72 Blazer-One Owner..pretty much lol

[chastain90]

Figured since I was about to be done with the blazer I would start my build thread. Since it has been about 5 years since the body work and paint was done I don't have any pics of it during that phase unfortunately. It was bought by my dad's friend brand new at a local chevy dealership in 71 or 72. I still have the window sticker with options and the build sheet from factory with prices. I will try to get a pic of it and post it. He acquired it from him about 16 years ago and we drove it everywhere. I loved this thing as a kid. It was passed to me when I turned 18. I am 26 now. It hasn't ran since I was 14. Now I am getting to re live my childhood with this same blazer I rode around in as a kid. It has took a while but I am seeing the light at the end of the tunnel now.
Where I am at in the beginning of this thread is coming out of storage and beginning wiring and re assembly. Since it has been 5 years since it was painted it has had some scratches here and there unfortunately. I figure I will re paint it again later but just want to get it running and driving so I can enjoy it for now until I have the money to get a good paint job done. I didn't get many pics of the wiring because it was pretty basic. But here we go!!

[chastain90]

Here I welded up the old hole in the firewall and installed the new painless wire harness. It will be primed and painted to match. All the wires are wrapped in shrink tubing as you can see coming out of the firewall grommet.

[chastain90]

I decided to do away with the circuit board and just straight wired the lights and gauges. I found these pigtails at a local parts store that fit perfectly in the panel. They ground thru contact and have 1 wire out. Just tied them all together. I will say they did not have as much light in the panel as I thought. I figured out that the bulb must not project as much as the factory style did. I may change this later but for now they are fine. I am thinking Dakota Digital in the future anyway.

[chastain90]

During wiring I removed the tank and started cleaning it. From where it has sit for so many years with some fuel left in it, it rusted out a few pinholes. A local radiator shop boiled the rust out and cleaned it. Then soltered the holes up for me. It has not leaked since. I decided to use POR 15 tank sealer to prevent future rust. Also blew out all the vent and gas lines with compressed air while it was out and put new hose clamps and hoses on everything.

[chastain90]

I cant find the picture of when I put the POR 15 in the tank. But for those that don't know. You just make sure your tank is cleaned of all debris and pour the quart in and cover all holes and turn tank until all surfaces are covered and let cure for I think 48 hours. I let mine sit for 3 days just to be safe. Tank will be grey inside after that. Very good stuff.

[chastain90]

This is when I got it to the shop and started all this work. Guess this should have been post 1.

[chastain90]

After wiring, checking the lights. So far everything is working as it should.
This is my father in law in the pic that has been helping me with everything I don't know.

[chastain90]

Everything hooked up on motor, breaking it in. sbc 350. been rebuilt for a few years so the paint doesn't look as good as it used to but not worried about it. Going to run it while I work on a 454 for the future when it goes to paint again.

[chastain90]

NOTE: that small breather was just temporary. LOL only thing that was laying around.

[chastain90]

Now I started assembling the doors. Took a minute to figure out the puzzle pieces for this but I got it Now to order some small stuff for interior and start tidying things up and getting the wires tucked in the dash.

[chastain90]

Time to make it look good.

[preciador6]

Looking good

[chastain90]

I will continue to update as I go from here. It won't be much longer hopefully.

[chastain90]

Thanks

[chastain90]

Also about the hood. On it's way to the shop it wasn't tied good enough and it blew up and busted the bracing off of it and bent the hinges and hood. It's a bummer, but I got another hood and have to get it blasted and painted. So that is why you see a yellow hood on some pics.

[raggedjim]

Nice, it's gotta be a good feeling to start assembly. I'm still doing bodywork...

Good luck, Rg

[lks dcvn]

That stinks about the hood...hopefully you can get the other one ready quickly.

Looks great so far!

[chastain90]

Got the doors assembled. Starting to look pretty good.

[chastain90]

Got to find out how tough a sm465 is also. Was putting new fluids in tranny and diffs. Well I drained maybe half a quart of just water out of it. So Got it all drained and gonna see if it's gonna be ok.

[flashed]

Very nice rig neighbor ,Im in to see the finish line .

[chastain90]

Maybe when they are finished we can get together and do a cruise. My cousin has one also that he bought from SoCal.

[chastain90]

Got the interior finished up. Going to re cover seats later on.

[chastain90]

got the motor done also. Had to fix some skipping issues but running like a champ now. Drove it around the block and it did great.

[chastain90]

Here are the pics of my original window sticker and build sheets.

[chastain90]

Window sticker. $4400 new. Hard to believe.