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What to look for in a 69 to 72 k5

84CUCV

84CUCV

3/4 ton status
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Jul 1, 2002
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NJ for now
A guy my friend knows has a bunch of these trucks at his place out of state. all 4wd. said the last time he was there he had 10 or so. so i have my choice. been looking for one forever. did these come with a 400 motor? any help would be great. i hope to bring one home with me. thanks
 
Check the front axel for disk brakes, early models have drums up front. I don't think any K5s came with a 400SBC..but I am just guessing.
 
look for rust in the rockers, common place among our type. most came with a 307 or 350. I think only the 69s came with drums on the front, but doesn't matter...you'll be going one tons either way. How much are you getting 'em for?
 
Rot Rot And more Rot!!! I f they are from the east coast look for rot on the cowl above the windshield,rear floor corners.rockers and just about anywhere. They also should have what looks like a box underneath the rockers its there for strength when the top is off,i forget what its called (rocker box?). Watch out for the rear liftgate too,they have a tendency too crack and are expensive. good luck!
By the way did you ever get rid of the 89? 3/4 suburban?
 
84CUCV said:
A guy my friend knows has a bunch of these trucks at his place out of state. all 4wd. said the last time he was there he had 10 or so. so i have my choice. been looking for one forever. did these come with a 400 motor? any help would be great. i hope to bring one home with me. thanks
Click to expand...

Yeah, rust is a bugger in 1st gen's.
If you can see it, it will go alot deeper for sure.

Common areas:
Rockers, both inner and outer.
Torsion boxes.
(contains a torsion rod which keeps the tub lined up when the top is off)
Door pillar's, typically lower, both front and rear.
Windshield frame, check it over really good cause their tough to find replacements for.
Cowl, sides and top of firewall areas.
Inner kick panels towards the floor.
Radiator core support, almost always rusted out under the battery tray.
Inner fenders, same...
Rear bed floor as mentioned, wheel wells.
Bottom of tail gate too.

Basically check the entire truck over very good, cancer could be anywhere. :(

Most were V-8's, could go either way on the tranny
CST has a higher trim level and can be verified by a chrome t-case shift lever.

Look over the hard tops good too, two different version's available.
Double walled top, 69-72 is way more common.
Single walled top, option in 72, bolts to the body from the top.
Find a solid working hatch, tough to find so look while your there.

Parts that are hard/tough/impossible to find:
Replacement quarter panels. < not produced repro yet.
Windshield frames. < not produced repro yet.
Single walled hard top w/good functional hatch
4spd tilt steering column.
Dealer install roll bars.

Most every other part can be stolen from pick ups and used in a blazer.

Good hunting.
 
forgot, i have 3 suburbans now. good trucks i like them. going to build one sell the other 2
 
If you find one with a 307 V8 avoid it or plan on replacing it soon. They were dog motors and were not one of Chevys best.
 
gaspass said:
If you find one with a 307 V8 avoid it or plan on replacing it soon. They were dog motors and were not one of Chevys best.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't avoid buying a decent 69-72 K5 just because of the 307. Although I think mine sucks, after I swapped an HEI distributor in it at least runs and drives pretty decent. It is a straight swap to go to any other SBC.

Most of the high points have already been mentioned; I do not have much to add. Here and there a few parts are hard to get, like carpet strips, rear panels and hardware, rear seat hardware, front passenger flip-up seat frames.

Options to keep an eye out for: Tow hooks, "utility" buckets (metal seatbacks), PTO, dealer installed bumpers & winches, outside spare tire carriers, hand throttles, auxiliary fuel tanks, T-case skid and gas tank skid plates, dash cluster w/tachometer.
 
gaspass said:
If you find one with a 307 V8 avoid it or plan on replacing it soon. They were dog motors and were not one of Chevys best.
Click to expand...

Like anything else , a new cam and some headers wakes them up .

For some reason when the guys were making their own strokers in the late fifties and early 60's it was cool , and they raced them ..... and once the factory made its own stroker ( 307 is a 283 bore with a 327 stroke ) they all of a sudden sucked ass .

Its intake and exhaust , like any motor .


All I would look for in any truck is NO RUST , everything else can be swapped in , which is what enthusists do :D
 
rust free?? would be nice but not in NJ, will see how it goes. this might be put on hold for a bit. im still trying to find space for some of the stuff i ended up with.
 
84CUCV said:
rust free?? would be nice but not in NJ, will see how it goes. this might be put on hold for a bit. im still trying to find space for some of the stuff i ended up with.
Click to expand...

Is he looking to sell any other stuff? Parts?

I'm heading down to NJ in a couple weeks on a delivery.parts run and could be interested in finding more...:wink1:
 
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