1968 Chevy K10 SWB Overlander

[TwinDuro]

Oh man Snekvasil, what an awesome build! I love the approach you've taken in building this truck, the family history, and how you use it for both work and play. It seems like a good number of trucks from this era get relegated to "light duty" status, so seeing you and your killer K10 out doing what these rigs were intended for is the pinnacle of awesome. I love the bed-rack setup and rear swing-outs. Beautiful work! Definitely one of the coolest rigs on Expo in my humble opinion!

I just read your thread all the way through, start to finish (currently getting over the flu, have some spare time ) and totally dig it! Your, Larry's and Chilli's trucks/burbs have been huge inspiration to me as I start on my own '92 K1500 RCSB (5.7 TBI, NV4500, 241C) project.

The new split manifolds and exhaust sound killer BTW! :elkgrin:

Also, any more thoughts on the roof top tent? I was fortunate to have use of a friend's CVT Mt. Cayley tent during this past year and over the course of half a dozen camping trips, really came to love it (vs. sleeping on the ground). It has a few ups and downs as most things do, but nothing that would keep me from getting one myself in the future. I tested it in all the conditions I could from the deep snow up around Mt. Rainer, to pounding PNW rain, to the wide-open "dang, I didn't know wind could do that!" desert near Bishop, CA, and came away pretty impressed.

Although, admittingly, ever since I learned about pop-up campers from Larry's K10 thread, I haven't been quite been the same since... :drool:

Keep up the great work and can't wait to hear about your next adventure!

 

[snekvasil]

Also, any more thoughts on the roof top tent? I was fortunate to have use of a friend's CVT Mt. Cayley tent during this past year and over the course of half a dozen camping trips, really came to love it (vs. sleeping on the ground). It has a few ups and downs as most things do, but nothing that would keep me from getting one myself in the future. I tested it in all the conditions I could from the deep snow up around Mt. Rainer, to pounding PNW rain, to the wide-open "dang, I didn't know wind could do that!" desert near Bishop, CA, and came away pretty impressed.

You sure you're not a sales rep for CVT? I have been thinking about roof top tents for a while now. It's just not a priority at this time. If I HAD to choose a tent tomorrow, I'd go with a ruggedized tent from Tepui cuz I like the look and price the best. But, as for now, I'll be sleeping on the ground.

 

[TwinDuro]

You sure you're not a sales rep for CVT? I have been thinking about roof top tents for a while now. It's just not a priority at this time. If I HAD to choose a tent tomorrow, I'd go with a ruggedized tent from Tepui cuz I like the look and price the best. But, as for now, I'll be sleeping on the ground.

I wish, but no sirree, just had a good time with one (which I unfortunately had to give back to it's rightful owner a few weeks ago ) I'd never heard of the Tepui brand tents before, and just took a look, and really like what I see. The telescoping (tubular) ladder design definetly looks like an improvement over many of the other tent brands extruded units as well. Lots of neat little details on the Tepui tents for sure!

 

[snekvasil]

Suspension Upgrade

Hey all. Small upgrade to share that has had a HUGE impact on the quality of drivability for my K10.

First things first: I owe a huge thank you to Nick (NO1BN). He has been my main contact for this upgrade. I've emailed him with many, many questions. Thanks for your help, Nick.

So when I first got the truck, I had some nasty old ones. I didn't have a lot of money, and even less know-how, so I bought some cheap Ranchos. Here are some shots of the old shocks and then the Ranchos I installed.

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Here's what my Ranchos looked like after I installed the lift:

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The shock was too short--and the shock towers are already ridiculously short on these 68s, so I had to change it up. I also knew I needed a higher quality shock. So the solution was to add a Ford Super Duty shock tower to the frame in order to increase the length of shock. I bought a set of these on eBay. Per Nick's guidance, I knew the most difficult part would be cutting the inner wheel fender and getting the proper length of shock.

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Here's the end result...only 2 pics so far because I've only driven it once since getting the new shocks on but WHAT A DIFFERENCE! I am no longer hitting the ceiling in the cab from having such a bouncy ride. I was planning on going with Fox shocks, but I scored a really good deal on the Rancho RS9000XL. They're adjustable which I haven't messed with yet, but I'll do a writeup when I drive them more.

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[Bushcoat]

awesome!

 

[Bojak]

Awesome and still the best truck on here. So did you upgrade just the rear shocks or all 4? Let us know how the Ranchos do over time.

 

[justcuz]

Years ago I had a buddy who had a 292 and an SM420 in a 2wd 3/4 ton long bed truck. He rebuilt it and I believe it had a .060 overbore. It netted out to be 302 after the bore. He installed a split exhaust manifold, bigger exhaust with Corvair turbo mufflers and a 4 barrel intake and I believe a Sissel camshaft with some mild head porting.

I've always been a V8 guy, but that built big six ireally mpressed me!

 

[snekvasil]

Awesome and still the best truck on here. So did you upgrade just the rear shocks or all 4? Let us know how the Ranchos do over time.

All 4. Hopefully they work well. I'm hoping to give them a good test in the next week. They are already much more enjoyable than my previous shocks.

 

[balexander87]

Any updates? Hope you've been getting lots of good use out of this incredible rig! Every time I show this thread to someone new, they all say the same thing: "Wow! That thing is awesome!! The fab work looks amazing!"

Couldn't agree more!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[SwampStomper]

Ive been lurking this forum since like 2008, and somehow missed this one. ************************. Definitely the coolest thing I'll see all day. In my neck of the woods any old shortbed k10 was long ago hacked up on boggers and run into a redclay mudhole.

 

[bald.eagle]

This is a really cool build! Love that generation of GM trucks. Seems like they're usually either run ragged, or restored as hot rods- cool to see one being used like a truck!

 

[snekvasil]

February 2017

Nothing too exciting to report. The truck has sat quietly most of the winter with all of the salt on the roads. I did have an interesting day the other week--the pump relay went out while I was on the interstate. It was in a construction zone (single lane) so the traffic was backed up for miles. Not fun. But thankfully it was an easy fix. I had to relocate the relay to under the dash inside the cab...it was originally on one of my fenders and I think it was just too exposed to constant bumping around and moisture. I think it will be much more protected in the cab under the dash.

I've been brainstorming on my next project. This spring, I would like to get a winch stuffed up behind my current bumper. I'm going for the hidden winch look because I really like the stock bumper. These two trucks have been my models I'm going to borrow from. The red/orange burb is from a fellow member on this site--Mosesburb. The blue blazer is an unknown guy from the 67-72 chevy forum.

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I'm looking at the Warn VR10000 (10k pounds). If any of you have any knowledge on winches, please school me. This equipment is pretty new to me.

As a side note...any tips on extra lighting for this truck that won't totally destroy the classic look? I like the idea of putting a light bar in one of the grill slits because it wouldn't be that noticeable. Any feedback appreciated from you guys!

 

[warrpath4x4]

that blue one is vtblazer over on CK5.com if I remember right it is all tube work behind that stock bumper.

 

[snekvasil]

that blue one is vtblazer over on CK5.com if I remember right it is all tube work behind that stock bumper.

You're right...I saved all the pics from the 67-72 forum. It looks like he basically made a tube bumper behind the original one.

 

[snekvasil]

that blue one is vtblazer over on CK5.com if I remember right it is all tube work behind that stock bumper.

Here's a pic of the tube work: