Thread: 1972 Chevy K30 Longhorn Build

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I cut out the last old cross member and welded in the new one. I also mocked up my fuel tank to see how much room I'm going to have. I think it's going to fit fine.

Coming along nicely Ryan! Angle is goofy on the 2nd pic, no clearance issues on the tank and the center section, is there??

Originally Posted by Dave Severson

Coming along nicely Ryan! Angle is goofy on the 2nd pic, no clearance issues on the tank and the center section, is there??

Thanks Dave. I don't think there will be until it's fully aired out. I'm planning moving the rear axle back 1" more to get the tire centered in the wheel well and to get a little more clearance in between the cab and box. Then it might be getting close. Exhaust is going to be a whole other issue........

This shaping up into a super nice hauler

Originally Posted by The Bat

This shaping up into a super nice hauler

Thanks Bat!

I worked on this truck a little bit inbetween projects a couple weeks ago. I removed the rear suspension, cut out the 2 rear boxing plates, ground them to fit, and beveled them and the frame flange to ensure a strong weld after I finish grind the welds to make it look purdy.

Purdy....

Looks good Ryan and the boxing plates really add to the strength!

Thanks guys. The plates are out of 1/4" and I will be boxing all the way up to behind the front leaf spring shackles.

WOW, 1/4" is stout! Also = HEAVY!

Originally Posted by 34_40

WOW, 1/4" is stout! Also = HEAVY!

It'll be interesting to see what it weighs when it's done compared to another 72 K20. The steel floor, boxed frame, diesel engine and heavier drivetrain, I'm guessing 6500-6800lbs. We shall see though. My 95 F-350 crew cab with a cummins weighs 7340lbs with a 1/4 tank of fuel and it isn't build out of old school sheet metal.

I really dropped the ball updating this thread and getting on here. Sorry guys. The past month have been really crazy. But, this truck moves under it's own power now! I'll get this thread up to date now.

Installed zero rate add a leaves in the front to move the front axle forward to center the axle in the wheel well.




Next I swapped the steering arm on the front axle because this is a Dodge front axle and the steering arms are different. Chevy one installed.



Now I moved on to welding the weld washers to my 4 link brackets.







Next I started welding on the 4 link suspension hangers.





Welding holes shut in the frame.




More hanger pics.





Installed boxing plates to the next cross member.



Welded gussets in hangers.





Finished gooseneck hitch capping top of frame.




Frame boxed up to behind front spring shackles.

Nice! Very nice Ryan!

Sat box on to get rear end centered to set up rear suspension so I could tack everything together and cut my tubing for the link bars.






Welded weldments in the DOM.



Bed back off





Installing air bag brackets.



Installing panhard bar.




Shocks mounted



Side shot of suspension

I had one of my buddies paint an old style shop logo on the door because I've always thought it was cool. He did an awesome job!



My brother sanded and polished my valve cover, then repainted it.




I hated my first trans cross member and after we boxed the frame it wouldn't work. So, I built this instead.




New trans mount



Cross member installed. This was a lot of drilling.




The intercooler was up too high in the radiator support and hit the hood latch. We had to cut the lower portion of the support out and add metal so we could get the intercooler low enough to retain the stock hood latch set up. Then we added gussets to the support to add strength to it.






Due to these changes, my intercooler tubes were now too short. So we fixed that too.




Welding up rear axle and boxing air bag upper mounts.





Finished upper pan hard bracket.



Added another cross member for support under cab.



Added gussets to keep frame from moving in a diamond shape. (I doubt it'd ever do this anyway)