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79 K20 would have...?

AJMBLAZER

AJMBLAZER

Better to be lucky than good.
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Coworker of mine is cleaning house (or yard in this case) and offered me a '79 K20 that's sitting in his yard not moving. I can't use it but for the cheap price he's offering my buddy can sure use it as a plow truck.

He says 350, auto, not sure on the transfer case, and 14FF rear.

2 bolt or 4 bolt 350 if it's original?
I'm thinking TH400 transmission if it's original, correct?
He says it has manual hubs but I'm wondering if it's a 205 or a 203 that someone has converted to part time?
D44 front still...correct?
 
most 79 k20's Ive seen have a 305 stock, 400/203, and a 10 bolt front end.

run those casting numbers, if its origional, chances are its a 305.
 
Even if it's a 305 he doesn't care much as long as he can make it run. Just going to be a plow truck. Hell, for this price he can probably sell the 14FF and make his money back.
 
$200 plus a 3 hour trip each way.

Unfortunately a good 14FF is rarer around here. Rust, rust, rust, and more rust.
 
Im always amazed to hear you guys out there talk rust. I swear, next time i visit the inlaws in St cloud im bringing a few with me to sell.
 
You bring one cheap enough. I'll let ya crash on my couch if the In laws piss ya off.:laugh:
 
People didn't take care of stuff and a lot of the stuff that did survive either got beat to death "muddin' ", worked to death, or was "preserved" (often with 30lbs of bondo and a new coat of paint).


I kick myself for not buying them up while I was stationed in San Diego and bringing them back here. The stuff my buddies have bought and paid decent money for...oy...
There's a reason both of my truck came from a Minn NG base and the K5 came from Seattle.
 
My 79 had a d44 when I bought it, and the d44 I bought with the 4.10s was dated 1978 on the ring gear
 
^and its a 350/350/203. I have NEVER seen a 305 in a 3/4 ton NEVER.
 
My '79 K20 Camper Special had 350/400/203, D44/14FF 3.73's with the big drums .
 
My bet is they were all swapped in. My 79 manual doesn't even list 305s
 
80' 427 said:
My bet is they were all swapped in. My 79 manual doesn't even list 305s
Click to expand...

That would be my bet also. I know of a '77 1-ton still used as a farm truck close to my parents (keep an eye on it in case they ever sell) that has been running around with a 305 in it for 15 years......but I also know it's not stock. I also knew of at least one other late-70's K20 that ran around for years with a 305, but again it was swapped in.

A lot of the farmers around me just bought the cheapest junkyard engine they could find when the originals blew up, and they was usually a 305. Not like you need a big-block to pull a grain wagon at 15 mph to the grain mill.
 
It could also be that different dealers in specific areas spec'd them with 305s and 10 bolts to cheapen them up or it may have been a GVWR thing too. GM did some wierd stuff in the late 70s and through the 80s.
 
In 85 you had to get the heavy duty chassis equipment (C6P) to get a 350. I think 305's started production in 76. My 78 K20 had a 350/400/203 10bolt/14bff. The GVW for that truck was 6800. My 85 was 7200 and had a 305 in it. My 77Blazer has a D44 front, 12 bolt rear 350/350/203. I had an 80 K10 with a 350/350/205/10bolt front and 12 bolt rear.
 
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