Re: 70 Blazer Frame Off
 

Thanks and good luck when you tear into yours.

Re: 70 Blazer Frame Off
 

The Blazer bolt thread is very useful. Helped make finding these visor bolts a little easier.

Re: 70 Blazer Frame Off
 

great start

Re: 70 Blazer Frame Off
 

Thanks.

I had a mild heart attack yesterday. We put the the old door glass and regulators in along with most of the weather stripping to check the fit before the body comes off in a few days. The drivers side window gap was a joke before we started tearing into it...but as you all know this thing had been beat up, twisted and wrung out. The problem was that after all the metal work and fit improvement it was only marginally better yesterday...which is to say it was still pretty horrible. Sorry no pics, but I was too sick to take a picture, because neither of us could see where the adjustment was going to come from. Everything else fit pretty well. Top to side, top to tailgate, top to windshield...and all panel gaps

What's worse is that I had a single NOS top to glass seal for the drivers side that I hadn't opened so we tried it in place of the repro and I put a small tear in it at the door when I closed it. I could have thrown up....

...but after a restless nights sleep, a little bit of time on the board and re-visiting it today, fortunes have changed. I think I've got a couple of things going on, including an asymmetry in my top, since it fits better on the passenger's side and structures are measurably different on that side. Really the simplest and most obvious thing was to remove and reposition the weatherstip mounting track...It didn't make it perfect, but there's enough there that with some other tweaking it might not be relegated to dry clean only.

Re: 70 Blazer Frame Off
 

Heck of a start to a really cool project, hopping onboard for the ride.

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Thanks...hang on though, it's definitely getting bumpy.

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:lol: I ain't skeered.

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Here's where we stopped on our pre-fit with the weatherstrip in. It seals and looks right on the passenger side, though it sometimes catches and rolls in the back lip when closing the door with the window all the way up. The driver's side is decent, not as good as the passenger. We had to tweak the plastic rail positioning that holds the WS on both sides. The driver's side is going to need a little massaging of the top finish lines (drip rail and edge in front of WS) as well... which we've decided to do on the final fitment with the new glass and regulators.

Please feel free to make comments or suggestions on this one guys. I tried to dig deep in the site on this topic, but it wasn't as helpful as I'd have hoped and I could definitely be missing something.

Re: 70 Blazer Frame Off
 

You are not missing something. You are actually lucky the WS fit up that good to begin with.

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Thanks...what I was afraid of.

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Front seat belts mocked in. Cupholder console, so no floppys. My wife's opinion about the safety of this vehicle was unmoved by this pic.

Re: 70 Blazer Frame Off
 

The little eyebrow drain on the driver's side drip rail was ground away(along with about an eighth of an inch of the top of the drip in that section) at some point in the past...no doubt when the hideous repair to that seam was previously done. Thanks Dwayne for this section...now we can graft this part of the drip back in.

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Looks perfectly safe to me! Actually for 1970 that was probably considered overkill.

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Yeah I figure as long as I don't hit someone, no one hits me, and I don't invert it...it's as safe as any other vehicle.

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Started coming apart again. Body scheduled to come off tomorrow and frame work to begin.

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Well...it's official.

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...Always with the surprises!

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Super Pro install on the hitch...40 man hours budgeted for it's removal.

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More fine frame fixins.

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A lot of effort already expended...who needs a stinking rotisserie?

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Man that's some messed up frame rails, but I would imagine you can fix it. Just gonna take up a bunch of time.

Re: 70 Blazer Frame Off
 

I love this stuff.

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Gotta fix it...when we're done, I want something to be left from the original truck. Let's face it, since I'm married to her...she's got a lot of new, the bow tie will be blue, it's got a lot of stuff borrowed from other trucks...gotta have something old.

Re: 70 Blazer Frame Off
 

:lol: that's the spirit.

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More teardown, and a fun surprise for a change...an easter egg under the dash pad.

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For those of you hard core aficionados out there, you'll know what this pic means...YES, this is the one of one 1970 Blazer that was the test mule for the prototype 350 that became Chevrolet's workhorse for years 77-79. Though there are no actual period photos, luckily we have a few engineer death bed confessions on a cassette tape on top of the clearly vintage 1970 grease. Russo and Steele have not stopped calling me since the discovery.

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Sometimes the mail is more fun to open than other times.

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Back from the machine shop...and about 5 pounds lighter.

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Nice, it's sad that we get so excited over the mail. But they look so good!

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Running out of bolts to turn....final clean up and repairs and then off to powder coater tomorrow.

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Good deal!

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what is your assessment of the reproduction rear panels? Are those the panels Southern Kentucky is offering? $700 each is a handfull.

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They worked well for us. When we started pulling it apart, it became apparent that we really didn't have a choice. I did get them from South Kentucky Classics...mainly because I needed them when I needed them and they had them in stock and could ship right then. I saw some when they first came out at a swap meet in Moultrie, GA(different vendor). At the time I didn't think I'd ever need them and was on the hunt for OE patch panels. I feel certain the cash price at that swap meet would have been less than $700.

They're not a skin, it's the complete side. It has all the structure and they pre-fit pretty easily. The biggest problem we had with reproduction parts were a lower tailgate scrub (that took a bit to work out, maybe more yet) and mating the bed patch with the front of the rear deck. At the time the Blazer deck wasn't available and the bed patch was narrower at the wheel wells than the original.

...in short, I hate to give any reproduction sheet metal part a glowing endorsement because they can be so variable from case to case. But these worked very well for us...and were ultimately cheaper and less time consuming than extensive grafting.

Re: 70 Blazer Frame Off
 

thanks for the feedback. i'm gonna need a set as well but was hesitant because they haven't been on the market that long. You're the first that i've seen use them. Your progress is great. definitely subscribed!

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Can't wait to see some more pictures

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Hopefully get some next week. Nothing too interesting right now. Spent the weekend taking apart the ends of the Dana so I could get the ball joints pressed out. Just waiting on things right now. Radiator, gas tank, transmission and transfer case in the shop. A load of stuff getting black phosphated or zinc-ed. Frame, rims and a boat load of other stuff at the powder coater. Motor is supposed to get here on Tuesday...brake lines, fuel lines, springs, steering...all hopefully here next week too. If we're lucky and things time out right(mainly the frame getting back from powder coat), it could be a productive week with a few fun pics.

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Frame's not going to be back from powder coat until next Tuesday. Motor came in today. We haven't gotten it out of the crate yet...but can't wait. Lots of other parts boxes stacking up, so a lot on deck. I was able to pick up the powder coated rims today and hopefully will get tires on tomorrow and ball joints pressed in the freshly painted spindles. Then we should be ready for the frame when it does arrive. In the meantime...here are a couple of pics. Got the clear zinc and black phosphate stuff back today. One of the best values of the build. Awesome result, reasonable cost and fast turn around. I would definitely recommend Kaer coatings...this stuff looks even better in real life....I wish I'd sent them every nut and bolt we took off. One of the problems we've had is getting the correct size captured washer paired with the appropriate diameter and length body bolt (when buying new bolts).

Re: 70 Blazer Frame Off
 

Those parts look fantastic.

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I think so too...and could not be happier. Just to drive it home, this is what they looked like when I was boxing them up to ship out there. I took these pics to get the quote. The upper pic is obviously the zinc stuff and the lower pic is the phosphate stuff.

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Nice!! Isn't that a great way to go! I'm tempted to harvest nuts/bolts from salvage yards to have re-coated in advance for future builds. I so wish I'd have done the zinc coating :(

I'll def have some zinc pieces done. You'll be pleased with the action on the hood hinges.