"Yona" 1983 K10 Heavy Half. -VA- Ultra low budget beater build.

[kursed]

So I just picked up my first ever K10. I've owned about 15 67-72 C10s swb and lwb fleets, 1 76 GMC C10 swb step, and now my first K.

Named her "Yona," Cherokee word for Bear, because she's big and grumpy. Traded an old 98 Civic sedan with 181K miles that we haven't used in over a year for the truck.

1983 "Heavy Half" K10
* 350 engine (stock internals as far as I know. Zero documentation included with truck, so everything is a best guess)
* sm465 4speed
* np208 transfer (K10s are new to me, so I'm not 100% sure on this one.)

So far she has lived a slightly abused life and has been mentally tortured at the hands of Redneck Engineering. No big plans for now, just trying to un-Jerry Rig all the original owner's so called "fixes" at the moment.

She had a huge speaker box with some junk subwoofers behind the seat. Stereo wiring ALL OVER the cab and engine bay, and none of it was done correctly. One of the amp wires was just twisted around the positive terminal of the battery for example.

So I'll start with some pictures of what I have had going on in the week that I've owned her.


Got her home. Ran her through the car wash on the way to hose off a years worth of mud build up. Notice that "Redneck Engineering" I was speaking of? Yeah, gotta love a sandwiched double 2x6 front bumper. LOL! Maybe a steel tube bumper in the future? Who knows.


First task was a new Holley 600 to replace the worn out Edelbrock 1406 that was on it. Also slapped on a new air filter, fuel filter, and plugs while I was in there. Tweaked the timing and she was running better than she has in a LONG time.



Found a neat looking spider while working in the engine bay.





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[kursed]

Think the plugs were well done and ready to eat. I'm the one oddball I know that only runs Autolite plugs in my old Chevys, but it works so why change?


This is the ONLY sticker in the glove box. The original parts I.D. decal is long gone which is a huge bummer. Original paint was a dark maroon or burgundy. I'm assuming it was "Carmine Red" from some of the paint chips I've seen so far?


Old front side markers were garbage. So I threw a few dollars at eBay and got some brand new shiney made in Taiwan replacement lenses. Good enough for a work truck.




Same deal on the tail light lenses. At least they weren't broken, so I'll polish them up and keep for back-ups. Didn't really care for the aluminum trim, so I put those back in the box for someone else. Caught a glimpse of my reflection in the new lenses and nearly gave myself a heart attack!




Here are a few more examples of that high quality "custom" work I was talking about earlier. HAHA! Speaker box material covering the door panels and dash, and poorly done at that. Seams and glue EVERYWHERE! Hacked up holes in the gauge cluster for an aftermarket CD player, an antique trailer brake control, and a super cool high dollar horn button.
Also notice the vent windows which have been completely glued shut using two different colors (black and clear) of RTV sealant. WTH is wrong with some people? LOL. At some point in her life, someone attacked the lower dash with a can of splatter spray paint. Someone has removed most of it, but the evidence still remains.












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[kursed]

The nicest part on the truck when I got her and sadly it seems so out of place in there. A Budnik Switchblade steering wheel. Soon to be replaced with a stock Chevy wheel. I have a 1990 Cavalier steering wheel here at the house I may use, but more than likely she will get a stock 73-87 wheel as I spotted at least two in near perfect condition at my favorite local junkyard today.


Next item on my replace list was the cheesy chrome skull door lock knobs. I scored some good stock knobs at the junkyard today and they went on without haste.



Spent about an hour in my local junkyard today and came home with 2 tan door panels, 2 brown sunvisors, 2 door lock knobs, 2 gauge bezels (1 of which that I will use is in EXCELLENT shape), and 2 67-72 C10 hubcaps that will get cleaned and polished for man cave wall art. All for about $30






Scrubbing the visors tonight. Will post more pics tomorrow when I get a chance.

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[kursed]

I absolutely HATE flat black on cars and bikes. Im sick and tired of seeing it on everything from Honda ricers to lowered Ford Rangers to actual hot rods. So I was debating doing a rattle bomb spray job with a satin brownish color, just for something clean and different. I picked up a can of Rustoleum "Antique Brass Metallic" and it looks decent, but I'm not sure the 'DooDoo Brown" color is the look I'm after either.



Did a quick Photoshop on my phone to see if I would like the whole truck in brown, and the more I look at it, the less I like it.


So I passed a K10 with a mild lift and 35s on my way to the junkyard today. It was painted OD Green. I've driven plenty of CUCV K10s and K5s during my 8 years in the Army, so I thought why not just go OD Green.

Found these two really nice examples of OD Green K models on the interwebs for reference. Just the color, I'm not planning on any lift or huge tires.



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[bladerunner]

Truck looks solid. Nice job getting her back to stock trim.

[bake74]

     REDNECK ENGINEERING,  that my friend is a understatement in your case.  But you know, what ever gets people through life I guess.  I am glad to see you bringing her back around and from the dead though.  LOL

[cvbear]

Looks like you are making lots of progress.  Our truck had the same treatment on the vent windows!  Hacked dashes for the stereo are more common than not in my experience.  Certainly not unusual.  Good news for you is that the easy, relatively cheap projects you are doing now will make a big difference in a short time.

[FlatBlack77]

i hate seeing old vehicles that get all kinds of tacky/bad taste "mods" but looks like your off to a good start takin care of them!

a tube bumper would be pretty sweet for that tough look

[kursed]

Thanks for all the compliments guys. I ended up fighting some sort of stomach bug today, so I didn't get much accomplished. I did tinker with the new gauge bezel some. I tried going over the highlights with a silver Sharpie marker. Then I realized it was white and not silver, LOL! The silver actually blends in with the white just fine, but I will go back over it with a white paint pen tomorrow instead. These are the "before" photos to show what im talking about with the highlights. Some of the white has been rubbed off over the years.



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[kursed]

Re-paintedd the white trim on the gauge bezel. I think it may have been silver after all. Oh well, white looks good too.


Cleaned the funk off the junkyard door panels. Wiped them down with window cleaner. Sprayed them with Duplicolor fabric and vinyl paint in "'Desert Tan." Here's a comparison shot to see the before and after. I ordered new window felts and lock knob grommets.





Picked up some OD Green spray bomb. Tried it on a small spot and like it so I will be doing to whole truck with this.


Put some tie down anchors in the stake pockets.


Last, but not least, put a sticker on the back glass.


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[bake74]

     That before and after shot of the door panels, is all you did was use window cleaner on it ?  The one on the right looks brand new.  Nice job.

[kursed]

     That before and after shot of the door panels, is all you did was use window cleaner on it ?  The one on the right looks brand new.  Nice job.

Step #1 - I scrubbed it in hot soapy water (using Dawn dishwashing soap as my soap) in the bath tub. Then rinsed it off really well with hot water and the shower nozel.

Step #2 - After letting it dry well in the sun, I wiped the whole door panel down with Stoners Invisible Glass in the aerosol can and lint free paper towels (the blue Scotts towels usually work well). Normal squirt bottle will work also. I normally prefer windex when painting, but didn't have any available. I have been told glass cleaners won't work as a paint prep and that I need to buy all sorts of chemical solvents to clean and prep the surface with before painting. Funny though, as I've been doing custom paint for years on helmets and motorcycle tanks and all I've ever used as a prep cleaner is glass cleaner and I've NEVER had any issues.


Step #3 - I sprayed the door panels with Duplicolor fabric and vinyl paint in "'Desert Tan" color.


NOTE* They look MUCH better in pictures than in person. The paint looks great don't get me wrong, but I didn't scuff out any scratch marks before shooting them so there are noticeable scuffs and scratches here and there. This is not meant to be a show truck so it was good enough for my particular job. They still look pretty darn good though.

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[kursed]

The second and final sticker for my back glass.



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[bake74]

     Ok, I am going out on a limb here since I am across the country.  I will make a guess, the first one is for "white castle" ?  The second one I have no idea what it is for.  Help me out ?

[FlatBlack77]

yeah im drawin a blank on the stickers