CK5
Register an account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members.

RHD truck pics

AussieK5

1/2 ton status
Joined
Jun 17, 2001
Posts
316
Reaction score
0
Location
A land girt by sea
A few people have asked some questions about my RHD trucks so I thought I'd post the pics together in one thread for anyone interested.


dsc00520vv9.jpg


dsc00525bo6.jpg



dsc00522ec8.jpg



dsc01264di8.jpg

dsc01257sb6.jpg


dsc01258wp8.jpg


dsc01275tr6.jpg


img0111xn4.jpg


k5731pz4.jpg

paxsideviewag9.jpg

driversideviewnl5.jpg

k5732et9.jpg

k20onbeachwithmefeb02ym1.jpg

7c0412rr6.jpg

I will have a load more pictures of this one as its my latest DD. Its getting a quick make over so I'll start a build thread shortly.

The first K5 has been undergoing a sporadic build up for a while now and has its own thread here.
http://coloradok5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=185001

The build has stalled for quite sometime, but I plan to kick it off again soon with a new direction.

Jas
 
Cool, I had never seen a RHD K5 or pick up. Good lookin rigs!:D
 
When I posted his story on my web site I got more hits than normally. A lot of people are interested in RH drive Blazers.
 
A few people have asked some questions about my RHD trucks so I thought I'd post the pics together in one thread for anyone interested.




dsc00525bo6.jpg

Very nice trucks. Those pics really really warp my brain though. :confused:

yeah, especially this pic! it's really interesting to me that they didn't mirror the dash panels, but simply used the existing LHD guage pod set up ... not that one really makes it LHD or RHD. I would've just figured they'd mirror it like mirroring the steering wheel and shifters.
 
Cheaper this way and I find it no different to use to any other RHD cars I've driven.

Actually all the K5's were imports converted by shops, that's why they have a pad over the dash still, to hide the conversion work, they are generally a mix of steel and fiberglass, sometimes they used the factory fiberglass dash from a wrecked GMH (General Motors Holden) factory converted C/K 20's. The fiberglass dash from a C/K 20 is a one piece unit that is pretty easy to work on and pull when needed, I like them a lot.

BTW nice work on your 73' Colby :waytogo:

Jas
 
thanks for the compliment! :wink1:

what's cheaper? I'm a bit confused by your comment... got any pics of the import shop's cuts under the pad? i'd like to see that. it's really strange to see a brake booster on the right side and a clean frame rail on the left... did the import shops design a different climate control air routing system?

i think i would feel really clumsy trying to shift my 465 with my left hand! :D
 
By cheaper I mean it would have been far more efficient for GMH to utilize existing parts ie the whole cluster system, that have already had all the R&D poured into them, re-tooling to produce a few thousand parts wouldn't have been very cost effective.

None of the C/K 20's came with air, they were very basic, a heater at most and the 6 cyl, 465/205 was the only drive line option you could get. Rear end ratios seem to vary though. There 'may' have been a V8 auto option from GMH, but I have yet to lay my eyes on one. Most 2wd trucks had their 6's & 465 yanked years ago in favour of a BB/SBC and auto, the K series ones mostly just had the 6 replaced with a SBC....just like my latest one.

An interesting thing I've found is that most of the K20's were initially Country Fire Service trucks, every K20 I've owned, and checked out up close, left the factory painted red which seems to confirm this fact.

All the K5 conversions were pretty much done to customer specs by private firms so there is a wide variance in what options survived the chop, and the standard of workmanship.

I don't have any pics of a converted metal dash (my 73' had one), my 79 K5 has a glass one sourced either straight from the GMH parts shop or a wrecked C/K 20....the pad was placed over the top to make it look like an original Blazer dash.

Jas
 
I had to post this every time I think about you and your rig I hear the dispatcher.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
So the dash cover is fiberglass? That makes sense. When I was in New Zealand in 2001 I saw a 80's diesel K5 and it had a RHD conversion done. I remember it being just like your pictures but I was wondering about the cover. It was the only true mirror image part.


Random question. In NZ (at least 8 years ago) you had to convert any LHD to RHD unless you bought it overseas as LHD and were importing it for your use only. Anything like that in Oz or is it RHD only? I think anyone who bought the vehicle from the original LHD owner had to convert it to RHD too...which kinda sucked.



Colby, I tried the stick + RHD + LHD driver thing. Didn't work out well.
 
What kind of steering box is used? Do they have crossover steering using an arm on the Left side or is an arm added to the right side?
 
Aussie can give you the full answer but from some earlier posts of his a few years ago he showed us a goofy ass setup where a box was built off the frame and the original steering box was reused on some. Others (earlier ones done by GM Holden?) had a different steering box bolted to the frame in a "correct looking mirror image" sorta setup.
 
that's what i was thinking, if they had rhd knuckles w/steering arm on the right side, if we could get a part # for the RH knuckle and arm, it would make crossover steering easier!
 
Top Bottom