive is that I will be easy to reverse with a new bumper and the bigger bonus is that it protected the grill from getting destroyed or dinged up over time. If you need any other pictures let me know.

Re: 69 K20 Fire Truck
 

That puppy would be the bees' knees (with appropriate padding) for working under the hood.

Re: 69 K20 Fire Truck
 

Actually already did that when I was trying to get it running. I threw a big folded up quilt on it and it was actually really nice when I was working on the motor.

Re: 69 K20 Fire Truck
 

With a front bumper like that, you could use it for effective power-shove parking in bigger cities. If the Prius parked in front of you too close, you just get in Granny Gear and relocate him forward a couple feet. Then you've got room to swing out.

Re: 69 K20 Fire Truck
 

Trying to get back on this to find a solution to the sound that is coming from the motor. Sounds like a stuck lifter or possibly a knocking rod.
Here is a video of the truck running and the sound is easy to hear.

https://youtu.be/Ffxs7gAwTeU

If any one knows how to embed video so it shows in the post please let me know.

Re: 69 K20 Fire Truck
 

The link is working for me. Have you tried adding some Marvel Mystery Oil in it yet?

Thanks for the other picture of the bumper. I could see this done to a less drastic degree just out enough for a winch. A stock bumper mounted away from the fenders the least bit is asking to be snagged. It would be a neat mod on a truck wanting the winch to show but keep a generally stock/only modified for function vibe... as might have been done back in the day (like this one was)

Re: 69 K20 Fire Truck
 

Saved for follow up video once I figure how to embed the video instead of the link

Here is the embed code from Youtube and that does nothing on this forum.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Ffxs7gAwTeU" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Tried just the link and nothing either.

https://youtu.be/Ffxs7gAwTeU

Dropped the s https ?

http://youtu.be/Ffxs7gAwTeU