Left for dead: 72 2wd blazer build

[1956cameo]

bk04z66, Thanks! It has been a lot of work but it should start taking shape pretty soon. The plate was definitely one of my coolest swap meet finds yet. Some lady had a table full of old Personalized Texas plates from the 70's and I about fell over when I saw it. When I asked how much the plate was and she said $20 I couldn't pull the money out fast enough.


smbrouss70, I want to run it but if I go antique plates (which in TX is just one plate on the back) I could run this or whatever plate I wanted on the front. Just don't know if I want such a cool plate catching all the road rash. If I had the matching pair and they were both in the same shape as this one (not torn up) I could do a normal registration and run with both of them. I will probably use the plate. Whats the point of having it if I don't!

[houses28]

should the rockerbox be the last thing you replace? my rockerbox is toast and I need to replace the inner and outer rockers and kickplate.
Thanks.

[tim's68gmc]

what a great job on the blazer. like all your plates iam a collector too.

my 1968 Gmc: http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=659403

[twp1]

i noticed a lot of old trucks and sub's in the pic's do you have another 2 wheel drive suspension and frame for a blazer? I know this is a build thread but just thought I would ask? by the way looks great and you have done a lot of the hard part!

[Xeen]

I just went through this entire build in one shot, I just couldn't believe all the carnage.
You did some very solid repair work and I gotta say man great job, that's how you do it!
You resurrected a Blazer that had 2 wheels in the grave and turned it into a real beauty and on the cheap too what a transformation, in my opinion this is one of the best builds on the board.

[1956cameo]

Sorry for the lack of updates lately. I have been saving up money for the blazer but with a new baby it has been a bit slow. I have a decent amount saved up and should be making a big purchase soon so more progress is not far away. I appreciate everyone's patience.


Houses28, It would be a good idea to replace the rocker boxes first if you have enough solid floor and rocker metal to weld it to. If your Blazer is rusty like mine was you have no choice but to weld some braces in and replace all of the floor, rocker, and door jamb metal first and then weld the new rocker box into all of the new solid metal. If anyone that has more experience or if someone has a different perspective feel free to chime in, but that's how I would do it again.

tim's68gmc, It is always great to meet someone else who is into old plates. It started off just being a little side hobby to give me something to look for besides truck parts and now it has spiraled into a serious collection. I will check out your link.

twp1, Thanks! I thought I was thru the hard part, but I found out that now I am in the hard part; coming up with the money to buy all the new parts for it!! To answer your question, no I don't have any extra 2wd frames. Unfortunately before I knew that 2wd blazers were desirable I gave a 2wd chassis and body to my buddy for scrap metal. I regret it now but I just didn't know. Back then I thought if it wasn't 4wd no one would have a use for it.

Xeen, Wow! Thanks for the huge compliment! I am glad people are liking it. I have seen some phenomenal builds on this forum and to be ranked in the top echelon in some readers opinions is truly a great feeling! If you liked how I brought this one back wait a few more months. I am going to be starting on a 1969 factory short fleet big block truck that is going to make the blazer project look like child's play.

[hgs_notes]

Originally Posted by 1956cameo

I am going to be starting on a 1969 factory short fleet big block truck that is going to make the blazer project look like child's play.

You're gonna have to change your signature line to:
I don't always restore trucks; but when I do I prefer rusty basket cases. Stay rusty my friends.

[1956cameo]

hgs_notes, Exactly! I don't know why I do this to myself. I can drive 4 hours south, west, or north and get all the solid projects that I want and somehow I always end up working on the "junk! I guess that's what I get for wanting factory original stuff. The sad part is I usually part out pretty solid vehicles that are low factory original options for the junked out projects that had a lot of factory options.

[Xeen]

I will be tuned in for your pickup build.

[jakesblazer]

Wow great build bud!! I'm building up my 2wd blazer and it has almost the same rust but a little less severe. I'm working around the panels that need patching.. gotta be done soon though. Love your rig!

[1956cameo]

Xeen and Jakesblazer, Thanks for the comments! I am hoping to significantly pick up the pace of this project very soon. Maybe even have it running and driving by the end of this year. Most likely I will wait until after the Pate swap meet and then start making parts orders with the money leftover from Pate.

[1956cameo]

Well it's time to revive this project and thread. Over the last two months I have been acquiring thousands of dollars worth of parts, and I am hoping to get a lot more at the Pate swap meet next week. If all goes as planned I should have the Blazer running by the end of summer!

The first order of business was to get a new windshield installed.
[IMG][/IMG]

We tried about half a dozen times with around 4 different types of weatherstripping but we could just never get the trim to stay in the weatherstripping. I did a bunch of research and found that this is a common problem with reinstalling the stainless trim windshield weatherstripping. I tried OEM trim, repop trim, and I tried weatherstripping from all the companies that people on the forum swore would work but every time the trim would pop out in the corners. Finally we gave up and just installed the non stainless trim weatherstripping. It killed me to do it but I was running out of time and options.
[IMG][/IMG]

[1956cameo]

The dash during installation of windshield.
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It is hard to tell in the picture but I have now installed the jute padding, inner firewall pads, the dash pad, the ignition, the main wiring harness, and a few smaller wiring harness.
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I installed a tilt steering column. I am not sure if I will put a tilt column in my other projects because the best position for me it when the column is straight just like on a regular column.
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I bought a brand new gauge cluster with tachometer. Unfortunately when I went to install it I found out that I need to drop the recently installed steering column to put it in. So for now it sits in the box.
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[jaros44sr]

Glad your getting back at it. Looks good

[1956cameo]

I have also started rebuilding the front suspension. I have never really rebuilt suspension before so this is new territory for me. Fortunately for me my neighbor has a press that he is letting me use.
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The tear down went much easier than I had thought. When the spring released it took a little chunk out of the garage floor.
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Everything went back on as easy as it came off.
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I was really worried that it would be hard to get the spindle back on and compress the spring, but I simply placed the spring into position and jacked up the lower A arm and it compressed without a problem.
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Now I am about halfway thru the suspension rebuild on the drivers side.
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[smbrouss70]

Looks Good! There are always good parts at Pate! Look us up if you have time, I'm sure you still have Wynne's number to find out where we are at Pate. I'd like to meet the man that built a Blazer tub from scratch.

[1956cameo]

I bought a crate engine and transmission kit from Jegs that is waiting for the suspension to get done so it can go in. The engine has been here for a couple of weeks but the transmission is still back ordered but should be here within the next week or so. The combo kit came with the brand new 350 engine, a turbo 350 transmission, torque converter, flywheel, oil dipstick, hardware to bolt it all together, and the transmission fluid for $2,500.
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Here's the engine after I got it out of its crate. Its a complete long block minus the intake and distributor. I bought a GM HEI distributor for it. I am going back to almost completely stock, but I decided the points are just too much of a hassle.
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That is all of the progress that I have for now, but updates should be coming very frequently over the next few months.

[1956cameo]

jaros44SR, Thanks! It has sucked having to stare at this thing the last 3 years knowing that I couldn't do anything to it. Now that I am able to start working on it again after such a long break it feels like its a whole new project.


smbrouss70, You are right, Pate always has a ton of great stuff! I think I still have Wynne's number somewhere. Do you know what your space numbers are? If so I will track you down and come by to introduce myself to you. I will have to get our space numbers from my parents. If you are taking your Blazer I would love to see it in person. With a little luck I might have this one up there as soon as next years meet.

[smbrouss70]

Originally Posted by 1956cameo

smbrouss70, You are right, Pate always has a ton of great stuff! I think I still have Wynne's number somewhere. Do you know what your space numbers are? If so I will track you down and come by to introduce myself to you. I will have to get our space numbers from my parents. If you are taking your Blazer I would love to see it in person. With a little luck I might have this one up there as soon as next years meet.

We are in Zone 1 at the corner of Waltrip Way between 9th & 10th Streets. It's the last normal rows before the new section that they added last year on the south end. Unfortunately, the Blazer won't be there because it doesn't like to tow a 40' 16,000 lb. fifth wheel. The last time it was at Pate was when I bought it there in 2014. I attached a map of our spaces where we will be setup with 2 big 5th wheels, Wynne's pop-up camper, and a regular camper. I also added a picture of a smiling buffoon right after he bought an original paint 2wd Blazer at Pate.

[jaros44sr]

Originally Posted by 1956cameo

jaros44SR, Thanks! It has sucked having to stare at this thing the last 3 years knowing that I couldn't do anything to it. Now that I am able to start working on it again after such a long break it feels like its a whole new project.


smbrouss70, You are right, Pate always has a ton of great stuff! I think I still have Wynne's number somewhere. Do you know what your space numbers are? If so I will track you down and come by to introduce myself to you. I will have to get our space numbers from my parents. If you are taking your Blazer I would love to see it in person. With a little luck I might have this one up there as soon as next years meet.

Yeah well, I think you made the right choice, straighten out the money situation, the truck can wait.... looks good, next time put a chain around the spring lol

[lks dcvn]

Looks awesome! I bet you are excited to be back working on it. I just picked up a 72 2wd blazer from the 'trucks for sale' section of the board so I'm trying to get back to saving one of these trucks. Congrats on your progress - incredible work so far given where the truck started.

[1956cameo]

smbrouss70, I will look for you. We usually start looking on the north end of the swap meet and work our way to your end so I might not get down there until Friday or Saturday. Its a shame that I wont get to see your blazer but I understand. I guess the year you bought it you must have taken it home before I got down there. I would have remembered seeing that!


jaros44sr, Thanks! It was definitely worth the wait. On top of getting out of debt and putting away for retirement I am matching every dollar that I am putting into projects into a general mutual fund account for kids college or paying off the house early.


lks dcvn, Thanks! It feels great to see progress again. I don't think I have seen your build thread on the 2wd blazer. Congratulations on finding one. Are you still building the blue 4wd blazer?

[smbrouss70]

Yeah, I had a buddy leaving early on Fri. or Sat. of that year not already pulling a trailer home, so I rented a U-Haul car hauler and sent my baby with him.

[lks dcvn]

Haven't started on the 2wd blazer yet. Once I get it to my garage - I will start a build thread.

Sold off all my trucks and associated parts a few years ago. Starting over now with the 2wd.

[1956cameo]

lks dcvn, Let me know when you start the 2wd build thread! I enjoyed your old build thread on the blue 4wd that you had. More than anything I am happy to see you back on the forum and working on projects again.

Steven, It was great meeting you and everyone else from the "Louisiana Gang"! I will let you know if I can make it to the power tour stop in Baytown. I hope I get half as much fun out of my blazer as you have gotten out of yours!