77 K20 aka Grandpas Truck

[diggerdan11]

I figured it would be fun to start a build thread for my 77 K20 Camper Special. My grandpa bought this brand new in 76. I have lots of great memories of this truck. He passed away at the end of 2013 and since then it has been sitting at my parents house. I was finally able to convince my dad to hand it over to me. I have wanted to restore her for years, even before my grandpa passed, and I finally have the opportunity.

Here is some information on the truck:

Silverado Camper Special, 400 small block, 3-speed
Cordova Brown/ Santa Fe Tan, Mandarin Orange Interior
Only  45K miles on the clock

I have lots of plans for her but it will take a while to get there.

Here is an old picture of her doing what she was bought to do:



Here is a picture as she sits now:




Over all its in pretty good shape, but needs some minor maintenance.
My plan is start with the interior first, then think about having her re-painted in the future. There also might be a lift and new wheels and tires in the future as well. I want to keep it mostly stock, but with a few minor personal touches.

Here are a few more pics:









I hope I can put her back to how she use to be and be able to pass her on to my son.

[diggerdan11]

Phase 1:

First off I had a leak in the fuel tank selector valve and since the single wire selector valve seems to bee the holy grail of square body parts, I had to directly plumb it up to one of the tanks. One day I may have to replace the selector with the replacement, but It has to be wired up

I also had to replace the door locks. Its a long story, but when my grandpa was in the hospital literally on his death bed, the meth heads next door broke in and stole everything. Luckily they did not take the truck, but they did take the keys. I was able to replace the ignition, but I did not replace the locks. So now that I have possession of the truck I figured I better change out the locks. I also had to replace the sliding window latch as well, with some help from my little helper:



And the exhaust system was rotten and missing one of the tail pipes so I went ahead and had both mufflers replaced with some turn-downs

[illinoisk30]

You have a great truck to start with. It is in great shape. I really like the colors    and interior looks to be in nice condition. My dad still has his '77 K20 although it's just a base model. Have fun with your build, I look forward to watching the makeover!


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[diggerdan11]

You have a great truck to start with. It is in great shape. I really like the colors    and interior looks to be in nice condition. My dad still has his '77 K20 although it's just a base model. Have fun with your build, I look forward to watching the makeover!


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The interior is not too bad. I need a new dash pad and door panels. I originally planned on changing the interior color since the Mandarin Orange was so hard to find, but I just found out that USA 1 Interiors just happen to have Mandarin Orange parts and vinyl dye, so it will make it much easier.

[diggerdan11]

Phase 2: Deep Clean

The truck has not been cleaned inside or out in who knows how many years so I decided it was time. I spent all day cleaning her inside and out. I also hand Polished and waxed her.




I taped off a section of the bed so you can see the difference between the heavily oxidized paint and the freshly polished and waxed.



After:




I also cleaned the interior as best as I could. It had at least 15 years of dust built up. I also took everything out from behind the seat that my grandpa had stored back there.

[blazer74]

Great truck with family history and low miles.
Definitely bring back just like your grandfather bought her.

[LTZ C20]

That is an awesome truck! My truck is a C20 Camper Special Cheyenne, with the saddle/tan interior, Very similar to yours. The truck looks great! Keep that sb400, original 400s are gold and if you ever got rid of it you would never forgive yourself!

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[diggerdan11]

That is an awesome truck! My truck is a C20 Camper Special Cheyenne, with the saddle/tan interior, Very similar to yours. The truck looks great! Keep that sb400, original 400s are gold and if you ever got rid of it you would never forgive yourself!

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Thanks!

I don't have any plans on getting rid of the 400. It runs great. I may add some headers and maybe a better carb one day just to try to get a little more umph out of her.

[LTZ C20]

You can never have enough umph.

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[ehjorten]

Where abouts are you located in Oregon?  I noticed the old Oregon license plates and that freaking hideous avatar!!!    Beaver Nation! 

[diggerdan11]

Where abouts are you located in Oregon?  I noticed the old Oregon license plates and that freaking hideous avatar!!!    Beaver Nation! 

I'm located in Tigard now but the truck spent its entire life in Klamath Falls. Go ducks! lol

[diggerdan11]

Phase 3: Music

So I decided I'm already sick of the AM radio so I installed a Head unit I had laying around.

I know I know, I committed a unforgivable sin by cutting the dash, but I did not want to buy pos retrosound radio. I attempted to mount the head unit under the dash but that did not work out.

I also had an extra amp and sub and all I needed was some 6x9s to go behind the seat. When I replace the dash pad I'm also going to add a couple 4" speakers in the dash since the 6x9s are a little muffled behind the seat.





Also check out the job my wife did on the floor mats. I thought they were basically ruined and I would have to replace them, but she was able to get them looking almost new.

[ehjorten]

I've got single DIN stereos in both of my square bodies with iPod connection in the glovebox and Bluetooth for hands-free!  The only thing I don't like about the older ones is that the radio mounts to the dash bezel and in order to get it off, you have to remove the stereo and DIN cage!  The newer ones, like my '91 has the stereo mounted behind the dash bezel.

[diggerdan11]

Well this weekend we finally had a break from the 100 degree weather and I finally had time to work on the truck more.

Ran new positive and negative battery cables since the originals were a little corroded. Replaced my broken dome light, Replaced cracked windshield washer lines, re-installed the lower vent tubing in the cab that I removed when I installed the stereo. I had issues trying to get it back in place and I broke my driver AC vent in the process so I replaced that as well.

The main thing i accomplished was new window channel weatherstripping. I thought it was going to be a pain in the butt but it really was not that bad.

[Big Chip]

That’s a beautiful truck!  I really hope things are going well with it.


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