wage92
1/2 ton status
Alright guys i finally decided to dive into this k5. Heres the short story, i bought it for 3200 a month or two ago and heres what it looked like when i got it!
Heres some specs:
-400 small block engine (spun bearing)
-Turbo 350
-Stock 10 bolts with 4.11s
-8" suspension lift with blocks in the rear
-ladder bars
-36/16.5/15 Dick Cepek Tires
-Bestop Softtop
And what it needed:
Interior work
paint
So i got it and drove it around for a week or so and it was burning oil and started making squealing noises that weren't pleasant, so i decided to pull the engine, rebuild it and go from there.
Heres a few of my plans for the rest of the vehicle:
-My uncle said he has a turbo 400 i can use
-Clean the whole truck up because its covered in mud
-Would like to go up to a 38" tire with maybe 17" inch rims
- 14 bolt rear with probably a d44 heavy duty up front, unless i find a d60 for cheap.
- Finish the interior, new seats, panels and dash (thinking the diy4x aluminum one, or i will make a custom one that is very simple)
-Bend a roll cage, want this mostly for looks and for something to grab on to pull myself into the cab
-Get rid of blocks in the suspension lift in favor of a shackle flip
-bend the exhaust pipe so it exits out the back corners of the truck instead of straight out the back
-Fix small things here and there, bad door hinges, loose steering, replace tailgate...
This is going to be a slow build and it will progress when i have money to spare, im a 19 year old college kid entering my second year this fall. I dont know everything about cars and these trucks but im learning as i go. I work in a machine shop so i wanna do a lot of custom stuff on this truck and put my own spin on it.
Heres a list of things im going to be searching to buy within the next few months:
-14 bolt and heavy duty dana 44
-8 lug wheels
-38" tires
-seats
-hard top
-k5 tailgate (mine has a pickup tailgate on it)
Dug into the engine, but had to stop before i could remove the crank because i dont have a puller to remove the balancer on the front. Found my problem, spun the rod bearing for connecting rod #1, it completely destroyed the crank, im amazed at how much material it took off. Need to finish disassembling and see what kind of shape the block is in. hopefully it is alright.
Alright, got stuck for a day on the harmonic balancer. So had to make myself a puller:
But i got it off and decided to stop for the night. Anyway, here are the pictures from the other night, the 1st and 2nd rod journal on the crank is completely destroyed. there has got to be about .125" of material worn away. Metal chips everywhere. But when i pulled the engine it still ran and drove. It amazes me, the piston had so much slop in it. Heres a crappy cell phone picture:
And here is another problem no oil pressure will give ya:
i will remove the timing, crank and cam. Im going to measure the cam and assess if i will buy a new one. Other than tha, engine build is going to be halted and i will move onto the interior.
i brought the block to a car wash and thoroughly pressure washed it, i knocked out all the plugs and got all the water jackets and oil galleys. Put her in a bag and she will sit for a while.
Okay, so i found a heck of a deal on some aluminum heads. They have all new springs, retainers, seals, the whole deal. They were ported and polished, and have never been run. Found them on craigslist and talked the guy down to 400 bucks! I couldnt believe it. i would have had to put that much into machining and new springs on the old cast heads. It will slow down my engine build by a couple weeks because i gotta save up money hah but in the end this thing is going to really talk!
Okay, well i decided to go ahead and start working on the interior and save the engine for the winter since i can work on that indoors. This morning i gutted the whole inside of the truck:
Like my drivers seat? haha
Here are my plans:
-Strip off old paint and raptor line the interior
-Either fab up a very simple dash or get the DIY4x one from Kert
-Construct a roll cage with 4 pt harnesses for driver and passenger
-get new front seats and possibly rear seats
-Redo my headliner
-make door panels and rear side panels
-make center console
-Probably more once i get moving along
Time frame is hopefully finish all this before we get snow so late november early december! First i will paint it and then will get to work on the roll cage followed by the dash. Once that is done it should be pretty simple from there, i picked up a full set of interior panels for 25 bucks so those will be painted and installed. Any suggestions give a shout!
Alright heres a quick update, havent touched her in a few days but tonight i decided i wasnt gonna skimp on this paint job so i started grinding some of the rough welds the PO did, and as i did that i found some bondo spots on the floor which uncovered some holes, i got about half the front of the truck done so im gonna vacuum up my mess tomorrow and try to finish the grinding up tomorrow and then move on to the patching stage. Im just diggin myself into a deeper hole, haha gotta love it! But i couldnt stand having bondo on the floor. Not a fan.
Edit: what looks like rust in the first picture is just dirt and grindings
Okay so i finally got a little more work done on the k5, i removed the steering column and shaft and i ordered some sheet metal to do some light patching in the cab. I also picked up some cut off wheels for the angle grinder and am going to be cutting away the dash in order to prep for painting. It was getting dark so picture isnt that great, but slowly making progress...
Got some more done today, cut the dash skeleton out, removed hvac system and tons of wires. Started scraping the firewall in order to get ready for some patching. Going to be installing an aftermarket heater so no need for any of the big holes. From here i will continue to clean everything up and wire wheel it, until i am ready to start welding. Lots of mud caked on everything so lots of cleaning, and i will probably remove the hood and fenders shortly.
Got a little more done before it started raining again. All thats left up front is the brake booster and master cylinder. I will probably take all the brake lines off too, as i will be running new lines that are corrosion resistant.
And that is up to date on my build. Will continue to post my progress!
Heres some specs:
-400 small block engine (spun bearing)
-Turbo 350
-Stock 10 bolts with 4.11s
-8" suspension lift with blocks in the rear
-ladder bars
-36/16.5/15 Dick Cepek Tires
-Bestop Softtop
And what it needed:
Interior work
paint
So i got it and drove it around for a week or so and it was burning oil and started making squealing noises that weren't pleasant, so i decided to pull the engine, rebuild it and go from there.
Heres a few of my plans for the rest of the vehicle:
-My uncle said he has a turbo 400 i can use
-Clean the whole truck up because its covered in mud
-Would like to go up to a 38" tire with maybe 17" inch rims
- 14 bolt rear with probably a d44 heavy duty up front, unless i find a d60 for cheap.
- Finish the interior, new seats, panels and dash (thinking the diy4x aluminum one, or i will make a custom one that is very simple)
-Bend a roll cage, want this mostly for looks and for something to grab on to pull myself into the cab
-Get rid of blocks in the suspension lift in favor of a shackle flip
-bend the exhaust pipe so it exits out the back corners of the truck instead of straight out the back
-Fix small things here and there, bad door hinges, loose steering, replace tailgate...
This is going to be a slow build and it will progress when i have money to spare, im a 19 year old college kid entering my second year this fall. I dont know everything about cars and these trucks but im learning as i go. I work in a machine shop so i wanna do a lot of custom stuff on this truck and put my own spin on it.
Heres a list of things im going to be searching to buy within the next few months:
-14 bolt and heavy duty dana 44
-8 lug wheels
-38" tires
-seats
-hard top
-k5 tailgate (mine has a pickup tailgate on it)
Dug into the engine, but had to stop before i could remove the crank because i dont have a puller to remove the balancer on the front. Found my problem, spun the rod bearing for connecting rod #1, it completely destroyed the crank, im amazed at how much material it took off. Need to finish disassembling and see what kind of shape the block is in. hopefully it is alright.
Alright, got stuck for a day on the harmonic balancer. So had to make myself a puller:
But i got it off and decided to stop for the night. Anyway, here are the pictures from the other night, the 1st and 2nd rod journal on the crank is completely destroyed. there has got to be about .125" of material worn away. Metal chips everywhere. But when i pulled the engine it still ran and drove. It amazes me, the piston had so much slop in it. Heres a crappy cell phone picture:
And here is another problem no oil pressure will give ya:
i will remove the timing, crank and cam. Im going to measure the cam and assess if i will buy a new one. Other than tha, engine build is going to be halted and i will move onto the interior.
i brought the block to a car wash and thoroughly pressure washed it, i knocked out all the plugs and got all the water jackets and oil galleys. Put her in a bag and she will sit for a while.
Okay, so i found a heck of a deal on some aluminum heads. They have all new springs, retainers, seals, the whole deal. They were ported and polished, and have never been run. Found them on craigslist and talked the guy down to 400 bucks! I couldnt believe it. i would have had to put that much into machining and new springs on the old cast heads. It will slow down my engine build by a couple weeks because i gotta save up money hah but in the end this thing is going to really talk!
Okay, well i decided to go ahead and start working on the interior and save the engine for the winter since i can work on that indoors. This morning i gutted the whole inside of the truck:
Like my drivers seat? haha
Here are my plans:
-Strip off old paint and raptor line the interior
-Either fab up a very simple dash or get the DIY4x one from Kert
-Construct a roll cage with 4 pt harnesses for driver and passenger
-get new front seats and possibly rear seats
-Redo my headliner
-make door panels and rear side panels
-make center console
-Probably more once i get moving along
Time frame is hopefully finish all this before we get snow so late november early december! First i will paint it and then will get to work on the roll cage followed by the dash. Once that is done it should be pretty simple from there, i picked up a full set of interior panels for 25 bucks so those will be painted and installed. Any suggestions give a shout!
Alright heres a quick update, havent touched her in a few days but tonight i decided i wasnt gonna skimp on this paint job so i started grinding some of the rough welds the PO did, and as i did that i found some bondo spots on the floor which uncovered some holes, i got about half the front of the truck done so im gonna vacuum up my mess tomorrow and try to finish the grinding up tomorrow and then move on to the patching stage. Im just diggin myself into a deeper hole, haha gotta love it! But i couldnt stand having bondo on the floor. Not a fan.
Edit: what looks like rust in the first picture is just dirt and grindings
Okay so i finally got a little more work done on the k5, i removed the steering column and shaft and i ordered some sheet metal to do some light patching in the cab. I also picked up some cut off wheels for the angle grinder and am going to be cutting away the dash in order to prep for painting. It was getting dark so picture isnt that great, but slowly making progress...
Got some more done today, cut the dash skeleton out, removed hvac system and tons of wires. Started scraping the firewall in order to get ready for some patching. Going to be installing an aftermarket heater so no need for any of the big holes. From here i will continue to clean everything up and wire wheel it, until i am ready to start welding. Lots of mud caked on everything so lots of cleaning, and i will probably remove the hood and fenders shortly.
Got a little more done before it started raining again. All thats left up front is the brake booster and master cylinder. I will probably take all the brake lines off too, as i will be running new lines that are corrosion resistant.
And that is up to date on my build. Will continue to post my progress!
) . That's an ambitious project, but, it seems like you have a good plan and a good starting point 
. Everything you've listed sounds good, the only advice I have for you, is ....try to realistically decide what you want to do with the truck when it's done. Too many people get stuck on certain "cool" parts that they have absolutely no need for and can really slow or even kill a project. For example, the guy who has to have a doubler and tons for a truck that will never see more action then a gravel road 
things like that will kill a budget quick.
looks to far gone.
