78 K20 custom delux "modern meets vintage" build thread

[K20chevy]

Originally Posted by winningz

You are going all out man this is awesome. I love this truck

Thanks man!

[K20chevy]

Put some wood in the back to squat the suspension down and check the diff cover-tank clearance.





And I got lucky, even with a ton and a half of wood in the back I still have a bout 3/8" of clearance.

[K20chevy]

New shoes for the K20:

17x9" Weld Racing Forged aluminum wheels with 37x12.50R17 Goodyear Wrangler MT/R Kevlar.

(wheels are powder coated white for a future mod..you´ll have to wait on that)

[whitels1]

Bad ass build, that fuel cell is nice with the inset fuel pump and the way it's positioned forward under the frame bend. Do you have any specs on it? I just installed a blazer tank and I'm going to have to do a lot of trimming to the bed support.

[K20chevy]

Originally Posted by whitels1

Bad ass build, that fuel cell is nice with the inset fuel pump and the way it's positioned forward under the frame bend. Do you have any specs on it? I just installed a blazer tank and I'm going to have to do a lot of trimming to the bed support.

Thanks! I would have to digg up the drawing of the cell itself. But it was custom made and I wanted the inset fuel pump to not have to modify the bed. This one is pushing the size limit on the long bed truck though, so in order to fit it into a short bed or a blazer, you´d have to have it a lot shorter than mine.
If I remember correctly (I´ll check) it is 31" long, 26.5" wide and about 14" deep on the part toward the axle and then slants up toward the bumper for some more ground clearance.
The fuel pump is a 2008 GMC Sierra Denali pump, wich has all the hook ups directly on the pump. The only other thing I had to have was the fuel filler neck. I have to admit I kind of messed this one up, if I could do it again I´d have that posissioned differently, but I made it work.

The coolest part is, the entire fuel cell is mounted with stock crossmembers that have only been tweaked a bit.

The cell has around 45 gal capacity and is fully made out of aluminum.

I´ll look for the drawing so I can give you the exact dimensions.

[Hankster]

Can't wait to see what you do with the wheels..

[K20chevy]

Just one more hint on what I have planned with the wheels....

[K20chevy]

the 37´s fit great in the rear...



but the front needs some fender mods bad. I can only turn the wheels when the fender goes between the tread blocks!



starting to build a rear bumper from scratch...

[K20chevy]

the beginning of the new bumper...

[K20chevy]

Originally Posted by whitels1

Bad ass build, that fuel cell is nice with the inset fuel pump and the way it's positioned forward under the frame bend. Do you have any specs on it? I just installed a blazer tank and I'm going to have to do a lot of trimming to the bed support.

So here are the requested dimmensions of my fuel cell....




Hope this helps.

This is another shot of the tank with the bed off...



In this pic you can also see the mounting plates for the rear bumper. 1/2" steel plate.

[TheBlueBomber]

I hate that about big tires and these trucks. I've never liked cutting fenders but it must be done to fit the right sized tires... I'll have to cut mine to fit the 33" boggers I have.

Truck is looking great and I love the white rims. Can't wait to see the finished bumper! Are you going to paint it to match the body?

[K20chevy]

Originally Posted by TheBlueBomber

I hate that about big tires and these trucks. I've never liked cutting fenders but it must be done to fit the right sized tires... I'll have to cut mine to fit the 33" boggers I have.

Truck is looking great and I love the white rims. Can't wait to see the finished bumper! Are you going to paint it to match the body?

Thanks! Well I made the 35´s fit with 4" of lift and no trimming. But backspacing of the wheels plays a big role and also what tread you have. Boggers for sure are really agressive...

I will modify the fenders to the point, where you won´t ba able to tell they are modified unless you compare them side by side to a original fender. stay tuned for that.

I must say myself, I like the white rims too and I do really like the goodyear tires as well.

No, the bumper will get the same semi gloss black powdercoat as the front bumper has. At some point, the rock sliders will too...

[Ol'_Blue78]

This truck is absolutely amazing. With the fuel cell did you have to relocate anything or did you have to run a body lift at all so it clears everything?

[jhama78]

Which end are you linking first front or back? Also do you have an idea of the spring rates that you are going to start with?

[Hankster]

Looks good with them wheels!

[K20chevy]

Originally Posted by Ol'_Blue78

This truck is absolutely amazing. With the fuel cell did you have to relocate anything or did you have to run a body lift at all so it clears everything?

Thank you! No body lift. I did have to relocate all the crossmembers in the back. the furthest back had matching holes at the end of the frame, so I just had to drill the rivets out and move the crossmember back and bolt it to the existing holes. The spare tire carrier and front cross member also had to be relocated, but I made it all work with factory stuff. The fuel cell was built so that it clears everything the way it is...

Originally Posted by jhama78

Which end are you linking first front or back? Also do you have an idea of the spring rates that you are going to start with?

The front will be linked first. I already have all the links built, the shock hoops done, etc. All the brackets are there as well, just haven´t had the time to weld it all in yet. I need to do the front first to set the final ride height because of the steering, engine crossmember etc. That will dictate the rear height too. In the rear I´m not sure If I´ll link it or just run long travel deaver springs. To be honest with you, I´d have to look the spring rates up again, it has been so long since I ordered them. I think they are 200 oder 300. But I´ll look it up again to give you the correct numbers.

Originally Posted by Hankster

Looks good with them wheels!

Thank you! looks more old school than the chrome wheels...

[bob_o]

Not really into lifted trucks, always preferred them a little closer to Mother Earth But I just went through this whole thread and it's really inspiring! The fit and finish and build philosophy are badass.

Functionality is clearly #1 while aesthetics play a guiding role, making sure that while this truck is a very capable 4x4, it still looks damn good doing it! Killer truck! Where I've grown up, most lifted trucks are all about looking like an offroad machine, but in reality they're mostly a bunch of pavement princesses. They just make me roll my eyes now.

But seeing your truck makes me want to build my own offroad rig someday I look forward to more updates

[K20chevy]

Originally Posted by bob_o

Not really into lifted trucks, always preferred them a little closer to Mother Earth But I just went through this whole thread and it's really inspiring! The fit and finish and build philosophy are badass.

Functionality is clearly #1 while aesthetics play a guiding role, making sure that while this truck is a very capable 4x4, it still looks damn good doing it! Killer truck! Where I've grown up, most lifted trucks are all about looking like an offroad machine, but in reality they're mostly a bunch of pavement princesses. They just make me roll my eyes now.

But seeing your truck makes me want to build my own offroad rig someday I look forward to more updates

Thank you for the kind words. I appreciate the feedback. I never thought the truck would generate that much interest. I´ll keep the updates coming.

[Ol'_Blue78]

Thats awesome. I was trying to figure out how I can run a fuel cell so I can get rid of the saddle bag and this seems like a real simple solution. Im gonna have to reroute my exhaust though cause I have 3" pipes right down the middle of the frame.

[K20chevy]

Originally Posted by Ol'_Blue78

Thats awesome. I was trying to figure out how I can run a fuel cell so I can get rid of the saddle bag and this seems like a real simple solution. Im gonna have to reroute my exhaust though cause I have 3" pipes right down the middle of the frame.

That is why my exhaust is so short, coming out in front of the rear wheels. It´s jsut the tail pipe, so shouldn´t be much work to change that. You can also runa 40 gal suburban tank with minor mods to the crossmembers. that would be even easier than running a fuel cell like mine.

[Ol'_Blue78]

Thats really good to know. Thank you for the tips and advice. Just need to find my driveshaft slip yoke and I can drive it again! Its been a wild goose chase so far. Looking in to seeing what itll cost me to have a machinist make one for me.

[whitels1]

Thanks for the pics!

[K20chevy]

Originally Posted by Ol'_Blue78

Thats really good to know. Thank you for the tips and advice. Just need to find my driveshaft slip yoke and I can drive it again! Its been a wild goose chase so far. Looking in to seeing what itll cost me to have a machinist make one for me.

Find your slip yoke? Where did it end up? Not an item so small that you could drop and loose, right? Good luck with the drive shaft....

trust me, mine hasn´t been an easy walk either!

Originally Posted by whitels1

Thanks for the pics!

You´re welcome. Hope they are helping you out a little bit.

[Ol'_Blue78]

Nope haven't found it yet. Going to check another shop this week pending a get out of work in time. Talked to a machinist about making one and it'd run me like $800 cause I'd tie him and his machines up for at least two days. If that wasn't a 16 spline shaft that thing would already be back together and the second one broken by now lol.

[K20chevy]

Originally Posted by Ol'_Blue78

Nope haven't found it yet. Going to check another shop this week pending a get out of work in time. Talked to a machinist about making one and it'd run me like $800 cause I'd tie him and his machines up for at least two days. If that wasn't a 16 spline shaft that thing would already be back together and the second one broken by now lol.

$800 for a Yoke, wow. Is your drive shaft so special? For that money you can have the craziest drive sahft custom built. So maybe you should just have acomplete shaft made up with a slip yoke, or convert it to a fixed yoke while you´re at it.