Top Fitment Question 72 K5

[72K5NTX]

Where should the top fit on the bed rail of a 72 K5 with a double wall top? Just finished the resto on mine (top not truck) and need either advice or a pic or something. On the driver side, the inside of the top is 3/4 of an inch away from the lip of the bed rail and the back hold down bracket also has a big gap. Passenger side is also out in the back but not so much. Of course the hatch has never closed properly (or been on) since I bought the Blazer. Also how much should the back corners of the top hang over the bed corners? Any help or advice would be appreciated. By the way all body mounts are new and shim ed with top on. I will try to add pics

[bouncytruck]

I'm guessing your body mounts are worn and you're getting some sag causing it to not align properly.

The new weatherstripping will effect the position of the top too. It can be difficult to get the top on the first time after installing new weatherstripping, especially if your body mounts are worn.

If the bolt holes are aligning, the top should be in the right place. You may have to do some serious man handling to get it aligning right.

[FoxHound]

I had the same problem. The top won't fit due to a number of reasons: the lack of support from the top will cause flex in the truck body itself over time; the top may have flexed while it was off and moved around; the new body mounts will surely change a few dimensions; if you replaced any rocker panels/boxes it will have changed doorway/pillar dimensions; etc...

Yes your'e top is back a little too far. The top and the lip of the door pillar should line up fairly close. There is enough flex in the top to make this fit. First bolt down the front piece on the windshield frame. Then go to one of the back holes along the bottom rail of the top (back near the tail-end of the truck) and find the hole that lines closest to the hole in the bed rail. Use a chisel or long screwdriver to "pry" the top forward to align the holes (you'll have to pry from the hole before or after the one you are trying to align). Do this slow and careful, even though the fiberglass is stronger than sheet metal pound for pound, you don't want to undo your repair jobs. Thread a bolt in, then do the same process on the other side of the truck. With two holes bolted down, the rest should line up fairly easy.

This may sound like a sketchy way to bolt it on, but let's face it, the top will never bolt on like it did 40 years ago, especially after restoring/modifying the truck.

As for your hatch, there are lots of areas you can tweak and adjust when bolting it in. The hinge bolts on both the top and the hatch have some play in them before you torque them down. The latches and the strikers are the same way. You should be able to make it fit fairly close. I got lucky putting my hatch in, got it the first try. But my top was the exact same as yours in the pic before I tweaked it forward and bolted it in.

[FoxHound]

I might add mine was even worse than yours so you should be able to tweak that in no problem

[72K5NTX]

Thanks for the advice, gave this a try and no luck with much forward movement.
The thing is, I am wondering if the PO drilled the holes that it fits in now. Reason I say that is that there are no holes in the bed for the front two bolt holes in the top, and I am wondering if by setting it too far back the windshield frame is tweeked to far back preventing any more forward movement. The holes in the bedsides measure a little different on each side and there looks to be some holes for a single wall top filled in (actually covered over). These are oval shaped, never seen what a single walls holes look like though. I would like to ask if someone would measure to the first hole from the door well and from the inside of the tub to the holes on a truck that is either original or that the top fits correctly (or as correctly as possible). Thanks again gurus for your help.