CK5
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Overmyhead
1/2 ton status
Overmyhead
1/2 ton status
Yup typical rust belt stuff. The reason I bought a clean tub.
Almost everyone still Driven and not restored looks like that in the rust belt.
yup, been there, replaced all that... never again.
Overmyhead
1/2 ton status
I got the truck in Wisconsin and it was a lot further gone then I wanted to start with but I figured I’m going to have to do it at one point or another so might as well do it now and rebuild everything bigger and stronger then it will ever have to be and hopefully never have to mess with it again
Good time to put in a cage. Just saying
Overmyhead
1/2 ton status
Meant to reply when I saw that, but wow, mine has spent its entire life in NY and VT and looked worlds better than yours when I first got it. I went through every inch of the floor, front to back, and saw no evidence of any prior TLC...still nothing like yours. Guess I got lucky or something.
LOVE today's photos and progress!!!
GoGoGirl--if your K5 is a military one with the camo paint,those dont dissolve so bad compared to civillian models..most don't get used off a military base much,especially in winter when salt is on all the roads..
Nearly every M1008 or the other GM trucks they had (square bodies) I have seen were in pretty decent shape as far as rot..
I have had several old trucks that were that bad,and I had to strip them that far down and patch them back together..
I'm to the age now I cant deal with that kind of a job,I'd rather put an engine,transmission or axles in a truck with a decent body than do that again..but I'm also not sure I could do those things now either..
Now would be a good time to paint the frame rails --that area is tough to get at the back side once the floors are back in..
Nearly every M1008 or the other GM trucks they had (square bodies) I have seen were in pretty decent shape as far as rot..
I have had several old trucks that were that bad,and I had to strip them that far down and patch them back together..
I'm to the age now I cant deal with that kind of a job,I'd rather put an engine,transmission or axles in a truck with a decent body than do that again..but I'm also not sure I could do those things now either..
Now would be a good time to paint the frame rails --that area is tough to get at the back side once the floors are back in..
Overmyhead
1/2 ton status
I knew this truck was going to be a project when I got it but the more I get into it I see how bad it really was I didn’t even have to cut the backtailgate off it literally fell out that way when I finally got it open the only thing holding them in was the springs. I’m going to be doing the frame rails once the subframe is all done. I’ve got a couple more days to rebuild the tailgate area and bed area I’m going to be putting in a diamond plate floor in the bed area
I think the camo paint and cosmoline the military used did a lot to ward off rust...wish GM used something as effective!..
Rust & rot is always worse than it looks...as the saying goes,once you start peeling the onion --..
..
My '85 K10 diesel Burb was practically mint in 2009 when I got it--it spent only a year in VT and MA before I got it,it came from Washington state originally,and whoever had it undercoated it thick when it was close to new,the undersides were mint,the frame still had the oem black paint on it..the floors under the carpet had no rust and were covered with what looks and feels like motor oil..
After it sitting in my yard since '09 ,the thing now has severe rocker cancer,I put my hands thru all the rockers from front to rear,and all the door bottoms and rear quarters,rear wheel arches are bubbling up and will be holes if I start poking at them,and that was caused mostly by it being completely buried under a huge snowdrift for 2+ months in 2015,when we got 12 feet of snow between the end of January and March..when it melted it all went in the doors and likely soaked the carpets--I'm afraid to look under them now !..
The frame rails ,springs and floors still look decent underneath though,despite it being parked on grass..
I should have parked it in my garage instead of all my garden tractors and other "stuff"--too late now though..its so big ,practically nothing else will fit in there if I had put it inside..
I had planned to get its 700R4 fixed or replaced and put it right on the road back then,but life had other plans--my back was getting worse,my mom was very ill,until 2013 when she passed away,by then I was nearly broke,so I haven't been able to do much with it..
About all I did to it was install a Fisher plow frame and a Diamond plow blade on it and the pump & joystick,if nothing else it may end up being a spare "yard truck" to plow my driveway...
Rust & rot is always worse than it looks...as the saying goes,once you start peeling the onion --..
..My '85 K10 diesel Burb was practically mint in 2009 when I got it--it spent only a year in VT and MA before I got it,it came from Washington state originally,and whoever had it undercoated it thick when it was close to new,the undersides were mint,the frame still had the oem black paint on it..the floors under the carpet had no rust and were covered with what looks and feels like motor oil..
After it sitting in my yard since '09 ,the thing now has severe rocker cancer,I put my hands thru all the rockers from front to rear,and all the door bottoms and rear quarters,rear wheel arches are bubbling up and will be holes if I start poking at them,and that was caused mostly by it being completely buried under a huge snowdrift for 2+ months in 2015,when we got 12 feet of snow between the end of January and March..when it melted it all went in the doors and likely soaked the carpets--I'm afraid to look under them now !..
The frame rails ,springs and floors still look decent underneath though,despite it being parked on grass..
I should have parked it in my garage instead of all my garden tractors and other "stuff"--too late now though..its so big ,practically nothing else will fit in there if I had put it inside..
I had planned to get its 700R4 fixed or replaced and put it right on the road back then,but life had other plans--my back was getting worse,my mom was very ill,until 2013 when she passed away,by then I was nearly broke,so I haven't been able to do much with it..
About all I did to it was install a Fisher plow frame and a Diamond plow blade on it and the pump & joystick,if nothing else it may end up being a spare "yard truck" to plow my driveway...
Overmyhead
1/2 ton status
I can’t wait for my floor to be done but I came across a great deal I couldn’t pass up I got some new quarters and a complete tailgate with a spare set of rims and tires so i had to go pick it up today 
For hell sakes man, what a nightmare. Commend you for doing it, you do nice work, but there’s about 20 solid, or very close to solid, western K5’s on the Denver craigslist at any given time, looking for a good home. NOTHING as hellacious as that. Straight to the crusher imho.
That's the Midwest for you. When I was growing up there like 15 yrs ago shit was that rusty. I can't imagine it's any easier now to find anything that isn't rusted to death. I always thought about starting a business buying stuff out here and trucking it back there to sell.
Overmyhead
1/2 ton status
I work on plow trucks 6 months out of the year this is nothing compared to some of those trucks but it’s a lot of work but if I’m going to buy a truck out west or anywhere for that matter where I live it’s only a matter of time before I would be doing this again I would rather build it up now when I have the energy and time
