Check Out This Beautifully Restored 1972 Chevy K20 Pickup!

At Karl Kustoms, we love classic Chevy pickup trucks. We also love working with truck owners who are as passionate as we are about restoring classic trucks to their former glory.

When David Warner of Altoona, IA brought his 1972 K20 pickup to our shop, we were thrilled. It was a well built truck, and David was great to work with. We loved that he was as eager as we were to restore this truck. This truck is unique in that it is not a resto-mod. It’s restored to original, and it looks awesome.

If you want to meet David and put eyes on his restored ’72 truck, you’re in luck. David and his truck are featured in this video:

This Truck’s Humble Beginnings

David admits that he has always been partial to 1972 trucks. When he was a little kid, his family had a 1972 Chevy four wheel drive. So when he had an opportunity to buy this ’72 truck at an auction 12 years ago, he jumped all over it.

The first few years, David’s son used the truck to commute to school. The floor pan was rusted. David decided to replace it because he was afraid that his son would fall through it. From there, David never stopped restoring this classic beauty.

He eventually brought this truck to our shop to have us fully restore it.

Why David Brought His Truck To Our Shop

Choosing a shop to restore your classic truck is a big decision. You want a shop that knows what it’s doing and will deliver great results. David did his due diligence and chose Karl Kustoms to take care of this project.

“I brought [this truck] to Karl Kustoms because of [their] reputation.” David said. He also based his decision on the way we run our shop. “[Karl Kustoms’] shop is spotless. The employees all do a great job communicating with you.”

Restoring This Truck

David has brought this truck to our shop twice. Each time, we rolled up our sleeves and went right to work. We did pretty much everything – ranging from body work to engine work – to bring this truck back to its former glory. Here are some of the things we did:

• Two paint jobs – after persuasion from his wife, David decided to keep the white stripe on the side and add chrome trim.
• Rebuilt the entire back end with parts sourced from Kansas City.
• Rebuilt the engine.
• Did some electrical work (we hooked up the lights and the turn signals).
• Upgraded the wheels.

“There’s nothing old in the truck anymore, other than the cabin and the hood,” David said. “They’ve been cleaned up and they look good.”

We always love it when the vehicle owner is involved in the restoration process. David worked alongside us by sourcing parts from all over the country. For examples, the wheels on this truck are a bit unique. They are 16 inch wheels, and they have an 8-bolt pattern. That is a rare size, so it was difficult to upgrade the wheels. We ended up painting the wheels white. David found some hubcaps out in Los Angeles. We worked with him to completely transform the appearance of the wheels. “I think the wheels look a lot better,” David said. “You can drive this truck somewhere and you know you’ve got a looker.”

We really enjoyed working on this truck, and we’re quite proud of the end result!