otter5555
Full Access Member
- Joined
- Jan 28, 2017
- Posts
- 69
- Reaction score
- 1
- Location
- nm
- First Name
- don
- Truck Year
- 1975
- Truck Model
- k10
- Engine Size
- 350
i bought SEVERAL new chevy k series trucks from 1975-1980. used 'em on the ranch, hunting and for playin' in the (serious) mud.
built my own lift kits before lift kits existed (if there were any i couldn't find 'em)
used 9:00 x 16 military tires (34" tall avg) before mudders of any size were available. by the time 44's came out i was too caught up in buisness to do any 4wheelin'. life happens....
i destroyed a lot of u-joints and 3rd members back then in the deep mud
anyhow, i'm 65 years young now and started building trucks again 4 years ago.
my current project, and i won't be selling this one, is coming along nicely.
i'm not restoring it. i'm just making it comfortable, capable and reliable.
i'm building the same truck i used to build in the 70's except i used to run 15:00x38.5x15 mudders on 15x10 chrome spokes and i'm running different wheels/tires on this one.
i built a .030 flat top 350 w/ nice lopey cam, 202 heads, aluminum hi rise and 600 holley. 2.5" exhaust dumps into a pair of turbos. it pulls smoothly to 6k when ever needed.
it still has enough vaccum to run the brakes and w/ 4:11 gears it pulls just fine.
i'm running the sm465 / np 205 that came in it.
this truck is my daily driver, wood truck, hunting truck, etc.
i totally gutted the interior and pressure washed all the rat turds out. installed a '94 chevy truck steering wheel, new door panels, new astro turf, dash pad, dash mat (lots o sun here) and bucket seats (with new covers) from a 2001 expidition. new autometer gauges were installed.
i bought what was supposed to be a 4" rough country lift kit. it turned out to be 6" in the front and 4" in the back.
i've installed a TON of 4" and 6" lift kits on these square bodies and have NEVER needed to lengthen the brake lines or front driveshafts with 4" kits.
this one required both.
i bought bfg 35 x 12.50 x 15 km2's and mounted them on 15" x10 Pacer LT Mod 164P polished aluminum wheels.
i changed all the fluids in the front diff-465-205-rear end. it has the old posi traction in the rear and it still works fine.
clutch, etc are fine. there are zero leaks and the brakes are fine. i did rebuild the steering components when i installed the lift kit.
it rides firmly and drives perfectly.
the front end and cab are in decent shape. the bed needs a little help.
i will be welding up a few cracks in the bed replacing missing/bent fender braces after i pull a few dents.
i'm not going crazy with the body work because honestly, i dont care. this is a daily driver and wood hauler.
i burn 12 cords of wood on an avg year so i cut wood all year long after work unless the snow's bad
i have painted countless cars-trucks-boats-aircraft over the years but wanted to try something different on this truck so i bought Elastiwrap for my coating.
i also decided (after seeing youtube videos) to roll it on vs spraying as i've done for about 50 years.
i rolled the front fenders and hood yesterday in about 1 hr (3 good coats) and i could not be happier
the look is exactly what i was going for and it was super EASY.
i hope to finish the coating in a week or so and i'll post pictures then.
i know this was long winded but hey, we're talkin' trucks
Don in Weed NM
built my own lift kits before lift kits existed (if there were any i couldn't find 'em)
used 9:00 x 16 military tires (34" tall avg) before mudders of any size were available. by the time 44's came out i was too caught up in buisness to do any 4wheelin'. life happens....
i destroyed a lot of u-joints and 3rd members back then in the deep mud
anyhow, i'm 65 years young now and started building trucks again 4 years ago.
my current project, and i won't be selling this one, is coming along nicely.
i'm not restoring it. i'm just making it comfortable, capable and reliable.
i'm building the same truck i used to build in the 70's except i used to run 15:00x38.5x15 mudders on 15x10 chrome spokes and i'm running different wheels/tires on this one.
i built a .030 flat top 350 w/ nice lopey cam, 202 heads, aluminum hi rise and 600 holley. 2.5" exhaust dumps into a pair of turbos. it pulls smoothly to 6k when ever needed.
it still has enough vaccum to run the brakes and w/ 4:11 gears it pulls just fine.
i'm running the sm465 / np 205 that came in it.
this truck is my daily driver, wood truck, hunting truck, etc.
i totally gutted the interior and pressure washed all the rat turds out. installed a '94 chevy truck steering wheel, new door panels, new astro turf, dash pad, dash mat (lots o sun here) and bucket seats (with new covers) from a 2001 expidition. new autometer gauges were installed.
i bought what was supposed to be a 4" rough country lift kit. it turned out to be 6" in the front and 4" in the back.
i've installed a TON of 4" and 6" lift kits on these square bodies and have NEVER needed to lengthen the brake lines or front driveshafts with 4" kits.
this one required both.
i bought bfg 35 x 12.50 x 15 km2's and mounted them on 15" x10 Pacer LT Mod 164P polished aluminum wheels.
i changed all the fluids in the front diff-465-205-rear end. it has the old posi traction in the rear and it still works fine.
clutch, etc are fine. there are zero leaks and the brakes are fine. i did rebuild the steering components when i installed the lift kit.
it rides firmly and drives perfectly.
the front end and cab are in decent shape. the bed needs a little help.
i will be welding up a few cracks in the bed replacing missing/bent fender braces after i pull a few dents.
i'm not going crazy with the body work because honestly, i dont care. this is a daily driver and wood hauler.
i burn 12 cords of wood on an avg year so i cut wood all year long after work unless the snow's bad
i have painted countless cars-trucks-boats-aircraft over the years but wanted to try something different on this truck so i bought Elastiwrap for my coating.
i also decided (after seeing youtube videos) to roll it on vs spraying as i've done for about 50 years.
i rolled the front fenders and hood yesterday in about 1 hr (3 good coats) and i could not be happier
the look is exactly what i was going for and it was super EASY.
i hope to finish the coating in a week or so and i'll post pictures then.
i know this was long winded but hey, we're talkin' trucks
Don in Weed NM