My Latest Toy - 72 K5 Blazer CST

[briank]

You dont mess around, wish I made as much progress as you do.

[dutchmanz]

I'm just trying get it reliable before I run outta money. My son helped wax it this weekend for a cruise in. He was proud of his work and I was proud of him. He's 11. I snapped a quick pic but can't get it to upload. I'll try again later.

[dutchmanz]

Think I finally got it to load...

[dutchmanz]

I decided yesterday thats rusty rockers and old body mounts were not stopping me. The top was coming off. I installed a fresh set of shocks and it drove so much better. It had to be even better with no roof! So... Topless it is. Made a trip to the gas pump too. It makes lots of those. Today my wife and I got the soft top installed. I think the hard top will be off till its really cold. Man I love this thing!!

[meekeraviation]

very nice!
what size of TA's are you running?
thanks
cal

[dutchmanz]

They are 33x12.50x15. Perfect fit in my opinion.

[meekeraviation]

i agree, im going to get the same for mine.
thanks
cal

[dutchmanz]

Finally, I have a working speedometer. I had 2 bad driven gears. One had the gear chewed up, the other had a cable and a drill bit broken off inside. I carried them both to the machine shop and had them cut in half, drilled for a dowl and then faced to the exact length. Then tig welded the 2 good halves together in the middle. I may be country but know more than one way to get the job done. Sorry, forgot to snap a pic of it. I also changed out the huge rear diff cover to a stock one that doesn't hit the gas tank. Replaced the pinion seal at the same time. I should have pulled the pinion out and replaced the bearings since I'm about convienced that's my noise. Road trip this weekend or I would have tried it. Right now I'm planning on driving it to the beach to get my new rear seat!

[thelonerife]

Nice progress!

[dutchmanz]

My master cylinder from rockauto finally came in. I went with them since they had the dual bail design which is more leak resistant. I had an older pioneer CD player in the toolbox so I put it in just to help disguise the pitiful job someone did of hacking up the radio hole. I've got to come up with something to surround it and hide the rest. You can also see the manual throttle installed here too. A friend gave me the console. Its too new but is a perfect fit and has a key lock so I can feel slightly better about leaving stuff in it. It was blue, but a quick wipe down and some SEM got it pretty close to factory.

[jjzepplin]

There is a fella on this site that makes a polished aluminum radio bezel or surround that would cover all that hack up and look real nice too. I forget the name of the gent but a search might turn him up. I will shoot it to you if I find it.

[dutchmanz]

I remember seeing that bezel. I'll have to search for it.

Made a road trip today and met BrianK. Many thanks to him and his wife for hauling a back seat from Illinois to NC on his family vacation. He's a super nice guy in my book. I pick up a perfect back seat in black. My first thought is to dye it saddle tan. Its so nice I almost hate to do it. I may order the correct color and try to sell the cover from this one.

What do you guys think... Brush guard or not? It was on the Blazer at some point and came in the back.

[dutchmanz]

I couldnt take the rear diff whining any longer. I ordered a full bearing kit and pulled it apart today. It was fairly clean inside since I basically serviced it twice already. The large pinion bearing was destroyed! I couldn't get a good pic of it but the race was no where as bad as the bearing. Wow!! Its a whole new truck. I thought I liked driving it before. I cant afford to drive it every day but I'm going to enjoy it while the weather is nice. I also changed the power steering pressure hose. That's one more leak checked off the list.

[dutchmanz]

I kept looking at the swing away tire carrier that I took off. Seems nobody wants it. I decided I'd put it back on. The holes were already there and it would be functional. I had a spare wheel and tire to match. I also put the brush guard on that came with the Blazer. Not sold on the brush guard, but I'm actually digging the tire.

[sierragrande71]

I like the brush guard , if I were to get one id like it to look like yours.

[dutchmanz]

I have looked at the interior for 2 weeks with the 1 black seat and 2 tan ones. Since the fronts are not factory, I have no way to match them. The rear is almost perfect, just not in the factory "saddle" color. I have been back and forth until now. I just ordered black front seats to match the rear. Next, I'll redye the doors, console and visors black. Then paint the column and dash black. I like the black better with the orange. Unsure what I'll do about the front belts since they are saddle too. I may dye them as well unless I can find someone to trade for a set of black ones.

[DeadheadNM]

Subscribed! Making great progress!!

[dutchmanz]

My new seat covers arrived and I'm still working on putting them on. Rough on the fingers... I dyed the door panels black but the woodgrain just didnt work for me. I took them back off and removed it in favor of the scroll pattern. Also redid the console in black and managed to recode the cylinder to an old key I had in the toolbox. Its a little thing but I hooked up the foot well lights. Its crazy how much light they give off. You can see them glowing in the pic. I cleaned up the column and painted it black, replaced the horn contact parts and hooked up the old horns under the hood. Only the low note worked but one is better than none.

[briank]

Looking good, I think I like the scrolling pattern better. Be sure to post pics when the buckets are done.

[dutchmanz]

Seat covers are on! I should have replaced the foam but I think they are fine for what I'm going to do. I would have them in, but I've also been installing the under dash AC duct work. The black looks great to me.

I would also like to ask...if you are installing a painless harness, please cut out the excess wire! You can see what I removed and thats just under the hood. Once the under dash work is done, seats and console are both going back in.

[dutchmanz]

Seats and console are in. Made a trip the 4th celebration stuff tonight. Headed back tomorrow since everything was postponed because of the hurricane. Got several compliments riding thru town.

[dutchmanz]

I know it sounds crazy to ride around with the top off and work on the AC, but that's what I did this week. The system was still sealed and had pressure. I had to make a lower compressor brace. The headers took out the lower and the Vortec heads and intake took out the top rear brace. I got the lower fixed and put on a new belt. I had already installed the underdash housing and a new compressor switch. Also installed a new blower motor. I was surprised when the compressor came on and I got cold air! Its still an R12 system too. Something was not exactly right and I figured out that all 3 cables were installed wrong. I only unhooked one and I put it back where I got it so it came that way. I switched all of those and now I is left is hooking up the flexible ducts. AC is nice when the top is up and it rains, other than that, I probably wont use it. It is really awesome that the factory compressor is still hanging in there. I'll get a few pics up soon.

[71cheynne402]

What kind of top is that? Does it fold down? I really like the look of it

[dutchmanz]

Originally Posted by 71cheynne402

What kind of top is that? Does it fold down? I really like the look of it

Its made by Kayline which is no longer in business. If you scroll up you can see it folded down behind the rear seat. It fits really nice. I was lucky it came with the truck.

[71cheynne402]

Got lucky on that one!! I just got mine and want a soft top