Found Some Goodies...

[1972RedNeck]

Ran to Idaho last week to pick up some parts for my '72 K20...

IMG_20170807_201520[1].jpg

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[bigblockv6]

Looks to be a 67 305E with cross member, you got the right parts for the conversion. One question to ask you is will you be using the 305E water pump housing rather than the one from the 478M? The 67-72 trucks are a lower profile design and in order to use a belt driven fan you will need the lower mounting 305E water pump housing which will also require eliminating the 3 piece timing gear set and replacing it with the 305,351 or 379 double roller chain & sprockets, I went through this with my 478M conversion on my 68 K2500. I wasted a lot of time on trying to modify the light duty water pump housing to accept the gear drive which ended up in failure twice and 4 hacked up housings. Finally I broke down and switched to the double roller chain drive which works just fine in the light duty application. You will have to cap of the center idler shaft hole with 1 1/8 freeze plug so no oil pressure will be lost. I'll be happy to help with advice on this conversion I've done it.

[1972RedNeck]

Originally Posted by bigblockv6

Looks to be a 67 305E with cross member, you got the right parts for the conversion. One question to ask you is will you be using the 305E water pump housing rather than the one from the 478M? The 67-72 trucks are a lower profile design and in order to use a belt driven fan you will need the lower mounting 305E water pump housing which will also require eliminating the 3 piece timing gear set and replacing it with the 305,351 or 379 double roller chain & sprockets, I went through this with my 478M conversion on my 68 K2500. I wasted a lot of time on trying to modify the light duty water pump housing to accept the gear drive which ended up in failure twice and 4 hacked up housings. Finally I broke down and switched to the double roller chain drive which works just fine in the light duty application. You will have to cap of the center idler shaft hole with 1 1/8 freeze plug so no oil pressure will be lost. I'll be happy to help with advice on this conversion I've done it.

I'll definitely come asking you when I get there. I was planning on using the double roller chain and sprockets. The main reason I got this 305 is so I could strip the 478 down to a bare long block and install all the pickup specific parts (water pump, thermostat housing, alternator bracket, engine mounts, etc).

[bigblockv6]

Sounds good to me, these pics I'm posting will resemble what you conversion will look like.

[1972RedNeck]

Those pictures have been my inspiration for quite some time.

[bigblockv6]

On my upper radiator hose I chose to keep the full three piece setup identical to the original including clamps. If that's not a concern for you a real good clean alternative is to use a 292 inline six upper radiator hose and a 70's to early 80's traditional Pontiac V8 thermostat housing like it this second pic from Bob Brays 67 pickup.

[1972RedNeck]

Originally Posted by bigblockv6

On my upper radiator hose I chose to keep the full three piece setup identical to the original including clamps. If that's not a concern for you a real good clean alternative is to use a 292 inline six upper radiator hose and a 70's to early 80's traditional Pontiac V8 thermostat housing like it this second pic from Bob Brays 67 pickup.

I got the original 3 piece setup as well. Where did you get your hoses?

[bigblockv6]

I got them from NAPA quite a few years ago, I'm sure they're still available from other sources. I took the old metal pipe that was rotting away o a muffler shop and they perfectly replicated the new pipe for me. Other than a few visual enhancements like the Chrome Valve covers, K&N air cleaner, HEI ignition and Holley carb I chose to keep the rest of details spot on to the original factory details right down to the yellow painted exhaust manifolds!Recently I bought an NOS sealed Delco Y59 Battery for it, the exact same type battery it came with when new.

[1972RedNeck]

Originally Posted by bigblockv6

I got them from NAPA quite a few years ago, I'm sure they're still available from other sources. I took the old metal pipe that was rotting away o a muffler shop and they perfectly replicated the new pipe for me. Other than a few visual enhancements like the Chrome Valve covers, K&N air cleaner, HEI ignition and Holley carb I chose to keep the rest of details spot on to the original factory details right down to the yellow painted exhaust manifolds!Recently I bought an NOS sealed Delco Y59 Battery for it, the exact same type battery it came with when new.

I to am going for the completely stock look (outside of HEI and the much needed 4 bbl mod) with well built internals (530+ cubic inches) and maybe a set of custom headers.

[Ed Snyder]

Originally Posted by bigblockv6

One question to ask you is will you be using the 305E water pump housing rather than the one from the 478M? The 67-72 trucks are a lower profile design and in order to use a belt driven fan you will need the lower mounting 305E water pump housing which will also require eliminating the 3 piece timing gear set and replacing it with the 305, 351 or 379 double roller chain & sprockets.

Another option for you if you'd rather keep the gear drive is to eliminate the engine driven fan and go to a radiator-mounted electric fan. That's what I did on my '62 Suburban with the 401.

Of course, if you're trying to maintain original appearance, Pete's advice is the way to go.