How to: Ruin a perfectly good Blazer...

[babyblueoval]

Hey Chris,

While you've got your truck torn apart you should put that early front cap on there then your truck would be absolutely perfect.

When I finish mime, our trucks could be twinkies except for the color... and the interior.... and the engine....and the trans.....and....and.
Ok so maybe not twinkies but when I come to visit and we go down a few at Superior we'll certianly draw some attention.

[gringoloco]

Originally Posted by babyblueoval

While you've got your truck torn apart you should put that early front cap on there then your truck would be absolutely perfect.

It's definitely in the cards, but bodywork/paint is down on the list a few notches. I have a '70 pickup that is sorely neglected and in need of some attention too once this little project is done...

[gringoloco]

Made a little progress tonite- finally. Before I started welding, I spent some time setting up a dedicated 20A circuit to feed the welder. The first pic is my test piece. I wanted to make sure I was getting good penetration, plus it has been a while since I laid a bead. I think It will work...

I got the outer plates tacked, well actually, stitched in. Besides just running a bead around the perimeter, I also did a few plug welds in the existing holes in the frame for some insurance.

After I got them where I wanted them, I marked the excess....

[gringoloco]

...and lopped it off with a cut-off wheel. You can see that I made the cut a little bit above the bottom of the frame so that when I run the bead there, it will not be an overhead weld. I HATE overhead welding...

Everything so far is going well and it all ended up level and symmetrical. Guess all the obsessive measuring is paying off. The front to back is not level- it is parallel with the frame. When I set the jackstands I had about 1/8 bubble on the top of the frame rails and that is where I set the notches. Side-to- side and up-and-down they are level and plumb.

[gringoloco]

Since the rear seat will be attached directly to the floor, and I have lost some of the rigidity by removing a large portion of it, I decided that I would mount the notch cover directly to the notches. To do this, I drilled a couple of holes in line with the recesses in the floor and welded nuts inside the top plate of the notch. I will use grade 8 hardware and rubber mounting pads from a truck bed for a little NVH isolation. I didn't get far before the shop foreman stepped in and shut me down...

[grnddwn]

Originally Posted by gringoloco

Since the rear seat will be attached directly to the floor, and I have lost some of the rigidity by removing a large portion of it,

I build a whole new frame for my floor and mounted the seat to it. I found that the floor still flexed a little too much even with notch cover. I didn't think of attaching it to the frame though, and minewas in being bodydropped 2" anyway.
Truck looks sweet.