Re: 71 K20 Idaho Edition
 

Crawled under the truck today and hooked up the emergency brake cable and hardware back together from when I removed them so I could install a 2.5" lift kit a few months ago. Also removed the old hose that goes from the gas tank feed line to the gas line on the frame rail. Then removed the rubber gas line from the hard line to the fuel pump and replaced it with a new line and fuel filter. Dumped a few ounces of octane booster and some Heet into the tank that had about five gallons of gas in it and then added another five gallons of premium gas. Now the truck is ready to run.

Pulled out the seat so I could lay on the floor and do some adjustments under the dash with the master cylinder rod and also remove the emergency brake assembly so it can be cleaned up.

It has been snowing here so I was thinking about bolting on a spare set of fenders and hood so I can park it in the driveway while the painting is going on in the garage. I would only put maybe three bolts on each fender, no inner fenders are needed for that and the hood with hinges also bolted on.


Pict 1 - picture of how nice the floors are in this truck, nice to not have rust for a change

Pict 2 - motor area and link below to motor running for first time

Here is video of first start up:

https://youtube.com/shorts/sW68m3lJ9jI?feature=share

Re: 71 K20 Idaho Edition
 

Worked on getting the garage cleaned up and items moved so I can move into painting parts next.
Was able to get the new AC evaporator mounted in the cab and moved forward with making templates and getting the block-off plates installed.

Re: 71 K20 Idaho Edition
 

Got the first round of items that needed to be painted Satin Black done. I had a few clean-up items to take care of on a few parts and then moved onto
spraying the 2k primer. After that cooked off overnight I sprayed a round of Satin Black this morning and going out this afternoon to spray one more coat of Satin Black.

Sprayed the 2K primer with Wanda 8100 on an Astro Euro Pro HVLP gun with a 1.9 tip. Sprayed the Satin Black from Summit Racing with Astro Euro Pro HE gun with 1.3 tip.

Re: 71 K20 Idaho Edition
 

Had to do one more round of Satin Black to get some missed areas on the hinges when they are opened. Also needed to get a few touchups on the springs and forgot to do the radiator support brackets. Was also able to shoot two coats on various bolts.

Once I got that wrapped up and moved out of the way I started to concentrate on the front fenders. I had already painted them a while back outside in the shade on the side of the house after the third coat flashed off I had about 15 to 20 gnats on each fender stuck in the paint. I wet-sanded with various grits and used a nibbler block to get out all the gnats. At that point, the fenders looked really good, and zero orange peel after all the work. I wrapped them up and stuck them in the back of the truck bed thinking all I needed to do was buff them. After pulling them out several months later I felt they needed a few more coats so I got them prepped and shot two more coats.

In the next day or so I will be prepping the hood for paint, then pull the truck in and mount the fenders and inner fenders, along with a few of the other satin black items that are done.

____________________ITEMS IN COLOR ARE DONE FROM LIST_________________________________________________

Mechanical Left
-Install new belts
-Install Alternator
-Install new mini torque starter
-Install fuel pump and gas line to carb
-Install new AC unit compressor and brackets
-Install wire harness
-Make new battery cables and a few 2-gauge ground wires with same materials
-Cleanup and replace terminal ends on electrical harness and repair where needed
-Install radiator and hoses
-Fabricate metal fuel line up to carburetor
-Screw down oil pressure fitting in rear of motor
-Wire distributor and electric choke on carburetor
-Install old exhaust so I can drive it to get new exhaust
-Hook up all electrical under hood
-Install power steering pump with new hydraulic line

-Install Shocks after painting and steering stabilizer
-Drop of spare 205 transfer case to have rebuilt and twin sticks installed

Body Work Left
-Front fenders - wet sanded to 1500 need buffing or repaint
-Paint both front fender wells
-Paint miscellaneous items under the hood, nuts, bolts, mounts, hood hinges, springs, etc.

-Finish last 15% body work on hood: prime and paint
-Finish passenger door 25% of body work: prime and paint
-Finish driver's door 40% of body work: prime and paint
-Finish last 25% body work on bed: prime, paint and Raptor bedliner
-Body work cowl: prime and paint
-Paint all four new shocks from lift kit to match body
-Body work used tailgate: prime and paint
-Install new grill and lights

Interior items
-Finish painting AC and light switch plate made from glove box, also paint radio delete plate for heater control area
-Install new seat cover
-Install new flooring and sill plates
-Install 3-point seat belts
-Install new gauge bezel, dash pad and other new goodies

Re: 71 K20 Idaho Edition
 

Looking good Jim have a merry Christmas

Re: 71 K20 Idaho Edition
 

Merry Christmas to all!

Had some time to shovel off the driveway of snow and remove both tarps on the project truck. I had moved it outside a few days ago so I could do a few rounds of paint. So the tarps kept the truck free of snow and made quick work to get the truck started up and pulled back into the garage for a little assembly.

Took a few minutes to bolt on both fenders and make a few adjustments for now so that the doors would open. Mocked up how the fenders will look with both of the fender badges. The stock Custom 20 badge and the K20 / Idaho Edition badge I had made. I am liking how it looks and after I finish cleaning them up and adding the black background color I think it will really pop out nicely. For now, I just have the fenders mounted with three bolts that are not fully tightened down. The next round of paint will include some more Orche parts so I can spray a few bolts needed for fenders and door hinges.

On Christmas morning I will be up at least three hours before my family gets up so I will work on getting a few more parts bolted on and get the two doors set up to finish up the final bodywork and get them painted along with the hood and few more items that need Ochre paint.

Re: 71 K20 Idaho Edition
 

Constant improvement!
Good work Jim!

Greg

Re: 71 K20 Idaho Edition
 

Looking good!

Re: 71 K20 Idaho Edition
 

Very impressive sir!

Kinda off the subject but how do you like that hydraulic crimp tool?

I just saw on on JB Tools and almost pulled the trigger:)

Re: 71 K20 Idaho Edition
 

Greg, Thanks for the encouragement!

Thank you, Ol Blue K20

The hydraulic crimper is a game changer for making up our own battery cables, winch power set up and any other heavy-duty cables needed.


The project stalled for a few days due to issues on the homestead. Had a heater go out when the temps were in the twenties, a leak from the dishwasher destroyed the kitchen floor and to top it off I was doing a bathroom remodel. The bathroom remodel had some problems with the shower valve which had to remove from the other side of the wall.

Now back on track and will have a few posts coming your way with updates. Was making final adjustments to door-to-fender gaps before removing and shooting color on doors. Once I got the fit I will drill a few 1/8th-inch location holes so it will go back in place.

Re: 71 K20 Idaho Edition
 

Sorry to hear that Jim we’ve all been there trust me

Re: 71 K20 Idaho Edition
 

Lousy time for the heater to go out and the dishwasher to fail!! Sounds like you get it all under control, thankfully.