74 k5 cheyenne blazer

[CHEVYALWAYS]

I recently purchased a 74 cheyenne k5 blazer. It came with a front and rear roll bar. From what I can tell, most pictures I have seen only have one. Does anybody know if the 74's came with only one or two roll bars?

Also, any good places to find parts, mostly interior for now. I have looked at craigslist, but it can be time consuming.

Thanks for the help in advance!

[68Timber]

Rear roll bar was a factory option, and for interior parts check out the classified section here. Welcome, and post up some pics!

[CHEVYALWAYS]

Here it is

[68Timber]

Your truck makes me want 35's... Looks good! That truck is begging for a safari top. Softopper.com

[CHEVYALWAYS]

Need help with oil pan. Took truck to firestone for an oil change and they found the oil pan was leaking. They put a new cork gasket and a lot of silicone to fix it, but it is still leaking at the back seal. They tried the rubber, 1 piece, gasket and it didn't work. They also tried a new oil pan but said one of the corner holes was mm off so it wouldn't mount right. Any ideas on how to get this fixed and done. I did see on LMC trucks a one piece gasket but don't know what it is made of. I also saw locktite ready gasket they mention. Does that work?

Thanks for the help!

[BaggedRanger]

you sure it is the oil pan and not the rear crank seal?

also is it a factory oil pan or one of the crappy chrome ones? The chrome ones tend to leak sometimes.

[CHEVYALWAYS]

It is not the chrome one. Looks like its the original. They have tried using the cork and rubber seals, the 4 pc gasket, with silicone and it still leaks from the back seal which is the rubber one. Definitely oil leak. They are going to try the one piece rubber gasket with silicone before they give up on this. Any other ideas?

[BaggedRanger]

well the rear main will leak oil as well.. Only bad thing is to fix that you would have to pull the engine.. I know on mine the rear main leaks a little but hey for a motor that is original and I doubt has ever been opened up since 74 I can't complain.. When we changed the timing chain I still had the factory Timing chain set that has a date code of 74 on it..

[swissarmychainsaw]

yeah, don't let the oil change guys do much to your truck.

With these trucks it's a DIY kind of world. You'll find much satisfaction in doing things yourself. With some patience and some help from your new internet friends, you'll find there is not much you can't do! The good thing is, we're here to help!

it could be your oil pan, but it could be the 'rear main seal': google it.
I needs to leak for at least a YEAR before you fix it! :-)

That truck looks good, enjoy it!

[lane224]

Rear main seal should be a 2 piece if engine is pre-86. no need to remove engine. Drop the pan remove oil pump and rear main. You can remove top half of seal by working it out around crank. slide new one in. Put it all back together. Make sure you follow torque specs for rear main. 86 or newer engine you need to drop tranny to get to it.

[CHEVYALWAYS]

I want to say thank you to everyone for all the help with the oil questions. Now, I am talking to someone about front seats. He has a pair of seats that are for a 76-81 blazer. I am wondering if anybody can tell me if they will fit a 74. They are bucket seats and have the brackets. I can get a good deal on these if they will work. I just don't want to have to spend time drilling holes or anything to make them work. Any help/ideas?

[eighteenninetytwo]

Anything can be made to work, but whether they are a bolt in I can't comment on. Check the passenger side brackets first. The '75 at least had a triangular set up for the seat bolts in the floor, as the bracket that the seat latched too was set in the middle at the back of the seat.

[68Timber]

I know the seat bases changed somewhat, at least the passenger side latch moved, but I'm not sure if the base bolt pattern did. I had a 76 K5 once and it had the earlier style passenger seat with the release lever on the back side of the seat. I'm pretty sure that's what was used in 74.

[bmchevy1979]

The driver's side will bolt in but you have to use the brackets for the passenger side they use a different style latch hook into floor as compared to the surface mount on a 74 the brackets are bolted to the bottom of the seat frame so it's not to bad to swap I did this when I put the 79 seats in my 74

[bmchevy1979]

1st pic 74 latch
2nd pic 79 latch

Also the front hinges are the same it's just the latch

[CHEVYALWAYS]

Ok, so here is the update. I had the oil gasket, rear main seal, front seal and timing gasket replaced. Oil leak is gone. Now here is what is going on:
Every now and then the truck won't start. Lights come on but won't crank over. No clicking sounds either. First I replaced the battery cable for the positive because it was corroded. After that, kept on having the same problem. The next day I tried but no lights or anything. Found out the battery was bad, at least 2 cells. I got a new battery, lights and everything come on but still won't crank over. My next door neighbor came over and took a look and saw some oil in the starter. Everytime he would tap on it oil would drip out. So I replaced the starter, made sure all connections were connected right (replaced the two fusable links) and now it is trying to start up but can't get it to crank over. I am not a mechanic but am trying to figure this out. Just need help to figure out how to get this to start. Sometimes when I turn the key, nothing. Sometimes it will click. The rest of the time it will try to crank over but doesn't. Help Please!

[swissarmychainsaw]

There are a couple of ways to test your starter (and isolate it).

Your starter Solenoid is an electromagnetic switch which allows a bunch of current go to your starter.
Imagine how dangerous it would be if that big red wire ran to the key!
Your key acts as a remote relay (which is just a switch); this allows you to trigger lots of volts with a much smaller switch.

ther are two poles coming out of the starter solenoid, and if you were to connect those two poles the switch turns "on".

You can, but should probably not, use a screwdriver to connect the poles.
Better to use a "Remote Starter Switch" like this:



If that works reliably I would start looking at grounds in the circuits that control the starter.

That said intermittent functioning is a classic symptom of the solenoid starting to fail.
Sometime tapping it with a small hammer gets it working again.

If that is the case, then replace the Solenoid (though I would replace both the starter and solenoid at the same time).

Congrats on the rig. Take things slow, you'll figure it out. Buy the factory shop manual. Take notes and pictures of what you are doing, it's a fun process to learn about these trucks and fix them up!

--Nick

[CHEVYALWAYS]

I replaced the starter and the solenoid today. Still won't crank over. Tapped the solenoud and the starter a couple of times with hammer and still won't

[68Timber]

It still sounds like a bad connection. How new is the ground cable? I would try what SAC recommended. If you don't want to buy a remote switch, jumper it like he mentioned with a big screwdriver. I had the same problem w/my 85 a month or two back. I suspected my starter as well but it tested good at the local parts house. I ended up spending the afternoon cleaning connections under the hood. I never saw an obviously corroded or loose connection, but I had reliable fire to the starter when I was done.

[bmchevy1979]

Have you tried moving the shifter on the column around it could be the neutral safety switch is out of adjustment my 74 wouldn't stay so I bypassed it then I eventually went to a standard trans then hooked it to a toggle as a anti theft device

[TheWhiteElephant]

Check your grounds at the firewall. Make sure they're on there tight.

[CHEVYALWAYS]

Alright, here is the latest update:
1. I replaced the starter and solenoid
2. Battery is new with new positive cable
3. Replaced the ignition switch with a new one
4. I replaced one of the fusible links but not the other since it had a large red cable going to it and the fusible link I have did not have a large enough connection to connect to it. I am wondering if this is still my problem.

When I try to start the truck, there is no clicking, the brake light and radio comes on but no turn over. I have to turn the key all the way on and then back a little to get it to try and eventually it turns over. The alternator does work. Any suggestions? Is there a wire in the steering column that runs to the ignition switch and if so is it easy to get to and check the connection?

[Jonboy]

Sounds like a ground issue to me. If not that, possibly the neutral safety switch may be misaligned or bad.

[CHEVYALWAYS]

So I think I know a couple of things. When I replaced the starter there were two wires that were spliced together with fusible links that I separated. Could that be the issue? Also, I attached a picture of the junction box. Does it look right? Besides the one red wire that has exposed threads.

[CHEVYALWAYS]

Does anybody know where I can find an electrical diagram for a 74 K5 Blazer? Or does anybody have one they can send me? I believe there are some wiring issues on my k5. I have replaced the starter and solenoid, the battery, the coil, and the ignition switch. I also replaced the fusible links on two wires going to the starter. I am still having an issue where the truck won't start every time. Any help is greatly appreciated!

Thank you!