Keeping with the times - '69 K10 SWB Stepper work truck/resto mod

[JJorgensen52]

Well, I've been roaming around here with my truck for about a year and a half now, I figured it's about time I collect all my odds and ends into one thread and call it a build, of sorts

A little bit of this is duplication from other threads, but here it goes.

Starting point: Bare bones 1969 K10 SWB Stepside, 4 speed and 307. I purchased it with 67k original miles from the son of the original owner; elderly gentleman who was actually there at the plant in Tarrytown, NY when the truck was built. There is no delivery date stamped on the door, but the block is dated Dec 1968. The truck left Tarrytown and lived it's entire life in Yonkers. According to the owner, the only time it ever left the city was to tow a racecar to Englishtown in the 70's.

I had been actively searching for probably 6 months and on and off for several years prior. I went to see the truck based on a one line craigslist ad and a 20 minute phone call. I drove 2.5 hours with cash in hand, and here's what I saw:


The old girl was pretty tired looking, has had some hack sheetmetal work done over the years, one respray in black epoxy sometime in the 90's, valve seats/seals in 1987. Even the tires were 14 years old.







But, everything I had wanted to see was there, so I made an offer and bought it on the spot. The only thing that was missing were the R/V mirrors. It even came with an original chassis overhaul manual.

So, 2 weeks later with a borrowed truck and a rented trailer, I got up and hit the road early so I was in NYC with the truck loaded up and ready to roll at 7:30 AM (November 2009)

I towed it home to New Hampshire (I was in southern CT at school at the time), had new tires put on and had it unloaded at home with all the paperwork to get it registered by 7PM.


My goal for this project, long term, is to keep the very basic plain-jane feel to the truck, but upgrade and update the mechanicals to more modern standards. I use this truck as a work truck; it hauls boats and cars, it hauls wood, it hauls gravel and dirt - but I also want it to look clean and original. I'm a sucker for OEM engineering in a lot of ways, so if it was good enough for the General, it's good enough for me. With that in mind, I've embarked on the restoration and updating one piece at a time.

[JJorgensen52]

First things first: the red wheels had to go The PO had purchased cheap chrome 15x8s, and when they started to rust painted them red with household oil-based enamel. It was flaking and looked terrible. So I sanded them down, and recoated with white rustoleum epoxy.

Much better! It has a very nice set of the square body stainless dog dish caps, which eventually I'll be restoring and color matching the bowties.

December 2009: Next up was updates to the accessories. I never liked V-belts anyway, because I've never had good luck with them; also, the PS pump was ghetto-rigged with threaded rod and angle iron, the alternator was making 15.8 volts and the alternator belt was eating a hole in the lower radiator hose because at some point the truck got swapped to a short water pump.


Solution: 1993 Caprice 350 serpentine setup with Smog and A/C delete pulleys. GMPP sells this setup for like $800 - I scored it at the junkyard for $150.


Note the 7 blade clutch fan - my truck was equipped with the HD cooling shroud and this fan (with a little blade tweaking) fits perfectly in the shroud. I've put many hot weather miles on it and I've never seen the temperature budge above 195* with this fan. I replaced the radiator at the same time, as the original had lost a whole lot of rows and fins.



At the same time, I installed a new battery and new cables, new stainless battery pan, and converted to a closed cooling system with the Caprice's 16lbs cap and a coolant reservoir from a mid 80's V8 G-body, Olds I think. I also cleaned and straightened the valve covers, replaced the cork/RTV with new silicone gaskets, changed the oil and filter, and cleaned / painted the air cleaner. Looks much better!

The only problem here is that the donor water pump did not have a coolant return port for the heater core; so, I made this T-fitting to the lower radiator hose that now acts as my return point.

[JJorgensen52]

April/May 2010 - Next up: Functionality. First step was to install a new Curt receiver hitch, as I don't like bumper hitches and I don't trust the condition my bumper is in for heavy towing, anyway. Also shown here are brand new shocks! Had to replace part of the rear brake line after it burst on me driving home.


At the same time, I removed the original 6-pin metal RV connector and replaced with with a modern 7-blade RV type, as well as pre-wiring the truck for an electric brake controller.


I also swapped out the west coast mirrors for the correct R/V JR's. My truck should have white painted mirrors by the RPO, but I prefer stainless. These mirrors you can actually use going down the highway!

Also visible in this picture is my custom manufactured minute-mount plow plates. The truck is now set up to run a 6'8" minute mount plow, which I use strictly to do my own driveway.

I also installed a full gauge package cluster to monitor vitals - I replaced the original gauges with retrofit autometer sport comps. The indicator lights in the vacuum slot were added later, with the transmission swap.


Right around this time (Spring 2010) I also wired up the late-model van marker lights, as my truck was not equipped with markers originally. I did not wire them according to the original fashion - they are wired front and rear together so that the rear markers blink as well as the front, instead of just being a running light as original.

[JJorgensen52]

Summer 2010 - NV4500 and NP241C swap is next on the list. I loved the granny gear in my SM465 and found it extremely useful, but overdrive was an absolute must for highway towing and driving distances, which I do fairly often. Plus my rockwell leaked like a sieve. I wanted the modern street driveability of a late model chain-drive transfer case, and shift on the fly is nice. I don't do any kind of serious off roading so this case is more than stout enough, and the 2.72:1 low range is great for plowing or logging in the woods, which I do often enough to appreciate it.






Significant modification of my stock cross member was required to clear the output of the NP241C. That particular case was only available in '88-'91 blazers and suburbans and only some versions have the correct 32 spline input shaft and manual speedometer drive. My NV4500 is the later style '95 with a 5.61 first gear. The factory skid plate and trans mount cross members are both still in place, but moved back one set of holes, which was perfect positioning with a little ingenuity and the use of the donor truck's trans mount plate.

I utilized an Advance Adapters bellhousing for the swap, with stock clutch, throwout bearing and clutch fork. I did swap to a late model high-torque starter, which is block mounted, as required by the late style bellhousing.

When I did the swap, after reworking my crossmember, I had new driveshafts made front and rear. Rear now uses 1350 series ujoints and I replaced the slip-yoke and rear pinion yoke to suit. The front retains the original 1310 double cardan and 1310 pinion yoke. The only think I have left to do for this swap is improve the security of my 4wd shifter pivot point (custom bracket on top of the 5th gear housing in the transmission, shifter is in stock location with stock boot) and to build a cleaner version of the new shifter. I retained my original boots and knobs for the OEM look.

5th gear is a dream on the highway, and I have seen as good as 14mpg towing 4000 lbs down the highway at 75mph. Can't complain there!

[JJorgensen52]

Next on my list, basic mechanicals aside, was safety: step one, custom made 3 point seatbelts. I snagged a bunch of original buckles from the junkyard and had a set of 3 point belts made with modern retrofit retractors, which use factory slider buckles and tabs to look original.




Then, I went for the brakes. No pictures, but initially my repairs (Thanksgiving 2010) included rebuilding all 4 drums with new wheels cylinders and drums, as well as replacing all the brake hard lines and rubber lines. At the same time, I snagged a '72 3/4T booster setup with OEM brackets, and installed that as well. The truck stops great now!

Following that, I made upgrades to the lights (February 2010). I purchased a pair of '08 Jeep wrangler composite headlights with new silverstar bulbs and associated plugs.




At the same time, I upgraded the lighting on my plow and made repairs to that to make it fully functional.


And this brings me up to the current day status of my build

Next up on my list: Front disc brakes. You can just see my new front axle hiding behind the rockwell/SM465 guts in my garage. '84 10 bolt, I will be rebuilding everything from the u-joints out, utilizing a '72 master cylinder, lines and calipers.

[JJorgensen52]

A little update, still collecting parts for the front axle (and now the motor, have a 4bbl intake and vortec heads stashed in the basement )

Made myself a new rear bumper to replace the seriously rusty OEM step that my truck came with

[rondog4416]

looks like it will be a great truck when you get done !!!

[JJorgensen52]

Not much to report here - this truck has been very broken for some time now, I had a snapped off spark plug stuck in the head, and at least one other cylinder not firing consistently.

So I gave up on the mighty(??) 307 - and in with a 350!


That will hold me over, for now, while the 1 ton gets a 4x4 swap. I have big plans for this truck come summertime