1978 Russet Metallic 4x4

[RANDY COX]

Wow super clean and a Beaut...

[phillipm]

Looks great, nice job!
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[buffydores]

Test fit the ARB Fridge Freezer in the back. Perfect fit. About an inch of clearance between the tailgate and cooler.

[buffydores]

Off with the old 39 year old trailer hitch:



On with the new freshness:

[phillipm]

Serious business!!

[schpeen]

Originally Posted by buffydores

Off with the old 39 year old trailer hitch:



On with the new freshness:

that is really funny today i took a ride over to my painters shop to retrieve my class II hitch that we took off when we did the bumper swap a few months ago, so finally it's in my driveway now awaiting the sander and black satin paint! LOL

[buffydores]

Originally Posted by schpeen

that is really funny today i took a ride over to my painters shop to retrieve my class II hitch that we took off when we did the bumper swap a few months ago, so finally it's in my driveway now awaiting the sander and black satin paint! LOL

I liked the options that are available with a square receiver hitch... like ball removal. And accessories are always nice to have.

[buffydores]

I found some old pics with the Blazer in them:

I'm in white looking at the camera:


My uncle, grandmother and cousin. I'm in the background:


My older brother kicking the soccer ball in front of the Blazer:


Me, my brother and father, and some cousins coming back from a hunt. I'm on the hood with one of my cousins:

[aggie91]

Love seeing these old pictures. Nice memories for sure.

[buffydores]

As folks know by now, I have a tendency to push the Blazer. 75mph....80...85. Yep, I may be guilty. Those darn aftermarket dumbo ears just can't stay put. And here's my next stab at fixing it.

So everybody knows there's a rubber insert and a metal clamp that cinches down on the stem/rubber to create the friction that holds them in place. Right? We also know the factory ones don't have the same problem.

Here's why. It's not the rubber insert that is the problem it's the clamp. The factory unit is painted with some kind of paint that has a noticeable coefficient of friction when compared to the bare metal of the aftermarket units. That's one friction surface solved. The other one is between the rubber insert and the mirror stem. I got that figured out too. Here we go:

I use this rubber stuff to wrap the stem with thin rubber. Wrap it tight and thin with not too much overlap.


I then put the rubber insert over the rubber wrap. Once you clamp things down, don't adjust the mirrors. This rubber does something over a period of a few minutes time where it really turns to rubber.


Then I insert it with a factory clamp. Perhaps you can paint the aftermarket clamp with some kind of self etching paint.


Don't forget the factory clamp screws because the aftermarket's are different.


Again, let it sit after clamping down on it. The rubber wrap material will bond with the rubber insert and really grip the stem. The factory painted clamp will provide the additional friction missing while still allowing some shear adjustment. Again this rubber tape is the lick: http://www.allelectronics.com/item/s...er-tape/1.html

[aggie91]

I saw your Blazer Friday while headed out to lunch with a buddy of mine. How was the BBQ at that 4th best BBQ joint in Texas?

[buffydores]

You totally should have come in and asked around. Next time introduce yourself.

[aggie91]

Originally Posted by buffydores

You totally should have come in and asked around. Next time introduce yourself.

They looked busy that day, so we decided to head down the road to El Rincon to eat. Maybe next time.

[phillipm]

Glad you got the mirrors fixed! Ever since I put the factory clamp and friction sleeve on my aftermarket ones they've been great too!

Also, those picture are great memories! Really cool to look at, thanks for sharing.

[buffydores]

Time for another upgrade. As you can see from the old pictures above, we've had a pair of KC Hilites Daylighters on this truck from the beginning. Adequate lights for the time, but outgunned by modern standards.

While searching for a new set of lights, I came across this upgrade kit from KC Hilites that upgrades the guts of your original Daylighters to modern LED components.

I also ordered new rubber inserts to freshens things up.

For the benefit of readers I only installed one light to perform a comparison.

The first picture is the original halogen insert.


The second picture is the new LED insert and rubber.


Now let's look at the comparison.



I have the truck parked about 20 feet away from the garage door. The old lamp is in a spot pattern with a tight hotspot. I measured 2,600 lux in the hotspot. On the right side we see the larger spread of the LED driving light pattern. The hotspot on the LED is pushing 3,650 lux, with most of the pattern registering at least 3,000 lux.

Overall, the LED version is probably pushing more than double the light of the original light. This is a significant upgrade to the originals. It's not top tier performance, but it's certainly good stuff. And in my case, the character of the original lamps is an important factor in my decision. For comparisons sake, I have a pair of Lightforce 215 LED lamps on my Jeep. They push north of 12,000 lux in their hotspot in a flood pattern. I also note that KC Hilites shows different performance numbers than what I measured. I think it's two things. The halogen's performance has degraded over time and the distance I'm measuring from is shorter than their specs.

[mickeykreg]

good info, interesting what you found out.

I bought a pair of these.
http://www.kchilites.com/6-gravity-d...system-pr.html
Pricey, but I like the vintage look combined with new technology. They saved me from hitting a deer this spring while headed to Death Valley so I figure it's worth it. BTW, found them for $250 on Amazon, shipped direct from KC.

[buffydores]

Few more comments. One of my metal 4x4 rally caps walked off on me. Not sure if it worked itself loose or was stolen. I'm gonna loktite those suckers on going forward. I'm going to a little local car show tomorrow. I'm bummed that one cap will be missing.

My mirror solution was short lived. The part that must be able to shear/slip is the inner rubber sleeve surface to the mirror stem. My clever rubber stem wrap failed once you worked it a bit. I'm now running the factory clamps with factory rubber sleeves on aftermarket mirrors with factory rubber grommets. My bet is that they will still creep at speed regardless.

I went ahead and replaced the other halogen assembly in the other KC Hilites Daylighter. New but old. They look sharp. I measured the light at the speced distance (10 meters). The factory specs it at 1,130 lux for the driving lights. I'm seeing 1,430 lux in the hotspots, so I'm not sure how KC Hilites comes up with their numbers. These lamps, again, are gonna work well. Remember, a factory low beam is typically punching around 550 lux in its hotspot. And these lamps are DOT certified to be an auxilary headlamp.

[buffydores]

We have a winner. Copying Phillip, the way to go is factory clamps. The rubber sleeve didn't seem to matter. I also grabbed the original rubber grommets for the stem, because they're way better than the aftermarket. The only thing you need from the aftermarket is the mirror/stem plus the bracket cover.

Also, figured out why I lost the cap. The wheel was about to fall off. Torqued everything down to 80 ft-lbs.

[buffydores]

Went ahead and torqued it down to 100 ft-lbs. The original specs were for 30" tires, and after driving it a bit the lugs were already creeping a tad.

[phillipm]

Originally Posted by buffydores

We have a winner. Copying Phillip, the way to go is factory clamps. The rubber sleeve didn't seem to matter. I also grabbed the original rubber grommets for the stem, because they're way better than the aftermarket. The only thing you need from the aftermarket is the mirror/stem plus the bracket cover.

Also, figured out why I lost the cap. The wheel was about to fall off. Torqued everything down to 80 ft-lbs.

Glad you tried it. Mine haven't moved since swapping the parts!

[buffydores]

Some Pictures:

Kids love the Blazer. Here's my oldest and a friend's kids enjoying the experience at the car show:



And here's me doing a workover rig inspection today:





The fun thing is that the Blazer is back to doing some of the work that it was originally purchased to do 40 years ago. That's neat.

[mickeykreg]

Super cool! Makes me all nostalgic remembering 1980 or so when I was that age. The neighbor lady (a few miles away) used to give my brother and I a ride to school and one day she showed up in a brand new K5, brown and white I think. I thought it was the coolest thing ever to ride in that truck. Same plaid seats and everything. Still do think these trucks are the coolest thing ever...just like being 10.
Keep up the good work man! Love your pics!

[buffydores]

Upcoming Projects:

I have a couple of projects I'm planning. The first is a simple one. I'm gonna pull the battery trays and POR15 or powdercoat them. I haven't decided which.

Next is the big one. The transfer case gives me a clunk when I shift (especially into reverse). My reading suggest it's the differential section showing its age. I'm pretty committed to the NP203 because it's strong and I don't care about fuel economy. I also like the fulltime aspect of it. The sad thing is that support for it is waning. I can't find anybody that sales the differential gears. I have found a company that specializes in just transfer case rebuilds, but I'm trying to see if they will actually rebuild mine and not force me into a core situation. I'm a bit nostalgic, but ultimately, a like-new NP203 is gonna trump originality.

If I'm going through the trouble of pulling the transfer case, I may have the TH350 rebuilt and cleaned up.

[68Timber]

Nothing wrong with running the NP203. I would add Warn Premium hubs, just to eliminate the extra tire wear, but respect the originality approach.

[SilverMiner]

Originally Posted by buffydores

If I'm going through the trouble of pulling the transfer case, I may have the TH350 rebuilt and cleaned up.

I heartily agree with 68Timber - absolutely nothing wrong with the good old NP203. And if you can keep it full time, even more power to you. Someday the last surviving full time 203 will be converted, and there will be no baseline to compare to. I wish I had kept my 78 Jimmy full time just to remind myself how the world used to be and to do a direct comparison against my newer 80 Suburban with a 205

Also, if you do need to pull the tcase by all means pull the trans at the same time and keep them connected. Removing the notoriously heavy 203 all on its own is perhaps the most miserable task on our trucks, second only to attempting to reinstall it. There may be special trans jacks or jigs available, but I'm not familiar with them. Removing the bellhousing bolts, torque converter bolts and then the crossmember bolts and lowering the entire assembly is in my opinion much simpler and safer.