70 Blazer Frame Off

[DeadheadNM]

Originally Posted by Minnz

I have a 69 Camaro that I restored a few years ago and I really have to wipe down my phosphate parts every few months (well maybe twice a year) with a product called Boeshield T-9. A lot of Camaro guys use it and it does help keep the rust away.

Your work is 11 out of 10!

Lee

Good to know. My local plater coats parts in gun oil. Oiling cars, trucks, and guns. Don't judge me but that sounds fun.

Agree Lee. Eleven, right across the board... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xgx4k83zzc

[DeadheadNM]

Almost done man!

[IronCanine]

Originally Posted by DeadheadNM

Almost done man!

I know...but I gotta make that odometer move. I'm tired of staring at 5/10ths of a mile.

[scf100]

Folks you gotta see this thing in person......wow!
The attention to detail is over the top.....

Brad is one happy and lucky guy I can tell you.....

Can't wait to see the big smile on his face when he starts rolling down the road....

Stuart

PS any car guy would gladly jump under this thing to help out.....looks as good on the bottom as the top!

[IronCanine]

Originally Posted by scf100

Folks you gotta see this thing in person......wow!
The attention to detail is over the top.....

Brad is one happy and lucky guy I can tell you.....

Can't wait to see the big smile on his face when he starts rolling down the road....

Stuart

PS any car guy would gladly jump under this thing to help out.....looks as good on the bottom as the top!

Thanks Stuart for the help and the kind words.

[Blown06]

Every time I check in on your thread I have to go back and just drool on how clean the work is. You're doing an amazing job can't wait to see a rolling shot.

[IronCanine]

Originally Posted by Blown06

Every time I check in on your thread I have to go back and just drool on how clean the work is. You're doing an amazing job can't wait to see a rolling shot.

Thanks Jarrod. I can't wait either.

[Jurassic-1]

Some day I would love to do this to my 72 CST. Nice work. Love the attention to detail.

[IronCanine]

Originally Posted by Jurassic-1

Some day I would love to do this to my 72 CST. Nice work. Love the attention to detail.

Thanks.

[tristan]

You are giving me a serious case of undercarriage envy. I can already feel my checking account deflating.

[IronCanine]

Originally Posted by tristan

You are giving me a serious case of undercarriage envy. I can already feel my checking account deflating.

Well...I guess we're even then, because I'm super jealous of your flawless sheet metal.

[IronCanine]

Since I always take The Facts of Life approach with this thread and post the Good with the Bad...I thought you'd get a kick out of this pic. We were topping off the transmission...literally minutes from putting her in gear for the first time and pulling her out under her own power when we sprang a leak in that brand new radiator core, that had taken two attempts to get rebuilt right. After staring in disbelief for a while and doing the math, considering the mess we were going to have to manage...we bit the bullet and pulled her out. Amazingly, they were able to get it neatly repaired today and the radiator was getting re-prepped and re-painted by 4pm. This is after a late call last night when the brake situation finally got solved. We went through about 5 unions, hand to bend and flare a new hard line (the main long one on the frame), and bought a new rear flex line before we got her dry and bled. In the end I am happy the frame got powder coated. It weathered that unnecessarily arduous and frustrating episode unscathed.

Even though the old girl doesn't seem to want this party to end...there is a silver lining. We needed to clean and detail the engine bay anyway, she'd gotten a little dusty of late...and I had ordered a replacement crank pulley set earlier in the week. I realized a while ago that the set I had powdered coated was from a later model and didn't allow us to run the A/C off the crank and water pump....only the water pump, which wasn't going to be a good long term solution. I just wasn't looking forward to biting that bullet either. Well there's no better time than now to make that swap too.

Maybe she drives tomorrow...maybe not. I'll keep you posted.

[scf100]

Brad what did you guys find wrong with bleeding the brakes?

[IronCanine]

Originally Posted by scf100

Brad what did you guys find wrong with bleeding the brakes?

Well...we just had leaks we couldn't beat. As you know the long line leaked at both ends and the flex line leaked at the back. All of my stuff came from InLine. We'd tighten leaking joints, bleed, check, leak still there, change union, bleed, check, leak still there, re-flare line, bleed, check, leak still there, change union, bleed, check, leak still there, bend new line, replace flex line, replace all unions, bleed, check, no leaks, light on, bleed, bleed, bleed...no air, no leaks, no light.

We were power bleeding it on Thursday...probably still be there if we hadn't. I don't know why those joints leaked. We basically just threw new parts at it until it stopped. Only one of the flares on the original long line looked remotely suspicious....so I'm at a loss, other than it just wanted to be a pita. And then it was just tough getting all the air out. There was not a small amount of frustration there...if for no other reason than I was freaking out (silently of course) about maintaining our finishes...no scratches, or brake fluid blemishes.

But luckily we got it done, it all works as it should and she's still shiny and nice.

[DeadheadNM]

Success!!!! Big congrats!! An inspiring build - thanks for the ride! Beautiful! Absolutely among the handful of the very best K5's in the USA and Canada. Rushing to have a beer in your honor. Can we start sending other rigs for you guys to restore ?

[IronCanine]

Originally Posted by TBONE1964

Very cool

It does feel cool.

Originally Posted by DeadheadNM

Success!!!! Big congrats!! An inspiring build - thanks for the ride! Beautiful! Absolutely among the handful of the very best K5's in the USA and Canada. Rushing to have a beer in your honor. Can we start sending other rigs for you guys to restore ?

Thanks Pete. I've just been trying to emulate you and others. It would not have turned out so well without all the generosity of knowledge and spirit that you and others on here are so quick to show....but we're not done. Even though today was a big step, I've still got to get the anti-rattle set in on the doors, we did a rough alignment which needs to be dialed in, and there's the whole matter of the top that'll move into the shop next week...so there's more to come before we put a period on this thread....I'm also still one decal short. I gotta start working on that next week too.

[scf100]

Daylight!
Awesome Brad........you taking it to the Varsity tonight?

[IronCanine]

Originally Posted by scf100

Daylight!
Awesome Brad........you taking it to the Varsity tonight?

No Stuart...we're gonna hold off. Eric had a baseball tourney he had to go to and we've still got some minor loose ends. First time out, we're gonna show it together. Probably the July 4th show. That's what we're planning right now.

[Advanced Design]

Congratulations on rolling up some miles! The Blazer looks spectacular. Wow, the brake lines were really fighting you. Would have been pretty stressful...

[Blown06]

Looks awesome sitting at the gas station with miles on the odometer.

[Advanced Design]

So factory tolerances weren't very precise and the tops were assembled with whatever was needed to make them fit?

[IronCanine]

Originally Posted by Advanced Design

So factory tolerances weren't very precise and the tops were assembled with whatever was needed to make them fit?

[IronCanine]

Pete's got a great quote from Paul Duncan in the very first post of his K20 Super build thread about correcting a truck "birth defect"...specifically, the lack of an auxiliary fuel tank. Eric took a little license with the top that I think is brilliant...and similarly corrects a factory "birth defect". On the single wall tops, as most of you know, there is a track that holds the top to door glass weatherstripping. There is also a lip that covers this track on the top edge, but fades out at the glass corner about where the blue arrow is in the picture below. Eric extended this lip down the vertical edge. What this does is give us more latitude in shimming the track to idealize the glass to weatherstripping fit without showing our hand...at least thats the idea.

[IronCanine]

...a clearer view.

[DeadheadNM]

What material did Eric use to extend the lip? Fiberglass? Curious to see how this shakes out, seems like a good way to go.