Where to begin?
Just on my 66 K-20:
The original motor was removed with a cutting torch. Cut through the metal motor stands.
Another motor (I think a big block and automatic) was welded into place, and the top part of the frame was cut away for header clearance on both sides. There was a bracket welded on the side of the frame for a pivot for an auto shifter. After running it this way for a couple of years, they put the old motor back in - by tack welding the old motor stands back together.
The front springs were broken - then welded back together (really stupid). The spring clamps that hold the springs together - welded onto the spring.
The rear cab mounts were the rubber shear type mounts that fail rapidly. This was replaced by a 2x4 between the cab and the frame.
The truck had been worked hard - hard enough that the cab was cracked in several places. After pulling it apart enough, I determined that the cab could not be saved. One of the cracks went between the drivers side A-pillar and the hole for the transmission hump - you could see the ground. There was no connection between the top and bottom of the cab on the drivers side - on the front half of the cab.
The drivers side A-pillar had been ripped off the body - then reattached with pop-rivets. The door - which is attached to the a-pillar - wouldn't close unless you physically lifted it into position to latch.
The cab floor pans had been ripped from its connection to the cab, so it was reattached with angle iron.
It looked as if someone tried to take the top of the cab off at some point - with a crowbar. When I took the cab to a friend of mine at the junkyard for him to crush, he couldn't stop laughing. Only one short piece of sheetmetal held the top and bottom of the cab together.
The original bed - a long stepside - was long gone. In its place was a fleetside bed. The bed rails were literally beaten down several inches all along each side of the bed. It looked like someone had taken a sledgehammer to each bedrail. It was apparently also used by a painting contractor at some time, because of all of the different color drips of paint. The clearance for the rear tires was accomplished by using a cutting torch to "radius" the rear wheel wells. There wasn't a single usable panel on that whole bed. The whole thing was cut up and sent to the dump. Oh by the way - there was no bedwood left. At all.
The tailgate looked like a potato chip - it must have been run over by dumptrucks a lot. All the spot welds that held it together were broken, so the maniac with the welder went to work on it again. He blew several holes through the sheetmetal, and never bothered to paint over his work - so each weld rusted away.
The motor barely ran. It had several collapsed lifters and burnt valves. It usually took 20 minutes of gas, starter fluid and a large battery charger to get it to finally run. It only ran on 5 cylinders when it would run, and looked like a mosquito fogger from all the smoke it put out.
The only reason I bought it was for the axles, transfercase and frame. The axles ended up being in such bad shape that I had to replace them completely. So I ended up buying - essentially - a frame and a transfercase. The rest of it I had to haul to the dump. I still have the motor, but I don't know why.
