Hemi's 70 Blazer build

[hemi43]

Well, I guess it's about time I started a thread on my build.
I became a member here a few months ago when I purchased my 70 Blazer, and if you're wondering why my name here on a GM forum is "Hemi 43", it's because I've been a car Guy all my life but all my toys were Mopars, even though I've been a Tool Maker for over 30 years working for General Motors.
I've built many cars over the years, and just sold my 28 Dodge street rod to build this truck. The Dodge was an amazing car for the 10 years I had owned it, but it just became unpractical. I wanted something that was easy to restore and would at least have more storage for travelling to car shows.

I found my Blazer online, and it was located here in Canada about 3 hours away.The truck was complete with new tires, Softopper and tons of other stuff the PO put on. I was actually able to drive it home.
It was originally sold in Salem Missouri, and ended up in British Columbia which would explain why it's in decent shape. It has the typical rust issues like rockers and rocker boxes as well as the rear bed area. The windshield frame and frame thankfully are all rust free. I just started the restoration this week, but have been picking away at bits and pieces since I bought it.
My goal is to have this done this time next year (52 weeks) so that I can attend the Syracuse Nationals in New York State.
Hopefully you enjoy my build as much as I'll enjoy doing it.
Dan

[tjsblazer]

I'm in for the ride.

[mcmlxix]

Looks like a great starting point!

[hemi43]

Here's some pictures that most owners of this generation of truck have faced before. It was nice to see that the rust was concentrated in pockets and not riddled throughout the whole truck.

[hemi43]

Here's the rear floor section. Rust repair is so easy with all these replacement panels available,so most of the panels should be installed in less than a week.

[hemi43]

Started digging into the passenger side rocker, and found the biggest mouse nest I've ever seen inside the inner rocker box. It almost filled my shop vac. It's no wonder these trucks rotted the way they did. Stupid engineers !!
I'm replacing the floor sections and outer rockers while the body is still on the chassis, then will replace the inner boxes after the body is braced and on a rotisserie.

[jaros44sr]

I ll go along for the ride, nice work

[warbucket]

me too,

[IronCanine]

Looking eerily familiar. Fantastic start. I'm happy to punch my ticket too! This is going to be fun.

[hemi43]

Since I've had the truck already for a couple months, that's given me lots of time to plan my build as well as gather lots of parts. One thing I really wanted to do was put the body on a rotisserie so that I could blast and paint the underside of it, because I'm too damn old to lay on my back on the shop floor.
I tried to find a used rotisserie without much luck, and I sure as heck wasn't paying almost 2K for a new one. Thankfully, I built a CNC plasma table a couple years ago, so I was able to make one for about $600 and a few days work.

[IronCanine]

Originally Posted by hemi43

...Thankfully, I built a CNC plasma table a couple years ago....

Boy can I ever relate to that...just the other day I was about to get into a bar fight and was dreading it, then I remembered, "Hey, I've got a light saber!"...so then I just cut the guys arm off and it was over.

....way to take it up a notch...this IS going to be fun.

[jjzepplin]

Your not playing fair. CNC plasma table- Really- Just not fair. Ugh. Nice freaking work though. I'm almost afraid to start poking my Blazer now.

[hemi43]

LOL !! Thanks Guys !!

Got more progress done today. Passenger rocker is now in and was able to play with the plasma cutter again too.
Not sure what you call this piece, but it seems to be an expensive replacement part that is difficult to find. Thankfully my original piece wasn't totally gone, so I was able to get accurate measurements. After an hour of computer work, I had a program, and 30 seconds of cutting I had a part. Fit pretty good.

I also got my exhaust manifolds back today. Had a friend ceramic coat them for me. I guess I forgot to mention that the old 350/350 combo will be getting replaced with a 2003 5.3/4L60E.

[hemi43]

Just got another piece today !! This was an expensive one, and although not really needed, it's something I wanted. It's from Dakota Digital and comes with all the sensors. The remote "brain" for it will really clean up the wiring under the dash since there's only a couple LAN wires that feed the info to the cluster. Also, I'll be able to ditch the speedo cable because I'll use the VSS signal from the 5.3's PCM.

I'll be running 33's, so I've decided to change the gear ratio to 4.11:1
With the Overdrive, I will be around 1800 RPM @60 MPH.

Next week is the Syracuse Nationals in New York, and will be picking up some more goodies.

[tjsblazer]

Wow great progress. You don't fool around.
PM sent.

[hemi43]

More progress today, and was able to get the passenger wheel lip repaired. Took a while to get welded in, but got zero warping thanks to TIG.

[DeadheadNM]

I'm on board - good luck! Great progress.

[mx289]

I'am in.

Great work so far.
Very nice.

[BIG ORANGE]

This is gonna be a good one, brother has tools and skills,,,,,,, U da man!!!!Donnie

[hemi43]

Just got back from the Syracuse Nationals, and got lots of parts while I was there. Picked up a complete AC system from "Old Air Products", as well as master/booster combo. Most of the metal work is done, and will temporarily reassemble the panels for fitment and to check for correct gaps because it's better to do this now than after paint is on.
I have one more torque box to install, then I'll be able to remove the body from the frame and mount it on the rotisserie. I was also happy to see there's zero rust issues with my header and A-pillars.
One item I'm stumped on, is the location of the Blazer fender emblems. I just bought new ones today, but for some reason I only have some of the mounting holes, and my fenders are the original ones. Any ideas? Did all Blazers have the "K5 Blazer" emblem on them?

[GMC-YA68]

Loving this!!!

Keep spending! Haha

[tjsblazer]

Post a picture of your fender. I can't find my emblems right now. I got parts all over the house (wife really loves that). The assembly manual shows 3 holes.

[tristan]

Subscribed, you are making me look like a very slow turtle and I'm paying to get this stuff done! :-)

Great work.

[mtully79]

Plasma cutter huh? Playin dirty...I love it. I'm in!

[hemi43]

I started to grind the paint off of the fenders to try and find out where the original emblem mounting holes were, and all I found was a bunch of cheese in them. Even though there's no rust, it would have taken too many hours to repair the dents so I opted to buy new fenders. I'm still confused as to where the "K5 BLAZER" emblem originally mounted, because it requires 3 holes in a triangular pattern. Also, there should be another emblem located below it with the engine displacement utilizing 2 more holes for a total of 5 holes. Any ideas?
Another problem I tackled today was the front drivers spring perch. Al the rivets were loose, so I had to cut them off. I'll replace them with some grade 8, 1/2-20 button heads.