It's time I got off my butt and got going on my build. I figured I'd start a thread to keep track of my progress and to keep any questions I have in one place.
I'm starting with an 87 K5. I bought it in 2005 for $1500. Truck originaly belonged to friends of mine, I had been trying to buy it for several years. Told them if they ever sold it I wanted first chance. That day finaly came. They parked it because the transmission went (Th350....700R4 was swaped long ago). For some reason they had the bright idea to start the motor with no trans attached. Long story short, the motor ended up with a rod knock, that's where I come in.
Towed it home and messed with the motor a little to be certain it was a rod before I pulled it. Well it was so I took the motor out of my 77 K20 and stuck that, along with a rebuilt Th350/208. Drove it that way for 6 months or so. Then on a trip I sucked some water into the transmission...started slipping on the way home. Bought a 465/205 to swap in it's place. All was good for another couple of months. Then one hard 1-2 shift poped the spiders in the rear 10bolt. Not a problem, lock in the hubs and take it easy to get home, I was literaly 1 mile away. That mile consisted of three corners. On that first turn I broke an axle joint in the front 10bolt.
I ended up buying a parts Blazer with a D44/12B, 4.88's, 38's and approx 10" of lift (or so I was told). Swapped the axles and front lift spring into mine and scrapped the rest (it was a Michigan truck, if you've never seen one scroll down and look at mine). Did a shackle flip in the rear with a block. On the first trip out with the new tires, they stuffed themselves into my fenders. I had planned on trimming, just never got around to it before going wheeling. Somewhere along the line I broke the spider gears in the 12B. Put a mini spool in it while I rouned up parts for a gear swap in my 3/4 axles. The 38's were pushing it on the half ton stuff, I only put the mini in because I had one laying around from another project that got traded. In case anyone is wondering, a 12B car mini spool can be made to work in a truck axle. Just had to do some grinding on the blocks.
Took longer than I thought to get my gear swap done. I daily drove the truck for close to 8 months with the spool. Blew a tire one day, that motivated me to swap my axles. Also did a disc conversion on the 14B at this time.
Motor went in the winter of 2008. Severly overheated it...cracked both heads and I'm sure the block too. Rebuilt the motor that came with the truck when I bought it. After some unexpected machine work (had a low spot in one of the decks they had to raise), I was on my way again. Truck has pretty much stayed the same since then. Daily driver when I wasn't able to ride my motorcycle.
Now that I've got the back story onto some pictures. I don't have any of when I first got it (I did, but a recent computer crash took them).
One of the holes that may have let water into the Th350. Was running a set of 33x12.5's on stock springs with a zero rate at each corner.
When I was lifting/swapping axles the first time.
I'm starting with an 87 K5. I bought it in 2005 for $1500. Truck originaly belonged to friends of mine, I had been trying to buy it for several years. Told them if they ever sold it I wanted first chance. That day finaly came. They parked it because the transmission went (Th350....700R4 was swaped long ago). For some reason they had the bright idea to start the motor with no trans attached. Long story short, the motor ended up with a rod knock, that's where I come in.
Towed it home and messed with the motor a little to be certain it was a rod before I pulled it. Well it was so I took the motor out of my 77 K20 and stuck that, along with a rebuilt Th350/208. Drove it that way for 6 months or so. Then on a trip I sucked some water into the transmission...started slipping on the way home. Bought a 465/205 to swap in it's place. All was good for another couple of months. Then one hard 1-2 shift poped the spiders in the rear 10bolt. Not a problem, lock in the hubs and take it easy to get home, I was literaly 1 mile away. That mile consisted of three corners. On that first turn I broke an axle joint in the front 10bolt.
I ended up buying a parts Blazer with a D44/12B, 4.88's, 38's and approx 10" of lift (or so I was told). Swapped the axles and front lift spring into mine and scrapped the rest (it was a Michigan truck, if you've never seen one scroll down and look at mine). Did a shackle flip in the rear with a block. On the first trip out with the new tires, they stuffed themselves into my fenders. I had planned on trimming, just never got around to it before going wheeling. Somewhere along the line I broke the spider gears in the 12B. Put a mini spool in it while I rouned up parts for a gear swap in my 3/4 axles. The 38's were pushing it on the half ton stuff, I only put the mini in because I had one laying around from another project that got traded. In case anyone is wondering, a 12B car mini spool can be made to work in a truck axle. Just had to do some grinding on the blocks.
Took longer than I thought to get my gear swap done. I daily drove the truck for close to 8 months with the spool. Blew a tire one day, that motivated me to swap my axles. Also did a disc conversion on the 14B at this time.
Motor went in the winter of 2008. Severly overheated it...cracked both heads and I'm sure the block too. Rebuilt the motor that came with the truck when I bought it. After some unexpected machine work (had a low spot in one of the decks they had to raise), I was on my way again. Truck has pretty much stayed the same since then. Daily driver when I wasn't able to ride my motorcycle.
Now that I've got the back story onto some pictures. I don't have any of when I first got it (I did, but a recent computer crash took them).
One of the holes that may have let water into the Th350. Was running a set of 33x12.5's on stock springs with a zero rate at each corner.
When I was lifting/swapping axles the first time.
I'll deal with it when I go to paint it.
