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project: Gangreen

Devillusion

Devillusion

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Nov 21, 2008
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Sprucewoods
Well...let's see if I can get this build done before someone offers me something I can't refuse for this thing...lol. That seems to be the norm as of late.

Picked this unit up from a buddy for a decent deal, and finally got a chance to drag her home the other night. She needs some serious TLC such as panels, floor pans etc. She is not going to be restored or any show truck, this will be my weekend warrior/trail rig/plow truck all in one to justify having yet ANOTHER toy in the arsenault....lmao.

It is a 1990 K5 (obviously), with a 6.2L diesel, automatic, and fully loaded. She will be getting stripped of her axles and put in my D60/D70 combination I have here, or maybe slap in my 14FF...have to see. Have a set of 35" grapplers here for now just to get her going, will be doing a 52" spring swap, and gutting her of some of the un needed items. Have a good set of fenders off of my burban I am gutting/stripping right now as well. Starter bolts are snapped off, and had the Tcase rebuilt not long ago. Interior is in pretty good shape, but definetly needs a good cleaning. Someone had a antenna on the roof and never plugged the hole, so I am assuming that is why the floors are toast. But they are reasonably flat so I think it just might get cut out and replaced with some diamond plate or something. Also have some 16x8 wheels that are getting drilled out for monster valves. Will get a cage of some sort along with some stingers etc....might even eventually exoskeleton the rig. I have my mandrel bender here so might as well use it for it's purpose...lol.

..anyways, this I guess is the start of my build and will keep updated as I go. Never owned a K5 before but have owned many MANY GM truck projects in the past. So any useful advise on the K5s is welcome and so forth.

Have a look at the pics and let me know what you think...:waytogo:



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nice
go to town on that thing
it's already been 6 days since getting it home, whats the hold up? :)
 
Have my two other projects on the go as well.....shop is tied up with my suburban I am parting out/stripping down for parts for the K5 and my crew cab project.

I am building a crew cab short box 1 ton 2wd, single wheel conversion (was dually) with either a cummins or a 5.3L LS swap, along with a 59 Impala steel dash and sheetmetal interior, which is what I am using the burban for right now as we speak to mock the dash up as well. So time is of essence lately.....lol. Wife also works shift work so my parenting to my two little ones comes first. But have been finding time again lately now that christmas and such is done with. Will have more updates once I get this burban out of the way.

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Also have to finish up my other toy one of these days. Still need to regear the front D60 and build a front shaft. Will be putting her down on probably 36 or so and lowering it a few inches. Local authorities are starting to really crack down on the aftermarket rigs....lowered or lifted, don't seem to matter.

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On a positive note, I did get it off the trailer today and had a better look at things. Looks like the floors are not as bad as what I had thought they were int he beginning. Passenger side needs some work but other than that we should be good to go I hope.
 
mmm I like the white CC idea.
What did you do for paint on the green one? Looks kinda like a rustoleum product.
What is your local law on heights?
 
My olive drab green 98' is done in Endura...I took a color I was somewhat happy with, added more black, and more flattening agent then sprayed it. So it's more a less a one off color, not that many would notice except me. It was entered into the "cover quest" in 8 lug magazine and had a small feature in it already, but have been promised a full feature this spring...and still waiting to hear about the cover quest winner. Keeping my fingers crossed....lol. Either way I'm exstatic to have it in the magazine at all and be recognized for all the hard work.

The crew cab I'd love to put over to a 5 bolt pattern just for abundance of wheel options, but I plan on using her to pull a camper and a flat deck trailer eventually so I'd like to keep the 14 bolt in it as well. The 16x10 rear steelies are growing on me as time goes on. I'll probably do maybe a patina style white pain, with some whitewalls and white rims with some baby moons? Have to see, I have a few ideas floating around in my brain pan. It never stops...lol.
 
sweetk30 said:
you do know you can get 5-6 lug hubs for the 14ff and dana 70 axles. :whistle:
Click to expand...

Yes, but that would pretty much defeat the purpose of keeping the truck heavy duty for hauling as i would be paranoid of hauling that kind of hitch weight with adapter/spacers. I have a set on the rear of my 98' to even out the axle width (8-8, 1.5") and they have been ok so far, but wouldn't want to put cummins power or full trailer weight on them on a regular basis. That's just me though....:dunno:
 
oh? do tell!

I consider myself fairly well versed in the truck area, but I have to admit I have never heard of this one. Though I am usually a 4x4 guy by heart.
 
wow, pricey units.....and would have to run the ford pattern out back and GM up front...but would be different size wheels anyways. I like the fact that it moves the hub inbound as well. Could fit a 12-14" wide wheel under her then...lol. Hmmmmm.
 
Well, got the suburban out of the shop...and dragged the K5 in. Got it up on stands and had a look at these starter bolts. Needless to say I would like to track down the moron (previous owner) who "attempted" to drill out the bolts. At least he gave up on the first one....ughh. First one the "idiot" didn't drill straight and got off to the side...he didn't wreck anything TOO badly but try to drill a straight hole where there is a crooked one....good lord! Got it somewhat straight with minimal damage to the upper threads, but the ones near the outside of the hole are hurtin'.

Sooo....my dilema is and would have been regardless of past owners mechanical abilities is that I want to try to drill them out to 1/2" NC, then tap them accorndingly, then drill out starter housing, and put in some grade 8 bolts, and make a better bracket for the front of the starter for support.

Anyone tried this in the past? They seem to be hard on bolts and appearantly the bolts don't fit tight in the holes anymore and there is play in the housing where the bolts go as well. I personally think this would help if there were some tighter tolerances to get rid of any side to side movement/play. Might as well rectify the issue while I'm at it. I don't think the cast should be that hard to tap.

..or hell, maybe even put studs in instead.
 
Heli coil the holes

The knurls on the starter bolts is extremely important. If you don't have it they will back out.

So I say just Heli coil and use the proper starter bolts
 
I think that might be part of the problem with it, I don't thing the knurls are grabbing anything anymore. I'm seriously thinking about putting some studs in there and some lock nuts....but we'll see with more input.
 
Shackle flip brackets removed, blasted and painte ready for install....front brackets for the 56" spring swap done as well (springs were 56's, not 52's like I originally thought). Stripped one pack of springs apart, removed the overload, ground them down, couple coats of chassis paint...just gotta get some new plastic pads from somewhere. Differential (D60) stripped down, cleaned up and painted with a couple coats of chassis paint.
Also fabed up a skid plate and weled it to the front differential cover. Nothing spectacular, but will be better than nothing at this point on the factory cover. Turned out alright. Gears/guts look mint, no issues what so ever. Someone even put in some new gear oil by the looks of it...nice and clean.
...anyone have a set of zero rates kicking around they want to sell? Also looking for a 1420 yoke for the 60 as well....long shot I know, but gotta ask. Going to need a set for the front spring swap to bring the differential back an inch.....it will move forward 2 inches. Might just have to order a set when I order my crossover steering.
 
Front sheetmetal that I raped from the parts burban, nowhere near mint, but once I'm done cutting and welding them it ain't going to matter
anyways....
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Front spring hangers for the 56's, and the shackle flip brackets for the back. Might have to consider putting in some 63s out back if I could find a set on the cheap.
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56" springs blown apart, ground down, couple coats of chassis paint, new center pins, squeek pads, and then new bushings on Friday. Then they will be getting swapped into the front of the K5 along with some longer shackles I have to fab up yet.
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Made up a front diff cover with some plated areas....nothing crazy but will help a bit regardless for now.
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D60 ground down, and painted
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Change of plans a bit I think. I think the 56's are going to go on the rear, then rebuild the rears (52's) for the front. Just makes more sense for now. If I need more flex I'll link the biatch!
Got the factory front out (bitch of a job), got some useless crap taken off/cleaned up off the frame, factory 1 ton 47s up front for now to get her rolling till the 52's come out. Taking out the upper bushing assemblies to rebushing them with some neoprene kits I picked up on the cheap. Antisieze doused onto the bolts this time so I can get them out at a later date.
Getting ready to order up a crossover steering kit (unless someones got one to sell), and some new bushings with greasable bolts for the other spring pack and the front eyes for the 56's. New cables for the batteries, new batteries themselves, and front bumper off. (good excuse to get the bender mounted to the floor in the shop)
Also took the factory hangers that I am using for the shackle flip and moved the frame bracket upward 3" to make up the other 1.5" of lift that the othere hanger kits give. Gives alot clearer shot of the nut on the backside now instead of it just filling up with dirt and screwing the bolt. And found some shackles from ORD that I had laying around/left over from the SAS project a few years back. They are only 5" long, but are way stronger and still longer than the stockers by an inch or so. Will work for now I'm sure.

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