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Tree fiddy K-30

This truck has everything I don't plan to change anything but tires, put a carb on it and work on the body a little and drive it.
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So this started out as a 500.00 craigslist truck that I went and looked at. Got over to look at it and bought the truck on the spot. Went back today to get the old girl home and the owner wanted me to do a little service work for him on a couple diesel trucks and front brakes on his daily driver. Got it all done this morning for him and he gave me 150 bucks back when he handed over the title. So TREE FIDDY! Anyway there is a LOT of unusual stuff on this old '78 so I thought I would post a thread for you guys. Truck has a factory 350/SM465 and NP205 with 4.56 gears.

So here's the history of it. Montana Wildland Fire/Rescue (now called Smoke Jumpers) bought the truck from GM in 1978 as a cab and chassis K-30. It was then sent to have the truck modified by a company called HCL equipment company. While there here is a list of what they did. Installed locking differentials front and rear, drive flanges in the front Dana 60 and upgraded the suspension in the front and rear of the truck. Installed 10 ply off-road tires, A brake line lock was installed at the same time. Service body was installed originally with some sort of cable reel with approximately 2,000 ft of heavy steel cable. He had no idea what it was for. It was sold off long ago. This guy was the second owner and bought the truck from the state of Montana in 1990. It shows 48K miles and the title that I got from the owner has 11k miles on it in 1990. So according to him and the paperwork, 48k is the original mileage.

The plan is to do as little as possible. It needs a carb and tires to start. Then I'll address some of the cosmetic issues, dents in the fender and door. Repair or replace the front seat and drive it!
 
OK, got this old girl fired up with a quicky carb clean dunk on the quadrajet. It still sucks but it did fire up and run. I got to drive it around a little on the farm and it's a freakin' TANK. I gotta pop the covers off and find out what's in the differentials because this thing is SLOW. Lockers for sure of some kind but I'm thinking it might not be 4.56 as the sheet says.
 
One thing I will be doing with this truck is removing the service body. Mainly because I plan to use it on the truck I am putting together as a tow rig. In a perfect world I would like to put a standard bed back on it and use it as my full time hunting rig. Add a camper shell to the back and make it pretty again. Paint everything to match and just let it go.
 
I'm not totally sure what is supposed to be wrong with the carb on this truck. Put some fresh gas in today, along with a hot battery. Shot some carb cleaner into and on the carb to work it back and forth a little. Noticed one of the plug wires was hanging off of the spark plug. Snapped that in and fired right up? Just a nice little purr...Huh.

Steering wheel is chalky from sitting in the sun and the power steering seems slow but that's about all I can find wrong with the old girl.
 
Tree fiddy got some new fluids this afternoon. Carb needs to be cleaned but I think it will work just fine. Tune up this weekend. Tires next week. Gonna order some Good 'ol 900-16 bias ply's for this old girl! Couple pics ROCKIN' STOCK

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I'm pretty sure the dent in the door will pop out just fine. The fender however Isn't going to be salvagable I don't think. It's got a pretty decent crunch right next to the hood. Looks like I need a fender. Planning to break out the pressure washer this weekend sometime and hose this truck down with some cleaner.
 
Well my dreams of pulling the service body off of this truck to use on something else are sort of squashed. Got under today looking at Ujoints and generally greasing everything and that damn bed is welded to the frame. I don't mean it's welded to the mounts, no sir... It's welded and supported in about 10 places with 1/2" bar all over the place. I don't think I want to try to remove it.
 
Please tell me they arent power kings. I hate those tires. Several guys I have known had em. We just got to where we carried tubes for em.
 
blazinzuk said:
Please tell me they arent power kings. I hate those tires. Several guys I have known had em. We just got to where we carried tubes for em.
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I haven't bought them yet but they won't be the power kings. Not sure but I believe those are only available as tube type? Anyway, there's several out there....I haven't decided on the brand yet.
 
I "Might" go with a 255-16 tire but I really need a tall skinny tire. Something over 34" diameter to get the 4.56 gears a little more tolerable should I need to go tow a trailer with it or something. The 900-16 is the only 35ish inch tire on the market that is still skinny. This thing will live it's life up here on the mountain and it needs to go when the snow is deep.
 
Vombrown said:
I haven't bought them yet but they won't be the power kings. Not sure but I believe those are only available as tube type? Anyway, there's several out there....I haven't decided on the brand yet.
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Nope they don't require a tube. The worst thing is when they had a come apart, it destroys the body. They were constantly losing pressure over a couple weeks too. Yah don't buy power kings lol

Michelin does make a 9r16 I've put some on duallys and a couple other trucks. Never ran em myself.
 
Plenty of swampers out there 34x9x16 in bias ply tsl sx2 has a 35x10.5x16 as does the ssr in a radial tire.
 
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