1977 K20 Build

[willem445]

Hi guys, it's been a LONG time since I've posted on this forum or even worked on squarebodies. Back in my high school & early college years, I was working on my Dad's old farm truck (1980 Chevy K20) that hadn't been used for years. Made a lot of progress but it more or less has been sitting in a shed for the last ~6 years now. The thread for that truck can be found here. I moved, got a job, got married, had a kid, etc. etc. In summary, I've been busy! Finally have a place of my own now and after settling down, was ready to get back into squarebodies!

This winter, I purchased a 1977 Chevy K20! This truck is a MUCH better base for a restoration as the cab has already been rust repaired and painted. Came with brand new doors (not sure on brand) and OEM GM fenders with the original box intact. No engine, transmission, transfer case or box so I will be using my 1980 as the donor for those parts.

Here are some pictures picking it up and getting it into the garage.

This is picking it up at the guys place, very jealous of his shop!



Pulling up to the house.


Unloaded. Truck had working brakes thankfully. Had the wife sit inside while I pushed. Was worried that it wouldn't clear my garage door but we got er done.


And here it is in the garage.



Got some car dollys so I can move it around easily. My Silverado got booted out of the garage and gets to sit outside in the cold now...


Picture of the interior, great condition!



More progress to come!

[willem445]

Some progress tearing it down. The plan to to teardown completely to the frame, wire wheel the entire thing, and treat/paint with POR-15.

[willem445]

Removing the wiring harness








Any idea what this connector on the firewall goes to? It's not the taillights. The wire harness for this connector was cut off under the cab. Would it be trailer brakes?


Much cleaner and easier to work on when the wiring is outta the way!

[willem445]

Progress removing harnesses and gas lines from under the truck.



I love this picture! Progress is coming along nicely.

[willem445]

Won't be able to paint the frame until spring so decided to disassemble the dana 44 front axle & rebuild.

Some teardown pics









The knuckle was a bugger to get off, pickle forks from Harbor Freight were a great investment for this (have been extremely useful for tie rods too).





Axle shaft looked pretty rough to me (I'm not sure how much wear is normal) so I decided to just buy replacement inner axles.

[willem445]

Should I buy new brake rotors? These ones are fairly rusted with minor pitting. Can they be cleaned up or is it not worth the time?

[willem445]

Front diff cover removed. I'm not planning on removing the diff at this time so I just wanted to inspect it. Everything seems okay to me. Anyone see anything I should be concerned about?







Quite a bit of "sludge" on the bottom of the diff case, any idea what this would be? There is quite a bit of it. I'm planning on just scraping it out.

[willem445]

Removing ball joints from knuckle. Harbor freight kit coming in handy!

[willem445]

Doing some painting on some misc axle parts. Using Rustoleum primer and gloss black. Hoping that it's durable. Since it's cold in the garage, it's an annoying process of carrying parts to garage, spraying, then carrying them into utility room to cure in the warmth.









Ball joints installed back into knuckle, had to do some paint touch ups from it accidentally banging into my vise.

[willem445]

Finally caught up on pictures, this is progress from today.

Steering box removed. Debating on trying to rebuild it myself or just having the local repair shop do it.





Current state of the front end.



And bonus shot of my workspace. Built the workbench a couple years ago, it has been moved to 2 apartments and the house, holding up great and is solid as heck!

[Corts60]

Nice progress so far bud! Welcome back to the addiction! Haha.

Very clean truck to start with. It’ll be cool to see this come together.

[willem445]

Finally nice outside so getting some work done. Got the front axle pulled. Goal is to rebuild the drivers side and POR15 the entire thing. Made a DIY axle stand/cart pretty easily.

[willem445]

Spent my memorial day with a wire wheel... axle is now ready for POR15!

[LT7A]

This is cool. Nice work so far. Kudos for getting out in the cold garage and getting after it. Got pictures of the 80?

[willem445]

Thanks LT7A, some more picture incoming!

[willem445]

POR15 went on front axle earlier this summer

[willem445]

Put a winch on the trailer... because we moved again! Had to move the project truck.

[willem445]

@LT7A Here are some pics of my 1980 K20 farm truck!

[willem445]

After getting settled in, back to stripping down the 77 K20. Hoping to get the frame POR15'ed before temps get too cold.



Putting it into my detached garage workshop.



Rear axle off (actually busted my little axle cart so I had to go back to the drawing board)



Putting it on the re-engineered cart





Removing the cab, was a little sketchy by myself but got it done.



Built a cart for the cab as well



And this is where I'm at as of tonight. Axles removed. Working on getting the leaf springs off, bolts are rusted and a bugger to get off.

[willem445]

Oh almost forgot! I bought a '78 C20 with a 454! Going to use the 454, hood and potentially some other parts for my '77







This truck looks great from one side but is rusty and dented up on the other. Pictures show the "good" side.

Also picked up a NP205 and SM465 from a local guy.

[LT7A]

Both of those parts trucks are cool too! I like the red with white top and the gray+blue. I guess maybe you can't build them all but it's looking like you've got enough parts for at least two! Seems like the gray/blue was the scheme for one of the special editions. Beau James I think.

[willem445]

Originally Posted by LT7A

Both of those parts trucks are cool too! I like the red with white top and the gray+blue. I guess maybe you can't build them all but it's looking like you've got enough parts for at least two! Seems like the gray/blue was the scheme for one of the special editions. Beau James I think.

The 1980 K20 (orange/white one) I plan on driving still, it runs great still although it's getting pretty rusty.

I do really love the look of the '78 C20 but unfortunately I think it will just be a parts truck. It's got enough rust and damage to not be worth fixing up.

[willem445]

It's too cold to paint now so frame is stripped and moved outside. Doing some maintenance on the 1980 K20 farm truck now!







Radiator was leaking all over so got that replaced. Working on brakes now.

[LT7A]

Now I'm up to speed on both. Good work man!