(Built by 21 year old) This project started out buying the k5 stock for little over$1k
I proceeded to do a little 6" rough country lift with 37 inch military tires and basic maintenance at first.
I wasnt happy with the truck sat and some major problems started to present them selves (such as a bad tranny and a verry weak 305) so I decided a full body off restore was in order. Tear down was pretty smooth becides finding out the frame was cracked in several places on the driver side frame rail (surprisingly not at the steering box), and a bad crossmember.
Once everything was off the frame becides the suspension and tires I rented a 100cfm compressor and 100lb sand blasting pot and went to town on the frame.
Once all the blasting was done the full extent of the damage was reviled. I bought a 4x8 3/16" plate steel and plated and boxed the frame and made a custom crossmember for the one that was rotted out. after completely welding the frame it was bed lined with roll on rustoleum bed liner.
Once the frame was cleaned and fully welded the suspension was next I had picked up a pair of dana 60 and 14 bolt ff srw axles when I lifted the truck the first time, I stuck them under the frame with a 12 inch suspension lift. The rear has 4 inch shackle flips from diy4x with 8 inch super lift springs and 6 degree pinion shims, while the front has a set of super lift 12 inch springs with ORD hd shackles. The 15" lift is obtained with a 3 inch body lift along with the 12inch suspension lift.
With that big of a lift new tires were in order 395x85r20 (46.5"x15.5"r20) military tires with 20"x12" moto metal rims.
I decided a new drive train was in order as well a temporary crate chevy performance 350 (while building 496 carbureted BBC) with a built TCI th350 4x4 and a rebuilt NP205 sent to the axles with tom woods 3.5" cv custom drive shafts.
With the body the rust problems continued 10 fold, there were allmost no floors boards in the thing just only patch paneled and spot welded and the rockers were separating to the point were you could see the ground from inside not wanting to spend $3k on body work I did some research on craigslist and found a used 80 k20 cab for $250 with all rust repair done and 1x1" box steel as suports and decided the k5 would become a bobed pickup truck.
Interior is being taken care of by spray in bed liner as the painted sections, a new dash pad and a custom gauge cluster and a custom bench seat.
This second build has taken the better part of a year and a few months but is nearing completion there are a few things in the build list that need completion such as a bed, grille and a new paint job and a few odds and ends.
This build has taught me so much and continues to teach, yes I know buying a new rust free truck from the beginning and building from there would have been easy, but it wasnt about being easy it was about doing the work and making it right again my self, It was about the experience more than anything. I did have another build thread on this truck on here with the intentions of swapping a 12v cummins in it but I decided against the swap due to the weight of that motor in a half ton frame (even with donor cummis in hand with 95k original). if you get this far thank you for reading! Input is allways welcome
I proceeded to do a little 6" rough country lift with 37 inch military tires and basic maintenance at first.
I wasnt happy with the truck sat and some major problems started to present them selves (such as a bad tranny and a verry weak 305) so I decided a full body off restore was in order. Tear down was pretty smooth becides finding out the frame was cracked in several places on the driver side frame rail (surprisingly not at the steering box), and a bad crossmember.
Once everything was off the frame becides the suspension and tires I rented a 100cfm compressor and 100lb sand blasting pot and went to town on the frame.
Once all the blasting was done the full extent of the damage was reviled. I bought a 4x8 3/16" plate steel and plated and boxed the frame and made a custom crossmember for the one that was rotted out. after completely welding the frame it was bed lined with roll on rustoleum bed liner.
Once the frame was cleaned and fully welded the suspension was next I had picked up a pair of dana 60 and 14 bolt ff srw axles when I lifted the truck the first time, I stuck them under the frame with a 12 inch suspension lift. The rear has 4 inch shackle flips from diy4x with 8 inch super lift springs and 6 degree pinion shims, while the front has a set of super lift 12 inch springs with ORD hd shackles. The 15" lift is obtained with a 3 inch body lift along with the 12inch suspension lift.
With that big of a lift new tires were in order 395x85r20 (46.5"x15.5"r20) military tires with 20"x12" moto metal rims.
I decided a new drive train was in order as well a temporary crate chevy performance 350 (while building 496 carbureted BBC) with a built TCI th350 4x4 and a rebuilt NP205 sent to the axles with tom woods 3.5" cv custom drive shafts.
With the body the rust problems continued 10 fold, there were allmost no floors boards in the thing just only patch paneled and spot welded and the rockers were separating to the point were you could see the ground from inside not wanting to spend $3k on body work I did some research on craigslist and found a used 80 k20 cab for $250 with all rust repair done and 1x1" box steel as suports and decided the k5 would become a bobed pickup truck.
Interior is being taken care of by spray in bed liner as the painted sections, a new dash pad and a custom gauge cluster and a custom bench seat.
This second build has taken the better part of a year and a few months but is nearing completion there are a few things in the build list that need completion such as a bed, grille and a new paint job and a few odds and ends.
This build has taught me so much and continues to teach, yes I know buying a new rust free truck from the beginning and building from there would have been easy, but it wasnt about being easy it was about doing the work and making it right again my self, It was about the experience more than anything. I did have another build thread on this truck on here with the intentions of swapping a 12v cummins in it but I decided against the swap due to the weight of that motor in a half ton frame (even with donor cummis in hand with 95k original). if you get this far thank you for reading! Input is allways welcome
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