1972 GMC K20 Dubbed "The Wilson Project" ***UPDATES***

[northfacetraveller]

Alright, its the end of the week! So i had to pick up some wheel dollies off of a lady a few miles away so I could shift my truck over a bit in the garage as I need every square inch of work space possible. Heading to the local annual car show tomorrow and then I plan on pulling the 350 out of the truck on Sunday and maybe start some teardown on the LS. I've got someone interested in the motor coming out of the truck already, just need to figure out what to sell it for! I was thinking $1000? I gotta see if it has any goodies on it.

@1stDeuce I'm planning on running the Holley Terminator X-Max System that controls the engine and trans. Its a self learning system, but also allows support for self tuning capabilities. It definitely has a ton of cool features. However, if it turns out I can find a nice pre-made harness for the OE PCM for a reasonable price, I may just be persuaded to go that route. I'll let you know when I get to that point. If you find anything, feel free to shoot me a link!

@vargsmetal and @zoomad75 I will have to look at the fuel system options, I have heard of guys using the blazer tanks for sure. But I haven't heard about the mid 90s trucks fuel tanks. I will definitely do some more research on that. I want to get rid of the In Cab fuel tank, it smells and id love to have some storage space behind the seat. Thanks!

@ExpoMike I did notice that, I will be using my stock NP205 and Advance Adapters adapter plate to hook up to the 4L80E.

Have a great weekend guys!

 

[northfacetraveller]

Alright guys, its been over a month since my last post! My apologies, just been so busy lately starting a new job and getting a bunch of stuff done around the house on my "Honey-Do" list lol. I don't mind though, shes worth it and lets me have toys haha. Anyways, I have been making some good progress on WIlson.

I couldn't stand the fact that my "new" motor was covered is crusties and as dirty as.... nevermind. I decided to tear it down and clean up what I could down to removing the heads as I wanted to see what the combustion chambers looked like. One thing led to another and the motor has been torn down to the bare block. I disassembled the cylinder heads and sent them out for Vapor Blasting, I just got them back a couple of days ago and they turned out fantastic! I'm just waiting for my Beehive Springs and then I will lap the valves and reassemble them. The motor will be going out next week to the machine shop, hopefully I will be able to get away with honing the cylinders, lifter bores and a good crank polish. Then she will get fresh bearings all around, rings and I haven't decided on the pistons yet as the teflon skirts have some good wear on them. I'm on the fence... Any input?

So while I was waiting for the motor, I started removing the current motor out of the truck, removed the entire front clip and got er pulled waiting for its new home in someone elses project. I actually have made a deal with a local transmission shop, they are going to build my 4L80E with a "Monster Transmission" Rebuild kit and some updated components such as a Billet Torque Converter, Billet Planetaries, a shift kit and a few other goodies. In return I am trading them the motor that I pulled out of Wilson! Sounded like a good deal to me, so I went for it. Wasn't really planning on building the transmission, but now that Im into it, why not?! As far as the NP205 Transfer Case goes I will just rebuild that myself as I have ordered a rebuild kit from our local driveline shop for a couple hundred bucks.

As far as suspension is concerned I have decided to go with the DIY4X B52 Front Spring Conversion. Lengthening the front springs from 44" to 52" will greatly improve my ride quality and suspension travel. This will be paired with a custom set of springs from Off Road Design and complimented with some Fox 2.0 Reservoir Shocks, the reservoir shocks are not really required however I've always wanted a set on something, so why not! I have also spoken to our local steering shop "Steering Solutions" up here in Langley, BC about a new steering box. He is going to build me a box with a 3 and 3/8 turn lock to lock box as opposed to the original 4 1/4 turns as well as adjust the valving to provide a more modern feel. I may also have him port it for hydro assist if i ever decide to go that route in the future. This will work nicely with the ORD Crossover Steering Setup.

I just placed an order for the Pacific Fab LS Crossmember as I believe it to be the strongest on the market. I will also be running the polyurethane engine mounts.

Anyways, on with the pictures!



Heres Wilson in on his glory, right before the surgery!





This motor came out of a farm truck.





This is where I decided Im going to tear the whole thing apart and not look back



Cylinder Heads before they were disassembled and sent for vapor blasting




A couple photos of the engine bay before disassembly







Heres my best friend, making sure im not doing it wrong. He likes to sit in my work van and watch

 

[northfacetraveller]

Cylinder Heads after Vapour Blasting

 

[northfacetraveller]

Flexing out the suspension, pretending im wheeling already out in moab



This definitely crushed my creeper lol. Oops. Gotta work with what you have when your building in tiny spaces! Everything has to be mobile!


Removing the original spring hanger bolts from the frame in preparation for the DIY4X Mounts

 

[Ouiwee]

One thing to consider is that if you are traveling and find yourself in need of a mechanic, it is nearly impossible to find one to work on a Holley system. Ask me how I know. They look at it and say: no, I can't help you because it is aftermarket.

 

[northfacetraveller]

One thing to consider is that if you are traveling and find yourself in need of a mechanic, it is nearly impossible to find one to work on a Holley system. Ask me how I know. They look at it and say: no, I can't help you because it is aftermarket.

I appreciate that thought as I do try and find things that are fairly common and have lots of parts available. Reason I like this system is that it is fairly simple, clean and intuitive. I am a mechanic by trade so I am familiar with the workings of what I am installing so I feel like i should be ok if i run into any issues. "Knock on wood"

And yes, i do agree about lots of shops not knowing how to work on anything aftermarket. I have run across that a lot, blows my mind!

 

[TwinDuro]

Very cool build, I'm digging your approach and build-up so far! What a cool truck (always loved the lime-gold color) with a bullet-proof drive-train that your building. I probably missed it in a previous post, but does your truck have the Dana 44 front and Eaton H072 full floater rear axle? I'll be curious what engine/transmission harness/management system you end up going with. I'm working on two radically different LS/LQ swaps myself and always enjoy seeing the electrical side of these conversions. Keep up the great work!

 

[northfacetraveller]

Very cool build, I'm digging your approach and build-up so far! What a cool truck (always loved the lime-gold color) with a bullet-proof drive-train that your building. I probably missed it in a previous post, but does your truck have the Dana 44 front and Eaton H072 full floater rear axle? I'll be curious what engine/transmission harness/management system you end up going with. I'm working on two radically different LS/LQ swaps myself and always enjoy seeing the electrical side of these conversions. Keep up the great work!

Thanks Twinduro! I've got a Dana 44 Front Axle and Dana 60 Rear. Will be running ARB Lockers front and rear, only because ive always wanted them but could never justify or afford them. But I'm going for it for this build since I plan on keeping it for the long haul! I have a Gen 3 LQ4, rebuilding the bottom end, cleaning it up and running a howards camshaft, should net me around 400hp at the wheels which is perfect for what I'm after. I will be running a 4L80e transmission that will get bulletproofed, only because my buddy owns a transmission shop and im going to trade him my old motor to rebuild this trans with a few billet goodies and fresh internals. I will adapt my current NP205 Transfercase to the 4l80e with an advance adapters kit. For the engine management I've decided to go with Holleys Terminator X Max system. Does everything im looking for, its fully user tuneable and clean. Thats where im at right now. Just writing this out loud makes me think i need to do a few more side jobs to pay for all this stuff lol!

What LS swaps are you working on? I'd be interested to get some info on them

 

[ZMagic97]

That sure is a gorgeous truck. It's gonna look fantastic on the trails. I an;t wait to see more.

 

[TwinDuro]

Thanks Twinduro! I've got a Dana 44 Front Axle and Dana 60 Rear. Will be running ARB Lockers front and rear, only because ive always wanted them but could never justify or afford them. But I'm going for it for this build since I plan on keeping it for the long haul! I have a Gen 3 LQ4, rebuilding the bottom end, cleaning it up and running a howards camshaft, should net me around 400hp at the wheels which is perfect for what I'm after. I will be running a 4L80e transmission that will get bulletproofed, only because my buddy owns a transmission shop and im going to trade him my old motor to rebuild this trans with a few billet goodies and fresh internals. I will adapt my current NP205 Transfercase to the 4l80e with an advance adapters kit. For the engine management I've decided to go with Holleys Terminator X Max system. Does everything im looking for, its fully user tuneable and clean. Thats where im at right now. Just writing this out loud makes me think i need to do a few more side jobs to pay for all this stuff lol!

What LS swaps are you working on? I'd be interested to get some info on them

Gotcha! Sounds like a bullet-proof combination all around to me and thanks for the info Northfacetraveler. It's hard to go wrong with ARB air-lockers front and rear and the front 52" spring conversion is very cool! I wasn't super familiar with the Holly Terminator X Max system so I looked it up; man that's a nice setup! Among all the tech, I really like their programmable 4 input/output feature as well; I can see that coming in very handy! As an electrical guy, I always appreciate the cleanliness of a setup like this with heavy use of high-quality Delphi/Delco weather-pak style connectors and nice looming as well. Basically a long, rambling way of me saying: nice choice! I'm really enjoying following your thread, great photos and info.

So, because you asked, with no intention of derailing your build thread, the two LS swaps I'm working on aren't 4WD related, unfortunately, at the moment, but have been a lot of fun none-the-less. The first swap is an old-school, lightly hot-rodded (Cam and headers essentially) LQ9 for a buddy's '57 Chevy Bel-Air 2dr hardtop that was originally built as a street/strip car by his uncle in the late '60s. We're building-up the engine to look like an old mid-late '50s small block with side-bolt, small block valve cover adapters, some creative sensor routing and a simple-front drive setup for the serpentine (just alternator and water-pump on his manual steering, no-AC car) , orange paint and an Edelbrock Victor Jr. single-plane carbureted intake manifold, Holley 750 and MSD stand alone ignition controller in front of a Super T-10 4-speed. Electronically, this swap is super-simple. We were inspired by Delmo's work on these: https://www.streettrucksmag.com/tech/retro-power-delmos-builds-and-old-school-stylized-ls-engine/

The next LS swap is a very weird, obscure one, so bear with me and feel free to tune out at any time. It's a 5.3L LS4 (the transverse FWD, bastard-child LS with a GM 60 degree bolt pattern found in FWD impala SS/Grand Prix GXP cars etc) mated to an Getrag F-23 transaxle (a 5-speed manual) to go in an '85 Chevy Celebrity sedan that's being built as an SCCA autocross car/sleeper. This particular engine came with DOD/AFM, so that is all getting axed (cam, lifters, intake, throttle body) and replaced with an LS6-style cam, intake and drive-by-cable throttle body. Even though this swap is as weird as it gets, the engine management is identical to an LQ/LS swap in a manual transmission rig. I was planning on pulling the trigger on a FITech standalone unit, but now that I've looked at the Holley Terminator X setup you're going with and how much more you get for a few hundred dollars more, I think I just changed my mind...

Just remember this mantra as you build this awesome K20 4x4: "If I had all the money I've spent on Wilson during this project back, I'd spend it on Wilson"

 

[chilliwak]

Your truck is looking awesome Mr Northface.I love those old GM rigs. The front grill looks just so good. I am looking forward to following your progress. If you have any suspension needs contact Rick at Chilliwack spring service. He does really quality work at a reasonable price and has done the suspension on both my trucks. He is always happy to give good advice. Keep us updated with posts and pics of your upgrades. Cheers, Chilli... ?

 

[Buddha.]

That’s a clean old truck. Going from that Vortec small block to a cammed 6.0 will be nice.

 

[northfacetraveller]

Sorry for the late replay, I'm terrible apparently at staying updated with you guys! Just been so busy working trying to get more overtime to buy truck parts! So since last time I posted my ARB Air Locker arrived!! So stoked for this part of the build. I also got a nice black ARB Diff Cover and some new Warn Hubs. Crossover High steer has been ordered from NW Fab, Steering Box has been ordered and is custom built from a wicked local shop here in Langley, BC. It will have a tighter ratio and firmer feel, which will be awesome with the flexy suspension. The steering box brace arrived from ORD and the springs should be here in the next couple weeks I hope.

On a side note, I have a friend of a friend who is going to rent me some space in his nice heated shop down the road, so that will be awesome to continue the build and go further into the restoration and as an added bonus, my wife will be able to park her jeep back in the garage lol. Planning on moving the truck over sometime in January and then I think I'll really be able to get at it.

So I've been thinking a bit about mods down the road.. my original plan was to put a pop top camper on the truck but now I'm thinking about possibly putting on a system that is a little more modern but more user friendly for me on a daily basis. I'll post the link here for you guys to check out! I'm thinking of running one of these racks with a rooftop tent

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Thanks for being patient! I'll take pics of the new shop space when I get back over there and once the front end is back in and the truck is standing on its own again.

 

[northfacetraveller]

Your truck is looking awesome Mr Northface.I love those old GM rigs. The front grill looks just so good. I am looking forward to following your progress. If you have any suspension needs contact Rick at Chilliwack spring service. He does really quality work at a reasonable price and has done the suspension on both my trucks. He is always happy to give good advice. Keep us updated with posts and pics of your upgrades. Cheers, Chilli... ?

I have heard good things from Rick at Chilliwack Spring, I will keep this in mind, thank you! I actually ordered custom front springs through Alcan in Colorado with Offroad Designs particular specs. Well see how they turn out, and then I'll decide what to do with the rear. Thanks for the follow! Can't wait to get it on the road lol

 

[TwinDuro]

Any updates in the new year @northfacetraveller ?