Dare I say it...Another 72 K5 build! The Bubba build - getting back into it

[Z71paramedic]

A few questions for my venerable ck5er's...

So there are plenty of things I need to nail down before I'm done with all of this, but a couple I figure I should start thinking about now...

1.) For my hydroboost setup, do I need regular power steering type hoses or can I just make it out of solid bulk line??? I know it will flex a little, but I figure a couple little coils will handle any flex there is right?

2.) What year(s) 2wd steering box do I need to run my crossover stuff?

3.) Has anybody run propane with a TPI setup??? Was thinking about the benefits of LP and just trying to figure out if it would work with everything else I had planned

That's all I can remember to ask right now...must be getting old. Thanks in advance!

 

[Greg72]

I'll take a shot at #3...

From what.I've seen propane is just a cheap way to get EFI type performance (stable performance at steep angles, etc)

The downside is that the systems seem to completely replace the gasoline fuel system, so you can't enjoy the truck as a street-driven vehicle anymore. That's a pretty severe penalty IMHO. If it were me, I'd stick with conventional EFI an drive it anywhere I wanted.

 

[Z71paramedic]

Gotcha! I was just curious and figured I'd ask.

 

[Z71paramedic]

No suggestions for #1 & 2??? Come on!!!!

 

[Greg72]

You'll need to rely on the search button for those two....

 

[NorCal69]

#2

I am really no help, but I did order my box from ORD along with the correct pitman arm.

After talking with Stephan and what went into the PSC box's and how picky they were about the cores and stuff it seemed like a no brainer for me.


Sorry, that's all I got..

 

[bigblock72]

#1 Don't use a solid line from the pump to the hydroboost unit, the noise will make you crazy and sooner or later the line will break. Just have a line made it isn't that expensive.

#2 69-77 2wd truck steering boxes are all interchangable. The 78 and newer boxes use metric o-ring fittings and aren't a direct bolt on, but could work for you since you are having lines made anyway.

#3 If you are going to drive your rig a lot I would skip on the LPG setup and go right for EFI. In fact I highly recommend going to a TBI setup and pass on the TPI since the TBI is cheaper/easier to setup and get parts for.

 

[86TPIBurb]

Not to threadjack, But aren`t the 69-72 frames same as or similar to the 73-91?

 

[bp71k5]

Not to threadjack, But aren`t the 69-72 frames same as or similar to the 73-91?

They are different, but it's not like they used totally different technology between 72 and 73. Actually, the 72 frame changed on the rear and has a turndown area on the last 6" or so. The body mounts are different for 73+ as well. Other than that, they are the same.

 

[Z71paramedic]

#2

After talking with Stephan and what went into the PSC box's and how picky they were about the cores and stuff it seemed like a no brainer for me.


Sorry, that's all I got..

No worries. Last time I was on their website it said they only had the boxes for 80 and up...Maybe I read it wrong. Although, shipping will probably be about $400 to get it out here, so maybe I'll just get one from Napa... I already have the pitman arm and everything else, so I was just curious if it was the 2wd box for the same year trucks.

#1 Don't use a solid line from the pump to the hydroboost unit, the noise will make you crazy and sooner or later the line will break. Just have a line made it isn't that expensive.

Copy that.

#2 69-77 2wd truck steering boxes are all interchangable. The 78 and newer boxes use metric o-ring fittings and aren't a direct bolt on, but could work for you since you are having lines made anyway.

Copy that.

#3 If you are going to drive your rig a lot I would skip on the LPG setup and go right for EFI. In fact I highly recommend going to a TBI setup and pass on the TPI since the TBI is cheaper/easier to setup and get parts for.

And I'm going TPI because I already have it, and cause it looks sweet. I can't resist... I like the idea of MPFI also. I will have to agree that TBI is great though. My 93 1/2 ton runs like a champ. I miss that truck...it's 4000+ miles away right now

 

[Z71paramedic]

I guess this is progress...

Slow going lately for a couple reasons. First off, my wife was able to be off for the past couple weekends, so we did some island hopping. We went to Kauai two weekends ago, and went to Lanai last weekend. We had fantastic weather both weekends and had a great time, but I obviously didn't touch the truck... Also, in the evenings after work I've been editing pictures from the trips, not working on the truck The second reason I have been less than productive is that my work truck broke down three times in the past two weeks, which makes for a long day for me And finally for my last excuse, I'm waiting for the guy I bought my doors from to figure out what all he has that he wants to sell me in the realm of new/repro parts that he isn't going to be using. I'm to the point where I need some new parts to figure out how much cutting should be done, but buying stuff from this guy is going to save me a ton of $$$, so I guess it's worth it.

I put together a list of parts I need from a couple of the different sources and almost wanted to cry for the price of shipping. I need floor pans, floor supports, rear quarter patches, kick panel patches, lower A and B pillar patches and the parts were @350-450 from all of them, but shipping was upwards of $500 from all of them, with classic industries quoting me almost $1000 just for shipping!!!! So hopefully this guy finds almost all of those things in his pile of parts that he's not going to use...

So this weekend in my quest to actually make some progress I decided to start removing the bedliner stuff the PO sprayed in to find out how much of the floors I will need to replace. I found some areas that were better than I'd hoped, and some stuff I was shocked about. Included in this is a 3" square hole where the passenger seat bracket bolts down that was filled with bondo... what a butthole

Here are a few pics.

 

[AJs72K5]

Sticker shock can be rough at times. Stick to your budget and have patience. Aside from the obscene costs to ship to the islands, we all know what you're going thru.

 

[Z71paramedic]

Sticker shock can be rough at times. Stick to your budget and have patience. Aside from the obscene costs to ship to the islands, we all know what you're going thru.

Yeah, I hear you. Even after the outrageous shipping I've paid on some stuff so far I was shocked at that quote though! I talked with the guy at Top Banana who was super cool and agreed to box up the stuff and let me take care of the shipping (I work for fedex, so now I just need to figure out how to apply my discount to something I'm shipping to myself). So that should save me a bundle once I get it worked out.

I met up with my "parts guy" Mike the other night. I bought a new inner and outer grill from him and figured out what all patches he has that he wants to get rid of. I think I'm only going to need a few pieces other than what he has anyways. I know I need the rear floor section on both sides and the front patch for the quarters on both sides. Otherwise I think he's got everything else.

Does anybody know if the rear floor patches from the trucks are the same as Blazers? I was also thinking about just getting some 18g sheet and cutting/patching the holes that way. I also need the ends for the piece that runs across where the floor gets higher in the rear (not sure what it's called) Where that entered the rocker box is wasted on both sides, anybody know if there's a patch for those? I'll get a pic tonight or tomorrow of what I'm talking about.

 

[NorCal69]

I ended up getting a 2'x4' sheet of 18q before I started on the rust repair and used a lot of it up. It's nice having it around.

As far as the rest of your questions, I don't think that I'm following you.

Rear patch panels- Under the seat towards the bed or in the bed?
Ends for the piece that gets higher- Is this where the cab floor goes up into the bed?
Rocker box area- Is this what you're looking for.. http://coloradok5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=269360

Let me know,

 

[Z71paramedic]

Yeah dude, that's exactly what I was talking about. Thanks, I'll be checking that out tomorrow!

Oh, and I'm talking about the flat area under the front seats behind the raised section where the mount bolts down. My bed floor will be fine after some grinding of the PO's ugly welds.

 

[NorCal69]

Yeah dude, that's exactly what I was talking about. Thanks, I'll be checking that out tomorrow!

Oh, and I'm talking about the flat area under the front seats behind the raised section where the mount bolts down. My bed floor will be fine after some grinding of the PO's ugly welds.

No problem Bud. That's why this site is so awesome.

As far as under the seats, depending on how bad it is, that's a great area to use your sheet 18g. Take a look at page three, post 22 on my thread. There is also a good pic on that page of the new piece that you were looking for installed. By the way, that new panel fit and worked really well.

 

[Z71paramedic]

Getting deeper...

Well I'm definitely in it if I wasn't before! Got to cutting some more today, cut out the pass. front floor pan, kick panel, lower portion of the A pillar, and the outer floor area this morning. Let me just say I went through 4 cut off wheels due to the amount of nasty welds I had to cut through... Plus drilling out the "spot welds" that took a 1/2" drillbit and some hitting with a carbide bur to get the floor off the supports. Then I went and met up with my parts buddy here in Kailua. Bought all sorts o-goodies from him today. Ended up with a new drivers front floor pan, kick panel and A pillar patch, both outer rockers, a new dash pad, door handles (outer), window trim pieces-the felt and rubber that goes on the top of the door, all the rubber weatherstripping for the truck, new K/5 badges, 350 badges, a new bowtie for the grill, and a good OE 2wd steering box The best part is they're all GM parts Definitely cuts down on the number of parts I have to ship out here too!

Then I came back home, cooked an early dinner (my wife is on nights this month) and after she left I did some more I knew that they needed to come off to repair the floor area anyway, so I decided to dig into the right side rear quarter. I cut just above where that ugly patch had been straight over to the wheel arch. It gave me a good view of the rust carnage underneath

Now for more questions... Does anyone know if there is a rear floor patch for the blazers that I have circled in the pic below??? I can't find one in the 6 or so common vendors who sell parts for these things. The truck floor patch is definitely different from the blazer floor back there and I've got thin metal in a few spots, plus the huge hole that was full of bondo that needs attention. Also, does anybody sell a larger or whole B pillar? By the looks of things I may need more than the patch that I've seen for the lower portion.

 

[NorCal69]

What do you plan to do with the quarter panel? The last pic looks like you cut it to high for a normal replacement panel.

 

[Z71paramedic]

What do you plan to do with the quarter panel? The last pic looks like you cut it to high for a normal replacement panel.

Yeah, there was an ugly patch in there already that looked to have been taken from another truck. I cut from the tip of that straight across. I may have a lead on a complete truck bed out here that I can get for cheap. We'll see if that happens, otherwise I'll just have to get the half bedsides and go that route. Shipping those is gonna hurt though

 

[Z71paramedic]

Ok, so I ordered a bunch of stuff and have continued the old and am almost ready (tomorrow) to start throwing new non-rusty metal back in this pig One of the pieces I ordered is this *both sides*: clicky

Anybody have a picture of where this actually goes??? I don't have anything left that looks like that underneath my truck, and the factory assembly manual is not really helping me at the moment. BTW, why is there no TOC, no page numbers and no real rhyme or reason as to the order of things in that manual? You have to look at every page and stumble onto what you're looking for

As always...