Author Topic: '77 Kurbmaster project (w/pics)  (Read 20090 times)

Offline UglyDucK

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'77 Kurbmaster project (w/pics)
« on: June 15, 2011, 09:58:21 PM »
hi guys,
this is my '77 kurbmaster project van, im not sure what she is going to end up being, but im thinking short term at least a "hot rod lemonade truck" so she maybe can help pay for herself a little bit.... heres a lot of pics to start off with, shes a beast, but i love her, and think she will be pretty awesome when i get her done!




this is her when i got her home.... i actually drove her from charlotte to fayetteville at a blistering 45mph (thanks to the 513 rearend)
lol, thats 9 hours i hope to never repeat!!!! she did pretty good, didnt use any oil, never over heated, trans worked great, even up and down the hills....

Offline UglyDucK

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Re: '77 Kurbmaster project (w/pics)
« Reply #1 on: June 15, 2011, 10:03:01 PM »
i know technically she isnt a chevy, but from the frame down she is pure bowtie, based on a '77 chevy c30 forward control w/independent front suspension, SRW 1 ton....... a 350sb, turbo 400 trans, and the world famous gm 14 bolt ff rear end (10.5")

did i mention she gets horrible MPG, has no power steering (yet), is an easy bake oven under the summer sun, and tears the roads up with a 45mph top speed.....

but truth be told.... this is hands down, the funnest vehicle i have ever owned/driven !!

she sat for 2 years before i bought her, and the old quadrajunk was toast, gas(about 2 gallons) in the tank smelled like turpentine, i poured in 5 gallons of fresh gas, soaked the carb down with carb cleaner, put a battery in, turned the key, and hit her with a shot of ether.... she rumbled and grumbled for about 20 seconds and died, lol....... i repeated again and she lasted for about a minute, repeated again, and again, and finally on the 5th try i got her to idle somewhat frantically playing with the gas pedal to do it......

she wouldnt fire without the ether, looking back im sure now i had to pump the dead gas out of the lines, but she finally came to somewhat a decent (rough) idle on her own, and after about 15 minutes i could actually rev the motor without her dieing on me.....

i put her in gear and the trans felt decent at least, so i drove her around the field a couple of times.... rough and grumbling, but she was staying running, and seemed to be shifting ok.... so i headed for the gas station and filled her up, and started heading home...

she ran rough, coughed a few times, spit and sputtered at me.... and backfired every time i moved the gas pedal... but she was moving under her own power, and i was grinning bigger and bigger the farther from charlotte i got (actually e. flat rock, an hour west of charlotte)

like i said, the q-jet was toast, 34 years of use, and a couple of abuse, it just didnt have much life left, so i bit the bullet, and treated her to a new holly....everyone tells me i jumped the gun with the new carb, but i just couldnt see spending to rebuild the q-jet, just to swap it out a few months later for the holly anyway.....
and yes, i ran about 4 tanks of gas through the tank, new pump, new filter, lines etc.....she runs a million times better now with the new carb and pump, i think it was the right way to do it.....

 
« Last Edit: June 15, 2011, 10:26:02 PM by UglyDucK »

Offline JohnnyCanuck

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Re: '77 Kurbmaster project (w/pics)
« Reply #2 on: June 15, 2011, 10:22:59 PM »
nice, has some potential.  What's the inside look like?
1978 GMC k20 Sierra Grande Camper Special 454
1990 GMC 1/2 4X4 on propane/gas

Offline UglyDucK

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Re: '77 Kurbmaster project (w/pics)
« Reply #3 on: June 15, 2011, 10:37:34 PM »
lol, still pretty rough right now, im getting all the drive train and mechanical things out of the way first......




basically just a big empty box right now, lol

doing a little wiring under the dash right now, that seat has got to go !!!

« Last Edit: June 15, 2011, 10:39:16 PM by UglyDucK »

Offline 1980c10

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Re: '77 Kurbmaster project (w/pics)
« Reply #4 on: June 15, 2011, 10:46:19 PM »
nice find, that could make a great motor home/tailgate machine/toy hauler.

Offline Grim 82

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Re: '77 Kurbmaster project (w/pics)
« Reply #5 on: June 15, 2011, 11:34:03 PM »
That's awesome. You should really up-armor it A-team style.
Give a man a gun, and he might rob a bank. Give a man a bank, and he might rob the world.

Offline big bear

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Re: '77 Kurbmaster project (w/pics)
« Reply #6 on: June 15, 2011, 11:55:42 PM »
awesome man......i like

Offline UglyDucK

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Re: '77 Kurbmaster project (w/pics)
« Reply #7 on: June 16, 2011, 12:07:16 AM »
im currently waiting for my shop to get done with the rear end, went from 513's up to 456's, that and hopefully an overdrive trans in the near future will have me sailing easy down the highway.... right now she screams at anything over 45ish, lol

but in the city and around town i couldnt ask for a better gear then a 513..... almost to point of being zippy in traffic... i hope i dont loose that with the 456's.......


i think this is the neatest thing pulling the axles without taking wheels off, i know its common place with these big rear ends, but still neat....


heres the belly of the beast, these 513's were wore slam out, howled and growled every inch she moved, lol.... everything else was in surprisingly great shape, but replaced non the less....
 

this turned out to be a week long issue in the shop..... we didnt realize there were two different carriers, 456 and up, and 411 and down, the first gear set was 411's, and after a few minutes of wrestling with it figured out something wasnt right..... so we sat down, did some more homework, and figured out the different carriers, so a set of 456's were ordered, but they were not in stock and had to be sent in...

lol, im not really complaining though, when the shop hand was putting the pinion back in place, he set it in and then stepped back to look at it, and the pinion assembly went bouncing across the floor, taking chunks of concrete with it...... so a new set of gears were in order anyway  

lol, moral of that story is...put your own dang pinions in !!, lol
« Last Edit: June 16, 2011, 12:18:44 AM by UglyDucK »

Offline UglyDucK

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Re: '77 Kurbmaster project (w/pics)
« Reply #8 on: June 16, 2011, 12:35:37 AM »
That's awesome. You should really up-armor it A-team style.

lol, its funny you say that, one of the ideas im tossing around is a zombie response van, lol........

Offline UglyDucK

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Re: '77 Kurbmaster project (w/pics)
« Reply #9 on: June 16, 2011, 12:56:55 AM »
i spent a month stripping paint in prep for whatever i finally decide on..... the ol' girl had 8 layers of paint from the years gone by, and dried out on top of it........i think single stage fleet paint is the worst thing you can put on any vehicle!

some of the paint layers took two apps of stripper to get it off, im about 90% done with the stripping, just got burned out on it and had to go on to something else, lol.......



sooo many small crooks and crannies up on the front end, the sides were just pure acreage, but fairly easy to work with...




the back, around the windshield, and the door are really the only areas that need significantly more attention.....

Offline UglyDucK

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Re: '77 Kurbmaster project (w/pics)
« Reply #10 on: June 16, 2011, 01:08:39 AM »
of course, sitting around one evening i started wondering..... wonder what she would look like with no paint, just polish her out....

here is my official test area after a couple of hours...... im not 100% sold on the polishing, but thats the way im leaning.... i know it will be a PITA to get it done, and will need a lot of up keep, but the dazzle factor makes up for all that !!....





i cant believe how awesome the grill looks, and its still not done, just sort of played around with it to see how it would look.....
yea, i like that sparkle :)

Offline UglyDucK

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Re: '77 Kurbmaster project (w/pics)
« Reply #11 on: June 16, 2011, 01:33:10 AM »
lets see.... all in all the project is going smoothly yet slower then i would like....

heres a rundown of everything ive done so far, trying to get all the "expendables" squared away before i start on any foo foo stuff....

replaced-

shocks
rear gears
rear wheel bearings
carrier bearing
starter
fuel pump
fuel filter
alternator
carburetor
master cylinder
trans cooler

sort term sub projects-

front wheel bearings
power steering swap
steering column
tires/rims
rewire dash and clearance lights
paint the cab area
replace all window glass

open ended projects-

air conditioning
stitch weld 2x2 channel to walls for studs to install insulation and interior walls
have holes in walls now welded up
rooftop a/c for use off of genset
headers/exhaust with possibly side pipes

and im sure there is a ton of other stuff i have forgot since i first thought about it, lol

Offline UglyDucK

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Re: '77 Kurbmaster project (w/pics)
« Reply #12 on: June 16, 2011, 01:44:21 AM »
nice find, that could make a great motor home/tailgate machine/toy hauler.

lol, she may end up being all three!
it took me 9 months of steady searching to find her, she has the outside dimensions of a long bed pick up, so she fits nicely into parking spots and so far, even with the non power steering, she has been fairly easy to navigate around town...

Offline big bear

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Re: '77 Kurbmaster project (w/pics)
« Reply #13 on: June 16, 2011, 07:48:56 AM »
this is so sweet.....you know as i was reading this thread, i was thinking, man, hes sanding and stripping this paint,  that is looking sick just all polished looking.  i say do it .

Offline 1980c10

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Re: '77 Kurbmaster project (w/pics)
« Reply #14 on: June 16, 2011, 12:25:41 PM »
nice find, that could make a great motor home/tailgate machine/toy hauler.

lol, she may end up being all three!
it took me 9 months of steady searching to find her, she has the outside dimensions of a long bed pick up, so she fits nicely into parking spots and so far, even with the non power steering, she has been fairly easy to navigate around town...

That's what I meant was to be all three. looking good.
found this on craigslist and maybe it'll give you some ideas;
http://eauclaire.craigslist.org/rvs/2436096843.html