The 1947 - Present Chevrolet & GMC Truck Message Board Network - View Single Post - 1978 Chevy K20 longbed with nearly 500,000 miles! LS Swap begins!

Nick_R_23 · 05-25-2020, 04:42 PM

This is my 1978 Chevy K20 longbed!

Oh wait, this is better

My dad bought this truck nearly new, way back in the early 80's. It's been in the family quite a bit longer than I've been alive, and I remember riding around everywhere in this thing. I've added the upper light bar and tube bumper, but aside from that, it's been mostly unchanged for as long as I can remember it. One day, I would like to completely restore the truck, and I'd like to take it back to that look as much as I can, but for now I'm focusing on getting it back on the road! The odometer has rolled over multiple times, and I believe it is sitting at somewhere close to 467,000 miles.

The truck is currently outfitted with it's (pretty sure original!) 350 engine, although I know the heads have been replaced multiple times before due to the valves receding into the heads from soft seats. The transmission is an SM465, with an NP205 transfer case, a Dana 44HD front and 14 bolt Camper Special rear axle and springs. The front has an Add-A-Leaf kit and there is also a 3" body lift. 33x12.50x16.5 tires and 16.5x10 American Racing Outlaw II's.

Here she is this winter hanging out with the local riffraff.

I had briefly (and regrettably) sold this truck several years back due to buying a house and needing to majorly downsize the vehicle population. It stayed local for a year or two, but after that I lost track of it. Just last year, a friend texted me and told me he had seen a truck listed on Facebook that looked like mine, and sent me the link. Turns out it was, and was only a few miles up the road! I took the rest of the day off work on the spot, and went to go rescue the old girl. Sometime while it was away, the clutch went out and the guy took it to a "mechanic" to have the clutch replaced. I'm not sure how you can screw a clutch job up this bad, but the story is whatever the guy did, the engine overheated badly immediately afterwards, and it was parked since. The carb, intake, distributor, and valve covers were missing, and knowing the mileage on the engine, I decided to finally let it retire - she's done pretty well! All said and done, I bought her back for $500 and towed it home right then!

Fast forward to today, after sitting for another year, it's time to bring her inside to get started with some long awaited and well deserved upgrades!

I always thought this truck was the biggest truck out there as a kid, so it took me a little by surprise when it cleared my garage door no problem

And a little preview of what's to come!

05-25-2020, 04:42 PM	#1
Nick_R_23 Registered User Join Date: May 2016 Location: Willow, Alaska Posts: 836	1978 Chevy K20 longbed with nearly 500,000 miles! LS Swap begins! This is my 1978 Chevy K20 longbed! Oh wait, this is better My dad bought this truck nearly new, way back in the early 80's. It's been in the family quite a bit longer than I've been alive, and I remember riding around everywhere in this thing. I've added the upper light bar and tube bumper, but aside from that, it's been mostly unchanged for as long as I can remember it. One day, I would like to completely restore the truck, and I'd like to take it back to that look as much as I can, but for now I'm focusing on getting it back on the road! The odometer has rolled over multiple times, and I believe it is sitting at somewhere close to 467,000 miles. The truck is currently outfitted with it's (pretty sure original!) 350 engine, although I know the heads have been replaced multiple times before due to the valves receding into the heads from soft seats. The transmission is an SM465, with an NP205 transfer case, a Dana 44HD front and 14 bolt Camper Special rear axle and springs. The front has an Add-A-Leaf kit and there is also a 3" body lift. 33x12.50x16.5 tires and 16.5x10 American Racing Outlaw II's. Here she is this winter hanging out with the local riffraff. I had briefly (and regrettably) sold this truck several years back due to buying a house and needing to majorly downsize the vehicle population. It stayed local for a year or two, but after that I lost track of it. Just last year, a friend texted me and told me he had seen a truck listed on Facebook that looked like mine, and sent me the link. Turns out it was, and was only a few miles up the road! I took the rest of the day off work on the spot, and went to go rescue the old girl. Sometime while it was away, the clutch went out and the guy took it to a "mechanic" to have the clutch replaced. I'm not sure how you can screw a clutch job up this bad, but the story is whatever the guy did, the engine overheated badly immediately afterwards, and it was parked since. The carb, intake, distributor, and valve covers were missing, and knowing the mileage on the engine, I decided to finally let it retire - she's done pretty well! All said and done, I bought her back for $500 and towed it home right then! Fast forward to today, after sitting for another year, it's time to bring her inside to get started with some long awaited and well deserved upgrades! I always thought this truck was the biggest truck out there as a kid, so it took me a little by surprise when it cleared my garage door no problem And a little preview of what's to come!