1976k5chalet
 

I just wanted to say welcome to 1976K5CHALET.

Hello Doug. Glad you decided to drop by and join in on the fun.

Folks, you need to check out Doug's site. Anyone ever heard of a Chalet?

Doug is a wealth of info and help. I know he will be able to help us all with just about anything.

Thanx for the welcome. I've spent the last 2.5 years wrapped up in the coloradok5 site i have failed to notice the rest of the world...lol.

I own 1976 K5 Chalet...usefull......cool...and rare....we have a web site for these rare GM creations @ www.blazerchalet.com ...i am the tech arm of the site and an owner....Aaron is the brains behind the site as HTML has me baffled and i don't have the time to mess with it.

My daily driver is a 79 K5....late model (73-86) 350 crate....TH350...NP205....4.10's..35's....GM TBI system....11.2 mpg. She made it into the June issue of OFFROAD magazine this year somehow....got caught on film winching off a waterfall i got hung up on.....lol. The trail was Raw Deal north of Phx az.

I have two parts K5'sd in the back yard....an 88 and an 78. You can say i'm kinda a GM truck nut of sorts....my garage has factory deale posters(cardboard) on the wall and my work bench has any Helm manual for a 73 to 99 c-k-r-v series truck gm made....okay so i got it bad.....lol.

Azblazer

glad you joined up, we have alot of fun over here:D

Great site. Never heard of them till now. I've owned a K-5 like your 74. Mine was same year except all red (repainted). Gotta love the fully removable tops in summer time :)

i tried the site, it wouldnt load.. welcome to the site.. where abouts in CO are you?

got the site working.. too many .... at the end.. DUH! nobody said i was smart..

Welcome aboard! Glad to have another enthusiast here!

Good, you've reached the first step in recovering. The next step is to go buy as many more chevy's/Gm's as you possably can :D

Anyways welcome. Were all nuts here!:rolleyes:

That is a great web site! The Chalets and Casa Grandes were fitted with the Chinook conversion at their facility in Yakima, WA, just a 40 minute drive away from where I live.

I also have original sales literature for the 1976 and 1977 Chevy Blazer Chalets and GMC Casa Grandes, if anyone is interested. Furthermore, I also have an old issue of Pickup, Van &4wd magazine, somewhere, containing a test of a 1976 Blazer Chalet. (Later edit: Actually, I notice that all of this literature is available at Doug's site and then some...awesome!)

I would imagine tests of the vehicle were also performed by publications like Motorhome Life and Trailer Life, although I don't have any such articles in my possesion, and am not sure of their existence.

And, quite recently I saw one for sale in Truck Trader in Woodinville, up here in Washington State.

Ken

When I was in high school I worked at Randolph AFB, TX. There was a Chalet or Casa Grande on base that I used to see very frequently. It was so unusual that it was hard to miss. I always wondered what it was.

Slonaker

wow, those are pretty cool. never even knew they existed

kinda like for the longest time i didnt know extended cabs in our body style existed......the things you learn.......

Uhhh, what extended cabs? Do you mean crew cabs?

nope.... extended cabs..http://www.slonaker.net/images/extcab.jpg
http://members.aol.com/ridinhi2by/images/ext85.jpg

here is a thread about them...
http://www.chevytalk.org/threads/sho...5&o=31&fpart=1

GM never offered extended cabs, like it was mentioned, they were done by coach companies.

They are rare to see, but you can definately tell they aren't GM made.

-Jeff

Grand Junction Colorado...90 mile from Moab Utah..

I have seen a few of those ex cabs inthe bone yards in phoenix...pretty neat unit actually.

Anybody have a Street Coupe? 79-80 step side with a 454 from gm with custom factory graphics and aluminum wheels?

Azblazer

Welcome!

The first time I heard of a Chalet was when I saw one on ebay a year or so back. Then I did some searching and came across your site.

I love cool, rare trucks like that! I consider myself to be in the rare truck business, seeing as I own an '81 Chevy truck with a 6.2L diesel, and they weren't even made until '82. ;) The very fact that I love the 6.2L is a rare view to have as well!

bigblock73, you are correct, but the campers on these werent done by GM either..."The Blazer came off the same production line as a regular truck, and had a pop-up camper shell installed by Chinook Mobilodge in Washington. The camper is similar to the Chinook campers installed on Toyota pickups of the same era"


k5chalet, my parents live in the Durango area. i am usually there in the summer... might have to give you a hollar the next time im there. would like to see this thing in person..

1976k5chalet: read about the street coupe on my web site. I just got a 79 dealer sales album that gives even more info on the Chevy Sport trucks (Chevy version of the Street Coupe) and will be posting it soon.

Prerunner1982: While the work wasn't done by GM on the Chalet and Jimmy Casa Grande, it was contracted by them and they were sold and serviced by GM dealers. The extended cab trucks were more like conversion vans and the like today. They are sold by some dealers who happen to carry those companies products and GM vehicles. There is plenty of original GM literature on the Chalets and Casa Grande's while you won't find a mention of the extended cab trucks in any GM brochure or literature. They are cool though...

ahhh very true.....

ElGracho: Really liked that article on the Street Coupe! GM has done some neat things over the years....like Feathers By Chevy....the Chalet K5...Street Coupe....and then there was a deal where they had some sort of package out in the mid 70's that include the long diff colored stripes on the hood....

The chalets were serviced by chinook dealers and chevrolet....got a dealer sales album that references the warranty procedures...

The creator of our web site has spent some time talking with the Toyota Chinook web site and it seams there are far fewer chalets built than we had thought as their sn#'s intermingle....

Azblazer

Ohh man Doug's here? ...... :D

:bowtie:

Hey Grimy....lurkin at this sight buddy. Lol....

Azblazer