Got my K5 back!

[engineer_gregh]

I was an expat (Air Force Veteran) in the Middle East during the 90's. I owned several blazers while there, but the first one was always my favorite. I sold it to another expat in 1995 and haven't spoke to him or seen the truck since 1998 when I moved back to the states. Last Saturday night I was scanning through FaceBook Market Place and low and behold the truck was for sale here in the Nashville area. I recognized the truck immediately. My wife told me I had lost my mind. Sure enough after talking with the seller one of the previous owners was the guy that I had sold it to in 1995. He shipped the truck back in 1998 and kept it until 2014. It then went to Colorado Springs for a very short time and then to North Dakota until two weeks ago. A flipper bought it on line and shipped it to Nashville. Sunday I bought the truck. I feel like the truck found me!

[engineer_gregh]

First picture hangs in my office, as you can see it was taken in 1994. The second picture was the one on FB MP for sale, and the third is the truck back home.

[Southcity]

Great story, nice truck! Glad you two are reunited. Of course you know the next question on everyone's mind, what are your plans for the truck?

[engineer_gregh]

My plans are to first replace the headers with stock manifolds (both sides leaking and burning up spark plug wires), complete tune up, and then to the transmission shop to have the tranny and transfer case leaks eliminated. It's going to need a complete cosmetic restoration after the mechanical evaluation.

[buffydores]

That's a good story.

[Ski-me]

My story is very similar to yours! I had an 89' that I bought as second owner halfway through college. Drove it all through college and even left our marriage reception in it. Had our first kid and then we decided it was just not practical to keep with a baby, car seat, access, etc, so we sold it in Seattle around 1996. Always loved that truck and I babied it so much!

Well after 2 more kids, we bought a very similar Suburban, 91'. Moved from Seattle to Colorado and years past by. Always thought, "what if I could every find it again".....

Each time we visited Seattle area, I would go for "drives" trying to find it. Never could find it. Finally dawned on me, I had a police officer friend, maybe he could help locate the current owner.

I called the owner (in Seattle area) to see if he'd be interested in selling. He said he just sold it to some guys that hacked it up and turned into a wheeler. He also noted, yea it was a really nice truck for it's age, too! I was sad that my search was probably now over.

Now a good 10 years had gone by, and by habit, still scanned Seattle Craigslist ads. One day I saw one similar, but different top. I asked for VIN # (as I always do whenever I saw a white K5) and he came back with the exact VIN. I texted my wife, "I found it!!!" I tried to talk him down just a touch but didn't want to hint I was previous owner. I finally fessed up and had a brother in law go buy it for me.

I got on a plane few up to Seattle. Yea it was rough, but it was my truck once again! Drove it back to Colorado and now have had it ever since! All 3 of my girls have learned to drive on it, and I don't think I'll ever get rid of it. It has 378k on it now, and we've put far more money into it than it's ever worth.

Although my wife didn't understand completely, she "gets it". What a great wife she is!!

[engineer_gregh]

Jeff that’s great. It’s hard to describe the excitement unless you’ve experienced it.

[Ski-me]

Originally Posted by engineer_gregh

Jeff that’s great. It’s hard to describe the excitement unless you’ve experienced it.

Yep, sure bliss! I sold it all waxed, carpet cleaned, no maintenance required. Bought it trashed, 37" tires, red backlit gauges, broken front seat that required a pillow to stay somewhat level, LOUD exhaust and "sometimes it just won't start for a few days.....".

So what do I do, leave Seattle at night, into the rain for a two day drive on a truck I had no idea would make it or not. Throughout the whole trip, I cringed each time I tried to start...hoping it would "just start". Made the 2 day drive, pulled into driveway. Next morning, it wouldn't start...whew.

[engineer_gregh]

New manifolds on, tune up accomplished, and leaks eliminated. Oh and I enjoyed taking a hammer to those ugly fender flares. Front bumper removed to make the body lift accessible for removal. Ordered doors forward sheet metal yesterday. Running like a champ now.

[Ski-me]

Much better!!

What size of tires do you have? 33's? Taking the body lift off is a good thing....definitely an 80's technique. If you do want to life a bit, might go 2.5" lift....just depends on the direction you want to go. Maybe getting some 8" wheels might help suck those tires in a touch too. Looks like 10" ones now (15" dia).

I went to stock 15x8 rally's. And 35's.

Also, I've been looking for ways to improve my brakes. I've done a LOT of rebuilding, but still not as much as I want. Found this thread on using a caliper that has a slightly larger piston, so I plan on giving it a try. If you get into your brakes, bearings, hubs, etc.....might be worth checking into the larger caliper why you're at it.

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=777221

[wldcat10]

Dang that is crazy that you found your blazer after so long! Awesome story!!!

[engineer_gregh]

Hi Jeff, yes they are 10 inch wheels. Amazingly those are the same wheels that were on the truck when I owned it last. The tires are 33x12.50 and are 17 years old based on the receipts that came with the blazer. I haven't decided on wheels and tires yet. Thanks for the advise on the brakes.

[bL.A.zer90045]

PM sent!

[weever82]

Thats a crazy story for sure. Congrats man! Super stoked for you

[engineer_gregh]

Stripped the interior. Hopefully going to sandblasting next week.

[engineer_gregh]

Still has the fire extinguishers from Saudi on the roll bar! I hadn't noticed that until stripping the interior.

[Ski-me]

Very cool on the extinguishers!

Rear most area looks the worst. Is it salvageable or will you need to replace?

[wazzabie]

what were the mods that happened when you did not own it?

[engineer_gregh]

Jeff I won't know until it's sandblasted, I'll post pictures after the blasting. Wazzabie here are a few of the mods, diamond tucked interior (including gluing diamond tuck to the entire hard top), very ugly fender flares (tons of bondo to make them look like part of the fender), 4 inch body lift, and the exterior paint. There were some improvements as well; rebuilt engine, 208 transfer case and front drive shaft, turbo 400 tranny, new leaf springs in the front, front end rebuilt, and rear leaf bushings. The truck has good bones.

[engineer_gregh]

Dustless blasting is not so dustless after drying. I drove it home after 4 hours of blasting. I should have had a pair of goggles and dust mask! I couldn't drive more than 30 mph and had to cover my mouth and nose to keep the flying sand (actually crushed glass) from choking me to death. Thank goodness I wear glasses or I would not have been able to see. Progress none the less.

[engineer_gregh]

I had no idea what to expect after the dustless blasting yesterday. As you can see there is a lot of clean up required before spraying epoxy primer. Took me 3 solid hours with a shop vac, brush, knife, and other scraping tools to get all the sand out.

[engineer_gregh]

Started to rust in less than 24 hours. I used a 3m red scotch bright pad to remove the rust before spraying the epoxy primer. Looks like I'm going to need both quarter panels, but hey the bed floor is good.

[engineer_gregh]

A friend was nice enough to spray the primer for me. This was a lot of work accomplished in two days.

[Ski-me]

I had no idea there would be such a mess leftover! It does look decent though. I’ve seen that method used in tv shows and was curious how well the results were.

Even though the surface rust came back quickly, are you happy with results overall?

[engineer_gregh]

I'm very happy with the results of the dustless blasting. It accomplished in 4 hours what would have taken me days to do with chemicals, grinders, etc. It was expensive, $200 per hour.