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'79 K20

Just gonna be a simple 3/4 ton truck.

handloader90

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handloader90 submitted a new Build:

'79 K20

I recently picked up a K20. The plan is routine maintenance and adding some nice things to it here and there.

I plan on driving it weekly, picking up parts with it and hauling my junk across the country with it the next time I move.

It's a '79 K20 with the following: 350/400/203, D44/14BFF.

I'm notorious for tearing trucks apart, adding a lot of goodies and then parting them out. I'm going to try to avoid doing that with this one.

Read more about this build here...
 
I picked this truck up last Saturday (03MARCH2018). Drove it back home on the highway at about 85-90 MPH the whole way.

Figured if something was gonna break it would happen then and I could get it out of the way but it did surprisingly well. I had some funny looks from the people I was passing in their modern vehicles.

It's mostly rust free, little bit of cancer around the back of the wheel wells on the bed and a spot on the drivers side cab corner. Inner fender wells up front have the typical rust holes near the firewall.

ALL of the gauges and lights/signals work. Wipers work but squirter doesn't. Non A/C truck, heater blows hot but leaves more to be desired.

The small block has an Eddy intake on it, one that I haven't seen before. It also has an Eddy 1405 carb. Gonna ditch the 1405 w/ manual choke for a Holley that I've got sitting around.

Came with a good set of BFG TA/KO's mounted on white wagon wheels.

Interior is fair. No plans to do anything to the inside. I think the bench seat is missing a bolt or two maybe, seemed like the seat may have shifted a hair when I tilted the back of the seat forward.

I knowingly bought the truck with a squealing power steering pump, bad starter, dead battery and some kind of sound coming from the 14 bolt.

I had another starter, battery and p-pump sitting around. The garage parts have already been swapped onto the truck. P-pump went on yesterday. Bled the steering system and took here out, ended up having a leak on the pump side of the high pressure line. Fluid sneaking out between the flare nut and the metal tube that has the flare on the end. New line is on the way.

I also noticed that the breather on the 14 bolt has puked some gear oil out onto the frame rail. I'm hoping that it was just overfilled... can't think of why else gear oil would come out of the breather.

14 bolt needs a pinion seal too so I ordered one of those and a new pinion nut.
 
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Here's some stuff that I picked up recently to spruce the truck up a bit. They may be a waste of money to some people but I figure if I'm gonna keep this truck it's gonna start by me adding some of the things that I like.

Got the Headers (Hooker 2453) and the Eddy intake off of Craigslist for $160 last weekend.

Picked the ORD crossmember and ORD motor mounts up off Craigslist for $120 yesterday evening.

Everything else I ordered online.

Planning to start getting things on there soon.

Waiting on a few more things to come in so progress doesn't get halted due to me not having all of the parts needed to get the job done.

I really wanna get the aluminum alternator bracket, p-pump bracket, aluminum water pump and those sexy ass billet pulleys installed before anything else.

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I've got a Detroit Locker for the 14 bolt floating around along with a full disc brake swap.

I've been toying with the idea of lifting it 2" or 2.5"... whatever the ORD 2.5" lift will get me.

I've got a set of flat-top knuckles off of a D44 that I got off of eBay for a steal. Those will be getting milled, drilled and tapped for a crossover arm.

I've already got a 2WD box, the correct pitman arm and a steering shaft off of a Chevy Express for the crossover. I've got the TRE's and DLE's for this too.

I've got an ORD bolt-in steering box brace sitting around. When I do the crossover I'll check the frame rail about behind the steering box and see if it needs the weld-on pieces too.

Regular service items like balljoints and such will ge getting replaced too.
 
Yeah seen ya gabbing about calling it
 
I've got a good TH350/NP205 (Fixed Yoke) and a good TH400/NP205 (Slip Yoke) sitting around.

I would like to get rid of the NP203... I'm leaning towards the TH350 since it has less parasitic loss than a TH400 and as of now it will only have a stockish small block in front of it.
 
It is super easy to change the output on the 205...
 
Picked these up in Castle Rock this morning. $20 for both sets to include a breather. Gonna throw the tall ones on the engine.

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Pulled the power steering pump that I put on a few days ago that was leaking. The port that the high pressure line goes into had something weird going on inside of it. It didn't have the little hump in there for the 45° flare... my guess is it was a metric pump or maybe.

Swapped a standard fitting into it, hooked up a new line and I'm leak free now.
 

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