'88 K5 - Running Down A Dream

[jimmyleetn]

I forgot all about the floor pictures. Here they are. Glad the front floor is done. I did weld the cut I made to make that bend. Had to make several bends or cut it into pieces and weld it back to contour the floor. Really cost me some time but it's done now. Hopefully some complete striker patch install photos tomorrow.

 

[82355]

Plan on stomping on the brake pedal really hard?

Martin

 

[jimmyleetn]

Plan on stomping on the brake pedal really hard?

Martin

Haha no. The plate should be out of way for the brake pedal. That was a concern. This is what one of the other CK5ers told me they wish they did when they did the full convertible conversion. Supposed to cut down on some of the flex. He said he wished he would have put more metal in that area and so I kind of took what he showed me in some pictures and ran with it.

 

[jimmyleetn]

Driver's striker is done. I don't love it but it'll work. I think it warped a little while welding in the captured nut cradle. I want to go the record and say the that this part of any square is weirder than it should be. So many strange contours.

 

[jimmyleetn]

Passenger striker is done. It was finicky, but better than the driver side. The door closes so I guess that's a plus. Floors are painted to keep the rust away until they're blasted next summer. It is weird seeing all that painted. Started on the cowl area but will probably move to the captured nuts for the top next since I haven't purchased the replacement panel yet.

 

[jimmyleetn]

Got that flange fabbed up and installed. I should have referenced a different area so it's a little crooked, but no one's ever going to see it once the cowl side panel is attached. I'm sure they were installed less than perfect from the factory from what I've seen. Probably be a few days before I can get after it again. I'm gunning for the captured nuts on the bed rail next. Probably one of GM's dumbest designs on these trucks. It'll be a nice change of pace, I hope.

 

[jimmyleetn]

Snuck away for about an hour and a half today when we got back from our trip. Started out doing some measuring mostly out of curiosity to see how square the body was on the frame. It's a lot squarer than I thought. Never found it out more than a quarter inch. I'm back and forth on thinking that there's been a minor fender bender in this trucks past but I just can't pinpoint anything to definitively tell me. I got the adhesive off of the fender wells today. Made quick work of it in 30 minutes with those purple discs. Would have had it all cleaned up with the shop vac but the neighbor came and wanted to show me his new-to-him boat. Hopefully I'll finish it up tonight while everybody is sleeping. I've been working overtime after my family goes to bed trying to get this thing to the next step.

 

[jimmyleetn]

Today I went over the bed with a fine tooth comb. Found pinhole rust in some strange places, I'm assuming from sponge insulation since it looked good from underneath. You'll see that in the first few pictures. Driver tailgate post was near perfect. The passenger side must've gotten mud inside it and rusted a small spot behind the seam sealer but the rest of it looked beautiful inside and out. I think I'm gonna wait until after the sand blasting and put small patch in from behind. I just can't justify blowing that part of the truck apart for such a small spot of rust. The big thing on the list today was to make a bunch of captive nuts for the topper (5 of mine were useless), but after reading some old threads on here I decided to try to fix it with just a hammer and a pair of pliers. Amazingly, every one of them went back into the original spot. To ensure that I don't have problems getting them started I chased every one of them with a tap. I plan on buying stainless bolts if I can find some that look close to original. Fixing those saved me a lot of time, which is a good thing because every neighbor came to talk to me today so I did not get much done. The final thing you'll find on the 73-87(91) K5 forum. It appears the bed is badly bowed. https://ck5.com/forums/threads/bent-bed-and-frame.348415/

 

[jimmyleetn]

Today I got to make something kind of cool. I had window sashes out of a '74 K5 with the shark fins but they were very rusty. In my infinite wisdom I sent them off to be sandblasted and powder coated. Big waste of money because the powder coating was so thick they were not usable, but I found a couple of pairs of '74-'76 truck window sashes on eBay and so I bought those. What I ended up doing was drilling out the spot welds on the shark fins after taking several measurements for both the driver and passenger sashes and clean all the powder coating off of them. From there I cut small pieces off of the other sashes I purchased to make them long enough to attach the fin and welded everything together. Made a mistake on the passenger side, it's got a slight bend in it from heat but I think I can overcome it. I haven't finished the driver side but I'm doing it differently and I don't think it's going to bend from heat. The only thing I'm waiting on now is setting tape, which I just ordered from Mister A.

 

[jimmyleetn]

Well check these sashes off the list (I hope). The QC on these is interesting. Both shark fins and how they are attached to the sashes are probably different by 1/8in to 1/4in before I took them apart. I went with the passenger side measurements for both of the "new" ones I made since that door was the nicest of the four doors I have. They're just weird. I get glass setting tape in soon so I'm going to at least install the door glass into them. I've never studied the sashes once installed in a truck, but I'm assuming they're must be some wiggle room on how the glass is installed laterally in the sash as well as range of motion for the rollers. If this ends up not working, they sell 74-76 truck sashes all day long on the internet. Let's hope I didn't waste my time.

 

[jimmyleetn]

Got most of the holes on the cowl welded up. I used little pieces of 18 gauge for backing. Made the welding a lot easier. Welding 20 gauge is not my favorite. Probably be a couple days before I can get really after it again. My wife is basically making me finish the renovation in our living room that I may or may not have promised I would do before I go back to work. Paint, new doors, and all new trim. I'm hoping I can knock it out tomorrow and get back in the shop. Knowing how to do stuff is regrettable sometimes.

 

[imiceman44]

Got most of the holes on the cowl welded up. I used little pieces of 18 gauge for backing. Made the welding a lot easier. Welding 20 gauge is not my favorite. Probably be a couple days before I can get really after it again. My wife is basically making me finish the renovation in our living room that I may or may not have promised I would do before I go back to work. Paint, new doors, and all new trim. I'm hoping I can knock it out tomorrow and get back in the shop. Knowing how to do stuff is regrettable sometimes.

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That is my biggest problem, knowing how to DIY means I am constantly dealing with honey do's

 

[jimmyleetn]

That is my biggest problem, knowing how to DIY means I am constantly dealing with honey do's

Yep. It never ends.

 

[jimmyleetn]

It's weird not working on the floor. I spent most of my time doing tailgate stuff. I got the old gate gutted last week and a giant LMC order came in so I put the lock in the new crank. After that I spent most of my time inspecting the tailgate I bought 3yrs ago. It has one small crack which came be fixed but my real concern is how it's bent in where the window comes out. I stuck a wedge in it and I'm going to beef it tomorrow so hopefully it'll never crack like the all do. Pictures do show the warpage on that thing but it's easily noticable in person. Those tailgates are a crap design and IMHO probably the worst design on these trucks other than the lack of metal prep from the factory. Anyways, while the family slept, I ripped out the 31gallon fuel tank which still has a lot of gas in it, my hand pump didn't work. I see why you all cut an access hole in the floor for fuel pumps. Found some random bolts and two plastic pieces I didn't know existed or what they're for.

 

[82355]

I want that FUEL INJECTION badge!

Martin

 

[jimmyleetn]

I want that FUEL INJECTION badge!

Martin

Oh I'm keeping it for sure. I can't decide if it's got enough metal in it that it can be rechromed or if I'll just need to restore it myself. It was kind of flexible like plastic. I do have some stuff that's going to go to the chrome shop. I tried to stick a magnet to it and it only barely would hold it, but that may be the way pot metal is. I didn't realize they were that sought after until either one popped up or they were talking about one on the NOS square body page on Facebook. It's definitely a cool one though. I don't know that I've ever seen another one at any of the shows either. From what I can tell it had a black border with black letters and then the chrome face. I'm at dry hand polishing it too.

 

[ktmoutfront]

The Jimmy had one of those FI badges. It is living in the Colorado Rockies somewhere.

 

[Jake_C_]

I recognize those plastic pieces, i want to say they protected the fuel tank from rubbing the frame somewhere somehow. They didn’t find their way back onto my blazer through, I either forgot them or didn’t think they were necessary.

 

[500$k5]

If anyone is wandering through a junk yard, it looks like those fuel injection badges are also on 84-87 Chevy Caprices, and Impalas. Also a bunch of crappy gm front wheel drive cars. Celebrity, Citation II, Phoenix, Skyhawks.

 

[imiceman44]

If anyone is wandering through a junk yard, it looks like those fuel injection badges are also on 84-87 Chevy Caprices, and Impalas. Also a bunch of crappy gm front wheel drive cars. Celebrity, Citation II, Phoenix, Skyhawks.

As well as vans from the same Era