Re: 72 k20
 

Congratulations, it must have felt great.

Re: 72 k20
 

Congrats! Big accomplishment.

Re: 72 k20
 

Thanks guys! I don’t have much in the way of pictures but today was an excellent day of work. My brother came and helped me all afternoon, we cleaned out and yanked bed one last time for a while and finished grinding down the plug welds on the back of the cab corners, the plug welds on the bottom of the outer rockers, touched up the paint under neath from welding the rockers in, and primed the cab corners and the welds on the outer rockers. I also installed the dust cover on the transmission, replaced the water pump, adjusted the valves, installed the bedside tool box liner and door, cleaned the windshield inside and out, Pressure washed the oil off the firewall and inner fenders from running the valves, put it on my geico policy, AND DROVE IT HOME. Plan is to get it registered on Monday morning. I drove it about 20 miles just taking my time in the dark with my brother following behind me. I need to work on the carb some as it falls on its face past about 3/4 throttle. I’m sure it’s something simple there. Other than that everything else went very smooth... well with the exception of not putting enough gas in it to get to the gas station when I left the shop. It ran out at the intersection where the gas station I was headed too was. My brother was in my company truck(We work for the same company) so I jumped out and grabbed the gas can in the back of that truck. No harm no foul I guess. It was a great day. Of course my brother took the only pic of the day and didn’t know how to hold his phone to get it to come out right on here.

Re: 72 k20
 

Here you go

Re: 72 k20
 

Right on Tyler that’s a huge accomplishment! Congrats my friend.

Re: 72 k20
 

x2

Re: 72 k20
 

Richard your a saint, it was late and I was worn out when I got home and posted this, thanks for the flip. I wasn’t about to mess with it last night. Pete, thanks man I couldn’t have done it without a bunch of your parts! Hopefully some time we can meet up again and you can see it in person. Old blue, thanks for the encouragement along the way! It still has a long way to go to be what I envision but it’s the baby steps along the way that make it fun building these trucks. I’m gonna try and get a picture with all my trucks and my Camaro together in the next few weeks, I gotta bring the Camaro home first.

Re: 72 k20
 

Well, I’m about 250 miles in this week and so far so good. It hasn’t left me stranded yet! I’ve got some rattles and such inside the cab to quiet down mostly in the doors. I also need to fix a small rear axle leak on the passenger side axle flange to hub. Haven’t noticed any other leaks anywhere. I’ve also stumbled upon what I believe will be a free front Dana 60, spare round 205 and whichever trans is bolted to it from an 80s K30:metal:
The Dana 60 is quite likely to end up under my K20. The rest may end up with one of my spare factory 14 bolt disk brake rears under my 3100 with the 44 from the K20. I’ve been wanting to 1 ton swap the 3100 for a bit so this will hopefully let me accomplish that.
I took this photo on the way home tonight after a cruise with the kids. It’s a 72 ochre and white custom 2 tone C10 long bed. I see it around town quite a bit.

Re: 72 k20
 

Thumbs up!

Re: 72 k20
 

Here’s a few shots I took back behind my house near San Juan Generating station. I’ve also got some plans for the coming week, as I will be off for several days before the fourth. I plan to get my heater functional, door panels, handles, and arm rests installed, I got the metal inlet line for the edelbrock 1406 to be able to run a solid line from the pump to the carb, Im thinking I’ll run this in stainless. I just need to decide how I want to get from inverted flare at the pump to 3/8 stainless. It’s possible to flare stainless but not easy. I’ll also probably run a metal inline filter up near the carb. I’ve also got an issue with my fuel gauge I need to inspect. I’m thinking it may need either the resistor on the gauge or the sending unit replaced. It only goes as high as bout half way between 1/4 and 1/2 tank. Once the fuel level comes down below half it seems to
Move with the level but won’t go any higher than just below 1/2 tank. I’m sure I’ll find some more things to occupy my time but these are the projects I’m shooting to get done. I fixed the leaking passenger axle flange last night and also swapped a new set of tires on it that I had stashed away. They are mounted on 90’s steel wheels for now eventually I’ll get around to swapping them onto the original nub wheels. 265/75/16 fills the wells up nicely. So far I’m about 600 miles on it and no reliability issues at all. It starts right up and runs pretty good going down the road. I’ve got no complaints so far. Still lots to do but no complaints.

Re: 72 k20
 

Nice pics, sounds like you're going to be busy!

Re: 72 k20
 

Tyler great work. Love the pics. So awesome you’ve got the k20 back on the road! With work and kids I know that takes a lot. Strong work.

Re: 72 k20
 

Great job Tyler. In my opinion, that is the perfect truck.

I have ruined many vehicles by doing frame off restorations. My wife and I drove the wheels off cars until I restored them and they were relegated to life under a cover.

I have somebody ask me at least once a week when I am going to restore or paint my Longhorn. I am determined to let it age gracefully.

Re: 72 k20
 

Thanks Larry, one of these days I’ll get it shot in the original medium over dark olive and all the trim back on it. I really like the 557 scheme a lot. But your right for now I don’t have any problems driving it around where ever I need it to go. It’s just ugly enough that I don’t care if it gets scratched up, but at the same time it’s handsom enough that it gets compliments at the gas station... truly the best of both worlds haha. I think the truck gets more attention than the Camaro does honestly, and the Camaro is a huge garage queen.

Pete, thanks man we’ve sure been enjoying it. The kids ask me at least once a day if we can go for a ride... I haven’t figured out if it’s because they like riding in it as much as me or because they think there might be a trip to the gas station for a treat:lol: either way it’s been fun riding around with them. I drove it around Farmington for 3-4 hours with them on Wednesday alone. I’m finding it hard to work on it as much as I’d like simply because I want to drive it so much, I can deal with the minor bugs and squeaks/rattles for now.

Re: 72 k20
 

Too bad I didn't realize you were in Farmington when I stayed there last spring. Maybe that casino would have less money. :lol:

The first time I was in Farmington, you were about 10 years old.

I had my Harley Davidson serviced and a new oxygen sensor installed at the dealer in Springfield, MO. We took off and by the time we go to Farmington, that sensor had vibrated loose.

We called the dealer and the shop foreman was really dry. He said bring it down, and he would put it on the lift first thing next morning.

We rode in, and he was standing in the shop door. I revved it a couple of times, and shut it off and asked him what he thought.

My wife had never been overweight like me, but he said (It sounds like a condition caused by hauling fat women around.) Whoa.

They became great friends before it was over. :lol::lol:

Re: 72 k20
 

Haha that’s pretty funny. There’s what seems like a lot of people around here that have that old school kind of sense of humor, it still works here. Farmington is still a pretty gritty oil field town even though a lot of the bigger companies have moved out. I’ve only lived here for about 9 years or so. Originally I’m born and raised in the Blue Ridge mountains of Virginia/West Virginia. I’ve been thru your slice of Arkansas once or twice actually. It reminds me a lot of home in some ways. The gentle rolling mountains, and nice people. I really like the Ozarks a lot.
Hit me up If you ever find your self in Farmington again. We can find something to do to keep Sunray from stealing all your money again,:lol: they do have decent food though.

Re: 72 k20
 

Well nearly 4 months later and I’ve got some updates... the build on my truck has taken an unforeseen turn. I sold it!...
Just kidding!!! I actually parted out a ‘89 1 ton cab and chassis truck. I kept the 3:73 Dana 60F and 14 bolt...*edit, don’t always believe the spid codes, they are 4:11 axles... they are going to get a new life in my K20. The rear is going to get converted to the standard srw width with late model 01+ factory rear disks. Not much info on this swap on the net so I do a how-to write up with pictures when the time comes. I’ve got two late model AAM 10.5” 14 bolts stashed away to rob parts from. It’s gonna take some machine work but I will get it to work. The front 60 will get the srw treatment and a little freshening up, hub bearings and brakes gone thru.
The truck is running pretty good still. Not really a whole lot to add other than I put the door panels on and have done some minor tinkering here and there, nothing major.
I tore the 6.0 down back in July, it needed some bottom end work. It had a couple of spun rod bearings but the cylinders are perfect. I’ve got it back from the machine shop, but it’s awaiting me to divert some money to putting it together. My plan is to cam it with a GPI vvt SS1, goal is 500+ at the flywheel which should be very doable. I’ll add a few pictures in a bit.

Re: 72 k20
 

Well, you got my attention anyway. :lol:

Re: 72 k20
 

The "I sold it" scared me!

Re: 72 k20
 

Great to see an update. Sounds like a solid plan. Use the original axles for the next build :)

Re: 72 k20
 

I guess I’m about 7 months late for April fools huh? I will certainly stash the axles from the 72 in the corner for the time being. Unfortunately neither of them are original to the truck, the front 44 has a build date from ‘73 and the rear is a 10.5” 14 bolt. I think I may put them under my K10 just because I know they are in good shape with new brakes and such. Then I’ll just stash the 1/2 ton stuff in the corner... and on and on...
here’s a couple pictures from the recent past.
The axle picture is disassembly of the AAM 10.5 brake/hub setup, and the truck is just a random picture at my house with some fall color.

I felt bad about parting the 100% rust free, straight as an arrow, square out for about 10 seconds... then I remembered the axles, round 205 and SM465, Im sure I’ll keep a little more off of it than that.

Re: 72 k20
 

Yesterday we had what appears to be our last nice day for a while, 75* and sunny. Weather came in over night and it’s not looking warm like that again for at least 1.5 weeks out. So I took the time to address an intermittent but gradually intensifying misfire I’ve had since I put the truck back on the road. I replaced the plugs when I put the engine back together but I left the wires and ignition parts alone with the intent to replace them before I started driving it. Well that didn’t happen until yesterday. I scrounged up a set of cut to length ceramic accel wires, and a cap and rotor from my stash. Here’s a pic of the wires, although they definitely don’t appear stock they are high quality wires I’ve had good luck with in the past. Once I swapped the cap and rotor I cut them to length and terminated the distributor ends. If you ever build your own wires this summit crimping tool or similar is a must! It makes quick work of the job and produces a quality connection. I made one side at a time so here’s a pic I took of the drivers side before I put them on. It runs much better now. Another box checked off.

This engine isn’t long for this world though, which kind of makes me sad. It runs good and fires right up every time. It’s got some pretty weak ring seal and is starting to push oil out of the breather so I’ve started to hasten up on the aluminum headed vortec 350 I was building for my K10. I’m gonna get that one ready to swap in over the winter as I’m not ready to begin the LS swap yet.
Speaking of LS swap, that is going to be the next major phase of this build, entailing quite a bit more than the 6.0.

The Plans for that phase at this point are:
6.0 swap using OE ‘72 SM465/205
Front and rear axle swap using the aforementioned freshened up front 60 and disk brake swapped 14 bolt from the square body.
4” lift and 35x12.5 tires
Get factory ac working with 6.0 compressor.

Basically I plan to have the truck complete except for paint after this phase is done. Phase 3 Paint and body will follow. I’m going to build the exterior in its original 557 medium over dark olive scheme and trim when the time comes.
I’m still gathering parts for phase 2, and have a ways to go in gathering hence the reason for the short term use of the vortec 350.

I did also get the cab and chassis 14 bolt steam cleaned and stripped this week and turns out someone swapped both of the 3:73 axles for 4:11. According to the spid on the cab and chassis it was built with 3:73’s.
No worries though as 4:11 will work better with the 35’s. In order to finish the disk brake swap on the 14 bolt I need to round up a set of old style single rear wheel hubs, and get the backing plate mounts cut on the CNC mill. The gears and bearing look good so I will likely run them. I’m debating swapping a Detroit locker in it while I’ve got it apart.

That’s about where I’m at for today! Heres a picture of the plug wires and axles. The closest axle in the picture is the cab and chassis axle the front is the late model Gm AAM 10.5 brake parts donor.

Re: 72 k20
 

Good info, especially on the crimpers.

My Longhorn developed a miss a while back and I just parked it, for lack or time to work on it. It, too, has a weak engine, using a lot of oil and the rear main drips.

I have a 454 sitting in the crate. I'm thinking that might be a good fix.

Re: 72 k20
 

Larry those crimpers are great and pretty inexpensive. I’ll post a link up in case anyone is interested. I think that 454 is a great solution to your problem. I really want to get a decent longhorn one day. I will have a lot of fun building it up if I do. I think a 12 valve Cummins would be cool in one. Ryan’s truck is a perfect example. One of these days. Im going to do some go fast stuff to my Camaro before I bring home any more keepers.

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/s...RoCPLwQAvD_BwE

Re: 72 k20
 

57 taskforce, our schedule is still developing, but it looks like we will be passing through Farmington in early April.

Re: 72 k20
 

Sounds Great! PM incoming.

Re: 72 k20
 

Here’s a few from the week. While I’m waiting for some parts to come in for the disk brake swap, I finished tear down on the L31 Vortec that’s gonna temporarily live in my truck. The bottom end was cherry on it. I hadn’t planned on doing a whole bottom up build but I noticed when I pulled the cam that the cam bearings had some really abnormal wear. Beings I had to pull the bearings I elected to tear it all the way down. I dropped it off yesterday at the machine shop for a clean up, hone and fresh cam bearings. Should have it back Monday or Tuesday.
It’s kind of a shame that the cam bearings were bad because otherwise the bearings, crank, and bores look brand new.
This engine was actually running on natural gas powering a small screw compressor out in patch. We pulled it from the field several years ago in favor of another compressor package. It’s amazing how long these things run and get very low wear, without the solvent properties of gasoline.
Anywhoo here’s what im going to use in the build. Other than the cam it’s mostly stuff I’ve got stashed away. I build gas compressor engines for a living so I’ve got some resources to say the least.

New Speedmaster 64cc chamber 190cc runner, .550 max lift, aluminum heads
LT4 hot cam
LS7 lifters
New GM rings
Original pistons, pins and rods cleaned and mic’d
Polished OE crank
New proper length pushrods
New plastic timing cover
Double roller timing set
New melling oil pump
Clevite rod and main bearings
Felpro gaskets and seals
Weiand street warrior vortec intake
Hei ignition
Edelbrock 1406 carburetor
Undecided electric fuel pump, fuel psi regulator
There’s probably a few loose ends I’m forgetting but that’s the bulk of it.
I’ll document the build more when I start putting back together.

I think this combo should put 400ish horsepower to the crank pretty easily. I love the idle of the LT4 hot cam:metal:
Here’s a few tear down pictures.

Re: 72 k20
 

And another

Re: 72 k20
 

Keep 'em coming.

Re: 72 k20
 

Thumbs up. Way up.

Re: 72 k20
 

Thanks guys, my machinist got covid and isn’t doing well at all right now so my engine building is on hold.(he’s still got both my 6.0, and 350 blocks, cranks and rods) I’m praying for him, he’s a good friend of mine. In the spirit of thanksgiving I went out on a drive after we ate to enjoy one thing I’m thankful for, my Dad. He got my into these old trucks when I was really young. He’s had covid in his house in the last week or so, we were supposed to back to Virginia this week but between his house having it and my moms house having it, that didn’t happen. So I drove around in my truck and took some cool pictures since I couldn’t have dinner with him today. Everyone in my family in VA. seems to be beating covid at this point, that’s something huge to be thankful for!
I did manage to round up some single rear wheel 14 bolt hubs for my disk brake project, but I haven’t ponied up the $250 it’s gonna take to get the caliper mount brackets cut on the cnc mill. Maybe next week.

Here’s a few pictures from the afternoon.

Re: 72 k20
 

Looks like a nice day there. It's good to see the truck out. Is that a gas powered plant in the back of the last picture?

Re: 72 k20
 

Larry, that is San Juan generating station. Used to be a four unit coal fire plant, now it’s a 2 unit coal plant because of Obama era epa regs. It’s slated to be completely decommissioned in 2022 unless another entity ponies up and buys it from PNM. Pretty sad deal in my opinion. A lot of the coal plants out here in the west are being decommissioned and reclaimed. Lots of lost high paying jobs for the mines and plants both.

You're right the weather was quite good clear, little wind and about 50.

Re: 72 k20
 

Tyler thanks for posting the pics and glad your family is doing well. Hope your buddy turns the corner to better health.

I look forward to when I can get back out onto the high desert. Lots of fun to be had. Fossils and other things to be discovered. It's fun to see elk herds out in that country.

Re: 72 k20
 

I hope you had a great Thanksgiving and I also hope your machinist friend pulls through. It's crazy how CV seems to effect all age groups differently and how things keep changing with it. Hopefully it gets gone by next spring.

Nice pics, it definitely looks like fun there! I have a project 71 K20 and I was just thinking if I should keep the HO52 or just swap a 14BFF in it now. It's supposed to be a low budget truck but we all know how that goes. Haha

Re: 72 k20
 

I'm getting ready to do a Dana 60 swap in Blue..

Re: 72 k20
 

For sure, that’s the one thing that keeps me pretty contempt with life up here. I could make more money if I went to other oil patches, but the wide open public land we still have up here is a huge plus. All kinds of adventure to be had.


Good to hear from your Ryan! Thanksgiving was great, hope the same for you. Covid is a wild one. I’m not one to buy into all the things we are fed about it, and I feel there is a ton of legislative overreach going on. I do however, believe it makes some people sick as hell. It’s Wild to see how it affects people so different. My stepmom had it and was pretty sick, in bed all day, difficulty breathing, chest pains the whole 9 yards. My dad didn’t hardly show any symptoms at all. Both are completely recovered now.

Low budget huh??? That won’t last long:lol:
I’d vote for the 14 bolt solely on the ability and ease of getting parts for it. I can certainly understand the desire to keep the HO52 for originality sake, if mine had still had it I’d probably have done what I could to keep it running. That said the legendary beef of the 10.5” 14 bolt is hard to beat. Square body 1 ton is a bolt in with the exception of one shock mount and ebrake cables. It’s Hard to beat the 14 bolt as it’s still in production today and still nearly identical to the original in 1973.

The rear Dana 60 is definitely a good option as well.

Re: 72 k20
 

I got the disk brakes mocked up this afternoon. All I’m missing is the flanges. I talked to the machine shop (not the same shop as my buddy Ernie who’s still fighting for his life with covid) who’s is making them for me today. They are backed up for the first part of next month but hope to be able to have them done closer to Christmas. They will be cut on the water jet and then all the holes milled with the cnc. I dont think $250 for the set is bad. They will be precision made and that’s pretty important when it comes to stopping. That said, I’m very confident that this setup is going to work well. I’m going to start writing the diy for this brake swap this week. Pictures are just a mock up like I said with the jack stand holding the caliper and bracket up for now.

Re: 72 k20
 

Like. :c2:

Re: 72 k20
 

Looking good.....:metal: