-1973 K5 - Project Canyonero

[edlaffoon]

Man Larry I knew we were alike, I've always loved your trucks. I remember the day the concrete trucks came to fill in the fuel tanks at the old shop, it was kind of sad. That would've been about '88. HA! I remember dad teaching me to use the pedals on the old tire machine too.

That would be crazy to see a kid running a tire machine these days.

And you (and Chilliwak) couldn't be more right about the old trucks. I see alot of posts here bashing chevs for breaking down etc and just think to myself 'Ha if only they knew'. This truck has so much soul, that can't be bought.

 

[edlaffoon]

A small update

I ended up not traveling for work this week (which is rare lately) so I ran out side and snapped come crappy pictures for an update.

I got the new seat covers on last weekend. I'm not terribly fond of covers but these are pretty nice actually and they look good in person. Plus how can you not like A-tacs seats?




If you haven't figured it out the grey is going away, slowly being replaced by the tan.

Here is a good shot of the new NP208 with custom crossmember and custom rear driveshaft. I can't say enough about the workmanship of both Phoenix Trans and Ft. Worth Drive and Axle also. These things are sweet.




New NP208 and cross members. Greg tried to clock the t-case for the best possible clearance but ended up having to drop it down a bit. Still it only hangs about 2".




Trans pan and custom front shaft




You can see here I still have a small oil leak I'm working on. I couldn't find my hex sockets or my freakin swivels the other day so I didnnt get to all the pan bolts. I hate not being able to find tools.




Front side of new 14BSF. You can see that the angles are great. I get ZERO vibration from 1-85MPH.




Money shot of the axle and the new rear brakes. I need new shocks and a shackle flip bad. That will happen in the spring for sure.




Here is the new lighted shifter to match the new NP208. I love it. You can also see a teaser of my switch panel I've been working on.





Please bear in mind it's a driver so it's kind of a mess right now, but I think this gives a good idea of the work that has been put into it so far. I need finish getting the carpet and rest of the interior finished including new rear seats. Once that is done I will update of course.

 

[bdp1978]

It takes a special kinda crazy to stick with a truck after it fights back that much. Kudos to sticking with it!!! Great K5.

 

[edlaffoon]

It takes a special kinda crazy to stick with a truck after it fights back that much. Kudos to sticking with it!!! Great K5.

Thanks I think. :sombrero:

So this weekend I noticed it's leaking a bit of trans fluid in addition to the oil leak. I will be keeping en eye on that for sure.

Finally got around to opening up the new carpet, I'll have more on that later after I finish my work on the roll bar.



And I took my lunch by the lake the other day and snapped a shot of her with the top down.

 

[daddyusmaximus]

Beautiful piece of American history... keep her running.

 

[chilliwak]

Edaffon you have made so much progress on that K5 that it is amazing. I like the new transfer case and crossmember. It looks like you could easily mount a skid plate right under your transfercase now, without too much trouble. Also the shot of your truck with the top down is truly awesome. Makes me want to go out and get a vintage K5 so I can have a topless gal too!:drool:

 

[edlaffoon]

Thanks Chilli!

It's funny because I thought that about the skid plate too. I was underneath it again this weekend and was looking to see how good the mounting points would be and it looks pretty beefy. I think I may go that route at some point.

 

[Larry]

With the crossmembers you are using it looks like you could go back to the original skid plate set up. Below is the skid plate on my ’78. Looks like pretty much the same as the crossmembers you are using. I need to rig up a skid plate for my Burb too. Those aluminum transfercases will only take but one whack on a rock and their done for

 

[edlaffoon]

That is what I need right there! I may have to look around for one of those.

 

[az_eric]

Any info on that second fuel tank? How big is how is it mounted?

 

[edlaffoon]

Any info on that second fuel tank? How big is how is it mounted?

Sure.

Information on dual fuel tank in the K5:

For starters it was not installed by me, so I'm not sure what the brand is (if there is one) although I could dig through the receipts to see if I could find something.

The short of this is that it seems like it could be done with all the factory components (I.E. Tank, filler neck, filler panel, sender and mounts) mounted forward of the rear axle. The tank is 16 gallons (I'm pretty sure) which is the same size as my factory tank, in fact I believe this is a factory K5 tank. It is mounted with 1/8"x 2" steel "straps" that are welded to the underside of the bed. They are bent around the tank in both directions then bolted shut to hold it securely.

The location of the tank is in front of the rear axle, essentially right behind the front seats. The big downside here is that this location would be where the factory exhaust system was routed, meaning I now have side exit exhaust and I'm stuck with it. It hangs low but I haven't had any issues so far.

There is a factory style switch (valve) on the floorboard behind the drivers seat that acts as the tank selector. I believe it is what would have come in a factory dual tank truck of the same era.

The filler neck looks like a factory one but has some sort of aftermarket grommet at the body area due to the fact it is a simple hole saw cut into the body whereas the factory set up is a nice recessed panel.

Here you can see the tank and the mounting straps in these photos, I've boxed it in red.






Hope that helps, I can take more pictures that is just what I have on hand.

 

[az_eric]

thats very interesting. I've thought about doing something similar in both my old suburban and my present 75 k5. Ive been told its not doable because the driveshaft will hit it. I see you have no skid plate on ur 2nd tank. Have you had any issues with the dshaft hitting it? Dont remember seeing anything but do you have any lift?

 

[edlaffoon]

The driveshaft clears it by at least 10 inches. I have 2 inch blocks in the back.

When it blew up the second time the U joint at the T-case end of the driveshaft failed causing the shaft to whirl around thumping under the truck at least 10 revs before it slipped out at the back and flew off the side of the highway at 50mph.

Never touched the tank.

 

[az_eric]

Very good to know thanks man.

 

[edlaffoon]

Update 12/10/13

So I thought I'd post a short update. I have made some progress but had some setbacks in the last month or so.

One of the major updates is on the HVAC. I was able to get all OEM parts back in the truck including ducts, vents, blower, vacuum actuators, air handler and all the controls. The great news here is that everything works great. Considering just that took a whole weekend I have not had a chance to get the compressor and AC components working yet but I will do that in the spring.

Just for reference this is what I started with:









And this is where it sits now:





(please ignore my wiring mess, that is a christmas project)


Before the weather got too nasty I also got a chance to change the oil pan gasket. The good news is the bottom end still looks great, the bad news is after I got done it still leaks. I'm going to give it another whack with the rubber gasket and Ultra Black the dog piss out of it this time.




We have had some nasty weather this week though. I loved it because it gave me the chance to test the new tires and T-case on some bad ice. Good news is tires are amazing even in 2wd, bad news is 4wd developed a bad knock on my way to work this morning... sooo back to the shop it goes. I'm not too concerned about it. They took care of the trans leak I was having in about 30 minutes a few weeks ago.

I know it seems crazy that I was surprised by the fact they didn't give me guff but good post payment service is so hard to find.

Some Pictures of the ice:

About four to six inches on our street:







And the same spot two weeks ago lol



And just for fun, don't think I posted this yet