'79 K20 Minor Mods. 203 is out.

[Mark1968]

Mark1968 submitted a new Build:

'79 K20 Minor Mods. 203 is out.

I am posting this to keep track of the of the things I have done as well as the things to do in the future. Also, everyone likes pictures.

I bought this a few years ago from a friend who had it in his field. He bought it from another friend who found it in another field. It has sat for a while.

I had a broken rear spring hanger and several broken leaves in each spring pack. Sadly I have no pictures of the 4" lift I added. It wasn't much to see anyway.

Things I have done so far:

4" lift
New brakes and lines
Fixed leaks
Removed 45 ft. of excess wire leading to nothing
Fixed shorts
New pea shooter exhaust
Replaced all rubber
Headlight relay mod.
Rebuilt carb

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Read more about this build here...

 

[Mark1968]

Things to do:
Fix more leaks
4 speed and transfer case swap
Fix speedo >Fix't
Replace leaking gas tank
Cab corners, rockers and floors >In the process of fixin'
Fix parking brake. Needs new cables
Removed slugs, add lock outs


Here are the relays I used for the headlight relay mod. They came from a 90-ish suburban. These are the beers I drank doing so.

 

[Mark1968]

Picked up a 4 speed/208 combo almost complete from craigslist.

It came out of an 86, hydro bellhousing and almost everything I need to swap it over. It got stuffed in the work van.

 

[Mark1968]

How do these shift forks look? Seems to be something peeling off one of them.

Also the shifter has broken welds.

 

[Mark1968]

I got a rebuild kit for the carb about 2 weeks ago after I found a large vacuum leak at the base. Since I couldn't fit a 4 barrel inside the gallon can of carb dip I bought an aluminum pan like what you bake a turkey in. Perfect fit. Too bad a heavy carb will put a hole in that aluminum pan quick and you won't notice untill your carb dip has leaked out all over your tailgate. No pic of my shameful mess.

No filter or gasket in the fuel inlet of the qjet. Took the fuel inlet off another parts carb and used that one since the end of mine was boogered up.

 

[Mark1968]

Today I noticed my rear axle covered in wetness. Vent was clear. Went to check the fluid level and found the plug rounded out. So I stuck a bolt in there and put some booger welds on it and she spun right out.

I caught a hot spark in the earhole as well, which really hurt.

 

[82355]

Nice find on the hydraulic SM465. I think you'll like the NP208 better than an NP205 as well.

Martin

 

[Mark1968]

Thanks. I think for what I do it will hold up just fine. Thinking about starting the swap next week when I am on call.

Found a tach cluster today at the junk yard. Gonna see if I can swap this in as well and eliminate the tach on the column.

 

[82355]

Yeah, it is possible. Did you nab the OEM tach harness? If not, it is pretty easy to make your own. I did it to my 1990 K5 Blazer with a 1978 or 1979 cluster. It took some repinning on mine, but should be fairly simple on yours.

Here is a link to when I did it:

http://coloradok5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=293281

There might be some helpful info in there for you.

Martin

 

[Mark1968]

I did not, i got about 6" of with and the plug. I'll check out your thread.

 

[82355]

I assume you got a new enough cluster to not have mechanical oil pressure gauge? It doesn't say UNLEADED FUEL ONLY. I bought one from a 1979 K20, and it says that on the fuel gauge.

Martin

 

[Mark1968]

Nope, mechanical gauge. I am assuming I can swap the electric gauge from my current cluster and work with that.

Also, these things are rare as hens teeth for some reason. this is only the second or third I have seen in the yard. Cosmetically it looks decent so I grabbed it.

 

[82355]

You have a lot of work cut out for you then.

Martin

 

[Mark1968]

It will give me something to do I guess.

 

[82355]

I bet it would be easier to use the old cluster in your newer rig. That or find someone who wants to trade.

Martin

 

[Mark1968]

It would probably be easier to find a cluster for a 79. No telling how long I would be waiting to find one though. Maybe I could make a side job of selling parts I buy for my truck and can't use.

 

[82355]

I have a 1979 cluster.

Martin

 

[Mark1968]

I have a 1979 cluster.

Martin

With a tach? Give me pics or give me death.

 

[Mark1968]

So, knowing what little I know now about swapping gauge clusters, I took apart both the old and "new" clusters to get a closer look. The only thing I can swap between the two are the speedo, temp and volt meter. The tach cluster has extra holes for the mechanical oil gauge and my existing cluster has no provision for the fuel or tach.

So I decided to swap speedos for the time being since mine didn't work. Here are the two side by side. I wanted to try and color the needle since it was a bit faded. It turned out orange. Good enough.

79 fuel gauge says unleaded only.

 

[Mark1968]

Since I had the dash torn apart I thought I'd try to fish a wire up my A pillar for my cab lights. This is the 4th time I've tried to pull a wire through that tiny hole.After spending too much time with a wire and a coat hanger, I said F this and got out the air hammer.

This is not the proper way to wire marker lights.