73 GMC K20 ..the "Bomber"

[glimmertwin01]

here is another "project"
this unit started life as a City of Rochester fire truck, then became the bomb disposal unit for the RPD. it was retired in the 90s and sat for many years. A good friend works as the police fleet manager and 2 yrs ago sold it at auction after obtaining a title for it... I was on vacation and never got a shot at her. but someone did and did what you see in the pictures... it is a now 2 owner truck.. and 48000 miles on her...
I got it for 1000 bux as she sits minus the original 350 which today is still in it but the guy who had it bought it to take out the motor..it runs strong..but leaks like a sieve...
it is surprisingly solid and has been converted to a NP 205 ... with lock outs ..
the worst rot is the spare tire compartment or i should say non compartment..of course i cant find a replacement so that is my challenge to fab up a spare "hump"
more pics to follow

[glimmertwin01]

not sure what i am going to do with her yet.... leave it lifted... or not... i will remove the PO's cob jobs.. he broke the ignition and jack assed some things..but its amazingly solid for a NY truck that sat for yrs...

[glimmertwin01]

the rest of the pics.... again any help / parts or suggestions will be appreciated..although is like to put her back to the original Crimson red.... and it has "base gears" which i assume means 3.73 with an eaton locker

[glimmertwin01]

located a target motor in a 78 thats rotted out going to hear it after work sometime this week... it has the old style divorced choke and NO EGR so it should work well in tthe burb...
i think im going to drop her down to maybe a 2 inch lift to accomodate 33's (nice tall skinnies) basically try to get her to sit like a CUCV M1008 /M1028
debating with the thought of making "bolt on" panels to cover the rear side door and side panel windows (not the ones in the panel doors)
to give her the Panel truck look and feel. I say bold on because they will be installed with 1/4 -20 anchors like they use to install the below the eyeline mirrors on truck doors. This way if i ever get the notion i need more light in the Burb I can remove some or all of the panels..
I I dont get the thing into red paint I will atleast primer it with some color epoxy ( red brown)

[glimmertwin01]

found a donor motor in a well beaten 78 K20 the motor is a replacement and runs good other than the usual sputtering from old gas, plugs and such... it was dark out and the exhaust pressure blew chunks of rust off the exhaust manifolds so as more rust "blew off" i could see flame shooting out the holes..LOL hope to have the motor pulled this weekend and cleaned up/ re sealed ready to install in the Burb. since its still "winter" up here im torn as to keeping my 95 tahoe with the plow or just stabbin the motor in the burb as she sits and use that IF it snows... then drop it back to stock height (or a 2" lift) ... is the burb is running i can sell the tahoe and use the proceeds for other things since this truck was a "spur of the moment" purchase. I look at it this way... for 1500 and some time ill have a good solid platform for one tough rig.

[glimmertwin01]

due to the lift on this pig I will have to re set up my gantry crane to in stall the motor... but it will help in removing the lift later too since i can hang the burb from the crane while i remove the lift blocks and install new U bolts. it looks stupid IMO sitting on 6 inch blocks in the back.... not to meantion the potential for a clamaity if one of the blocks shifts and the axle drops.

[glimmertwin01]

OK so its been a week or so... had a couple of 60 degree days here and some cool ones too, but I got the SB in the monster.
the motor was cleaned up and some new gaskets installed. I had a ***** of a time getting the exhaust manifolds off . the rt side came off but the studs broke on 3 of the 6. 3 of them had been "heli" colied. the Left side offered no salvation. the Bolt to the left of the number 3 port had rusted to the manifold. after a couple hours and some nice persuaive words. I broke out with the cut off wheel and sectioned the ear off the manifold and took out the bolt. since the heads of the bolts are trash, and I like to use new bolts, I grabbed some grade 5's re tapped the holes.
The Left one is an "air" tube version. I removed the tubes and plug welded the holes and re-installed ( except the one on number 7 which wouldnt budge and the head rounded. so I just cut off the tube inside and said. "F-it"
The Right side is an OE "log style" no air tubes. took them down to a local shop to have the broken/ rusted exhaust studs removed.
the left came out nice, the right had issues. Some where in its life someone had removed the studs before and enlarged the holes and not only that.. deformed the tapered flange for the exhaust "donut" seat. no biggie, took out the grinder, and ground an area out above the flange for a nut so the sud will be nutted in. then carefully re shaped the tapered flange so that the "donut will seat... have not test fired the motor yet to see if it was good or not, but im confident that it will be fine.
Installed the long block friday between the snow squalls and sunny periods ( gotta love lake effect snow)

[glimmertwin01]

since the motor was a reman with a new short block and redone heads, it ran good. when i took the valve covers off i found them to be very clean with no goo or baked material inside . the heads were just as clean. i think you can see in the pics above... (minus the over spray) any how the motor went in easy, but since the original cross over (which is solid) is still in the truck I set it in without the exhaust manifolds.
Now comes the fun part. put studs in the manifolds and installed the left manifold. it took 2 hrs and finished at dusk.... Since the "y" pipe is still in the truck it made it very difficult to set it in place, and then when i finally got it in... the holes wouldnt line up on number 7..... the manifold was skewed a lil bit and the pipe made it a BEAR and fought me all the way.

other than that, i replaced the tranny kick down cable, and the throttle cable thru the fire wall ( my motor and carb was out of a 78 (different means of linking them, stud with "Jesus clip" versus the snap on style for the 73. looked through my 'collection" of parts, and discoverd i need the brass fitting and connector to attach the stock OIL gauge tube to the motor. I guess im off the the bone yard to scavenge one.
heres a couple pics of there assemebled left side with the PWR steering pum and belt attached. I gotta love how they dont provide a means to attach a bar to the bracket to tension the belt. ( i used a crow bar on the frame and pryed the bottom up and tightened it) the pump reservoir that came on the motor i got was all dented from the PO using a bar between the bracket and pryed against the reservoir. I replaced the pump.

[glimmertwin01]

looking for suggestions for tire suspension combos
Id like to go with a tall skinny 33-35 inch. like a 9.00x16. Look at post Number 2 and look at the suspension i have.
Goal: tall skinnies, decent clearance, I want the truck to sit level... and not have to cut the fenders for clearance. the 10 leaf stack in the rear sitting on 5-6" blocks looks kinda cheesy to me... I really cannot see the need for a 10 leaf stack
Id like to beable to take this into the woods or trails and not have issues...
Suggestions / Ideas???

[Cue-Ball]

Look at that stack of rear leafs!

I think it looks pretty awesome the way it sits now. If you can keep the current tire size and lift height while making it safe to drive, I think you should do that. It's such a long vehicle that the extra height makes it look more beefy and less "long and skinny" like a stock Suburban.

[glimmertwin01]

thats what I said when i got under it the first time..... gotta ride like a buck board.... but wont know till I have the motor running....
I dont mind the height but i dont dig the softee TSLs... too wide for my taste..they wont dig..just float.

[glimmertwin01]

shackle flip?? do they make one for a real truck? or just half tons?

[glimmertwin01]

ITS ALIVE... runs and drives under its own power. replaced some bulbs and removed most of the "accessory" wiring from when it was a fire truck police unit. come to find out someone cut the roof marker light lead... and removed the spot light on the DS A pillar. Temp Gauge ( aftermarket) reads high, I am thinking its a ground issue due to the fact the factory ground strap from the block to the fire wall is absent.
it drives and rides pretty good considering the tires and suspension... But the Brakes suck! there is excessive pedal travel and dont seem to grab well and when it does it veers to the right.... Based on the condition of the left rotor (due to the lack of the inside (dust) shield) the rotors are pretty beat..
there has been lines replaced to the rear. It looks liek i will be redoing all the brakes. Based on the cob jobs i have found and fixed so far I wouldnt be surprised that the brakes need service and bleeding. when i replaced bulbs in the I/P the brake light was covered with black tape and the bulb was missing... put in a bulb yep it works...and doesnt go off either.
I replaced the broken right rear lower door latch and actuator arm. now i have functioning locking panel doors

i would love to find a nice 73 hood for this pig. all the after market ones i have seen are the "79-80" style with the lower profile and style line on the front face... I need the flat face one.
I got a set of OE front fenders and already have a nice set of OE doors( although they are 77 and up) gonna have to snag a DS front cab support and floor/ rocker/ kick and fix the floor....

the good
the 350 I got runs smooth and quiet.... the exhaust system was intact on it bolted right up and is quiet cept ouot the tail pipe and it isnt even that oloud... but it has that (Borla) sound to it im not too fond of...but for now it will due...
here are some pics of it with the motor installed and running

[survivingalone]

nice build.....any pics of thr green truck with the whie roof next to your burb?

[glimmertwin01]

yes if you look up my handle you will find its own post... another "project" I picked up... actually it was delivered the day I found the burb.
try this link
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=510743

[glimmertwin01]

i rebuilt the drivers floor and hung 2 new / used doors...
if you notice the truck is sitting basically stock neutral arch front leafs and the 8 over 1 in the back... basically a 1 ton suspension....

[nekkidhillbilly]

i like it like it is too.

[glimmertwin01]

got the floor done on the drivers side, went to put in the front floor mount bolt only to discover that the POR 15 bonded the cage nut in the wrong place... so i had to cut a 2 x 2 inch hole in the new floor to access the nut DOH!
here is the drivers side with new kick etc...

[glimmertwin01]

So Today I set out to replace the passenger floor where it was rusted... I had already installed a new floor support and cut out all the shady floor.
i got the new kick in and when i was putting the floor panel in...i ran out of 3M 8115 panel adhesive.... so mondays another day.. the first 2 are the missing floor .... the sun was out cellfone cameras do suck...

[y5mgisi]

Subscribed.

[TheBlueBomber]

Those blocks..... SUBSCRIBED!!

[Cherub]

I love burbs....cant wait to see how yours turns out.

[glimmertwin01]

well the snow has melted some and it is above freezing. time to button up the burb till spring... I got the floor done, new rocker on and replaced and fitted the passenger front door. adjusted the hinges and it works like new.
I need to gut the old one and remove the hardware, glass etc...

[walkerb]

Nice.

[crashz]

I like it with the lift kit out and the correct wheel/tire /hubcap combo. Looking good, just like your blazers.

I noticed that you welded the floor supports in, but are riveting the panels. As a body work newbie, could you tell me why you went this route? I've tried welding sheet metal, but put more holes in it than I fill, so riveting works for me.

Your build threads inspire me find a 70's blazer and rebuild it.