72 K30 Build

[7dee2]

Your right Rick, I should be working on the wiring but keep getting side tracked. One nice thing about having the same year truck that’s not blown apart is you can reference it for your project trucks. Been thinking about adding a few extra wires to the wiring bulkhead like Scott (First c10) recommended. http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...&postcount=870 Really clean way to hide the extra wires for accessories like our fuel gauge feed, fan relay trigger, electric choke etc.

Kind of glad I’m not done with the dash yet because this happened! The clear I’d sprayed on the center vent in an attempt to save it crystalized? Yeah, couldn’t look at that all the time so swapped it out, much better.

[Dieselwrencher]

And those vents are real nice to get to once the dash is all buttoned up. :LOL:

[7dee2]

So not a lot to update lately, still trying to nail down the flatbed. CM is trying to push us into a longer 9’4” bed rather than the 8’6” I’ve requested.

It’d be ok if our garage was just another foot deeper but since it’s not we have started to look into other vendors in the meantime. This is another option from J&I except our receiver would drop straight down instead of angling back. Really like this bed but if we go that route we have to go get it as the shipping costs will be ridiculous.

[rgunlock]

This J&I bed is sharp looking. Any reason given as to why the other doesn't want to build to your length since they would be building it specifically for you anyway? I guess all their jigs are set up for 9'4"...

[7dee2]

No, they make the 8’6” bed but it is a tight fit on our application, one CM vendor told me I’d have to bob (cut off) the rear frame rails. The other non-problem is the bed cross members which are not really a factor because the truck sits so high. To get our spring packs (9/1) to compress that much the truck would be seriously overloaded, it’s just a CM cookie cutter thing they are so big and so busy trying to get someone to slow down and look at this has proven difficult so far. Either way one bed or another will be on order by the end of the week!


Pretty sure this an older CM SS 8'6" bed on one of our inspiration trucks (Napco 4x conversion).

[Dieselwrencher]

That's a nice truck. Stop posting pics of K30 duallys. You're going to make me want to do bad things. Haha

[7dee2]

OK Ryan, I’ll dial it back a bit with some carpet, floor mats, and more sound/heat deadening material that have shown up. Staged the carpet set in our c10 project to get rid of any shipping folds while the other work continues.

[7dee2]

Flatbed update; CM did come back and said they would build an RD to our specs for an additional fee, more to follow.


Didn’t forget the back of the cab and don’t know if I’d recommend this route but it is what we did (thinking bulk carpet would have been easier). Ordered a gas tank cover hoping it would be enough to cover with some minor trimming. Mrs. 7dee2 pulled the seams apart so it would lay flat and we found plenty of material height wise but it is kind of close width wise after trimming it. She removed all the plastic tank clips and came to the rescue by added some of the extra material to the sides. Test fit went well, this is going to work with the seams just inside of the speaker mounts.

[Dieselwrencher]

Very nice! Do you have an actual upholstery sewing machine to sew that carpet? My wife needs a new sewing machine and I thought maybe it might be a good idea to get her one she can do stuff for me with too.

[7dee2]

Yeah, an upholstery machine would be great but no we don’t have one of those. Mrs. 7dee2 says it’s pretty hard on a regular household machine. She went really, really slow and still broke a needle or two recommends using a cheap machine that you don’t care about if you try it. Additionally, this is thin stuff and not the thicker mass backed like the floor carpet.


Flatbed update; We did get the custom 8’6” long CM RD bed ordered this week.
They said 10 to 12 weeks delivered but our local vendor said he didn’t expect that it would take that long. Tried one more time to get the SS sides and everybody gave me stink eye, so that isn’t happening.

[7dee2]

Continued our sound deadener treatment this last weekend. Previously we sprayed (rattle can) undercoating/sound deadener on the external floor and the interior back wall and added factory type jute pad to the cowl. Pulled all the bolts out of the floor and gave the holes some paint, some were still bare metal (under the captive washers) from the media blasting. Swept, blew out and wiped down the floor with thinner. I’m liking the Fatmat Megamat product, it’s fairly thick and the foil layer is blacked out, no smell like asphalt based products we have used in the past.

[swamp rat]

Your making some great progress!

[7dee2]

Thanks Mike, getting the bed ordered was kind of a self induced dead line!


Here is more Fatmat on the back of the cab, added some jute backing to the carpet with the same 3M 90 spray adhesive we have been using. About 30 square feet of the Fatmat material has been used so far. Both of the doors retained their interior factory sound deadening (goop!) so we should be good to go.

Just enough leftover Fatmat and jute that we’ll have enough to give the ½ ton project the same treatment.

[First c10]

Looking good as always Brett.
You keep that up you will be driving that thing soon!!!!

[7dee2]

Yeah buddy, I can’t wait!


We bought a lightly used aftermarket tach/vac cluster off the forum awhile back from forum member ztk123 http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=674465. Took it apart for a quick clean/inspect and added a 80lb oil pressure gauge also a forum acquisition from tommys72 http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=711926. The gauge face does show some age but at least it won’t be pegged all the time due to the high-volume pump we are running. Looking pretty spiff with the woodgrain bezel added!

[rgunlock]

Very, very nice!

[First c10]

tHuMbS uP!!!

[Dieselwrencher]

That looks very nice! I'll be replacing my carpet in a couple of months. I'm going to add some sound deadener too. It wasn't bad before. I just didn't have the extra coin to do it before.

[7dee2]

Originally Posted by rgunlock

Very, very nice!

Thanks Rick!

Originally Posted by First c10

tHuMbS uP!!!

Thanks Scott! I’m digging the new hood your truck is going to be a looker!

Originally Posted by Dieselwrencher

That looks very nice! I'll be replacing my carpet in a couple of months. I'm going to add some sound deadener too. It wasn't bad before. I just didn't have the extra coin to do it before.

Thanks Ryan, can’t wait to be like you and drive mine!



What would you guys say if I told you I was thinking about cutting a hole in that pretty wood grain bezel? We acquired a complete throttle lock including the pedal on our parts trip to D&L Truck Parts Junction City, OR http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...&postcount=223, it’s been slated for this truck. The old camper had one on the spid (K31 Manual Throttle) but unfortunately it had been removed before it got to us. These are a must if you’re running a PTO or a more dangerous use is an old skool cruise control!

[Dieselwrencher]

Nice. Don't forget where the cruise is at that quick moment. :LOL:

Did you get more rear spring hangers?

[7dee2]

True! Nope, old pic, those are the ones we used on the truck.



Flatbed update; I’ve been getting into a bit of a twist over this! Our salesman sent an email on the 8th telling me he’d screwed up and the bed was off again! Said that he'd miss read an email from CM earlier that they would “not” build a bed to our 61.5” cab to axle specification after telling me we were good to go and that it was ordered. Ha, after going around and around for a month with this guy we handled it pretty well by only firing him once!

Funny thing is that it lit a flame under him and he started to supply the info we needed in a very timely matter. Long story short we took a close look at the 60” cab to axle bed and with input from CM, and some back and forth with some other CM vendors we’re back on track (I hope) with a RD bed for our K30.

Here’s a pic we used to get the fuel fill in the correct location prior to this final approved drawing. CM had placed the fuel fill to far forward over the drive tires with a big bend in an earlier drawing. This pic also shows the bed frame cross members, goose neck ball in approximation to the rear axle, etc.

[swamp rat]

Man what a headache, Lets hope this time its gonna happen.

[7dee2]

No kidding! Probably for the best we went through this process, in hind sight I’m pretty sure the bed would have come in wrong.


Replaced our super brittle T400 kick down harness with a new one from AAW, black TCS wire did get cut off prior to installing. Pedal & vent restorations are completed, wire brushed and satin cleared the bare metal brackets and small parts. Passenger side diaphragm still holds pressure and should work fine.

[rgunlock]

Looking good. Its all this "fiddly" work that is so time consuming, but sure looks nice when the parts you are putting back in look as good as the rest of the truck!

[7dee2]

Thanks Rick! Yeah, your right IMO it makes a big difference in the overall build. Our old Blue is like a 35+ footer! It's what we like about that truck.


Restoring the steering column next, decided to shorten it just a little (an inch + or -) while it’s blown apart.