86 K10-Orion

[toomany]

Finished off the passenger side of the box. Hit the whole side with the DA as the primer that was there was showing some rust and was getting oxidized. Looks like a big slab of Bondo, and it's thicker than I'd like at the front edge. Had a bunch of small dents and crease's there. It's good enough for what I want out of it.





Did the drivers side too. Will need to give this side a little more attention. The surface rust was worse. Need to dig out the fuel door too.




Started working on getting the drivers taillight to fit better. I got it decent by cutting and folding back the metal in the light bucket. Guess I forgot to take an after picture.





Unhooked my wiring and undid the box bolts to start lifting. Can also see the extra tank I put in, not sure if I covered that or not. The rear is the primary tank and the side dumps into that with a TBI pump on a separate switch. Have a rocker switch that toggles between the tanks to show fuel level on the gauge.





On to some sawhorses to finish off the body work. Did get some primer so I can shoot that when ready.

 

[toomany]

Didn't have any time during the week to work on this. Now that the crops are starting to come off were working 14 hour days 6 days a week.

Today I shot the box, fuel door and valance panel. Two coats of primer and three coats of color. Didn't do inside that box as that is getting bed lined.


Passenger side in primer. This is where the patch was.




In color. Only did the "outline" of the front wall. Will fill in the center with black. Didn't feel the need to paint it as you can't see it.

 

[toomany]

Had a little bit of time today after work to get the box set back on. Needs bolted down and the rest of it's parts yet, but it's closer now. Color almost looks brown in some lights.

 

[max 02]

Nice work!

 

[Truckman4life]

I painted an '82 Kenworth W900A oilfield winch truck almost that exact same root beer color once upon a time. It was Imron paint though.

 

[toomany]

Nice work!

Thanks!

I painted an '82 Kenworth W900A oilfield winch truck almost that exact same root beer color once upon a time. It was Imron paint though.

The official name for the color is "Wine Red Metallic". Depending on the light it's either red, brown or purple-ish. This is just Summit house brand. I'm sure one of the major manufacturers are involved with it somewhere though.

 

[toomany]

Put the taillights back in. The drivers side fits much better but still has a larger gap than I'd like. Doubt I'll mess with it much more though.






Fuel door on. This is the first time I've had one on this box. It fits well but the spring isn't the strongest. Probably put a small magnet in there to help hold it closed.




Valance panel in. Didn't test fit this before painting. Had a little bit of a fight to get it in there, almost like it was too wide. But, I got it eventually. Rest of the trim on too. Finally put my new hood cable in while I was in there.






Next step for the front end will be a bumper of some sort. I've got a decent stock one, I'd like to put a winch on here though and the stock one won't work well for that.

Bed liner was ordered late Friday, hopefully that comes in this week.

 

[beags86]

Some guys hide them pretty well behind stock bumpers. @Bent77 might be able to point you in the direction of a member that did it .

 

[Bent77]

Yes, I stashed mine there. Had a few other guys discuss it here
https://ck5.com/forums/threads/the-bent77-k10-winter-upgrades.322474/page-16

More interesting was the computer work done here on how I could have improved the design
https://ck5.com/forums/threads/the-bent77-k10-steering-box-stuff.322474/page-177#post-3821047

 

[toomany]

Some guys hide them pretty well behind stock bumpers. @Bent77 might be able to point you in the direction of a member that did it .

I've seen some clean setups done that way. I've got a piece of box tubing I've been hanging onto for a few years that might get purposed into this.

Yes, I stashed mine there. Had a few other guys discuss it here
https://ck5.com/forums/threads/the-bent77-k10-winter-upgrades.322474/page-16

More interesting was the computer work done here on how I could have improved the design
https://ck5.com/forums/threads/the-bent77-k10-steering-box-stuff.322474/page-177#post-3821047

I remember seeing that back when you did it. Any issues with the way you mounted it? Anything you would change? How has the winch held up?

 

[Bent77]

No issues, although I haven't had to chain the bumper to a tree and pull like hell either

Worth nothing there is a piece of 3/8" plate that butts up to the front of the winch at an angle (kinda prerunner angle)

 

[toomany]

I saw the bottom plate in one of the later pictures. I might end up going that route. I've got access to plenty of 1/2" plate at work.

 

[Bent77]

That would be a better choice. I had 3/8”, and it barely fit over the rail and under the support. Rubbed a bunch and walked it in there with a 4#

 

[toomany]

I've got a 1'' body lift on mine. The core support has seen better days and could probably benefit from some extra beef in the middle if it did hit though.

 

[toomany]

Sprayed some bed liner this morning.

Got a gallon kit of Raptor liner. Came with a gun that the bottle screws on to. Probably could have used my LizardSkin gun, but that would have been much harder to clean.




Masked off and scuffed up with a Scotch Brite pad.




Think this was after the first coat. Took half gallon to get good coverage with one coat. Probably could have gotten away with using only one of the remaining bottles for the second coat. Ended up having enough left to do underneath the wheel wells.




Masking removed and dry. Came out really well.

 

[toomany]

Being a short box, regular cab truck, storage space is in short supply. I'm not a big fan of things just randomly thrown in the bed either. Picked up this shallow tool box from a friend for a few bucks. Should hold what I need it to and still allow me to slide sheet goods under it and not hang out too far.





Both rear hub seals have been leaking for a little while, decided while it was on the lift to take care of that. I've also had a whine develop while on the throttle at cruising speed. When I put this rear end in, all I did was check gear ratio and fill it full of fluid. Always felt that there was too much backlash between the gears.

What I found when I popped the cover off.






If you can't tell, the pinion support bearing came apart. Here's a better picture with the carrier out of the way.




The gears look good so I think I got lucky that the rollers stuck to the magnet in the housing. Once I get everything cleaned up I'll see if any of the other bearings need to be replaced.

 

[toomany]

Pinion support bearing came in, got that in and rear end back together.




Decided on a Smitybilt 10k winch. Should be enough for what I plan on doing with the truck.




Thought I had some 1/2" plate at work, but could only find 3/8". Smitybilt recommends 6mm at minimum, which is less that 1/4", so I should be good. Plan is to hang it under the core support and try getting the stock bumper to hide it.

 

[toomany]

Winch is in and wired. Modified the bumper brackets to raise the bumper 1". It should be the same as factory in relation to the body now.




Mounted the control box next to the air box. Didn't want it down hanging under the winch. Made a new bracket and bolted it to the passenger battery tray. Made longer cables out of 2 gauge welding cable.




Start of the front recovery points/shackle hangers. They are each two pieces of 3/8 sandwiched together (not yet welded together in this pic). They will get bolted through the frame and welded to the winch plate.

 

[toomany]

Tossed the bumper on to get an idea on where I needed to trim.




Torched some holes in my tabs. Cleaned up with die grinder and small flap wheel. I can't free hand a circle to save my life, so they are "close enough".




On the truck




Cut some slots and holes for the clutch lever/cable. I might make the one for the lever bigger yet. There is decent room around it though.

 

[centexk5]

I love how hidden that winch is. I might have to go buy one and mimic that. I hate how mine sticks so far out.