1972 Build thread.

[Spf79]

Originally Posted by DeadheadNM

Check. Any idea what occurred to bend the mount? Are the other mounts in good shape? I’m still puzzled by the lack of TC clearance and wonder if a settling tub because of sagging mounts could be the cause.

No idea, all of the other mounts are in great shape... and the body is sitting flat on all of them. I know the front driver side does not have all of the weight from the body on the puck.

Just thinking, and I should have mentioned this earlier... the frame is a 1971, the body is 72. I wish I would have taken more pictures during the teardown. It came apart without any trouble, I didn't think to check for things like this. The previous running gear should have had the same issue when looking back at the Rockwell transfer case that was in there. Maybe the frame mount got bent when at the powder coater? They were pretty cavalier when running the frame around with a forklift.

[Spf79]

If I forget about the body mount stuff, I'd say im pretty pleased at the moment. I picked up my remaining body parts from the painter, very happy. I will have to take the Blazer back once I get it together for them to fix a few spots that are no worky.
I figured having it on a rotisserie for them would have made it easier.
Current, I have my home office as a makeshift storage unit.

Other items... I got the wire harness bolted to the firewall, and I picked up my last big powder coat batch. Inner fenders, core support and a bunch of brackets. I'm currently waiting on a small order of random under dash stuff to show up. I broke my original brake pedal shaft bushings when trying to reinstall. Dumb.

I need to do some more refurbishment stuff tomorrow. Windshield wiper assembly is on the docket.

Oh! And I sourced an original set of deep style front window stainless trim. Pick it up next week. Yay!

[DeadheadNM]

Good progress.

Curious how a Rockwell t-case ended up in place. Only Dana 20s and NP205s were used in K5s. The Dana was used for 3OTT applications in 71.

[Spf79]

Originally Posted by DeadheadNM

Good progress.

Curious how a Rockwell t-case ended up in place. Only Dana 20s and NP205s were used in K5s. The Dana was used for 3OTT applications in 71.

Eastern Washington loggers...

The Blazer was in an accident in the late 90's from what I can tell from the paperwork I got with it. Unfortunately they bent the frame. So... they bought a 71 frame and welded the rear frame horns from the 72 frame onto it.

I assume they wanted a manual transmission when this was happening. This is also when the truck went from orange to green, and a 67/68 front clip was added.
I worked for a commercial tire place when I was 18, I spent a fair amount of time around loggers at this time. The don't mess around. Ha!

I'll have to look again, but I don't think that manual transmission and transfer case were from the same vehicle either.

[Spf79]

Transmission/transfer case have been dropped almost an inch.
I now have a index finger space between the top of the t-case and bottom of the tub.

Drivelines are good, valve covers and headers are no worky. I ordered some headers tonight, I'll post pics once they arrive and I make sure they fit. Not sure what the plan is for the valve covers. I'm maybe a 1/4 off at the top of the valve cover. Either I dent the firewall, or I try those Cheverolet script valve covers that have the more rounded edges. Eye twitching just a smidge. I like my current valve covers, and I don't want to dent my firewall.

I'm going to assume that HEI will not fit, and save myself the headache of buying, and then trying to fit.

[Spf79]

Update...

Not much done over the last 10 months.
More wiring, piddly items.

I had my header altered by an exhaust shop, and then re-coated black.
I reassembled the heater box and bolted it all in to make sure it fit well. It does.

Roll bar, I found the one I wanted, and then powder coated it in a polished stainless look. I'm pretty happy with it.

Valve covers fit with the body bolted down. Very happy.

I ended up going with an MSD ignition system in place of doing an Hei ignition.
I bought my brake booster assembly as well, 11" booster for added stopping power... hopefully.

[Spf79]

Apparently I am having trouble posting more pics, due to a.missing security token. Sorry. I'll update more once this is resolved.

[jaros44sr]

Nice work, great attention to detail. Good idea on the battery shut offs.
She is looking real pretty

[Spf79]

Originally Posted by jaros44sr

Nice work, great attention to detail. Good idea on the battery shut offs.
She is looking real pretty

Thank you!!

[1rippen6]

Security token is your pictures are to large, either resize them or do fewer pictures. You can resize in paint fairly easy if you have that. I'm late to the party but your transfer case clearance, did you use the dana 20 or rockwell crossmember. Why I ask, I've parted a few blazers with the dana 20 and the crossmember seems to be a hair shorter. I would say by about 1/2 an inch. I've checked 2 different ones in the past, look the same but shorter. It could just be supplier differences, I've never tired looking the part numbers up.

[Spf79]

Originally Posted by 1rippen6

Security token is your pictures are to large, either resize them or do fewer pictures. You can resize in paint fairly easy if you have that. I'm late to the party but your transfer case clearance, did you use the dana 20 or rockwell crossmember. Why I ask, I've parted a few blazers with the dana 20 and the crossmember seems to be a hair shorter. I would say by about 1/2 an inch. I've checked 2 different ones in the past, look the same but shorter. It could just be supplier differences, I've never tired looking the part numbers up.

Thank you for the heads up on the pictures - I will try that!

I used the same crossmember the Rockwell was attached to... with a 1" drop I was perfect.
What you are saying makes perfect sense now. Thank you for this, I was still scratching my head about it.

[Spf79]

Ok - here are some more pics.

Also - when wet sanding the dash and windshield frame, this little Milwaukee buffer makes life a lot easier.

I received my glovebox insert from Cheyenne Superman, very pleased!

I purchased an aluminum radiator, 4 core from Brothers Truck Parts, the fitment has been good so far. the Radiator is a Champion MC369. I am currently fitting dual 14" electric fans. I met a guy that has been running this set up for a year at least, it looked clean & appeared to work well for him. So here we are. The fan shroud and fans are from radiators4less, you are looking at $290 for the entire kit with wiring.

[Spf79]

Other items I forgot to update.

I went with a dual battery set up, I got the 2nd battery tray from Brother's Truck Parts. It fit very well on the aftermarket core support. I have been doing some electrical learning as I go, kind of a crash course... I purchased a battery separator from an overlanding company called Redarc, This will allow me to run the deep cycle battery dead, keeping my cranking battery isolated. fingers crossed. I plan on having all of the 12v accessories, stereo & heated seats connected to this battery.

While I was at it I put in the battery disconnects, I thought it may be a good thing to cut the battery connections when it sits in the winter... or if I am parked in a shady area I can kill the power sneakily.

I also added a separate little fuse block in the engine bay that will allow me to have a connection point for whatever I fancy. I hooked in a weatherproof dual 12v socket power source I could use for a small air compressor... or anything else that requires that type of connection. I will also run my electric fans to this fuse block power point, it keeps it clean in my option.

I changed everything over to LED, the headlights are plug and play. I tied the headlight halo lights into my marker lights, I didn't want to install a separate switch for those. I hope I do not have trouble with my blinkers... I purchased the resistor - so we will see. The reverse, front marker, and rear brake light bulbs will give you 1700 lumens... the side marker lights are supposed to be 650 lumens. they are much brighter than stock, so hopefully I do not look like a space ship running down the road.

[Spf79]

more pictures.

[7D2N]

Spf79 that looks great, thanks for the update and that's an awesome blazer.

7D2N

[Spf79]

Other thoughts...

Wiring is fun, as a newbie you think that once you buy the painless kit, or the AAW kit you are good to go for the most part. Man... I was wrong, so many little things you end up buying along the way to make it go smooth and look clean. I added in one of the wiring diagrams I worked with when doing my dual battery set up. The Redarc kit came with a far more detailed diagram, but I did not take a pic of it.

I got some fun little battery terminals I thought were pretty cool. these will sit on a side marker post battery. The deep cycle battery only had top post mounts, so I will have to do some work on that connection to make it look organized.

Anyone running an MSD box in the engine bay? If so - where did you mount yours? I am still looking for a good spot to do this.

[Spf79]

Last update for a bit.

Here is a pic of what I did to make the header fit, the exhaust shop welded in a 45 to the down sweep on the header, and they also added in a bung for an oxygen sensor... just in case I add fuel injection later.

I had the driveline altered twice, they ended up reducing the size of the CV & tube to make it fit next to the deep transmission pan. I have good clearance now.

The crossmember, now that I put in the 1" drop spacers I am in good shape. It makes so much more sense now about the Rockwell crossmember being different than the np205 cross member. The np205 side mount was not fitting correctly until I did the drop on the crossmember, now it fits as intended. what a pita.

[Spf79]

Originally Posted by 7D2N

Spf79 that looks great, thanks for the update and that's an awesome blazer.

7D2N

Thank you sir!

[Louisvillekytruck]

Originally Posted by Spf79

Last update for a bit.

Here is a pic of what I did to make the header fit, the exhaust shop welded in a 45 to the down sweep on the header, and they also added in a bung for an oxygen sensor... just in case I add fuel injection later.

I had the driveline altered twice, they ended up reducing the size of the CV & tube to make it fit next to the deep transmission pan. I have good clearance now.

The crossmember, now that I put in the 1" drop spacers I am in good shape. It makes so much more sense now about the Rockwell crossmember being different than the np205 cross member. The np205 side mount was not fitting correctly until I did the drop on the crossmember, now it fits as intended. what a pita.

Very nice truck

[Spf79]

Originally Posted by Louisvillekytruck

Very nice truck

Thank you!
It is taking forever.

[Spf79]

Quick update.

Merry Christmas to me.
I received my door panels from Cheyenne Superman, and my instrument bezel. I am very pleased, and this man was a pleasure to deal with.

I also finally got my instrument cluster figured out. I went with Classic Instruments velocity series gauge cluster. I liked the white gauges, something different. I am a little sad that I did not go with a stock looking set, but I will get over it.

Funny story, the first set of gauges they sent me were black. It appeared to be a pulling error at the factory since the box was marked correctly. They righted the mistake and sent me the correct set of gauges after a week or so... and told me to keep the first set, no charge. I am still surprised by this customer service. I will hold onto the black set for a while, just in case they change their minds. I will let you know how the installation goes. so far it looks pretty easy.

In case you are curious, I am still wet sanding... and I hate wet sanding... so much orange peel... long sigh. Thankfully the space heater makes the 38 degrees and raining feel like 55 and raining

I hope you all have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

[MDFarms]

Originally Posted by Spf79

Last update for a bit.

Here is a pic of what I did to make the header fit, the exhaust shop welded in a 45 to the down sweep on the header, and they also added in a bung for an oxygen sensor... just in case I add fuel injection later.

I had the driveline altered twice, they ended up reducing the size of the CV & tube to make it fit next to the deep transmission pan. I have good clearance now.

The crossmember, now that I put in the 1" drop spacers I am in good shape. It makes so much more sense now about the Rockwell crossmember being different than the np205 cross member. The np205 side mount was not fitting correctly until I did the drop on the crossmember, now it fits as intended. what a pita.

What did you use for Calipers and brake disc?

[Tom Vogel]

Look really nice.

[CG]

You should put the black gauges in so you can compare. My personal preference would be the black, but I have to admit those white gauges look damn good.

I like the thought of an upgrade like this, but my wallet said no lol.

Great build all around. I really love the tires and wheels.

[Spf79]

Originally Posted by MDFarms

What did you use for Calipers and brake disc?

I left it stock, disc & drum. I am running a larger booster/master than stock to add a bit more stopping power... hopefully.