77 k10 short box winter beater build

[Jaysonb]

Originally Posted by jott_06

looks good for a beater. Are you going to blast the bed floor?

No, it really is a beater, the cross members under the floor are not that great, I patched the real bad spots, but the box floor is pretty junky. It will last for a while though, I'm pretty good about keeping stuff washed in the winter.

[jott_06]

May last quite a while if you oil them or spray some Amber rustproofing in the crossmembers. Probably wouldn't hurt to give the insides a coat of Ospho first also.

[Jaysonb]

I got the fuel filler figured out. The only bummer is that the gas cap won't sit flush with the body, it will be on top of the body. It just took some measuring, and eye balling. It's a straight shot to the tank inlet, runs right in front of a cross member, and it looks like there will be enough fall from the filler to the tank. I think I will weld in a backer to double the thickness of the box side where the filler screws to the side, then I'll shim the neck to get the cap as close to the body as I can. Then I'll have to fab up a cover for the inside of the box. Overall I'm happy with the way it worked out. I will probably have to make a little splash shield to keel the slop off the part of the neck under the box as well.

[MTCK]

I think that turned out great. Will be nice having all that fuel too.

[Jaysonb]

One of my concerns was hoe much the filler would intrude into the box. It turned out to be very minimal. I'm going to have to leave enough slack in everything hooked to the tank though, it will have to be dropped to bolt up the box, and bumper, and I don't think I'll be able to put a hitch on it, the rear frame cross member bolts are in the way.

[Greenlee]

Nice job on the tank!

[rusty76]

I like the tank and all

[palposity]

Awesome work! Makes me want to get back to work on my stuff.

[Jaysonb]

Well, I didn't like the fuel cap sticking out past the body, after some thought I came up with a plan. With a hole saw, a few scraps of oak, a piece of steel, a press, and about 4 tries I have a perfect size recess for the cap to sit flush with the body! I'm pretty happy it worked. I'll have to go around the edge with the shrinker after I cut it out, but it should work good.

[MTCK]

Holy cow now THAT is fabrication. Nice work.

[jott_06]

its amazing what you can make out of sheet metal with a wooden form. I'm on a rat rod forum and there is a guy that makes tons of parts that way.

[Jaysonb]

Thanks fellas, redneck fabrication at its best.

[danthegmman]

can you give me some details on your tank mounting?

[Jaysonb]

This is the how to link I followed to install the tank. http://www.captkaoscustoms.com/blazertank.html

[Jaysonb]

The tailgate fit very funny on the left side. Wide at the top, and rubbing in the middle. I thought this might help someone fitting aftermarket panels, as this kind of thing is the norm with the aftermarket stuff. I made a cut just next to the edge that was tight with a 1/16" cut off wheel, then used a small scraper to open up the gap to where I wanted it, then weld it back together. The gap won't be perfect from top to bottom, but it will be good enough for most cases.

[danthegmman]

Thanks for the link. Your fan skills are awesome.

[danthegmman]

Fab skills

[rusty76]

Awesome work

[Jaysonb]

Thanks guys. Calling it a weekend, I did get the filler hole welded in. As careful as I was, after the first few tacks it sucked in pretty bad. There is no room to get a hammer or dolly behind it, so I did the best I could to pull it back out, and after a skim of filler, I think it will be pretty straight. The box side was pretty banged up from being stored, and moved around, so I got the first couple of rounds of body work done. Hopefully by next weekend I'll be ready for some primer.

[Jaysonb]

Took a break from sanding on the box tonight to check out a lifter tick. It sucks to pull the valve cover off of this 250! I checked every lifter, and can't find one that is obviously looser than any of the others. So I pulled all of them, and have new ones on the way. The rear main seal as developed a small drip, so I'll fix that as well. The primary and secondary choke pull offs don't hold a vacuum, so those are on the way also.

[Jaysonb]

Got all the lifters installed, got the choke pull-offs installed, had to throw a different alternator on, then brake in the new lifters. Runs great, with no lifter tic! Now I'm working on welding up the left gas filler door. These box sides just want to warp like crazy, luckily there is enough room to get a dolly behind this one. I started to tig weld this patch, but I don't have enough practice yet.

[MTCK]

That's nice. Quiet is good. My 292 sounds like a sewing machine.

[Jaysonb]

Got the body work on the box squared away. Shot some epoxy primer, some 2k high build, and got the white painted. These aftermarket box sides are not very straight above the wheel openings, if I was doing a nice truck I would not use them, but they will work fine for a winter beater/daily driver. I bought a Sem rock-it liner spray in bed liner kit to try on this truck. It seem to have pretty good reviews, and is priced right. If the white is dry enough to tape off I will paint the blue tomorrow, if not I'll knock it out Tuesday.

[Jaysonb]

Well, I can't remember the last time I had a run, let alone a huge sag, surrounded by small runs!!! I must have made a double pass in that area. I guess I have some wet sanding and buffing in my future.

[runrunner]

I guess I am lucky where I live. There was a rust free cab in someones front yard for $200 on my way to work. I needed a door for my 79' and found an original off a Suburban in perfect shape at a wrecking yard for $75. Were dealing with a some nasty snow right now and they are "testing" salt in a few areas but don't like the results.