Finally, a squarebody forum!

[bucket]

I went to autozone and oreilley today and neither could find any for me. The guy at oreiily said he just uses bolts through from the fan clutch..

Howdy from Ohio!

There are usually stud kits in the Help!/Dorman area. Also, many hardware stores like Ace stock hardened automotive type studs. They should be 3/8", fine thread from what I recall. Or maybe 5/16"... I'm having a brain fart right now.

What part of Illinois? A member here @Kim Burke told me about a great radiator shop in the Danville area, but I've never been there yet.

 

[BoxT86]

What part of Illinois? A member here @Kim Burke told me about a great radiator shop in the Danville area, but I've never been there yet.

Central, we've got a good one over in Springfield too, a-z radiator. They worked on radiators when I was a kid, took a radiator from my old 64 massey to them a few years ago after I drove a stake through it. They told me next time use the bucket instead of the radiator.. i agreed. I'm taking this radiator I found in the bed to them next week, they'll get it right.

 

[496bb]

Welcome and Hey from Bama!

 

[David King]

Welcome from the FL Panhandle!

 

[legopnuematic]

Welcome from Missouri.

 

[Mr Clean]

 

[ChuckN]

Central, we've got a good one over in Springfield too, a-z radiator. They worked on radiators when I was a kid, took a radiator from my old 64 massey to them a few years ago after I drove a stake through it. They told me next time use the bucket instead of the radiator.. i agreed. I'm taking this radiator I found in the bed to them next week, they'll get it right.

Welcome! Maybe bring them a box of donuts, those shops aren’t as easy to come by as they used to be.

Nice truck!

 

[86 C10 Shortbed]

Welcome from Central Ohio

 

[dhartman]

Welcome from Michigan.

I can talk first hand about the project with the kiddo. My son and I doing that right now with his truck. From the pics looks like you have a great starting point.

1 piece of advice take it slow and enjoy the ride. Trying to move to fast you make dumb mistakes.

There is a "under construction " thread that you can post about you progress. Look forward to seeing you build up and eventually the restore.

 

[Fr8dog]

Welcome from Utah!

Btw, with that 400 sbc short block you have, if you run non oem 400 sbc heads, any other heads won’t have the steam holes drilled. This gets into an interesting discussion about the pros and cons of drilling but it’s worth looking into. Here’s a link on the topic:

Felpro gasket for 400 SBC restricts coolant passages - why? - Don Terrill’s Speed-Talk

 

[AuroraGirl]

Hey, Chris in Illinois here. Well, it appears this forum has been here a while but I just found it.

I picked up an 86 K20 a few years ago. I'm finally getting started on getting it going. The kid I bought it from was mid process swapping the diesel for a SB 400. It's basically a short block so I've been trying to get parts to finish out the engine.

So, there's a newish water pump on it with no studs, so I need to find those.

I already installed a new alternator. I have a new power steering pump and hoses. They arrived yesterday, I'm hoping my ebay bracket will fit the small block and ps pump with reservoir and hydro boost.

I still need to take the, what I assume to be, original radiator laying in the bed in to a shop for cleanup and repair if needed. Also, i have the fan and clutch that I assume is from the diesel. I'm not sure. I also don't know if I can use the fan and clutch from the diesel on the small block...

Lots to do, but worth it. The body isn't great but not terrible either. The goal is to get it up and running enough to make a few off-roading memories with my son, then hopefully restore it with him to be his when he's old enough.

I'm looking forward to learning a lot here from folks that have already done all this and hopefully will not repeat all the mistakes already documented here, along my way.

id check that your pulley's are not close to rotting away, they are thin and if the grooves are worn or the metal is rustying badly, the belts will get cut up from them as they wear more. And your outer pulley can come off its for an AIR pump.

the fuel pump you should make into an edelbrock so you have the right fuel pressure. Unless you have a lot of debris in the tank you should not use a filter inline the fuel supply

 

[BoxT86]

id check that your pulley's are not close to rotting away, they are thin and if the grooves are worn or the metal is rustying badly, the belts will get cut up from them as they wear more. And your outer pulley can come off its for an AIR pump.

the fuel pump you should make into an edelbrock so you have the right fuel pressure. Unless you have a lot of debris in the tank you should not use a filter inline the fuel supply

Thanks, it looks like there is an aftermarket chrome fuel pump on there now, I'll have to checkout what it is and make sure it can provide enough pressure. I do intend to drop the fuel tanks for inspection before using them. I hope at least one of them is clean enough to use. Also, i am unsure if there is a sending unit in those and what I may have to do to make sure it works with the new sb400.

Luckily, the pulleys have some surface rust but are pretty good, a wire brush cleaned up most of it already. I was told the engine came out of an wrecked or abandoned late 70's RV that only had 36k miles on it.

 

[Truck82]

Welcome from Washington!
Nice truck!