On the road again...

[71RestoRod]

Finally got the Blazer on the road. Been having a blast driving it the last couple of weeks. I've put a few hundred miles on it so far... still breaking it in. I still have a long list of things to finish but I promised I post up some outside shots when I could... so here you go.

These shots were taken down the street from me, out front of what used to be Willy Nelson's property (before Uncle Sam took it away) hence the title of the post...

[71RestoRod]

Just for fun, here are a couple of before shots (1998!)

[Medicanman71]

wow wee that sure does look perdy. how talls it stand how how big a tire?

[tnblazerk5]

is that a willys i see lurking in the background ?

[bouncytruck]

Wow, big change. It looks great. Did you paint the top too? I see you didn't put all the moldings or the CST badges back on.

[bigbluthng]

congrats!!!!! man i envy you. my 72 has been stting for a long time! i have made some progress though, and i guess i cant complain too much since i got the camaro almost done. she looks good.

[Yukon Jack]

Awesome job!

[LUV2XCLR8]

WOWSERS

[jamie72]

looks great you did a heck of a job restoring it..

[4bynut]

VERY SHARP!! You did some very nice work.

[71RestoRod]

Thanks everyone.

Originally Posted by tnblazerk5

is that a willys i see lurking in the background ?

Sharp eye... The Willys is a story unto itself and since you asked I'll bore you with it... When I was a snotnosed teenager, I had a '49 Willys wagon that I built with junk yard parts off of every make imaginable. Over the years I kept adding stuff... The more I added the more I needed... V8, axles, springs, power steering, power brakes, dual electric fans, dual shocks, etc... and that was 30 years ago! Long story short, it got ripped off. I found the **&@#^ that stole it about six months later selling parts, and found the Willys totally stripped. I almost killed the dude. Fast forward almost 20 years.... the wife bought me the '49 Willys wagon you see here as a surprise. I thought this time I would start with a stronger platform... say, something like a 1st gen Blazer, because the wheelbase is exactly the same. Found one that was rotted and worn out but ended up driving it quite a few years. It was dependable as hell. Got started on the body swap and the wife said "you're not cutting up my Blazer". The rest is history... and the Willys now sits as a lawn ornament. My motorized trailer. Could be the next project.

Originally Posted by bouncytruck

Wow, big change. It looks great. Did you paint the top too? I see you didn't put all the moldings or the CST badges back on.

Yea, Bouncy. I painted the top Chevy white. I replaced all of the metal panels below the belt line and never re-drilled the trim holes. I may add the trim later, but I kind of like the look without. I completely de-CSTed the truck inside and out... even used an earlier "Chevrolet" emblem on the glove box door.

Originally Posted by Medicanman71

how talls it stand how how big a tire?

It's got a 4" Tuff Country spring lift in the rear and custom Alcan 9-leaf springs in the front with ORD greasable shackles, a swaybar conversion and discos. The rear is Dana 60, 4.11 with a Powr-Loc, 3" wider than stock. To suck the tires back in all around, I used 16 x 8" rims with 4" backspacing and metric 33"s.

[teamharvey]

Wow, very impressive !

[MikeS]

Looks great, congrats! Now go take it out on some of those great Colorado trails and put some "pinstriping" it

How's the fuel injection working out? I finally got my fuel pump from Tanks Inc. last night so hopefully I can get started on the TPI install this weekend. Do you have some pics of the plumbing from the fuel rail to the hard lines coming down the frame? I'm trying to figure out how to run them.

I now the spot where you took those pictures well. I used to ride my bike up that road all the time then back down on Stagecoach Rd. It's a beautiful place to live. I miss Dick's Hickory Dock.

Mike

[71RestoRod]

Mike,

Believe it or not, I have dragged a couple of branches already (no rock climbing yet for this rig) but you can bet your azz I got out the polish when I got it back in the garage! I don’t really have a ‘before’ to compare the fuel injection to. I can tell you that the whole package, zz383, Edelbrock Pro-flow and 700R4 is awesome up here.

Here are a couple of shots of how I routed the fuel lines. I used two new SS fuel lines from Inline Tube and ran them in the stock location. One was sized 3/8" for the feed and the other 5/16" for the return. The stock line has a 135 degree bend by the fuel pump. I cut the bend off of the feed line and flared it for a 135 degree -6 AN hose end. I also cut and flared the back end of the feed line to use -6 hose to the in-tank pump.

It was pretty tight running all the hard line. I did it with the body off the frame. I couldn't imagine feeding it all through with the body and crossmembers in place. The third line you see in the first picture is the vapor recovery. You can probably use that as your return line, but you’ll want to re-route it to the tank instead of the vapor tube. I have the vapor line hooked up to help vent the tank.

You nailed the location of those pictures all right. I definitely feel blessed to live up here. You must be in great shape to ride that loop… (I’m pretty sure I could handle all the downhill parts pretty well! ) You'll be disappointed to learn that Dick's, after all these years, was sold. It's now the "Flaming River" and they serve a Mexican cuisine.

I couldn’t help including the last picture for you too. You can share it with your family. It was taken out of our office window a couple weeks ago. Now I know why they call this area "Upper Bear". By the way, those suckers run friggin fast... like a horse. Don't ever think you can outrun one.

Good luck with the install. Take lots of pics and let us know how it goes!

[MikeS]

Thanks for the pics. I'm definately going to be in for a long day of plumbing. I've got to drop the tank and install the pump first. That should be a whole lot of fun by itself.

I can't believe Dick's is gone! That was a landmark. I wish I would've known it was for sale...I would have found a way to buy it myself

Nice bear! Big sucka! We usually get one or two coming through here in VA each summer. Last year one helped himself to all of our birdfeeders.

Well, wish me luck this weekend....I'm gonna need it!

[Huck]

Nice restore---now to go mud it a bit to see what it can really do!!hehehe. Like the color--problem being that once you get one there is this tendancy to get another, and another and----. My blue one is about done for now but just got this red basket case and pulled a rust free body down out of Canada---will make one super nice one out of the two. Will post some pictures as I go through the exercise. Lots of decisions to make---factory original air, aftermarket air, gear ratio's, etc. It will be Chev Red/Orange with white top and white interior with auto, tilt, tach, --that much I do know! Didn't them make them in green, black, white, bronze, ---may need a bigger barn! heheheh

[smbrouss70]

Hey RestoRod, which electric fan setup is that? Is it the flex-a-lite or the one from old air?

[71RestoRod]

It's a Flex-a-lite #295. I did modify it slightly... moved the relay to the driver side of the radiator support and opened up the air bypass on top where the relay used to be.

[smbrouss70]

Thanks! That's the one I was thinking of getting, it has the highest cfm rating, and in south Louisiana, I desperately need some air moving across my radiator. Other than your modifications, did/do you have any problems with it?

[71RestoRod]

Originally Posted by smbrouss70

Thanks! That's the one I was thinking of getting, it has the highest cfm rating, and in south Louisiana, I desperately need some air moving across my radiator. Other than your modifications, did/do you have any problems with it?

The fans work great. I had it out a couple of days in the high 90s and the 383, not even broken in yet, ran very cool. I actually had to adjust the relay to raise the temp because it was running too cool for the EFI. I would recommend this setup to anyone considering dual electrics in one of our trucks.

Here is a link with more pictures of the install:

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s....php3?t=158597

[FRENCHBLUE72]

Very nice ride you have built congrats...

[vtblazer]

The more I read, the more I like!
Very nice combination of parts you've put together.
Now I've got something to work towards.

super sweet blazer and I'm not talkin' just looks!
Sweet package, awesome job.

[tnblazerk5]

thats a cool story on the willys !!
i have always like the willys and had one once but sum a$$hole stole it while it was at the paint shop maybe one day i will have another one

[71RestoRod]

Originally Posted by vtblazer

The more I read, the more I like!
Very nice combination of parts you've put together.
Now I've got something to work towards.

super sweet blazer and I'm not talkin' just looks!
Sweet package, awesome job.

Hey, VT. Thanks for the kind words! To tell you the truth, I'm much more proud of the "Resto" part than the "Rod" part. I think any Nimrod with a checkbook can get good parts, but it was most satisfying to do the custom fabrication and to see the patch & body work that I've done over all of these years finally come together.

Thanks again. Yours and other rigs on this site have been the motivation for me to keep it moving.

[JayDubBlazer]

very nice build