Couldnt hold out any longer

[55chevyman]

I was gonna wait till spring to do this but watching the other builds here i could'nt wait. Time for my truck to be torn down and cleaned up and rebuilt. Now i can say what id like to do but...that could change 10 times before i get done.. What id like to see from my truck

A new fresh paint job

New wheels

dropped a few inches

300hp engine

clean look

fresh interior

Now i have a small budget of about 8 grand for the whole thing right now..I hope to stay close to it and still come out with a nice clean truck that will turn a few heads. I love my truck the way it is, but Id like to have a nice clean classic that reminds folks of the potential of these classic trucks. Around here they are often over looked i think....well on to the pics

Here is the before pics, there will be alot, and im sure i will ask alot of questions. But hopefully threw this i will learn alot more about my truck and someone else may learn something as well

Before:
The last day it will see pavemant for awhile....
















the horrible interior:









my engine bay:

[55chevyman]

More pics.

Here is the underneath:













Ok now you have seen its true colors. Now for the teardown of my baby..

Tearing her apart....

I got a small work garage for now so in order to have the truck in there bumpers had to come off right away. We had rain coming and i didnt want to be out in the cold and mud...









first time i had the truck in there so then I had to take the doors off so i could get out in the small shop..




my helpers in the cab








my weatherstripping wouldnt stay up so it would leak rain and exhaust, the glue just wouldnt hold the stretched out strips.


of course the hood had to go



it has some kind of braces on it





and this is were i stopped the other night...



to damm cold to be out there at night and suddenly have alot of honey do projects pop up...of course when i want to tear into my truck, lol..

Im taking my time, gonna salvage what i can, clean up what i can and reuse some things...In the midst of this I am having my garage rebuilt..from 18 ft long and 14 wide to a 26 wide and 30 long...right now i can barely close the door to the garage...but atleast om out the rain!

Well I hope you guys post lots of comments so i can learn and i am more the open to constructive criticism.....

[56pu]

Nice project, It will look good finished... Keep us posted...Those truck made a bad hbbit of the hood bending when you would shut it, so thats what the braces are for...Looks like your helper were having fun...

[55chevyman]

Thats what i thought they were for but wasnt 100% made sense though..springs are strong as hell...thats prolly one thing that will never fail me....And thanks, its definatly a good canidate for restore

my neighbor told me i should scrap it...I looked at him and was like wtf man ..its part my family...would you scrap your grandma just because shes old....some people

[FordeatinZ71]

oh man, i'm so glad to see you divin into this! this truck is gonna look so good after you get done...i love the tag in your rear window!

this is exactly why i'm buying a DD, so i can go ahead and start working on mine. if there is anything i can help with (of course i can't come and do actual work...but on here) you know i will.

[FordeatinZ71]

you'd be shocked man, it's not the springs. the hinges get worn out...so when the springs are pulling on them they bind on the worn-out bushings and get harder and harder to shut...until your hood starts bending. the 81-87 system is MUCH better...

[JaxRhapsody]

I wondered why my hood was bent. Almost reminds me of mine in a good way, before I get raged on I mean it had that same air cleaner and box. I was told it was the wrong one though. did the K10s have a different one? Whered you git that chrome piece on the hood?

[55chevyman]

Originally Posted by FordeatinZ71

oh man, i'm so glad to see you divin into this! this truck is gonna look so good after you get done...i love the tag in your rear window!

this is exactly why i'm buying a DD, so i can go ahead and start working on mine. if there is anything i can help with (of course i can't come and do actual work...but on here) you know i will.

Hey I was gonna wait till april but i couldnt, I know this thing will look sweet and i cant wait, but i am more of a pay attention to detail guy so it may take awhile....lol

ok Abbreviations arent my strong point and i will prolly kick my own ass for asking but whats "DD"...if its daisy duke im in...


sure you can come help..id let you..hell ill supply the beer and snacks...lol


and is the 81-87 hood setup able to be on mine?



Jax dude...hey man I wont rag you anymore, just dont say stupid crap like "i lost 5 qts of oil and dont know where it went again" You wonted get ragged if you thought about what you said before you typed it..

I got the truck as you see it..not sure where the chrome came from...I m not sure if i will even use it on the new build...

[JaxRhapsody]

I like the chrome thingy on the hood, makes it look older and its louvered. Id like something like that for mine but I'd paint it.

[55chevyman]

Why would you paint over chrome?

[JaxRhapsody]

As muddy as my truck would probably stay you wouldnt know the difference. Seriouslly I would go over it with red chrome paint, Im not a big fan of standard chrome. In fact I'd trade the bumpers on the truck for some paintable ones. My plan for it is red and black, its already black, just need some red. When I first got the truck it had its exaust cut off after the mufflers too. How'd yours drive? Mine was slow and slower when one of the mufflers fell of which was funny. After I had it all redone it was slightly faster, fast enough to be noticed.

[FordeatinZ71]

the chrome hood cover is available from LMC i think. if not, there are places out there that have it. as for DD, that means Daily Driver...but Daisy Duke can be in too...screw it...DD in the DD...being pounded by the DD...

and no, unless you convert to the newer front end you can't run the newer hood hinge setup...one of the crappers about running the older front end but if you keep the hood hinges lubed/clean they'll last quite a while. and when they start to wear out, just replace 'em. you can also get the low-tension hood springs for fiberglass hoods which put less wear on them, but i don't know if they would hold up a steel hood.

[55chevyman]

Originally Posted by FordeatinZ71

the chrome hood cover is available from LMC i think. if not, there are places out there that have it. as for DD, that means Daily Driver...but Daisy Duke can be in too...screw it...DD in the DD...being pounded by the DD...

and no, unless you convert to the newer front end you can't run the newer hood hinge setup...one of the crappers about running the older front end but if you keep the hood hinges lubed/clean they'll last quite a while. and when they start to wear out, just replace 'em. you can also get the low-tension hood springs for fiberglass hoods which put less wear on them, but i don't know if they would hold up a steel hood.

I just looked and couldnt find it in brothers or lmc...Im special and your not...haha..

Hey jax youare a if you think its funny when you lose a muffler

And i have plenty of power to get were i need to go..Comments like that is why people bash you

[56pu]

You can pick up a steel cowl hood cheap at a swap meet, Ive seen new ones go for $200, A cowl would be less likely to bend, and look killer on it...

[55chevyman]

lmc has the one i think i want for 399 its the single cowl hood

way cheaper the brothers

I will shop around...these hoods arent cheap!

[JaxRhapsody]

No my truck didnt have any get up and go when the exaust stopped at the mufflers. but I see where your coming from, maybe I talk to much. As far as it being funny not funny haha, I was on the highway and it fell off, thru the rearview all I seen was it bounce twice and rolled to the shoulder out of traffic, but I was pretty much pissed as it slowed to like 35.

[FordeatinZ71]

yea, the cowl hoods aren't cheap at all...but i love the way they look. hence my '78 K20...not the first (or last) C/K that had one...they just look great on these trucks...




and yea Jax, you lost power because you lost backpressure. you need SOME backpressure to have good power. but too much and it chokes off your motor (e.g. clogged cat). it's gotta be in perfect moderation which is why there is competition between muffler manufacturers...it's not just about sound...

it's also bad for your valves when you run with no mufflers. because of the sudden temp change after shutdown. see, your exhaust blows out while your motor is running, sometimes when you shut down there is a brief and very slight vacuum effect...and even without the vacuum effect, cold (colder than what your engine is pushing out) air rushes in...if your valves are open this can lead to valve warpage due to the temp change...that's what the experts say...but i've been running with no exhaust (long story, not by choice) for about 5-6 months now and, besides being too loud, my valves are still operating just fine...truck is still running great...exhaust will be redone in a couple weeks...just waiting on one more W2 so i can go file...

[55chevyman]

Well hopefully tomorrow I can get out there and tear the rest of the front end down...

Then cant wait till the bed comes off..im sure that thing is pretty heavy

[FordeatinZ71]

ehh, with about 4 decent guys (or two pretty strong ones) it'll come right off. it's not THAT heavy actually.

[55chevyman]

[quote=FordeatinZ71]yea, the cowl hoods aren't cheap at all...but i love the way they look. hence my '78 K20...not the first (or last) C/K that had one...they just look great on these trucks...




QUOTE]


WHY did you ever get rid of that beautiful truck?