My 1962 GMC/Chevy K20 daily driver refresh thread

[msapers]

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.

20638941_10213333229942429_3418094352212647928_n by Scott Sapers, on Flickr

20621788_10213330067623373_6334469273316912767_n by Scott Sapers, on Flickr
20604366_10213333229382415_1020158273553500073_n by 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.

24255100_10214347363175126_7698721991088187654_o by Scott Sapers, on Flickr
20689977_10213375654323012_6291341581658251302_o by Scott Sapers, on Flickr
22426518_10213964492163590_4821437947327206533_o by Scott Sapers, on Flickr
26993795_10214842866682404_2169936634964194966_n by Scott Sapers, on Flickr
28947574_10215370174584772_1674241373718855912_o by 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.

119151082_10223560500377798_3902255527496165970_n by Scott Sapers, on Flickr
119141802_10223560500777808_8745501475065423350_n by Scott Sapers, on Flickr
118993395_10223560501057815_450807139032172632_n by 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