Good morning All,
I've been lurking on this site for years and I thought it was time I shared my truck. It's a 1962 GMC K20...with a Chevy cab...and a Chevy bed. The story is that the guy I bought it from had two trucks, both 62's, both K20's. One was a GMC that was a good runner with a crappy body and the other was a Chevy with a good body but no running gear. He decided to swap the good body onto the good running frame. (Personally, I would have just swapped the running gear into the better truck)
At any rate, it has a 327, SM420 and T-221 Transfer case. It also has a Dana rear axle.
Here it is the day I picked it up. The Uhaul trailer and 1/2 ton rental truck were just about maxed out.
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Scott Sapers, on Flickr
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Scott Sapers, on Flickr
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Scott Sapers, on Flickr
The truck has no signs of anything more than light surface rust. The body is straight and solid.
So, I screwed with it for a few days, bleeding and adjusting brakes and clutch, cleaning the tank and carb and got it running. Once it ran and (mostly) stopped (more on that later) I did the sensible thing and strarted using it as my daily driver.
I have ZERO problems locating my vehicle in the grocerey store parking lot.
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Scott Sapers, on Flickr
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Scott Sapers, on Flickr
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Scott Sapers, on Flickr
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Scott Sapers, on Flickr
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Scott Sapers, on Flickr
This truck has been a hoot to drive but there are a few issues:
1. The drag link is junk and I can't find a replacement or rebuild kit (help!)
2. the previous owner did a brake job and apparently neglected to replace the tabbed washer in between the wheel bearing nuts on the left rear. Eventually, it tightened up and quite a bit of damage. Luckily, I found this out of a 62 on Craigslist.
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Scott Sapers, on Flickr
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Scott Sapers, on Flickr
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Scott Sapers, on Flickr
4.10's should be good for my plans and I'll try to find a disk brake front end with the same ratio.
So, here's the plan - I am not going to tear the truck down and do a full restoration or buildup. I've been down that road before and I don't want it out of service for a year or two while I do that. Instead, my plan is sort of a "rolling refresh", fixing and improving things while I continue to use and enjoy the truck while at the same time avoiding a flaming death wherever possible.
Here are my priorities:
1. Fix the safety issues (dual res master cylinder, disks up front, new brake lines, bearings, etc. and a new drag link if I can ever locate one)
2. Swap my fleetside bed for a LWB stepside bed, if I can find one. (I just like them better)
3. Paint - 1974 Volkswagen Brilliant Orange. I will try to do this myself.
4. Add an older cabover Alaskan camper for trips.
5. Under Dash AC
Let me know what you think. I appreciate any and all opinions and PLEASE let me know if you have any solutions to my worn out drag link.
Thanks,
Scott