My 1985 K10 project

[mogunner]

I bought this truck specifically because it has NO computer controlled crap on it, no fuel injection, no ABS, no airbag...and I can walk into pretty much any auto parts store and get parts for it. 305, had a crappy Edelbrock 4 barrel carb on it when I got it, just recently replaced it with a 1975 model Quadrajet. It has a fair bit of body rust, hence it goes by the moniker of "Rusty".



I swapped an AR for the blue 1986 truck, no motor, trans or transfer case, or title either, but it did come with a like-new bench seat, a 4" Rough Country suspension lift and shocks, rust-free body and 35x12.5x15 tires and aluminum wheels as well as other small parts that I need for Rusty.



Now that the weather has moderated for the warmer here, I basically busted my hump last couple of weeks and managed to build up my sight tool inventory a bit in order to sorta take a "vacation" and work on this as well as a couple other projects that need done before the summer heat sets in. The lift kit is my first focus as well as getting the blue truck stripped down to the frame as I have someone wanting the frame to do a 2wd to 4wd conversion. Since I'm waiting for the new u-bolts to be shipped, I figured I'd take the time and do some "freshening up" on parts as I take them off. Worked on the lift blocks and spring plates yesterday and part of today, hit with a wire brush to get the worst off, then a 3m fine abrasive wheel in a die grinder, then tossed them into the blast cabinet before powdercoating them with "Chassis black" powder.





Upper one after blasting.



Ain't they purty?





Here's the blue truck after today.

[millman]

That is quite a project. Why not just put rusty"s motor in the blue one?

[entropy]

My thoughts exactly. The Edelbrock is a copy of the Holley 4160; an easy to work on and decent carb. There's a reason the other one is called the Quadrajunk. I rebuilt one of them once, never again! Way overengineered.

The truck is coming along nicely!

[Junk Yard Dog]

Some states make your life hell trying to register a vehicle with no paperwork. Here is NY that truck wouldn't be called "rusty". it would be called mint, and I would be smiling with a large roll of cash in my pocket after I sold it. I have a 1985 2500 4wd Chevy out on the lot, later if I remember I will take pictures so I can properly educate you on the true definition of " rusty".

[Junk Yard Dog]

My thoughts exactly. The Edelbrock is a copy of the Holley 4160; an easy to work on and decent carb. There's a reason the other one is called the Quadrajunk. I rebuilt one of them once, never again! Way overengineered.

The truck is coming along nicely!

We called them the quadrashit, I still do a good trade on them when I find one, I sell them on eBay to people who ruined their old ones by letting them sit with ethanol fuel in them.

[mogunner]

That is quite a project. Why not just put rusty"s motor in the blue one?

No title for the blue one, plus the top of the cab has a massive dent, cracked windshield while Rusty has a brand new on last year after I shot a crossbow bolt through it... but that's another story.

[mogunner]

My thoughts exactly. The Edelbrock is a copy of the Holley 4160; an easy to work on and decent carb. There's a reason the other one is called the Quadrajunk. I rebuilt one of them once, never again! Way overengineered.

The truck is coming along nicely!

The Edelbrock is a copy of the AFB, both carbs that I have no use for. They don't give you either performance nor economy. I've rebuilt Quadrajets a number of times and once you learn the few tricks to tuning them, they make one of the best street carbs there is with their small primaries you get good fuel economy and rapid throttle response, yet when you need a big kick in the pants, a stomp on the go-pedal opens up those huge secondaries and you're gone. I went "backwards" on this one purposely, the QJ for an 85 had some added "improvements" that I didn't want, so went back to the mid-70 model. I also dumped the 85 distributor that had the Electronic Spark Control and installed a nice billet one also made for a mid-70's.

[mogunner]

Some states make your life hell trying to register a vehicle with no paperwork. Here is NY that truck wouldn't be called "rusty". it would be called mint, and I would be smiling with a large roll of cash in my pocket after I sold it. I have a 1985 2500 4wd Chevy out on the lot, later if I remember I will take pictures so I can properly educate you on the true definition of " rusty".

[Junk Yard Dog]

You call that "rust"? Will try for pictures later or real rust.

[millman]

That make sense with no title. Careful with that crossbow.

[Junk Yard Dog]

cab floor gone, frame mounts gone, bottom of fenders and cab corner gone, fender wells gone, entire equipment body gone, holes in rood, around windshield, valve covers rusted, radiator support bottomless. Not as bad as the 1938 Ford across from it.

[mogunner]

Plow trucks are always rusted to pieces, just comes with the territory of pushing tons of snow that's been treated with chemicals and usually rock salt. Buddy has one just like that, a Blazer, it literally rusted in two. He bought it for the motor then pushed it into the woods, came out one day and it was sitting on the ground...in the middle.

[Junk Yard Dog]

That one never plowed anything, it belonged to an estate near here were it was used for grounds maintenance on the property. It was bought by a friend of ours in 1991 with 12,000 or so miles on it and he used it for his construction business. exposure to road salt did that damage, and then sitting 17 years. He didn't plow with it either, but did have a brand new plow blade that came with it, he sold the blade back in the early 90's when these type plow setups were still legal to use. These days it's all quick disconnects that don't do as much damage when vehicles collide.

[mogunner]

New U-bolts for the lift kit arrived yesterday afternoon...so of course it's rained all day here and forecast for tomorrow as well. Not having a garage sucks a lot of the time. I have an area next to the shop where I plan on pouring a slab and putting up a garage but that's down the road a bit.