How To: Ruin a Perfectly Good K/5

[gringoloco]

In case anyone was wondering, yes, a Blazer will fit in the back of a C10...

[smbrouss70]

Nice! Soooooo.... What's happening here?

[gringoloco]

Originally Posted by smbrouss70

Nice! Soooooo.... What's happening here?

This:

I wish it were something cooler/more fun...

[smbrouss70]

It's all part of it... Get that out of the way, then the fun stuff can start!

[SCOTI]

Originally Posted by gringoloco

This:

I wish it were something cooler/more fun...

Black??

[gringoloco]

Originally Posted by SCOTI

Black??

Haha, black is a pretty cool color, but it will hopefully end up blue like everything else.

Made some progress, if you can call disassembly progression. Inner rocker is very solid, as is the floor. I will have to decide which of those 'good' pieces of metal I want to cut out to repair the floor support and kick panel. There is little more gratifying than hearing the 'pop' of a spot weld giving up its grip...

[Chulisohombre]

Nice new bucket seat you got there. Haha

[gringoloco]

Shoddy previous repairs caused this area to be worse than it should have been. Yes, that's a lap weld and 1/4" thick plastic filler. Lesson of the day: do it right the first time, or do it again later. A pillar will need patched, B pillar is thankfully solid (it's the stuff behind it I'll need to work on).

[gringoloco]

Originally Posted by smbrouss70

It's all part of it... Get that out of the way, then the fun stuff can start!

This is a kind of fun

Originally Posted by Chulisohombre

Nice new bucket seat you got there. Haha

I see what you did there! It almost matches the door panels

[gringoloco]

Morning progress:

Cut out some offensive rot in the pass fender. First time welding in a while, but it turned out in the end. Patch was ok at best, shape was a distant approximation of a fender, but I beat/cut it into submission. Primed and back on the pile...

[lks dcvn]

Looks good!

[mcbassin]

Dang Chris, I thought this rig was without rust. I see you are making it right. Keep up the good work!

[gringoloco]

Originally Posted by lks dcvn

Looks good!

Originally Posted by mcbassin

Dang Chris, I thought this rig was without rust. I see you are making it right. Keep up the good work!

Thanks guys! Nothing like what some people deal with, but there's a few spots. I'm slowly exorcising the demons

[lolife99]

Originally Posted by gringoloco

Shoddy previous repairs caused this area to be worse than it should have. Yes, that's a lap weld and 1/4" thick plastic filler. Lesson of the day: do it right the first time, or do it again later. A pillar will need patched, B pillar is thankfully solid (it's the stuff behind it I'll need to work on).

GMC Pauls and Wes at Classic Heartbeat have some of the hard to find repair panels specific to these year Blazers.
Yours looks pretty solid compared to mine.

[gringoloco]

Originally Posted by lolife99

GMC Pauls and Wes at Classic Heartbeat have some of the hard to find repair panels specific to these year Blazers.
Yours looks pretty solid compared to mine.

I ordered the pile of parts I have from GMCPauls. I appreciate that they won't sell useless junk and are not afraid to say so. I hope to not have to replace the Blazer specific (read:expensive) parts in the B pillar area. Without cutting it open yet, it looks like I can get away with patching. We'll see...

Your Blazer looked so solid. These things can sure hide it. I started poking the two spots I have at the rear of the bed and I'm a little worried about how far it has spread. Only one way to find out

[gringoloco]

So, this morning was fender, this afternoon was rear quarter. Second verse, same as the first. I will need to body work the trim line, but otherwise I'm pretty happy with it.

[aggie91]

The repairs are looking good.

[gringoloco]

Originally Posted by aggie91

The repairs are looking good.

Thanks! Getting deep, now:

[Hewfil1]

Originally Posted by gringoloco

Thanks! Getting deep, now:

Luck be with you, I'm starting rockers, body mounts, and all kinds of body repair on my 1974 K10. It's gonna be a hell of a job.

[mcbassin]

Nice progress Chris! Looks like you are into it deep now. What's the plan for paint? just gonna touch it up and blend it?

[gringoloco]

Originally Posted by Hewfil1

Luck be with you, I'm starting rockers, body mounts, and all kinds of body repair on my 1974 K10. It's gonna be a hell of a job.

Hell is right, but it's a fun hell that's worth it in the end. Good luck to you!

Originally Posted by mcbassin

Nice progress Chris! Looks like you are into it deep now. What's the plan for paint? just gonna touch it up and blend it?

Thanks, and yup, trying to keep it all below the trim, so there's little blending required and I can maintain the rest of the original patina, since that's so popular these days . Had to get the paint shop to remix, as their first attempt from the code was too light. Dropped the glove box door off for a match.

[gringoloco]

Started out today after poking at the rust, being able to see the ground through the bed floor and rear cross sill. I cut it all out only to find that the good metal was under the rear stake pillar. At this point, I had two options, remove the bedside, or cut the post. I took the path of least resistance.

Made a patch for the cross sill and welded it in. Was nice to weld on something sturdy that I could actually stitch instead of using a million tacks. Coated it in weld through primer then fitted the ribs. The patch for this area is actually nicer than the original GM stamping with clean, crisp edges at the end of the ribs. Almost makes me want to use the whole thing. Almost. Lined up pretty good, with only minor massaging to get the peaks and valleys aligned. It will take a little extra body work to be perfect, or I might just leave it, as it will be under the carpet.

I'll have to button up the pillar tomorrow, as I got sidetracked with the quart of POR-15 I picked up while at the paint store today. I coated all kinds of stuff, and was actually having fun doing it (I think the fumes were getting to me )

Side note: POR does not come off of skin easily. I have heard this a number of times and it is true. Very true. I'm just glad I wear long sleeves to work...

The other side should be less involved, as the damaged area appears smaller and I don't have the gas filler/vent to contend with. We'll see tomorrow

[jaros44sr]

nice work. where'd you get that patch panel. reason,IMHO, they always rust out there is wheel splash. I suppose we should seal up that area with dum--dum

I can't see the seam

[gringoloco]

Originally Posted by jaros44sr

nice work. where'd you get that patch panel. reason,IMHO, they always rust out there is wheel splash. I suppose we should seal up that area with dum--dum

Thanks! The patch is cut from the bed floor repair panel from GMCPauls. It's the entire width, and around 15" long. I'll end up throwing probably 90% of it away...

I plan on POR-ing the crap out of the area then sealing the leading edge of the crossmember where it meets the floor with flexible seam sealer.

Originally Posted by jaros44sr

I can't see the seam

That's the idea

[gringoloco]

Welded up the pillar: