Frame Off 72' Blazer Restoration

[atvpro]

I have put together a slideshow youtube on the frame conversion, go check it out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUI-I...ature=youtu.be

[DeadheadNM]

Nice work

[txgp17]

Nice work indeed. Makes my mouth water for wanting to do this to my 72' Blazer.

[Ol Blue K20]

Nice, looking good

[Blazerowner]

I did a little research and there seems to be some debate about the thickness of the frame between the 1/2 ton and 3/4 ton. Many say they are the same. Since you have both, you can easily compare. Is it substantial? I am considering finding a 3/4 ton frame and doing the same if there is a large difference.

[atvpro]

This is not a part of my job that I really look forward to when I get up in the morning but sometimes you just have to cowboy up and ride the bull. I wish it only took 8 seconds. In these pictures, you will see the replacement procedure on replacing a very badly damaged rear floor section. I decided it was better to replace it than to repair it. Fatigued and stretched metal is never a good foundation to build on. Fortunately, I purchased a couple K5s that one of them had a really good floor in it. No aftermarket junk here, its all GM metal. More pics to come on the actual installation these are just of the removal.

[atvpro]

And these are last few pictures from the post above.

For those of you that are thinking about doing something like this or disassembling a regular bed I have come up with what I think is the best way of getting all the bolts out. Don't try to take the nuts off, tighten them until they break off.

[atvpro]

Originally Posted by Blazerowner

I did a little research and there seems to be some debate about the thickness of the frame between the 1/2 ton and 3/4 ton. Many say they are the same. Since you have both, you can easily compare. Is it substantial? I am considering finding a 3/4 ton frame and doing the same if there is a large difference.

To answer your question; there is a substantial difference between a K5 and a 3/4 ton. The 3/4 ton is a 7 gauge thickness and the K5 is a 10 gauge thickness. That is about the same thickness as my lawn mower deck. I personally and professionally believe that the single best investment that a K5 owner could make to his vehicle is a 3/4 ton frame and the nice thing about that is that you can build it separately and move the blazer over to it no matter how nice it is. Keeping in mind that you are all but eliminating door jam and roof cracking problems. And nobody will be able to tell that it is a 3/4ton frame unless you tell them.

[atvpro]

Originally Posted by Blazerowner

Any progress on this? I am particularly interested in the frame swap. What year is it from and what did you have to do to the rear to accommodate the blazer? Are you sticking with stock drive-train?

The blazer is a 72', fortunately the customer had a 72' 4wd drive donor truck . Yes we are sticking to the stock drive train and I believe your other questions are best answered by the pics being posted below on the frame build. One modification we are making for the customer, we are custom building a receiver hitch that will be located behind the license plate. The way we are building this hitch we will be eliminating the stock bumper brackets and reinforcing the bumper to protect the rear of the vehicle from any rear impact that may happen.

[Chulisohombre]

Wow that bed section doesn't look rusty at all. You should see mine. Lol. I'm missing the rear 2 inches where the carpet plate bolted into the tail pan. I wish mine was as good as that piece you just took out.

[txgp17]

Originally Posted by atvpro

To answer your question; there is a substantial difference between a K5 and a 3/4 ton.

Can a 1-ton 2x4 frame be easily used for a K5 replacement? I know where one is that's been sitting for a decade or two, and the owner would probably pay me to drag it away.

[atvpro]

Originally Posted by txgp17

Can a 1-ton 2x4 frame be easily used for a K5 replacement? I know where one is that's been sitting for a decade or two, and the owner would probably pay me to drag it away.

no I don't believe so.the back of a one time frame is actuallyan inch higher then a regular pickup truck frame. Not exactly impossible but I sure wouldn't spend the extra time trying to make it work if I had a three-quarter ton frame available.

[JayB331]

Originally Posted by atvpro

I have put together a slideshow youtube on the frame conversion, go check it out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUI-I...ature=youtu.be

Quality work on the frame. Great slideshow. I have an affinity for K5's. My Dad gave me his when I turned 16. Had to sell it in 1989 and regretted it the day I sold it.

[atvpro]

Well as promised here are the rest of the pictures of the bed floor installation. After doing the media blasting on this yesterday, I have come to realize that we are going to have to come up with a media blasting room. I spent more time chasing the damn hinges around trying to strip them. I'm sure if there was fly on the wall he was probably laughing his ass off. No, but seriously I've not been able to do as much media blasting because of the outside elements, ie rain, and soon enough snow. For those you of who have been following my posts; you know that I will build it and it will be better than anything you can buy on the open market. Robotics sold separately.

[Chulisohombre]

Lookin good. I'd love to have that clean a tub

[atvpro]

These stress cracks are one of the direct reasons why we recommended and subsequently built a 3/4 ton frame. The 3/4 ton frame will completely eliminate this problem as well as door alignment issues.




This is my GMC Blazer top repair cart.





Peeled away all loose pieces of this pandora's %*##@* box. Feel very confident that the technique we will be using to repair this fiberglass will strengthen the whole area. More illustrations to come on the repair process.






The deck lids on these Blazers definitely were a weak point. My plans are to reinforce the inside with spray foam after doing a resin repair which will require me to build a jig to hold it at the right shape for this process. More to come on this.

[txgp17]

Originally Posted by atvpro

[IMG]These stress cracks are one of the direct reasons why we recommended and subsequently built a 3/4 ton frame. The 3/4 ton frame will completely eliminate this problem as well as door alignment issues.

I'm green with envy of your knowledge, skills, and abilities.

[atvpro]

Dove into all the rust issues on the driver side door pillar, rocker, and so on so forth. As you can see I used one of my inner rocker panels 16 gauge cold rolled that I normally use on my crew cab builds. Three times as many welds as factory guarantee it will be stronger than it ever was before and it won't rust. Whenever I do rockers and any rust repair, everything gets painted before I put it together.

[atvpro]

Originally Posted by atvpro

dove into all the rust issues on the driver side door pillar, rocker, and so on so forth. As you can see i used one of my inner rocker panels 16 gauge cold rolled that i normally use on my crew cab builds. Three times as many welds as factory guarantee it will be stronger than it ever was before and it won't rust. Whenever i do rockers and any rust repair, everything gets painted before i put it together.

pictures continued

[atvpro]

Rust resistant coating applied before attaching outer rocker.

[mtully79]

Which rust preventative coating do you use?

[atvpro]

Originally Posted by mtully79

Which rust preventative coating do you use?

Zero Rust.

[Special-Ed]

Originally Posted by atvpro

Zero Rust.

is that a weld thru primer?

[atvpro]

Originally Posted by Special-Ed

is that a weld thru primer?

No. I have yet to find a well through primer that I like.

[atvpro]

Here are a couple of pics for you Special-Ed.