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Thanks guys. No doubt she is the absolute best. She floored me...right under my nose and I had no clue. I don't know where she found the time. I just thought I'd share because there are a lot of other build threads on here that could easily do the same thing. I also think if you're showing a truck, I like this better than a photo album or board. Edit:FYI, she did it on Shutterfly.

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That is an awesome present!

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Very nice! Will you be selling autographed copies soon?

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Too cool Brad. She's a keeper!

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That's awesome.

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I like the book

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Thanks guys...my wife and the book are both awesome. No copies, but you guys have got the source material, feel free to have at it ;)

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That's awesome!

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I hope my dad does as good as of a job on my truck as he did on yours.

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Come check out my thread that we will be starting soon

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I got a sneaking suspicion that it'll turn out great...as long as you two do it together. You know I'll be following.

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That's Rad!

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A year ago this week. Excuse the hard edits...cut out my 4 year old (at the time) jumping around and re-christening the truck "StarGlow"...also sorry for the multiple deletions of this post. The embed was a challenge for some reason.

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She looks good !!!

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That was mile #9 arriving home for the first time all shiny. Even though she was fresh and new and square and tight, she was still a 10 and 2 machine on the highway. I wish I had known then about your shim solution to adjust the caster. That bit of info alone makes me want to do another one.

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Gives me hope that someday mine will be paroled from its current 3 year-to-life sentence in restoration prison. Please get another one, we need some more action on the Blazer/Jimmy build forum.

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Beautiful Blazer! I am absolutely in love with the original build. I am restoring a 70 K-10 all original and the day I'm done with it in the next few months I am going Blazer shopping.

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Bumping an old post, but lol - at least they are consistent with their inaccuracies.

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You most definitely will finish and it will be awesome. You started with a gem.

Thanks. She did turn out nice...I wouldn't mind finding a 70 K10 SWB myself...always half-looking.

No doubt...a lot of fine stuff with in-line tube, but a lot of questionable customer service, several lines (non-stainless mind you) that just leaked for no appreciable reason that had to be hand bent...and absolutely no idea what a 1970 4WD rear brake line set should look like.

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Ewwww, is all that AC equipment actually in the glove box area or s it just the picture?

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Just finished the thread, one of the best I have read anywhere. It was like reading a good story - which is what it really is right? As I was reading I was struck with this negative kind of feeling quite a few times. It was sort of wishing, disappointed, guilty feeling. Hard to describe, but it comes from the fact that my truck is nowhere near that nice and I know it never will be. Not jealousy. Like "if you worked a little harder you could......."

But then I saw your comment about it not being fair to wives, kids, etc. That hits home. You are absolutely right. These crazy kind of clean, perfect cars are OUR passion. "Our" being the owners of such things. WE are the ones who put all of the time, money, care worrying, research into them. Because it is OUR passion. Expecting your family members to have the same protective sense for the car can suck all of the joy out of owing it and using it with your family. You're stressed, possibly angry. They're nervous and trying not to do anything. I can see all of these things potentially happening. So I feel good about owning something that I am not super anal about. I took the family (wife and 2 year old daughter) out this past weekend for the second time in my truck. I let my daughter stand on the front seat. I let her try to find the ignition hole with the key. And it feels good to be in something fun where nobody is super paranoid about it. I had not thought about that or how important it is. I already have another vehicle that no one is allowed to look at. (Not literally) So is my truck perfect? Nope. And I don't want it to be!! But it sure was fun watching you make yours so.

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Mostly, yep.

Sorry I missed your posts. Thanks for the kind words. It is a good story and I had a ball. There is some romance to me in the fact that in my mind and really in this thread that truck will always be perfect. I'll never watch her fade. So I definitely got the best out of the experience and luckily covered my cost. Which is more than I could have done spending my spare time on a golf course. But to your other point, my favorite picture of this truck is one that I won't post because it's got my little girl in it...(I'm kind of funny about posting that kind of thing in an open forum which is probably silly)...but she's in the back seat, in our neighborhood, the top's off the Blazer, hair blowing, and she's laughing like crazy. It's perfect. It's what I think of most when I think of that truck...and a bigger part of the story than was represented here.

I don't think it's our last project...which fires me up, because now that little girl has gotten big enough to turn a wrench.

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Looks like the ole girl has had an LS swap.

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You had to know that was coming! It's still a fine Blazer!

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Oh no doubt...but I'd love to have all those nice factory bits out of that engine bay: rad pipe, heat riser, 70 intake and SMC restored Quadrajet, even the breather, radiator, shroud and valve covers....a lot nice pieces in there. But I have no doubt it gets down the road a heck of a lot better now.

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I agree, all that hard work and expense, and searching, just to be thrown aside like a dirty dish clothe. Sad, but you did your part, shame everyone doesn't like original

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Don't get me wrong. Delmo does amazing things. I am a fan. I'm also pretty sure that that engine bay is still pretty cool to look at. I do as they say, have some skin in the game on this one--and hope that those nice factory parts weren't scrapped. I can't imagine that they would be. She's now just an old girlfriend that I follow on Instagram....and hey whaddaya know, she got a boob job.

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Ouch, that's like spray-painting a mustache on the Mona Lisa or knocking the headdress off of King Tut's burial mask. This is disrespectful of fine craftsmanship as well as crazy economically. That shop rightfully paid top dollar for your truck because it was what it was.

At least you have my pallid imitation of your truck as a memento and tribute. Now I will brace myself for the tiresome "it's his truck and he can do anything he wants with it" stuff. No, sometimes you can't and shouldn't.

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On a side note;
I put a 5.3 in my Blazer, but I'm reluctant to call it an "LS" swap because technically it's not an LS engine, it's a Vortec LM7 to be exact. Is calling all Gen3 engines "LS" acceptable? Just wondering !!

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I think most people would agree its just easier to call it an LS engine or ls swap. Only sticklers get upset about minor details such as that. Hell i think it would be cool to throw some 327 badges on the side even IMO!

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call me old school, but I thought she looked fine with the boobs she had. JMHO, hope this part doesn't make the book

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My preference too ;) ...and that book is out of print--no appendices or second editions--so we're safe.

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wonder if we should do a poll, stock over modified, I think stock has more value

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My experience at Barrett this year, ls swapped really nice blazers 60-70k, stock but nice 30-45

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I cant tell you from my generation perspective (Im 27) tastefully modified is probably a lot more desireable. Especially since 90% of people my age never owned a carb'd engine or 4 wheel drum or manual steering vehicle in their life. when i first got my K5 i told my wife to pull the choke out and her response was.. "choke like on the lawn mower? why the hell does your truck have that?" LOL

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I at least have a electric choke on mine. Lol. But I'm thinking about using a choke cable as a hand throttle since mine is stick.

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would never have guessed that, just shows to go ya

BTW, I'm 67

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I'm 28 and I'd have to say if it was all original and numbers matching I'd keep it original down to the spark plugs. Luckily my blazer was no where near original so I decided to try the ls swap. But I am taking the truck back to original looks including carpet and am radio. Now I did see an all original blazer down to the radiator hose clamps and I thought that was the coolest thing!

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My $0.02 which doesn't buy you much these days.

A totally numbers matching, longstanding collectors model is generally going to get the bigger money restored to original. ie) A COPO model or a Tri-power vette, or a Tri-power GTO, or, or... I don't think Blazers are in that longstanding "collectors" bracket yet. Maybe someday. They sure are gaining popularity over the last decade.

This particular Blazer had a gorgeous restoration and I reference this thread from time to time while working on my own. I think it was an exceptional job, however, many items on it already were not factory correct or original so it was to some degree "resto-modded" already. How far one goes with that and what is acceptable is to each their own. The value is what the last person paid for it.

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I love an all original numbers matching one too, but at the end it depends what type of vehicle you want. I've had all that stuff when I was younger, and as cool as it was, I've outgrown it. The way I look at it, and engine/trans swap will always be reversible as long as nothing gets chopped up. I think collectors down the road will see this, and I don't think it will reduce the value too much if anything. The newer engines and transmissions are sooooo much nicer to drive and I can't really see one negative in them over the old engines. The 20+ MPG is nice too !!