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...as Frog so famously said in Smokey and the Bandit, "I've got the metal to the pedal and the thing to the floor!"

....(gratuitous Burt Reynolds laugh)

..."Daddy, my hat blew off."

"I hope your empty head was in it!"

And scene.

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Don't get me started Brad :lol::lol::lol:"For some reason or nother, you seemed a lot taller on radio" :lol::lol::lol: One of my favorite movies ever ;)

Looking real nice there sir

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Just outstanding work and attention to detail! You are inspiring me to do better on my projects and builds.

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Thanks Tom.

Wow, thanks...I appreciate that. This board is the best echo chamber ever. 90% of the stuff I'm super sweating on this build, I would have never known about if not for really nice guys (like you) on here who shared their knowledge and work. There aren't many threads on here that I haven't gotten at least an idea or two (or motivation) from.

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I was off today which meant I was full on into our final weekend thrash to get her done. I want to extend a huge Thank You to Wes (Classic Heartbeat) and Tim (Truckseats) who have been fantastic helping us navigate some bumps...and for both being completely available. That means a lot.

Seats are all covered as of 9:45 tonight. We got her back from the exhaust shop this morning. He did a great job. I left him with the few original exhaust pics I had along with a parts diagram that I got from 1Rippen6, and asked to just make it factory appearance...and he did, save for that one little souvenir I let him keep.

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I took a few pics today while it was on the lift. I was also excited about the factory appearing "tube-style" muffler.

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...just a few more. We also got the AC charged today as well. A ton of stuff remains on the interior and we've got to bleed the brakes, paint front fender wells, align the front end, get the door glass in, yada yada yada...and she still hasn't moved under her own power yet. Just gotta have two very productive days, with minor setbacks.

(Boy all this running around has gotten her pretty dusty)

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I'm in awe!

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Just found this thread and read through. All I can say is WOW :metal::metal::metal::metal::metal:! Incredible work and attention to detail. I live in Conyers, not too far from Athens, so I hope I see this beauty at some local shows or cruising down the road!

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Who did your seats, and did you use new foam?

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I having been following your thread great attention to detail amazing restoration .
Carey

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Pete...you are too kind. Thanks.

Thanks. I hope so too. I am hopeful we'll make it to our first show on Monday...and we'll definitely be at shows at the Athens Varsity.

Eric did them. I chipped in on the buckets when four hands were better than two. Definitely new foam...I got it all from Truckseats...well the front seats anyway. As you know, no one makes the rear bench foam (as far as I know). Luckily our rear foam was pretty good. We augmented it a bit though.

Thanks for following along and the kind words.

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For a day where we got a lot done, I don't have a lot of pics. The tailpipe got circumcised. The wiring got officially finished. A lot of time prepping and painting small things...seat brackets, panel brackets, hold down springs, etc. Painted the rear seat hardware GM satin, and the front flat...because I'm pretty sure the front was black phosphate from the factory and I missed that when I sent things to be plated/coated...thought that would give the best factory appearance.

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I do want to quickly go through something that I've found little of in the way of detail on in existing threads...but got great help via PM to members. I purchased new rear side panels from TruckWorld through Truckseats (Tim). The most common refrain on these is that they are difficult to fit over carpeted tubs and that you must be sure to purchase CST carpet that is cut to stop at the panels and not extend to the bed wall...both true.

However on my initial fitment, I could not get the panel fully seated even though I had no carpet at all on the floor. Two things: 1. My bed wall and tubs have been replaced. 2. My truck was originally a base truck, I had to procure and install trim strips and panel bracketry. (I don't think this had much bearing if at all, but for the record)

My biggest concern was at the B-pillar, where I didn't think it could go from the trim strip to the B-pillar, making an S-bend and still adapt flatly to the B-pillar.

livrat (Mark) gave me the best advice. He had the same problems...he shaved the lower portion of the panel to go over the carpet and he widened the groove in the trim trim by gently prying it open.

Since I was not going to put carpet on the tubs, I didn't have to trim the panel. But the panel fit into the groove was my biggest problem. The panels are thick, and of course I had re-chromed my strips. I figured out how wide the groove needed to be by gently prying it open until I could just wedge the panel in. I made myself a gauge with a paint stick to confirm it was wide enough throughout the length. The fit was so snug on a partial try in, we elected not to install the floor L brackets, only the wall A brackets. I decided I didn't want to punch holes for screws and grommets a while ago, so we just put velcro on the brackets.

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We actually got it to fit better in the transition from the trim to the B-pillar than pictured above by gently working it into the trim strip with a screw driver (very carefully) while massaging the bend.

...and Mark was right, it laid flat against the B-pillar with no anchors at all. I would have never believed it.

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You have done/are doing a fantastic job on this build Brad. Just a thought, I think you might get a better match to the factory black phosphate with a semi gloss or satin finish. I am not 100% sure what the factory finish is on a Blazer seat track but on a pick up bench seat it is something more like a zinc chromate finish.

I'll bet you are super excited to be almost done with the build. Everything is looking great and you should be proud to have such a great example of correct. I love it ;)

Take care,
Tom

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Thanks Tom. Here are some pics of a truck I rely on as a reference. It is a very original low mileage example. The finish on the bucket seat brackets looks to me like what you might see on hood hinges. The rear seat brackets are definitely satin (at the least, they're almost gloss). You can see what my door strikers look like in preceding posts. I sent them along with hood hinges, hood striker, etc. to be black phosphate coated. All those pieces look matte to me...so I thought flat would be the closest finish I can put on there. I figured it made sense that they would black phosphate (or Parkerize) the bucket seat brackets because they are movable and would benefit from the intrinsic lubrication of this finish.

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Either way you slice it, it is an incredible build Brad. Keep up the great work there. It looks like you are very close to logging some miles and winning some trophy's ;)

By the way, thank you also for your suggestions on my K20. It has presented it's own set of issues but nothing I am going to lose any sleep over ;). If we as owners are happy, then that is all that really matters.

Good work,
Take care,
Tom

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[QUOTE= I'm pretty sure the front was black phosphate from the factory and I missed that when I sent things to be plated/coated../QUOTE]

Where did you send out for plating? Im interested in a plater that does the black phosphate.

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[quote=Tom Vogel;7183631]Ron Kaehr at Kaehr Coatings in Albuquerque, NM (you know, where people are always making wrong turns). They were great. They did my clear zinc and my black phosphate. Quick turnaround, great product, great value. Pete referred me to them. I was very pleased.

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Did you make it to the show? Pics?

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Well...we thrashed it hard this past week/weekend. The last four days it was 8am to 10pm or later. To look at where we were and what we had to do, a couple of days seemed very doable. But every single part required massaging, fiddling, patience and in most cases a little ingenuity to get it to fit well and arrive unmarked....and we had bugs we had to work out...but in the end it was the weather. No rain for two weeks then today, scattered showers during the day and thunderstorms this afternoon. The show was officially to begin 15 minutes ago, and I have a few friends going and taking cars...I just couldn't chance it. We haven't even started on the top yet. As disappointed as I am not to take it today...I would have been sicker if she'd gotten wet....what's more she's still got zero road time, which is a risk. So we took our foot off the accelerator at about lunch today and called the ball. I'll post a few pics in a bit.

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A few pics...the tire cover I got was too small...on to the return pile. I also held off on the window felts/rubber. When we decided the show was a no go this morning, it gave me the latitude to not install a part I was not loving. We're going to try again on those.

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Even though we're basically there (I've got to replace a brake line union), I don't know if she'll get any real shake down time this week. Rain is forecast all week. We'll just take a little break and then maybe jump on the top.

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[quote=IronCanine;7185138]https://search.yahoo.com/yhs/search?...&hsimp=yhs-002

Good information Brad.
Take care,
Tom

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Strong effort but it's worth the wait to get it just right. Besides, once the public sees your Blazer K5 values will shoot through the roof so this buys me time to find a reasonably priced next project :)

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Thanks...it was tough to concede...but too much has gone into this thing to goof it up senselessly now.

...I don't know about values, but I am super stoked for another DeadheadNM build. Anything I can do to make that happen, (save buying the truck;)), I am more than happy to do.

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gorgeous blazer! The last shot of the undercarriage is what many strive for but few achieve.

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Thanks Johnathon...I really appreciate that. That's what goofed me up on my daily driver plans(the bottom of the truck turned out much nicer than I had expected). It's the part of the build I might be most proud of. There were times this past weekend when I was on the creeper staring up...and I just wanted to stay there....one of those times is when I snapped that pic...I thought it was a nice view.

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Very, VERY Impressive! I don't blame you for not taking it out in the rain. There will be another show.

I have a question for you. I know you completely refurbished your console, but where did you find the rubber bumpers to keep the lid from rattling? I can't seem to find any vendors that have them.

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Man that all looks good. Like was said about the undercarriage. I have a lot of rust on mine and looking at that clean metal and seeing how it's supposed to look is just awesome.

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Thanks. I bought my console from DaHos (Dave) already restored. I'm sure you've searched the board already, but here's a link just in case:

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=661616

I don't know how correct those referenced in the last post are. NOS ones seem to pop up a fair amount on here and on eBay.

Thanks. Rust is a beast. You've seen us plow through more than our fair share...makes me appreciate where we've gotten to all the more.

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Well done, Brad!

I wouldn't have chanced it in that weather either. For that hard work, just to get rained on before you even put 100 miles on it would be devastating.

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I was on Lake Altoona all weekend long and flew out of Atlanta airport in a heckuva storm yesterday evening...good thing you didn't take her out. Gorgeous truck...can't wait to see it on the road.

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Thanks Mike....but 100 miles nothing, she's still sitting on 5/10ths of a mile, not even 1. Even if it had not rained, our first test drive would have literally been to the show...and devastating would be the correct word disappointment(x expectations) + fatigue = devastating ...or in different mathematical terms insult+injury.

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Thanks. And ditto to the road.

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Very Nice! I have been following your build for many months. It has served as an inspiration to me to pull the tub off and go for it as you did. I really like your use of many original parts, bolts, screws, etc. You probably already know this but the beautiful "phosphated/parkerized" parts may still be subject to some surface rust over time. I have a 69 Camaro that I restored a few years ago and I really have to wipe down my phosphate parts every few months (well maybe twice a year) with a product called Boeshield T-9. A lot of Camaro guys use it and it does help keep the rust away.

Your work is 11 out of 10!

Lee

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Thanks Lee...for the kind words and the tip. I wasn't familiar and checked it out on line. I'll definitely give it a try. Does it change the "finish" of the parts on your Camaro? In other words does it make them look shiny instead of flat?

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Just amazing work.

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Thanks Tom.