Texaskrew's 84 k-20 build

[TEXASKREW]

I've been searching this site looking for info and ideas for years and I figured its time to start contributing some pictures of my pile

Little background info on the truck and myself:

This whole thing started back when i was 15, my dad and I wanted to build something cool for my first truck and found a 84 K20 out of Temple, Tx. It was a deep shade of ugly purple, had some military take off 37's and the stiffest suspension on the planet but I didn't care because it was mine.

After getting it home we quickly found out the th400 was dying, and the stocker 250,000 mile small block was getting tired, so the search was on for something that would motivate the truck a little better.

More to come.....

 

[TEXASKREW]

All of that led to this

Dont let the chrome dress up parts fool you, it was a stocker peanut port headed 454 but it only had 30,000 miles on it when I got it. Definitely wasn't fast but did AWESOME burnouts.

Some where in there I picked up a mystery built th400 off of ebay, got it painted, and got a np205 to replace the 208.

All of this took about a year and a half to do, once it was finished i proceeded to drive the crap out of it

 

[TEXASKREW]

I kept it CLEAN for the first year until my best friend convinced me to take it wheeling.

I managed to keep the paint sort of scratch/dent free but I knew it wouldn't stay perfect for ever. Considering the guy that painted it knew it was going to live a hard life the paint was far from perfect but did look awesome considering the paint job was also free.

I did quickly learn that a big block + 37's + heavy right foot = broken 10 bolt shafts for days. Got really good a changing axle shafts, always seemed to break the short side inner or u-joints.

The same time all of this is going on my father had a Cj 7 that we stretched tbi350, t350, doubler, 1 tons bla bla bla...... typical jeep for the time. Well around my highschool graduation we had ripped the jeep apart, we toasted the motor, the frame was cracked everywhere and it was just time to rip it apart. We wheeled it hard for 5 years all over the state and it did awesome.

Long story short dad got tired of me tearing into the 10 bolt in his driveway all the time so as a gift gave me the axles. There loaded up with 4.56's, detroits, and 35 spline shafts up front.

I started to wheel it harder and it became evident that it's daily driver days were numbered & after it started to become an absolute money pit I parked it for a few years while I was going to college

 

[TEXASKREW]

Now we're getting to the more recent stuff. I pulled it out of moth balls and tossed on a set of 39's

sold the bed

Poser shot

Me and my buddy decided that 130ish inch wheelbase wasn't conducive to the trails we have around here so chopped it in half and shortened it to 117 inches.

We moved the shackles forward, cut off the rest of the rear overhang and came up with a new attachment point that will hopefully survive my driving style

The stocker big block was ripped out and a mild 463ci big block was put in its place. Has a set of ported 781's, forged probe dome pistons, zero decked the block, has arp fasteners throughout the motor, a comp Xe268, DUI igniton, S&S built Q-jet, performer intake, roller rockers etc... should make around 470 at the crank. Never been dynoed but it does move this big ole tank around with some serious authority.

 

[TEXASKREW]

We built a sort of bed for the fuel cell & tool box & took it wheeling. Truck did great with the new motor and was way more fun to drive. Best part was pulling onto and leaving the beach where there was a couple of really nice ski/race river boats. The cam is quite bumpy and the compression is 9.7 to 1 so it has a very nice idle, it definitely draws attention where ever it goes.

But it did run hot, had a hard time keeping it cool all day so i poked a small hole in the hood. Around the same time I replaced the REALLY bent 14 bolt with a spare housing we had then took it wheeling.

The scoop really helped in keeping the under hood temps under control, ran 185 the whole weekend. Did great up to the last day. I had the motor wound up around 3500rpm while pulling my buddy through the parking lot at DSO since their place is covered with clay and when wet turns into a slip and slide

Well after about 45 seconds of this the plastic oil pressure line let go and sprayed the driver side header with oil that caught fire and torched the factory wiring harness. I'm just glad I always carried a fire extinguisher because this time it really saved my bacon

 

[TEXASKREW]

This led to something I've been wanting to do for a long time, re-do the factory interior. So we pushed the big turd into the back corner of the shop and tore into the interior until there was nothing left.

After about 4 total days of working on it the cage is about finished. Still need to do the small brace's around the corners and something to tie the halo to the top portion of the dash but I haven't come up with something that I like yet. I know I screwed up when building the cage since the B-pillar isn't one piece but this is my first time using a bender so I'm pretty content with what I've got.

The build is going quickly because I'm off of school but once the semester starts it will slow WAY down. I'm shooting for the big meats run in Oklahoma but I would like to have a few local runs to sort out the electrical system and any issues I may have.

Anyhow here it is I tried to build it to be simple, strong, & last. None of this would be possible with out the generous support from my parents, my friends, and a very understanding girlfriend who doesn't mind spending money on my play toys

 

[TEXASKREW]

Got a little done today, just the roof bars and got the window down bars in. Didn't get much more as we spent most of the day working on the transmission mount for my dads 48 chevy.

 

[TEXASKREW]

Things are starting to slow down since classes start for me tomorrow and I've been putting a lot of time into dads 48 two ton project.

We did decide that we're going to try and put a bed back on it. So we stole the bed off one of the parts trucks. It's not in perfect shape and it's going to need to be cut down but I think I can work with it.



I've also been slowly laying out the wiring. What's there is only for the ignition/lights/fuel pump/stereo. It's 4 guage to & from the junction block then 12 guage to the fuses relays etc. I don't like how the firewall looks since its got about 3 different colors on it so I may be pulling it back apart to paint it all.

 

[TEXASKREW]

Haven't had time to do much lately with school and the mrs./ my birthdays but I did trade off the iroks in flavor for some 39.5/18/15 boggers

Cleaned up the crappy steel wheels in the process

 

[TEXASKREW]

Had a free day to spend working on my pile, turned out to be pretty productive. Finished up most of the wiring, have all the grounds/power to and from the bus-bar, relays, and switch panel. Just need to find some good ground straps to tie in the body/block/frame so every things grounded well.

Its an older 12 volt guy panel that my dad has had laying around for a few years but it looks awesome and functions flawlessly.

Also decided that we'd try our hand at some body work....

its a long bed that we're attempting to shorten both ahead and behind the wheel wells.... Next time I'm at the shop I'll try to snap a few pics of the cuts we've done and how we plan on throwing it back together..

 

[TEXASKREW]

My dad and I got one of the bed sides sort of tacked in place today.. this bed is taking way longer than I initially expected but it will be worth it in the end

The first cut was pretty rough (used a saws-all) , so, to help clean it up, I followed the edge of the rib cutting off all of the excess. We then took the floor and welded it to the rib.

We then cut back 6 inches towards the wheel-well leaving 2 inches at the bottom on the inside to weld... kinda difficult to explain but ya'll will figure it out when you look at the pics..

I plan being up at the shop most of the week since I'm on spring break so hopefully I'll get a ton of the little stuff finished.

 

[TEXASKREW]

Man, this builds going way slower than I anticipated, but it's mostly due to this semester of college doing it's best at trying to kill me....taking a full load of classes and trying to make time for this turd is trying at times...

Anyhow, I've been sort of handicapped for the past week...



But I've been able to finish some little stuff... The wiring's pretty much done & got it fired up today. Ran into an issue though, didn't seem make any oil pressure according to the gauge, we're thinking the gauge crapped out because the valve-train was quiet, no clatter etc. I'm hoping the gauge is DOA but we'll see..

The bed's also about done, just needs to be put on the truck so I can mount up the fuel cell, tool box, & figure out a good way to hold the coolers still. Been thinking of a color to paint it and I think we've settled on J.D green but I haven't really made up my mind yet..

 

[TEXASKREW]

IT MAKES OIL PRESSURE!!!!

turns out the el-cheapo sunpro gauge crapped out, tossed on another one and it made 65lbs almost instantly...

Finished up the front half of the bed and tossed it on the truck...

If it looks a little out of shape its because it's not in straight or level for that matter. I think the rear cab mounts are sagging so it throws the front gap all out of whack & the bed itself is a little twisted. I plan on bobbing the back half Saturday and possibly, weather permitting, paint it early Sunday morning. Fingers crossed as it will be my first true paint job.

 

[TEXASKREW]

This was copy/pasted from my local forum so the timeline is off but I figured the truck may get some interest over here as well. Its been fun building it and hopefully I can take some time off from school so I can devote some attention to this thing.

Thanks for looking
Scott'

 

[83ChevyK5Blazer]

way cool build

 

[Phil513]

I'm diggin' it. Very cool.

 

[swettysblazer]

This thing is cool man, I like it

 

[jekquistk5]

Very cool.. Similar to my truck with the frame chop etc. I'm at 117 also and it wheels great.

 

[campfire]

This thing is cool man, I like it

Me too.

 

[TEXASKREW]

Thanks for the compliments y'all , just realized I may of put this thread in the wrong sub forum so if any mods want to move this to a more appropriate spot feel free to do so.