70 K20 Build in Alaska

[HeloCrewChief]

Hey guys,

Been through a few 69-70 trucks and a 63 before and posted them on here. They were all short/fleet/2wd models though. This is my first 4x4 build and have been wanting one for a while. Tomahawk30 was a big help in trying to find me a truck and keeping me motivated for one of these. I bought a 67 Nova SS in November instead of a truck but, everything has worked out now. Work sent me to Fairbanks, Alaska for a year or so and I found this guy up here about after a month of living here. Looked like a solid truck at first but, once I got the ice pick out the rockers and outer floors fell apart. The cab corners, rain gutters and everything else is fairly solid. Truck is mechanically sound as of now. Right now I have it in at Stray Kat Kustoms getting the paint/body work done. They are working FAST and seem to be doing a good job so far. Plans are to bring it back to close to stock looking with some mild custom touches

-White/Black Houndstooth seat cover
-rubber mat
-Orange/White two tone ( still undecided if I should run the upper side moldings and run white down the side?)
-Purchased a bunch of goodys from Frank (PICKMUP) on the board including 16.5x8.25 steel wheels.
-I highly recommend Frank by the way. He has awesome parts and goes out of his way to help me. I have spent thousands over the years building 8 different cars from Grand Nationals to Chevelles and Frank is the best vendor so far.
-33x12.50 tires
-2 inch lift kit
-Rear bumper and wheels will be white
-Warn winch front bumper
-Restore Tach Dash
-Replaced weather stripping and some trim

That's about it for now. Building a truck in Interior Alaska is rough. If it wasn't for some great board members and the help of Carlile Transportation I don't know how I would beat the cabin fever. Wish me luck

[fishmunger]

that thing looks NICE man! Good luck with the build, can't wait!

[HeloCrewChief]

My other two babies. My 67 Nova as previously mentioned and my 68 Chevelle

[HeloCrewChief]

A few more. My last truck and my 87 GN I sold last year As you can see my taste are all over the place.

[Tomahawk30]

Great to see you found one! I'm definitely going to watch the progress!!!
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[mjensen]

Very nice! As a side note, that is my absolute favorite body style Nova. My dad had a 66 that he sold when I got my license...something about not letting a punk 16 y.o. drive it I think.

[HeloCrewChief]

The 66-67 Nova's are hard to beat. Right up there with the 63-65 Rivieras and 66-67 Chevelle. Anyway. Some more progress. Bed is off now!

[HeloCrewChief]

Underside of the bed was stripped down and sprayed with bed line. Also, applied Por-15 to the rear frame rails. Figured now was a good time to do that. Not worrying about the springs or differentials right now. When I do the 2.5 inch lift down the road that will all get torn apart and either replaced/cleaned.

[HeloCrewChief]

Decided since we had it tor down this far to do cab corners as well. Everything is cut out and now getting ready to weld in the replacement metal.

[jrdv]

Looks good so far! I have one chopped up in the same condition.
I haven't attempted panel replacement yet!

I'll be keeping an eye on this one.

PS....I worked for UniCal on an offshore rig in 1991. I lived in Kenai and I drove my 72 blazer to AK from TX. Gonna have to go back and visit sometime.

John

[noco-k5]

You have good taste. Sold my 86 GN several years ago only car I actually miss. Truck looks like a great project.

[HeloCrewChief]

Thanks guys. Since your digging it, here are some more pictures. New grille came in and the rockers and cab corners are welded in. The shop welding everything in is a pleasant surprise here in Fairbanks, Alaska. They are quick and the price is reasonable.

[HeloCrewChief]

Got the seat covered. Didn't come out as great as I would have wanted but, it will suffice. It's a Classic Industries cover FWIW. It's a 71/72 seat cover on a 69 seat too. Should look good with the white steelies and Hugger Orange/White top.

[DeadheadNM]

K20 hugger orange w parchment interior on 16.5 x 8.25 steelies? Sounds like my K20 that's almost through its ground-up rebuild - along for the ride and good luck from NM...

[HeloCrewChief]

Thanks man. Like your user name btw. Been watching your build. I'm the one that asked for pics with the 8.25 steelies for motivation. This one will not even be half as nice as yours. I live about 3 miles down a gravel/dirt road and she will live a somewhat rough life up here in Fairbanks.

[DeadheadNM]

Originally Posted by HeloCrewChief

Thanks man. Like your user name btw. Been watching your build. I'm the one that asked for pics with the 8.25 steelies for motivation. This one will not even be half as nice as yours. I live about 3 miles down a gravel/dirt road and she will live a somewhat rough life up here in Fairbanks.

Yours looks real good to me so far! Thanks!

[HeloCrewChief]

Everything has been jammed. Bed and fenders are back on. Hope to be driving it by the end of the month.

[HeloCrewChief]

Warn bumper cleaned up and ready to go with new stainless HDWR. Just looking for a Warn 8274 winch now.

[mjensen]

Cooking right along! Looking good!

[HeloCrewChief]

Sorry in the delay guys. Let me see if I can make this as short as possible. I always had a feeling the truck had the wrong front fenders on it as the old grill fit horrible. After the guys got the old ones jammed and aligned, they went to test fit the new grill and could tell something was wrong. Turns out they were either GMC or 67-68 fenders and someone somehow made the 70 grill fit. Well, being in Alaska it take a little while to get new fenders up here so I flew back from a business trip down to California and came back with 2 as checked baggage. I picked them up from Classic Industries. haha. Did I mention it sucks building anything in Alaska?! It was a nightmare to get the fenders,hood,doors aligned. Anyway, wheels are painted and everything is aligned and ready for paint. Should be out by the end of the week and then it's reassembly time. In a turn of events my work told me I may be transferred down to Washington in September so, I may try to sell it before I go to avoid the $2000 cost. If not I will have to suck it up and ship it.

[DeadheadNM]

Hang in there!!

[HeloCrewChief]

In the booth! Finally! Will have paint on it tomorrow morning.

[DeadheadNM]

Not sure if you are painting the top of the dash and you may already have it in mind but if yours is like my orange K20 the paint in that location was a matte black from GM to reduce glare. Good luck!

[HeloCrewChief]

Thanks for the heads up man. Yes, I'm lucky enough mine still has the flat black from the factory and is still in good shape.

[HeloCrewChief]

Paint!