Maximus's 1972 K5 Blazer 4X4 Build Thread

[Maximus]

I got my seat back from the upholster, need a couple replacement screws for the brackets, but its going to look great in the back of my k5.

BEFORE :


AFTER:
New belts, paint, arm rests, custom foam and replacement upholstery!

Also got my Retrosound Model 2 radio (I think its being replaced by the Long Beach?)
FYI, there are apparently two different bezel options now with the 67-72 trucks, mine didnt extend to the arms, only surrounded the display, and extends alot more into the cab. i like it! helps keep it even with the knobs alot more! but I dont know if retrosound still offers this bezel... (contacted Retrosound, apparently my bezel is the corvette bezel, #108, they used to package it with the 67-72 truck radios but no longer do? The 108 bezel is available at this site, or obviously with the "corvette" head units....
https://www.retromanufacturing.com/p...ant=7979753859 the standard 67-72 unit is "119" wich is weird, since 119 was in my part number.....)

my unit part number is RetroSound M2CB-119-03-73


Here is mine placed in my K5, not wired yet but sitting in the dash.


Oh, and I almost forgot! I finally tracked down a set of square body 15x8 Rally "Rallye" rims, thanks to John H.
Will be a while before I refinish them and get tires, but glad I got my hands on a set. I like these alot more than the OEM 67-72 steel wheels, and they are ALOT more affordable, due to the 20 years they made em! WIN-WIN!

[lks dcvn]

Nice progress Maximus!

[Maximus]

Hey, more progress!
The retrosound unit is wired in, but theres really nothing to see there... I havent installed my kick panel speakers from Retrosound yet (so no speakers are hooked up) because I need to repair the floor, and dont want to put them in until the floor repair is done so I dont have to pull em back out.

Also got the rear seat bolted in, the rear bolts are 1/2-13 and the front two are 7/16-20 (fine thread) if anyone is curious!

Interior is just about exactly where I want it to be (MAYBE a "family" length roll bar in the future, my wife would appreciate more protection for our kids)

I was suprised at how "at home" the procar seats look with the factory style rear seat upholstery. If i did it over again, I may have just had a shop duplicate the pattern on the fronts for the rear seat, but the back seat looks soo good I am happy with the difference between them.

[Lieferson]

I was interested in those procar seats, hows the bolstering? keep you pretty snug in there? i was considering getting a set of them as well, since my worn out utility seats have you sliding all over the cab. Its not fun when you daily drive your K5

[Maximus]

they do. the bottoms sit at an angle and sort of plant you in them, I havent had the stock buckets, but they are firm and pretty solid, more so then any 60's or 70's stock seats I have sat in.

for added bolstering, procar has a "rally" model seat, these seats are what turned me on to procar 10+ years ago, when I was rebuilding my Mustang. My seats were not in bad enough shape to replace so I never got the rallys, maybe some day they will end up in my mustang...

Obviously both seats are also available with headrests...
I like em, and my K5 came with 80's blazer seats so I didnt have anything useful to work with (other than the seat-to-floor brackets, thankfully!)

[Lieferson]

Yeah they look good, like they belong there thanks! definitely look better without the headrests IMO

[Maximus]

Originally Posted by Lieferson

Yeah they look good, like they belong there thanks! definitely look better without the headrests IMO

Yea, no doubt the headrests are better in an accident situation, but I did my own little risk assessment. When I am in the K5, its not very often, and I have lap belts, no air bags, and alot of steel, didnt see the headrests as a huge advantage. like when I choose to ride a motorcycle, there are inherent risks that I accept. If I am going on a trip or in crap weather, I will take the modern tahoe with side curtain airbags etc... high back seats ruin the look of these 1st gens IMHO, and I am OK with the tradeoffs of low back seats!

I am also not afraid to admit after all was said and done I am in my rear seat like $800 for the recover and foam repair, so these seats are a real bargain compared to refurbishing older seats if OEM isnt as critical. If I owned a set of standard buckets, it may have been a harder choice, but these recline, fit great and were sub $300 each if I recall correctly...

A couple simple pieces of flat bar and I was able to adapt them to the stock seat brackets pretty painlessly.