Left for dead: 72 2wd blazer build
 

I want to say a Huge THANK YOU to the following members for going above and beyond in helping me with this project! And of course want to thank everyone who posted in this thread for giving me advice, encouragement, and motivation.

Muleman100: Thank you for donating your time, shop space, and tools.

Critter: Thank you for donating the much needed blazer top glass.

14U2NV: Thank you for donating the jack hold down components.

HuggerCST: Thank you bringing me all of the parts that I bought from member mkmiller.

mkmiller: Thank you for donating the rear carpet strip.

lynnfield: Thank you for donating the original style valve covers, and a set of rims.



The current number of people who thought this blazer was a parts truck and are genuinely shocked I am fixing it up : 3 (Hopefully I am now at a point to where this number wont change)



I just sold off some of my old projects and was looking for a 72 blazer to work on. I was trying to find a nice driver 4x4 blazer but found this 2wd project for sale on the forums parts section. I wasn't really looking for another project but I got it anyway. I liked that it was originally blue with white interior. It had all of my must have options like CST equipment, A/C, power steering, power brakes, white single wall top, 350 engine, and turbo 350 transmission. It had a few other nice options but nothing that was setting the world on fire.

If it still had the original engine and transmission in it I would have restored it back to original. Unfortunately I got it in a very stripped down and delapidated state. Since everything is missing and I have a complete 1970 factory big block truck I thought I would put the drivetrain and other components from the 70 big block truck into the blazer. My goal is to make something GM should have made in 1972. A factory 402 big block 2 wheel drive blazer. I want to do it to all factory specs with all of the big block components. Basically make something that most people will think is completely factory original (besides custom wheels and stance) but wont be.


This is how it sat when I got it from a fellow board member pdr510 (Steve) in Choudrant, Louisiana. He had only had it for 4 months and he got it from Albany, Georgia.
http://i848.photobucket.com/albums/a...r/IMG_3050.jpg


Steve was getting rid of it because he had come accross a great deal on a very solid and highly optioned blazer that was to become his new project. This blazer was definately in a sad state, but really does have alot of potential.

http://i848.photobucket.com/albums/a...r/IMG_3051.jpg


Here it is all loaded up and ready to go to it's new home in Texas.

http://i848.photobucket.com/albums/a...r/IMG_3055.jpg

Re: Left for dead: 72 2wd blazer build
 

Steve gave me the original doors, front outer and inner fenders, and grill. Most of this stuff is going to be tossed, but there is alot of stuff in there that I can use. Things like the blazer specific components on the doors, brackets, passenger side inner fender, and some hardware.

http://i848.photobucket.com/albums/a...r/IMG_3068.jpg


Started going over the body to see what patch panels I will need to buy. Looks like the bed panes will need patches but are salvagable. The floorboards are toast, rocker panels are done, and some areas of the firewall will need patching. Overall the blazer tub is in decent shape. The passenger side rocker box needs a little patching but is solid enough to keep.

http://i848.photobucket.com/albums/a...r/IMG_3069.jpg


The drivers side rocker box is done and will need replacing.

http://i848.photobucket.com/albums/a...r/IMG_3076.jpg


The dash is rattle caned in black but is solid and has no holes cut out around the radio.

http://i848.photobucket.com/albums/a...r/IMG_3070.jpg


Picture of the stripped out interior.

http://i848.photobucket.com/albums/a...r/IMG_3079.jpg

Re: Left for dead: 72 2wd blazer build
 

This is the donor truck. It is a 1970 CST 1/2 ton. It has the factory 402 big block, turbo 400 auto trans. It is complete except a couple of the factory big block A/C brackets.

http://i848.photobucket.com/albums/a...r/IMG_3072.jpg


The engine bay of the donor truck. Everything you see will soon be on the 72 blazer.

http://i848.photobucket.com/albums/a...r/IMG_3074.jpg

I am also going to install a factory posi rear end that I have acquired over the years.

http://i848.photobucket.com/albums/a...r/IMG_3073.jpg

Re: Left for dead: 72 2wd blazer build
 

Looks good. Are you going to post a build thread?

Re: Left for dead: 72 2wd blazer build
 

Well dang, I missed you when you passed through. Great project, I'll be watching this one go together.

Re: Left for dead: 72 2wd blazer build
 

I decided that there is no time like the present to get started on the blazer. I noticed some fiberglass and rust on part of the firewall so I went to a solid parts suburban body that we have and cut out a patch panel by drilling out the factory spot welds.

This is a picture of the section of firewall that I am going to cut off to use as a patch for the blazer.

http://i848.photobucket.com/albums/a...r/IMG_3080.jpg


This is the first patch panel that I have taken off so far.

http://i848.photobucket.com/albums/a...r/IMG_3081.jpg


This is the suburban firewall after the patch has been taken off. Much of what you are seeing now will also need to be taken off and used as a patch on the blazer. The problem is one of the previous owners tried to stop leaks and rust with screening and bondo. A great recipe to speed up the effects of rust.

http://i848.photobucket.com/albums/a...r/IMG_3082.jpg


This is the same section on the blazer right before starting on taking it off. Judging by the amount of fiberglass shoved underneath that panel alot of the metal behind it will need replacing.

http://i848.photobucket.com/albums/a...r/IMG_3083.jpg




This is far as I was able to get today, but hoping to get a little more work done tomorrow.

Re: Left for dead: 72 2wd blazer build
 

HuggerCST, Sorry I missed you. I asked Steve if you were home but he said you were working (which I assumed bieng mid day on a Monday). If you make it out to the Dallas swap meets much we might be able to meet up at one of those someday.

low'n slow, This will pretty much be my build thread as long as the moderators don't mind me keeping it in the blazer section instead of the projects and builds section.

Re: Left for dead: 72 2wd blazer build
 

Good luck with the build.

Re: Left for dead: 72 2wd blazer build
 

Ok, I'm in...we can always use another build thread to watch. Nice to see another one being saved

Re: Left for dead: 72 2wd blazer build
 

Subscribing, looks good!

Re: Left for dead: 72 2wd blazer build
 

Subscribing! Can't wait to see the progress....

Chad

Re: Left for dead: 72 2wd blazer build
 

Nice project!

Curious to see what lies beneath that panel...

My patch panels should be here tomorrow...then I get to learn welding...should be fun.

Re: Left for dead: 72 2wd blazer build
 

Thanks for all the comments everyone!


So heres what we were working with when the outer panel was removed. Alot of very thin metal on this panel. However the firewall panel and upper gutter panel actually looked very solid.

http://i848.photobucket.com/albums/a...r/IMG_3084.jpg


Heres what we had after all of the bondo had been chipped away. quite a large gaping hole. Also there were alot of holes around the vent housing. I decided it would be best to drill out all of the factory spot welds and replace the entire piece rather than cut and patch a bunch of small areas.

http://i848.photobucket.com/albums/a...r/IMG_3085.jpg


There are still a few remaining pieces of the old panel but overall the panel is out. The dash is making it a little challenging but so far everything has moved along without any major hurdles.

http://i848.photobucket.com/albums/a...r/IMG_3088.jpg


Fortunately the donor trucks panel is in excellent shape. I got it about halfway out today before I ran out of daylight. I also took the dash completely out of the donor truck to give me a better understanding of how the entire panel is placed into the trucks from the factory.

http://i848.photobucket.com/albums/a...r/IMG_3090.jpg



This is as far as I was able to get today. It looks like it will be a few more hours of work before I can start welding in any donor panels. Fortunately I checked out the passenger side inner cowl area and it doesn't look like it will need anywhere near as much surgery. Right now I am focusing on getting everything from the toeboard up to the windshield frame solid before tackling the floors and rockers.

Re: Left for dead: 72 2wd blazer build
 

Man I want a 2-wd blazer.....Good luck with the project, should be fun...!

Re: Left for dead: 72 2wd blazer build
 

i would put a drain hole in the bottom so it doesn't rust out again....and coat it all up inside with zinc weld through primer.

Re: Left for dead: 72 2wd blazer build
 

Lotta work ahead, but for a real 2wd Blazer it's worth it! Just keep telling yerself "Time is free."(It's a load of B.S. I know, but it's either that or drink moderatly.):mm:

Re: Left for dead: 72 2wd blazer build
 

Subscribing, need any help let me know. Good luck on the build or rebuild.

:devil:

Re: Left for dead: 72 2wd blazer build
 

Thanks for the comments, tips, and words of encouragement everyone!

Re: Left for dead: 72 2wd blazer build
 

Lookin good! I like how you went about replacing that part of the cowl. I need to do the exact same thing. Keep up the good work.

Re: Left for dead: 72 2wd blazer build
 

Critter, Thanks for the compliment. Unfortunately it looks like I am going to have to remove the dash in order to get the entire panel replaced like I want to do. I really don't want to move good body panels only to weld them back in into place but I think it is the only way to finish this job correctly.

Re: Left for dead: 72 2wd blazer build
 

Your patients is awesome - look forward to the build.

Re: Left for dead: 72 2wd blazer build
 

I removed the dash on my blazer, it's such a PITA!

Re: Left for dead: 72 2wd blazer build
 

theCheyenneShop, Thanks for the compliment.


jtrux, How hard was it to line everything back up properly? My dad is worried about lining everything back up. I on the other hand am not very worried about it. I figure I will make a few guide holes and then put screws or pins in them to line everything back up properly, also follow the spot welds. Just curious how your experience went since I will most likely be taking the dash off Wednesday!

Re: Left for dead: 72 2wd blazer build
 

Me and Jtrux removed both of ours...problem is, neither of us have put them back. ;)

I don't think it is going to be that big of a deal though. There are 3 bolts per side where the dash bolts to the inner part of the door frame. They are hard to get to up under the dash, but I think they will line everything back up when we want to weld things back up under the windshield frame. I will try to find a pic and post it.

Re: Left for dead: 72 2wd blazer build
 

Yeah it looks like once you put the 3 bolts on each side back on you could just easily clamp the dash and windshield frame together and make a series of spot welds all the way down just like factory. There's a ton of spot welds that hold it together along the top but once they are cut out the dash comes right out.

Re: Left for dead: 72 2wd blazer build
 

Critter, Jtrux, Thanks for the info guys. I think removing the dash will be the best route to go to properly fix the rust behind the dash. I did remove the dash to my parts suburban and I think it had about 35 spot welds. That really isn't too bad seeing that the two panels I am taking off of the parts suburban to put onto the blazer had between 40 to 50 spot welds per panel. Thanks again for the replys, hoping to show more progress on Wednesday evening!

Re: Left for dead: 72 2wd blazer build
 

Nice score count me in on the watchin part..

Re: Left for dead: 72 2wd blazer build
 

Got a little work done on the blazer today. The first thing I did was finish removing the patch panel that I am going to use from the donor truck. It took a little more work than I thought it would. I found that the top part was three plates of metal deep, so I had to re drill the spot welds from the donor panels side. I also had trouble finding a few "Hidden" spot welds.

http://i848.photobucket.com/albums/a...r/IMG_3111.jpg


Here is the comparison of the old panel versus the one that I am going to use off of the donor truck. Things will be much better off once the switch is made.

http://i848.photobucket.com/albums/a...r/IMG_3112.jpg


Well the only spot weld remover bit that I had broke today. The guide wore out and fell off. So while my dad (Muleman100) went to the store for me to get another bit, I started working on taking the windshield out. It was a little bit of a pain to take the windshield chrome off without further damaging it, but other than that this was a quick task.

http://i848.photobucket.com/albums/a...r/IMG_3098.jpg

Re: Left for dead: 72 2wd blazer build
 

To no suprise I found some rust hiding beneath the windshield weatherstripping. A little more rust than I was hoping to find (which was no rust) but no so much that I get it patched in a couple of hours. This is the drivers side upper corner.

http://i848.photobucket.com/albums/a...r/IMG_3102.jpg


Here is the damage on the passenger side. It is a little more eaten away that the drivers side. I thought that was a little ironic since the kick panel rust is far worse on the drivers side.

http://i848.photobucket.com/albums/a...r/IMG_3103.jpg


It was starting to get a little late in the day and I didn't want to start removing the dash since I didn't have time to complete the job today so I removed parts instead. I removed the A/C system from under the dash, and also removed all of the wiring that was under the dash as well. Since it looks like this project is going to have to sit out in the weather for a while before a slot in the shop opens up I also removed the glovebox door so the SPID didn't get damaged.

http://i848.photobucket.com/albums/a...r/IMG_3113.jpg


My dad has a teenager (Ben) who helps out in the shop in the afternoons once school lets out. Today my dad said that he didn't have much for Ben to do so he let me have him work on my blazer. I gave him an option on a few tasks he could do. He opted to get a wire brush and clean out the pitted up bed. So far a few pinholes have popped up. Not sure if I need to replace the whole bedfloor yet or just do patches. I will have a better idea of what route I need to go when he finishes that task.

http://i848.photobucket.com/albums/a...r/IMG_3114.jpg




That is as far as I was able to get today. Next time I go out I am going to try and take the dash out, put the donor panel in, and start opening up the passenger side kick panel.

Re: Left for dead: 72 2wd blazer build
 

Looks good, i'm curious to see how the windshield frame turns out.

Re: Left for dead: 72 2wd blazer build
 

Subscribed for an interesting project!

Re: Left for dead: 72 2wd blazer build
 

Send Ben my way! Looking good so far.

Re: Left for dead: 72 2wd blazer build
 

Gotta agree! I guess we will find out how one of these things went together at the factory

I think Ben would be a very busy guy, if we could all hire him for a day:lol:

Re: Left for dead: 72 2wd blazer build
 

Critter and jaros44sr, Yeah, I hope he sticks around for a while. It is nice to have someone that can do the time consuming odd jobs while you focus on the more in depth parts of the project.

Re: Left for dead: 72 2wd blazer build
 

I think this will be an awesome build. I really like when a car or truck looks like it could be factory, and gets people who think they know everything about everything. I'll be watching for sure.

Re: Left for dead: 72 2wd blazer build
 

Well I had this week off of work so I was able to make some progress. Last Friday I was planning on working on the blazer but since it was brutally cold and very windy I decided to go pick up some parts needed for this project. My dad and I headed out to the Dallas area that morning and got to board member ShanesChevys at about lunch time. We chatted for a little while and checked out all of his rides and then loaded up my much needed parts and hit the road.

I picked this very nice radiator core support from Shane.

http://i848.photobucket.com/albums/a...r/IMG_3153.jpg



I was also able to get a solid passenger side fender from him. The drivers side fender was a fender my dad picked up at one of the local swap meets.

http://i848.photobucket.com/albums/a...r/IMG_3151.jpg



After leaving Shanes house in Ft. Worth we headed down to Midlothian, to board members 14u2nv's house. Here I was able to get a rear seat for my blazer.

http://i848.photobucket.com/albums/a...r/IMG_3152.jpg



He was generous enough to give me a jack hold down set up for my blazer.

http://i848.photobucket.com/albums/a...r/IMG_3150.jpg

Re: Left for dead: 72 2wd blazer build
 

As much as I didn't want to take the dash out I knew it needed to be done if I was going to properly replace the drivers side inner cowl panel. Here is a shot of the dash after it was removed.

http://i848.photobucket.com/albums/a...r/IMG_3155.jpg



A shot of the bare dash area.

http://i848.photobucket.com/albums/a...r/IMG_3156.jpg



With the dash now out of the way I was able to completely remove the inner cowl panel.

http://i848.photobucket.com/albums/a...r/IMG_3157.jpg



An inside shot of the removed inner cowl panel.

http://i848.photobucket.com/albums/a...r/IMG_3158.jpg



All of the areas that will be sealed back up were cleaned, prepped and primered. I used weldable primer so it wouldn't just burn off whenever we welded the panels back together.

http://i848.photobucket.com/albums/a...r/IMG_3159.jpg

Re: Left for dead: 72 2wd blazer build
 

The donor inner cowl panel was also prepped and primered in weldable primer.

http://i848.photobucket.com/albums/a...r/IMG_3164.jpg



It didn't take much manipulating to get the donor cowl to line up into place. We placed a couple of clamps on it and started welding the panel in.

http://i848.photobucket.com/albums/a...r/IMG_3165.jpg



Everything fit like the original panel did by the time we got done welding it in. After everything cooled off I went ahead and put seam sealer over all of the seams. Some of it burned when putting the outer cowl panel on, but all of the hard to reach parts are seam sealed.

http://i848.photobucket.com/albums/a...r/IMG_3170.jpg



It took alot of lining up, clamping down, unclamping, trimming, re-lining up, re-clamping, etc... to get the outer cowl panel lined up to make sure the fender and cowl panel would all line up and bolt on properly. This is a shot of the outer cowl in the fitting stage.

http://i848.photobucket.com/albums/a...r/IMG_3174.jpg



I do all of the cutting, measuring, and panel placement, and my dad welds. This seems to be a good system that we have for now, but I know that I really need to learn how to weld for myself.

http://i848.photobucket.com/albums/a...r/IMG_3178.jpg

Re: Left for dead: 72 2wd blazer build
 

It took a little longer than I was anticipating, and I have ALOT of grinding to do but the outer cowl is back on. So now the drivers side cowl area is back to bieng solid, rust free, and waterproof.

http://i848.photobucket.com/albums/a...r/IMG_3180.jpg



We used a drivers side fender and a cowl to make sure everything was going back together in a way that didn't need a whole lot of shimming to get good gaps between panels. Everything seems to be lining up beautifully; as if nothing was ever replaced.

http://i848.photobucket.com/albums/a...r/IMG_3181.jpg



Thats as far as we were able to get this week. I am hoping to get one or two days worth of work done next week. Hopefully I will get the passenger side cowl finished off by then. Fortunately the passengers side cowl panels don't need nearly as much work.

Re: Left for dead: 72 2wd blazer build
 

There is no way I would have tried that - but you made it look easy.

What we don't get to see is the pictures of the repeated removal of the part/trimming/cursing and doing the same thing over and over until it looks spot on - :)

I think it looks great - NICE JOB!

I wish I lived close to you so you could assist me with my Blazer body work...

I took a small break from my project until the weekend - it is warming up here - 40's this coming week - that is sad when I think that is 'warm'. :(