New Member - 72 Jimmy: Project Knuckledragger mountain commuter

[snowblind]

It took a while to get the new dizzy and get it in but it's in now and the old beast is running again.

The problem turned out to be a broken wire inside the HEI distributor. My research indicates that this is a common failure point on these distributors. The replacement "Skip White" distributor is a nice unit with a slightly different top cap design and supposedly more power than the stock GM units.

The new dizzy went in fairly easily but when I went to put the top cap on I realized that there was no way it was going to fit. It's just too tall and bangs into the firewall. This is a HUGE problem because the top cap is secured by 4 screws that also secure the coil and the coil ground. On the stock cap the coil is held down by 4 separate screws and then the top cap has it's own 2 screws so it can run without the top cap. Not so with the Skip White.

I trimmed an inch or so off one side of the cap and got it to fit but it was still very hard to tighten the screws because of the curve of the firewall. In the end I just reused the stock coil mounting screws and top cap with the new distributor. All the screw holes and mounts in the aftermarket cap were the same as the GM unit.

The old cap and rotor looked pretty rough and they had 20K+ on them so it was time for a change. The truck revs a lot smoother now but I'm getting a little bit of detonation at full throttle so I'll need to back the timing off a bit and then maybe this summer I'll play with some springs and plug gap.

The point of failure:


Skip White rebuild kit:


Skip White top cap:


GM top cap:


Skip White complete distributor:

[snowblind]

Been rolling along trying to not spend money for a bit. Trucks running well with the new distributor.

Here's a video that begins with shots from the driver's seat of my Jimmy!

YouTube- Snowbird, Utah January 25, 2010 - Powder...

[Big J]

Awesome video, while I dig the people action footage, some of your ride throwin' snow would've been cool too
Looks like you had no problem navigating around in it.

[snowblind]

Originally Posted by Big J

Awesome video, while I dig the people action footage, some of your ride throwin' snow would've been cool too
Looks like you had no problem navigating around in it.

I would have loved to but there was nobody else around to hold the camera.

[snowblind]

Aaaaaaaaaaaallright!

The Jimmy served faithfully for the remainder of the winter and we had a pretty cold/wet spring here this year. But the warm weather has finally returned and I've been busy.

Some of you might remember these 2002 Tahoe seats...



Last fall I pulled the bottoms of them and had mounting tabs welded to the seat rails. They sat in my garage for the winter but now they are in the truck! To bolt them in I used two of the stock front holes and then drilled new holes for everything else. I'm using steel plate to reinforce the holes floor right now but I think it needs more than that. I will be doing floor/rocker/torsion box repairs soon and I plan on making more secure mounts then.








Next up was a fan upgrade. I put a single 12" on last fall but with summer coming I needed to get the rest of the cooling package done. I ordered a dual 12" aluminum fan shroud from www.classicheartbeat.com. Wes had it made and shipped to me in four days so I could install it over the weekend. Thanks Wes!





I found some nice aluminum T-bolts and rubber washers at Ace.



The fans and shroud are in and working but I don't have any photos yet.

Stay tuned for those photos and more. I'll be doing a bunch of stuff in the next few weeks including a new steering box, new leaf springs & shackles and new door panels!

[NTR72GMC]

Seats look good did you get the power hooked up to them?

[blazin]

i just used some flat iron drilled the holes so i could use the factory mounts.. then welded the seats to the flat iron and painted the metal black....done!! works great i can still pull them if i needed to. o they are 2006 chevy leathers.
.

Because every adjustment on these seats is power I can't even check seating position until I get them wired up. I'll put power to them tonight and try and move them into a position that will make the mounting easier.

I'm not sure how I'll mount the passenger seat. It doesn't look like it has any way to tilt forward so I may adapt it to work with some of the original forward tilt hardware. After I get the driver's mounted hopefully I'll have a clearer picture.


Matt[/quote]

[snowblind]

Originally Posted by NTR72GMC

Seats look good did you get the power hooked up to them?

Hey man. Those bumper lights are going strong! Thanks again for those.

You gotta have the power to move anything on these bad boys. Installation is a pain because you're always powering up to move it a little to access a bolt.

For now it's just wire nuts and a fused wire from the battery that I switch back and forth when I need to move a seat. This weekend I plan to add a relay and make them ignition hot. I'm saving the heat/memory wiring for later when I have a center console.

[snowblind]

Originally Posted by blazin

i just used some flat iron drilled the holes so i could use the factory mounts.. then welded the seats to the flat iron and painted the metal black....done!! works great i can still pull them if i needed to. o they are 2006 chevy leathers.

I wanted the seats as low to the floor as possible so I cut off the factory 02 brackets. Personally I don't feel comfortable with the factory mounts holding the seats + seatbelts + me in place during a wreck.

Originally Posted by blazin

I'm not sure how I'll mount the passenger seat. It doesn't look like it has any way to tilt forward so I may adapt it to work with some of the original forward tilt hardware. After I get the driver's mounted hopefully I'll have a clearer picture.

My passenger seat doesn't tilt but I welded the mounts as far backward as I could so it will move as far forward as possible. With the seat all the way forward there is enough room for kids and small people to squeeze though.

[blazin]

i can see cutting them to make the seats lower.. but im sure the factory mounts are safe or why would gm make them like that?

Originally Posted by snowblind

I wanted the seats as low to the floor as possible so I cut off the factory 02 brackets. Personally I don't feel comfortable with the factory mounts holding the seats + seatbelts + me in place during a wreck.



My passenger seat doesn't tilt but I welded the mounts as far backward as I could so it will move as far forward as possible. With the seat all the way forward there is enough room for kids and small people to squeeze though.

[NTR72GMC]

Hey man. Those bumper lights are going strong! Thanks again for those.

Cool glad that they are working for you. Are you going pull the top on that thing any time soon?

[snowblind]

Originally Posted by blazin

i can see cutting them to make the seats lower.. but im sure the factory mounts are safe or why would gm make them like that?

GM didn't make them like that.The factory mounts are only designed to hold down the stock seats. The stock seat belts bolt to the rear bulkhead and the seat belts are what hold you in place during a wreck.

Your new seats have integrated seat belts but you no longer have the bolts connecting them to the rear bulkhead. In doing this you have bypassed at least half of the original mounting strength.

Just to be clear - When I say "factory mounts" I'm talking about the holes in the floor that you screw the seat mounting bolts into for 1972 blazer/jimmy seats.

[snowblind]

Originally Posted by NTR72GMC

Cool glad that they are working for you. Are you going pull the top on that thing any time soon?

I don't think so.

I'm missing the torsion boxes on my truck and there is a bunch of rust in the rockers from the aux fuel tanks. I don't want to pull the top until after I replace all that stuff so it probably won't happen this summer.

[blazin]

sorry.. i was talking about the NEW seats mounts that you cut off. didnt realize you were talking about the floor mount. so how did you get the strenght back? did you some how bolt them to the bulkhead?

Originally Posted by snowblind

GM didn't make them like that.The factory mounts are only designed to hold down the stock seats. The stock seat belts bolt to the rear bulkhead and the seat belts are what hold you in place during a wreck.

Your new seats have integrated seat belts but you no longer have the bolts connecting them to the rear bulkhead. In doing this you have bypassed at least half of the original mounting strength.

Just to be clear - When I say "factory mounts" I'm talking about the holes in the floor that you screw the seat mounting bolts into for 1972 blazer/jimmy seats.

[snowblind]

Originally Posted by blazin

sorry.. i was talking about the NEW seats mounts that you cut off. didnt realize you were talking about the floor mount. so how did you get the strenght back? did you some how bolt them to the bulkhead?

I think I have your setup pictured in my head... The 2002+ seat rails are riveted to mounts/brackets that line up with floor indentations in the modern trucks. You took these mounts/brackets and bolted them to metal that was welded over the old mounts of your truck. Am I correct? If you did it that way then it might even be a little weaker that using the stock bolt holes/bolting through the floor.

I'm not trying to bust your balls here. On my truck the torsion boxes are gone so I have a really good view of the underside of the floor. That sheet metal is thiiiiiiiiin. The stock seats have angle iron welded in to span the space between the mounts but even then my passenger busted a hole in the floor just from being set down over the years. My biggest worry is that in a wreck the rear seat mounts would just rip the floor up like a beer can.

I put some 1/4" steel plate on the underside of the floor under the rear mounts to spread the force out but it still worries me. For true piece of mind I want to reinforce my mounts with angle iron that spans from the trans tunnel to rocker and then ties back to the rear bulkhead. I don't think it needs to be super heavy duty if it spreads the load over a large enough area. I hope to replace my rockers and torsion boxes this summer. I'll be doing my reinforcements then.

[snowblind]

Here's a few exterior photos.








And the new shroud with dual 12" electric fans from www.classicheartbeat.com.

[blazin]

here is what i did (see pic) and i reinforced the underside. used the same bolt holes that the blazer floor has.

[Brandoneh]

Nice build! I'm on the hunt for some seats for my blazer. I'm hoping to go the same route and reinforce things from underneath.

Truck looks like a lot of fun man!

Originally Posted by blazin

here is what i did (see pic) and i reinforced the underside. used the same bolt holes that the blazer floor has.

Any pics of the reinforced underside.

[blazin]

Originally Posted by Brandoneh

Nice build! I'm on the hunt for some seats for my blazer. I'm hoping to go the same route and reinforce things from underneath.

Truck looks like a lot of fun man!




Any pics of the reinforced underside.

sorry no i dont have any pics.. just used flat iron.

[snowblind]

Originally Posted by blazin

here is what i did (see pic) and i reinforced the underside. used the same bolt holes that the blazer floor has.

Yep. That's pretty much how I pictured it.

My temporary set up is similar but I want the rear mounts to have a more secure mount than just the floor. It's the same deal as mounting a roll bar. Some people are OK just bolting it to the floor.

[snowblind]

I found these the other day. The edges are beveled to disperse the pulling force so that the plate doesn't cut/tear through the floor. I'm going to take some measurements tomorrow and see if I can fit them in.



http://www.mooneyesusa.com/safety-be...es-p-2224.html

[snowblind]

I did a bit of engine compartment and wiring cleanup this weekend.

My PO equipped the truck with a remote starter solenoid. Thank you sir! However, I wasn't really happy with it's location and mounting (lot's of exposed wires and zip ties) and I was adding to the mess with my own wiring "upgrades". I decided it was time to get everything cleaned up and protected before it got any worse. Anyways... On to the photos.

Here you can see the starter solenoid mounted back on the firewall. The starter wire, one-wire alternator connection and "turn-on" wire are coming in from the right. The battery positive and a couple of accessory power wires are on the left. The black box in the left foreground contains six 20amp breakers and draws it's power directly from the + side of the remote solenoid.





And here are similar shots but with the cover on the breaker box. I also painted the inner fenders with some "semi-flat" Krylon, installed a washer bottle/pump from a 90's 2500HD and cleaned up the wiring on most of the driver's side and firewall. I'll get some photos of all that stuff later.



The breaker box is pretty slick. Bottom left of this photo you can see that it has a rubber grommet at the top entrance and a sealed rubber blank on the bottom. These grommets/blanks are easily switched around depending on where the wiring comes from. I bought the box at NAPA. They had it in stock in the back.

[snowblind]

I found a 72 C10 at a local junkyard complete with door panels. They were dirty and the arm rests were toast but 20 minutes of scrubbing and new arm rests cleaned them up.

The photos make the leather look a lot darker but it's closer in real life.









I wish my PO hadn't cut the doors for speakers...

[Shock_Me]

Panels turned out great! Cleans up the doors nicely

[NTR72GMC]

A little elbow grease does wonders. They look great.