New Blazer 1972 - Got Questions ;-)

[scoyote]

Well, the Blazer is new to me anyway.

OK...I've been reading, using the search and "lurking" here for about a month now.

I just bought a pretty clean 1972 Blazer with a 327 (not sure what year) not too bad on rust but some where it's supposed to be: behind the doors, floor pan.

I did a compression check while it was cold because I wanted to see if that would show me anything about the piston/rings and I pretty much got 120 on all the cylinders except one and that was 110, so that is at least consistent.

I'm sure the readings were low since the engine was cold so I'll do another one this weekend after the engine has warmed up and see how that goes.

So, thinking about a new motor just in case and I wondered what people have done for carb/throttle body options.

I live in Colorado and I will use the truck for trails and hunting so it will have a lot of uphill/downhill orientation but nothing like rock crawling, just steep mountains around here and lots of rocks to bounce over.

Years ago I had a 1972 3/4 ton 4wd that I used in the mountains and it had a habit of either flooding or starving, depending on the situation.

So.....I was thinking of a throttle body or I heard from my mechanic buddy that Holley is supposed to have come out with a new carburetor that is less prone to those problems.

Has anyone had any experience with that new carb?

What have people done as far as trying to solve that issue?

I don't want to re-invent the wheel so I thought I would take advantage of the experience on this website.

OK....my second problem/question for tonight.

I have some rust in the bed (is that what they call it in a blazer?) behind and in front of the fenders.

I looked on LMC and didn't see replacement material for a Blazer.

Will a regular truck bed work to replace the bad areas?

I figured to just torch or grind out the bad parts and weld new patches in place of them unless I can find a replacement bed or something?

Not sure what the normal procedure is there either.

I hate being a newbie....but I suppose everyone gets that distinction at least once huh? ;-)

Thanks for any input....I WILL have more questions as I go.

Oh yea....FYI

Right now we are tearing out the front and rear axles and putting in front/rear dana 60's with cross over steering, 4" lift (any recommendations on the lift?) and 35" tires. Not sure of the gear ratio yet, but probably end up with at least 411 gears and I'm putting in front and rear ARB's too, and a winch on the nose.

Should be a pretty solid trail/hunting truck after that...and the motor.

It ain't gonna happen overnight, but by next hunting season....should be there.