Budget Build 1985 K20

[JJH Jimmy]

I got the vintage air firewall plate and bolts painted and installed. I didn’t want to take the time to protect everything in my shop from overspray and the weather was warm so I painted it outside on a windy day. I should have painted the whole damn truck outside with results like this.

[JJH Jimmy]

So I ordered a champion 3 row aluminum radiator that was supposed to be a direct fit drop in. Well it doesn’t fit. Surprise surprise! The tank was too wide to accommodate the factory isolators and brackets. So I got some Prothane small block isolators and carved them out with a razor blade to fit the bottom mounts and that worked good. But the radiator is also about 3/4” shorter then the original. So I had some 3/8” thick aluminum flat stock laying around and I welded it to the top of the tanks to take up the gap so I could use the original rubber supports and brackets.

Don’t judge me on my aluminum welding. I don’t do it often and I really didn’t want to blow a hole in the tank!

Another task crossed off the list. I will be firing this thing up soon.

[OutlawDrifter]

Looks ok to me, I've never welded aluminum before. Besides, you're the only one who will see them.

Coming along nicely!

[youngrodder]

Man Josh, you have been busy....I like everything I'm seeing.
Once the warm weather sticks around maybe I will take a drive over to check it out.

Marc

[JJH Jimmy]

Originally Posted by youngrodder

Man Josh, you have been busy....I like everything I'm seeing.
Once the warm weather sticks around maybe I will take a drive over to check it out.

Marc

Thanks Marc! With the time I spent working on it it seems like I should be further along! Haha! Nothing ever fits like it is supposed to but that is usually the case with these things.

Stop by any time. I may be giving you a call soon to help me hang some doors and fenders.

[youngrodder]

Originally Posted by JJH Jimmy

Thanks Marc! With the time I spent working on it it seems like I should be further along! Haha! Nothing ever fits like it is supposed to but that is usually the case with these things.

Stop by any time. I may be giving you a call soon to help me hang some doors and fenders.

Please do...My kids sports schedules have really died down. I'm free most weekends (or nights during the week). Saturdays are usually clear.

Talk soon

Marc

[JJH Jimmy]

She' alive!

85 K20 First Start - YouTube

[JJH Jimmy]

Originally Posted by OutlawDrifter

Looks ok to me, I've never welded aluminum before. Besides, you're the only one who will see them.

Coming along nicely!

Thank you!

[OutlawDrifter]

Sounds good from my seat!

[JJH Jimmy]

Originally Posted by OutlawDrifter

Sounds good from my seat!

Thanks! I am surprised how easily it started up and ran good without any tweaking of the tune. It seems to have really good throttle response. I just had the wires connected with wire nuts to get it started and make sure there were no major problems before I get put back together.

[JJH Jimmy]

I never find good deals on NOS parts like you see some guys posting on Facebook. Well today that changed! I have been keeping an eye out for a sliding rear window since the price had jumped up on them recently and no one has them in stock.

I found this NOS one with gasket included about an hour away for $150. It is missing one of the corner lock strip covers and the chrome lock strip is discolored. I was planning on using black lock strip anyways.

[Rich84]

Nice score! I luv my slider.

[LT7A]

Congrats on the startup! And nice grab on that slider.

[TKCR]

Nice find!

[youngrodder]

The start up looks/sounds like it went great...Good job.
I might head over to DeNooyer on Stadium this Sat 5/14 for a cars and coffee event. You should drive your Blazer over.

Marc

[JJH Jimmy]

Originally Posted by youngrodder

The start up looks/sounds like it went great...Good job.
I might head over to DeNooyer on Stadium this Sat 5/14 for a cars and coffee event. You should drive your Blazer over.

Marc

Thanks Marc! I'll be there if the weather looks good!

[youngrodder]

Originally Posted by JJH Jimmy

Thanks Marc! I'll be there if the weather looks good!

Same here. I will keep an eye out.

We might run over to Sturgis Friday evening. They have the downtown shut down and they have food trucks. That's a decent drive going thru Mendon to M-86. Pretty soon you will have a real dilemma on your hands.....which fine truck to drive.

Marc

[OutlawDrifter]

Definitely looking good!

[JJH Jimmy]

Originally Posted by TKCR

Looks great
And your welcome!

Thanks!

Originally Posted by SunSoaked

AT4? I have an 85 k20 and a 21 AT4 and I'm looking at moving to Michigan in the very near future. So many questions.

Ask away!

Originally Posted by youngrodder

That interior is looking great Josh. You going to hit up the Friday Night cruise or Saturday showing in Vicksburg this coming weekend?

Marc

Thanks Marc! Unfortunately I'm not going to be able to make it to Vicksburg this year. we got a birthday party and graduation party to go to. Some people just can plan their parties very well.

Originally Posted by OutlawDrifter

Definitely looking good!

Thanks!

[JJH Jimmy]

Time for a lesson in windshield installation! I bought a precision gasket with chrome locking strip from GMC Paul’s and the windshield from a local glass shop. The gasket went in fairly easy and I got the windshield inserted in the gasket with little trouble.

Now for the fun part the lock strip. The one that came from GMC Paul’s went in Fairly easy but the coating covering the chrome is really soft and I ended up nicking it in several spots using the lock strip install tool. So what the heck, I’ll get a new one from summit and do it again.

The summit lock strip showed up today so it was time for another fight. Now the summit strip is a precision with the exact same part number as the GMC Paul’s but it is stiffer and has black backing instead of clear backing and the coating over the chrome is harder and more durable. It was a real pain in the ass to get it in but it I think it will hold up better in the long run.

Can anyone tell me why Precision has 2 different lock strips with the same part number? It doesn’t really matter because I won the fight this time!

[OutlawDrifter]

Different supplier run or that "SP" designation might be the rub here?

[LT7A]

Just guessing here, but I have read that precision actively tries to improve the fit of their products. They may be getting the locking strip produced by someone else after having similar complaints on the one you started with. My guess on that is that summit might move them more quickly and have the improved version while GMC Paul's may have been sitting on the shelf for a while. All just guesses, but I appreciate the input since that's something I need to do soon.

[JJH Jimmy]

Originally Posted by OutlawDrifter

Different supplier run or that "SP" designation might be the rub here?

The summit strip had “SP” as well it just got torn off when I opened the package.

Originally Posted by LT7A

Just guessing here, but I have read that precision actively tries to improve the fit of their products. They may be getting the locking strip produced by someone else after having similar complaints on the one you started with. My guess on that is that summit might move them more quickly and have the improved version while GMC Paul's may have been sitting on the shelf for a while. All just guesses, but I appreciate the input since that's something I need to do soon.

Definitely a possibility. Do yourself a favor and get the lock strip install tool. I got a Lisle one on Amazon for like 12 bucks and it worked good. I used the ball hook tool on the rear glass lock strip and it worked ok but I would have never gotten the lock strip in the front windshield doing it that way.

[LT7A]

Originally Posted by JJH Jimmy

The summit strip had “SP” as well it just got torn off when I opened the package.



Definitely a possibility. Do yourself a favor and get the lock strip install tool. I got a Lisle one on Amazon for like 12 bucks and it worked good. I used the ball hook tool on the rear glass lock strip and it worked ok but I would have never gotten the lock strip in the front windshield doing it that way.

Good to know, thanks. I'm tempted to wing it on stuff like that sometimes.

[JJH Jimmy]

Originally Posted by LT7A

Good to know, thanks. I'm tempted to wing it on stuff like that sometimes.

Another thing…..use soap and water for lube. In the Precision video on YouTube the guys use foaming glass cleaner but I didn’t find it very effective. For one it foams so you can’t see what you are doing and another it dries quick and doesn’t provide much lube.