68 k-10 project "rehab"

[drivethechevy]

Many of you have probly seen another build thread for this truck, somehow it got deleted so here is the revised and resized build thread from my k10.
I picked this truck up on trade from a guy who was trying to help out a the previous owner who had goten into drugs and had really done some damage to the truck, and i have been using it as my own rehab to help keep me away from my friends that i used to party with (hence the name project rehab) i have been completely clean since a week before i got the truck home!
i traded a 1963 dodge custom 880 that was known to my friends as the lowrider for the truck, after me and my dad did the 2 day trip to pickup the truck i started the taredown, by striping out the nasty old interior
Once i got the glove box open i found out this truck was a nice optiond truck when it was new(body paint stripe, 4spd, cst,blue vinyl trim,ac-all weather,pickup box floor, frt wheel lock hubs,62 amp delcotron gen, 327 v8, medium blue paint,oil bath air cleaner, am-oil gauge,radio push button, side trim, rear shock absorber, and tinted glass)
My original plan was to get the truck running and driving by my 18th bday which was back in january, but one thing allways leads to another and now im hoping to have it rolling and able to start the motor just by turning the key for my high school graduation party
Plans for the truck are to clean up and repair all the suspension and the frame, i am building a 383 that i scored from a friends dad to power the truck, i have all the interior parts minus a seat to have black interior so thats the route im going, i also custom painted and added a tach to a spare am-oil cluster and that will be going in, i am going to get a new non ac cab that is rust free and straight to replace the original cab, i am keeping the 68 front clip, i am leaving the original sm465 and the rockwell t221 t-case, i am swaping out the original closed nuckle dana 44 front with an open nuckle 44, and i loosing the newer rearend for a matced rear out of the same truck the front axle is out of, the gear ratio is gonna be 3.73 and i am going to run 70-80's truck rallies with 31x10.5 at least untill i can locate some nice original 68 4x4 hubcabs to go with the original rims i have
Someday i would like to return it to original option wise but right now thats out of my budget.
anyways here are the photos

[drivethechevy]

the truck was on hiatus for a couple months but i have really been getting lots done since then
the engine crossmember was all choped up so i will be using a new one from diy4x,, i also found that the homemade 6.5" long shackles arecracking and will be buying 6 inch ones from diy4x as well, the truck has 47" long front leafs out of a 87 blazer
and i will be adding power steering using a bracket made by captainfab
im trying to keep the truck lifted the same hight as it was when i got it, because i think it is the perfect height
here are a few old pics and the most recent pics are the ones without the front clip

[drivethechevy]

today i finished cleaning off the 40 some years of rust dirt and grease on the front of the frame, it will be getting a coat of paint soon
got all the new front axle parts for the 71 dana 44 that is replacing the old front axle, just need to go pickup the new berrings and the remanded callipers
i need the snow to melt more so i can move my 68 c20 up closer to the shed so i can get the frame parts that were hacked up by a D@#N PO
parts wreck by some torch happy PO= both left and right core support mounts, frontmost crssmember, engine crossmember, clutch linkage mount, iwill also have to do some frame repair

[drivethechevy]

no pics for this update
this weekend i bought new wheel bearings, thrust bearings, dust seals, grease seals for the front axle from napa
i started painting the mild 383 that is being freshend up for the truck, also bought the oil, air filter, thermostat, oil filter, and some fuel lines
i am bringing the original qaud off my 70 gmc and a used hei from my familys junkyard to the guy who builds the motors for one of our employes racecars this week
when i bring them in i will also be picking up new ujoints for my front axle shafts, the pinion oil seal, paint to start painting my frame and suspension with
andi will be stoping into the shop at our junk yard to surface the front rotors, and my flywheel
i also have an order from northern auto parts for all new 12"clutch kit, water pump, and mile marker supreme lockout hubs
im hoping to have all the front suspension painted and frame painted and start reassembling it in the next couple weeks
i will hopefully have order the new shackles and engine crossmember from diy4x and to buy the power steering adapter from captainfab before this week is out

[drivethechevy]

one more delay on the front axle, i found during reassembly that the outside shaft for my axle had at one point been eaten up by a bad thrust bearing and needs to be repaired or replaced, i am hoping to find one that i can use at our junk yard if not then i will probly buy one seeing as all the machine shops around here are not equiped to repair this or are to busy and wont be able to get to it anytime soon he are 2 pics showing the part and the bad spot


i finnished painting the 383, the waterpumps paint is drying and that will be on tomorow, and the carb and distributer should be ready by the end of next week


sorry about the picture size i cant figure out why they are not resizing

[drivethechevy]

sice my last update, i have taken off all the frame brackets i needed to replace all the junk ones that were on the truck they have all been painted and are ready to go on, i just need to finish the ring and pinion swap in my front axle and the paint the housing and reassemble the dana44 and its ready to get installed, mostly though i have just been cleaning up the shop and trying to eliminate some of my clutter
i did manage to drop off my radiator to get cooked repaired and painted, also droped off the rochester quad and the used hei off to get gone through and cleaned up
and today my dad had a bit of spare time and the weather was nice so we went and picked up the new front clip parts i scored off a truck in the grove at my friends house (amazing original 68 hood and even nicer 68 grille, really good hood chrome and letters,really good eyebrow moldings, all grille crome was perfect, nice headlight bezzels 2 good t-3 headlights, straight rust free spash guard, good working hood hinges, hood latch and grille support, and all the bots and nuts to assemble)
i picked all that up for $30 and the old beat up hood from my truck, and i had to dissasemble it all myself but it was deffinately worth it


the hood is a little dirty but it was to late to give it a bath once i got it home and unloaded
i will post a clean pick in this ones place once i have one

[drivethechevy]

cleaned up the hood this morning before leaving for school, its not perfect but it wont take much hammer work to make it perfect

now its off to school, wish i could stay home a keep workin on the truck

[Jtrux]

I saw this build a while back, glad to see you're cracking away at it again. I know if it was me i'd be going with either the original cab or another AC cab but I live in Texas so it's a little different. If you're lifting it at all i've got some brand new 4 inch springs for a 73+ cheap in the 73+ FS board.

Good luck with your build, can't wait to see how it turns out.

[msgross]

how did it get erased/deleted?

[drivethechevy]

Originally Posted by msgross

how did it get erased/deleted?

im not sure how it got deleted or even when but i went to update it and it was gone

the truck already has a bit of lift in it and all the parts are in good shape so i am just gonna stick with what i have and save my money
i wish that i could keep the truck ac but its alittle difficult to find a nice rust free cab without goin down towards the desert states and im buying a nice nonair cab from a guy a few hours north of me for a realy good price and i have all the non air components whereas i do not have any of the air components and that would just rack up the cost of the build
someday the truck will be original again at least option wise it will be but that wont be till i decide to re-restore which wont be for atleast a few years
ive already started colecting up a bunch of the original optioned parts for the truck like a 327 block, oil bath air cleaner, original rims and a few other odds and ends

[msgross]

that hood looks decent..

[drivethechevy]

there are only 2 dents on the hood one starts on the higher part of the hood and goes towards the center of the hood and will be no problem to repair

the other dent will be a bit trickier, its right on the center rib closest to the cab and there is no axcess to it from the back, i am hoping that i cant get it out with the stud gun/dent puller if not i will have to fill in the dent with lead


i striped the 4 doors that i have off of my other parts trucks, and the best door i have is perfect just coverd in bad paint and surface rust where the paint has flaked or rubbed off, although its a 72 door i cant aford to be to picky about it

[Jtrux]

Also, you mentioned something about stock 4x4 hubcabs but if i'm not mistaken 68 4x4's didn't have hubcaps. I think I read that somewhere on here. Ask MSGROSS. He'll know for sure.

[drivethechevy]

werll that would explain why i was having such a hard time finding pictures of 68 4x4 hubcaps
i realy like the look of the plain steel rims with some nice off road tires and factory hubcaps, i guess when time comes i will either have to modify some or use the caps from the 70's-80's
rackman pulled the look i want off perfectly

[msgross]

68 4x4 had black rims and no hubcaps.. I have a dealer handout that shows them..

You can find the "dogdish" types hubcaps on here for sale or ebay.. or new repop as well.. Just be sure to measure because 3/4 ton and 1/2 ton are different. 73 and up are different shapes but similar...

[msgross]

rackman's truck is for sale too...

[Jtrux]

Originally Posted by msgross

rackman's truck is for sale too...

What a shame, hope it works out for him.

On a side note, Rackman has factory correct dogdish hubcaps for his truck that aern't the ones pictured.

Make him an offer on them, maybe he'll just sell them to you if that's the look you're going for, but if you're trying to make it look factory, then no hubcaps would be the way to go.

[drivethechevy]

i saw the thread showing that his truck was on craigslist, i hope everything works out and he is able to keep it because he has alot of time and work into his truck so far

i am planing on doing white steelies and i have the later rally rims that i can allways put on if i decide i dont like the look
i guess i wil realy have to chose once my truck is all back together and painted medium blue and white

[drivethechevy]

my camera craped out so no pics
i finished painting the frame and all my front frame parts
and i have began reasembling it, i should hopefully be able to drop my motor in by the end of the weekend, im hoping also that my front axle will be finished by then, and my goal is to have the axle back under the frame by the end of next week
i will have pics up as soon as i pick up a new camera

[drivethechevy]

ive been meening to update this since last weekend but it has been way to hectic with it being the last week of school and my graduating and cleaning up for my grad party tomorow
but the front of my frame is assembles just waiting for my leaf spring bussings to arive

also last saturday me and my went and picked up my new cab and doors

[drivethechevy]

here are pictures from today, the cab is all striped out, and you can see my new radio delete plate that i will be using





thanks so far to
teeitup for the engine crossmember
Captainfab for the power steering adapter
and JimmyFloyd for the radio delete plate

[msgross]

wow, that is some clean metal for any part of the US, much less your area... nice find.

[drivethechevy]

Originally Posted by msgross

wow, that is some clean metal for any part of the US, much less your area... nice find.

i got really lucky on this one, i called about an add looking for 60-72 chevy and gmc truck parts, so see ifi had anything they were looking for and i asked if he had a nice condition space cab he would consider selling, told me he had one, got his address and went to go get it, and he showed me the doors, i got the complete doors the cab for $650

the cab has already had the passenger side rocker replaced, and there is a spot about the size of a 50 cent peice on the driver side rocker that has some bad rust, the driverside still needs to be replaced, and it needs a little bit of floor work in the weather strip channel but its very minimal
and the goofy thing is there are at least 4 holes that were drilled in places by a po, and for the life of me i cant possibly figure out what they could have been there for, but they will be welded up soon
also the driverside drip rail is pretty messed up and is gonna be a bit of pain to fix, but this cab is to nice to let that hod me back

[68,69 K20]

Nice cab and doors, great price too...

[Chevybowtie]

Looks nice, keep it up!