After patiently awaiting the completion of my 1969 K20, it finally became time for my 1970 K5 to become roadworthy
Having a spare set of tires on 16" rims from the 69 K20, I decided to convert the K5 to 8 lug axles. The 1/2 ton axles were going to require alot of repairs so it made sense to me.
I picked up a 78 3/4 ton 4wd from Teeitup and stripped it's axles and power brake system then sent it to the scrap yard - that truck was rusted beyond belief.
I picked up a Detroit Locker off of a CK5.com boardmember and got it installed in the 14 bolt FF along with relocating the spring perches.
Took some time but finally got the stance how I wanted it by making the rear spring perches a little taller than stock and also using a 2" block.
The prior owner had used 73-up 4" front springs which are too long so I bought a proper set of 4" front springs and installed them.
Initially I believed the 400 small block Chevy motor had a bad rear main seal. I was going to repair it myself but finally decided to have the motor inspected. Good thing I did because it had a bent rod. A friend of a friend rebuilt the motor. Here are some of the specs:
Degress .05" dur 204 Int. 214 Exh., Degrees ADV. dur 278 Int. 288 Exh., Inches Valve Lift Int. .420, Exh. .443, Degrees Lobe Center Int. 107, Exh. 117
Should be a good low end torque cam with the power range of 1000-4500.
The block was bored .020 over and the crank was cleaned up. It now has hypereutectic pistons and with the 882 heads with 76 cc the engine should have a compression ratio of about 9.5:1. These heads came off of a 400 so they have the correct steam holes.
The intake is an Eldebrock Performer and the carb is a Jet Stage II 750 cfm quadrajet.
The motor came back about a month later and then set while I found more free time to work on the 70 K5.
While the motor was out I cleaned up the engine bay and sprayed it black
Finally got around to reinstalling the motor.
Ended up with a short somewhere and as the wires in the engine bay were hacked up and brittle, I ordered up new harnesses. Also along the way, I replaced all of the body rubber mounts and put in an NP205 to replace this missing in action Dana 20.
