StevoandaRedK5
1/2 ton status
Well I've been debating whether to start a build thread on the forum or just keep on with my build blog that nobody sees...guess which I decided to do?
This '73 K5 was my dad's, he bought it for $950 back in '85. It was running and he drove it home. He swapped in a rebuilt 350 in '88, but otherwise left it untouched. It managed to survive the great purge of '89 when he married my mom
, he had so many cars. After that the truck was sidelined unless the DD broke down. It functioned as a weekend hunting rig every once in a while, but mostly stayed parked somewhere.
When I was 14 or 15 my dad and I were talking about the truck, and he told me we could bring it to the house if we got it running. It had been sitting in a pasture for at least 4 years, but with a hot battery and a little gas in the carb she cranked right up and evicted the rats that were living in the exhaust
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The leaking trans was the first order of business, which after multiple pan swaps we diagnosed that it was a bad front seal. So the TH350 was completely rebuilt w/mild shift kit.
I worked on small things for a while, and a with a new set of rims and tires we were here. Then I finally took the hardtop off:
I then rear-ended someone on the way to school one morning and tweaked the entire passenger side of the front clip, but it was still drivable.
So I just drove it like that for a year or so. Then the t-case was trying to drop into 4-lo while cruising, so it was rebuilt with a new chain and superwinch 2WD conversion kit. Installed Warn Standard Hubs as well.
A little after that I found a '79 2WD Blazer with a solid 350 block and a good front clip.
So I began the teardown of the donor vehicle and had the entire front clip primed and ready to install.
This '73 K5 was my dad's, he bought it for $950 back in '85. It was running and he drove it home. He swapped in a rebuilt 350 in '88, but otherwise left it untouched. It managed to survive the great purge of '89 when he married my mom
, he had so many cars. After that the truck was sidelined unless the DD broke down. It functioned as a weekend hunting rig every once in a while, but mostly stayed parked somewhere.When I was 14 or 15 my dad and I were talking about the truck, and he told me we could bring it to the house if we got it running. It had been sitting in a pasture for at least 4 years, but with a hot battery and a little gas in the carb she cranked right up and evicted the rats that were living in the exhaust
.The leaking trans was the first order of business, which after multiple pan swaps we diagnosed that it was a bad front seal. So the TH350 was completely rebuilt w/mild shift kit.
I worked on small things for a while, and a with a new set of rims and tires we were here. Then I finally took the hardtop off:
I then rear-ended someone on the way to school one morning and tweaked the entire passenger side of the front clip, but it was still drivable.
So I just drove it like that for a year or so. Then the t-case was trying to drop into 4-lo while cruising, so it was rebuilt with a new chain and superwinch 2WD conversion kit. Installed Warn Standard Hubs as well.
A little after that I found a '79 2WD Blazer with a solid 350 block and a good front clip.
So I began the teardown of the donor vehicle and had the entire front clip primed and ready to install.
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. It ran a 17.84 at 75mph, not too bad if you ask me. The bad news was that run created a stress riser that eventually led to a thrown rod
.
what part of TX are you in? I am just surprised to see that much rust on a truck in TX. Repairing that windsheild frame is going to be a chore but is doable. Hey good luck with it and I cant wait to see how it turns out.
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