Ratchet's Blazer - 1970 2wd with Original paint

[smbrouss70]

I also forgot to post up that Ratchet's Blazer also won a Top 25 award at a show a few weeks ago.

[Chulisohombre]

Congrats on the win. Pinstripe looks very 70s retro. Cool

[gringoloco]

Well deserved recognition

[Palf70Step]

Congrats Steven!

[Advanced Design]

Congrat’s on the top 25! The lines look good too...amazing talent those artists have. I can’t draw a straight line with a ruler.

[smbrouss70]

Thanks Guys! I've had fun driving it every chance that I get, but I have noticed a few things that need attention to make it better. Now that I have gone to all of the shows that I wanted to make for the year, it is now back in the shop for a few fixes and upgrades before it needs to come back out in March. I hope to get started on it this weekend.

[smbrouss70]

Ratchet's Blazer made it in a magazine!!! It's the background of a picture of another truck, but, Hey, I'll take it!

It's in the "C10's in the Park" coverage in the new issue of C/10 Builder's Guide.

[smbrouss70]

Lately I'm having very bad thoughts...

I REALLY want the TKO, but the reality is that I probably won't have the $3,000+ to spend on that and still have enough time to get it in before March, when the Blazer has to come out of the shop again. I picked up the original SM465 4-speed and all associated parts that came out of the Blazer in 2015 from my Dad's shop for Thanksgiving... It's been upstairs in his shop all this time.

Now that all of it is in my own shop sitting right in front of the Blazer, I'm tempted to throw it back in and switch to a set of 2.56 rear gears that a buddy has laying around... According to my gear/tire size calculator spreadsheet that I made, I would only run 2099 RPM's at 70 MPH versus the 2141 RPM's with what I have right now. Second gear of the SM465 would still give me an effective final drive of 9.16:1 where a TH400 with 3.73's would give a final drive of 9.25:1 in first gear. So I should be able to accelerate pretty well with the 2.56's. Hmmmmmmm..... Then I would have a transmission that shifts exactly when I want it to... everytime. When I CAN afford to drop the money for the TKO, I'll just have to switch the clutch disc due to the input spline differences, and it will bolt in. I'll just need to shorten the driveshaft, cut a new hole in the floor, and swap the 3.73's back in. Hmmmmmmm.....

I know it's not the performance manual that I really want, but it will solve my automatic problems while I save my pennys for what I really want. More importantly, it will keep it on the road! Do y'all think I'm crazy?

[lleff]

I really have enjoyed reading through your build, you have made that blazer look great. I vote for throwing the 4 speed back in. Even having to put the shifter in a different zip code between gears I bet it will still put a smile on your face.

[gringoloco]

You know I like it. Will the granny low be useable with the super highway gears? I’ve thought about doing a 3:08 or 2:73 with my Muncie. I may just end up screaming on the interstate as a trade off for fun around town...

[invicta455]

I just looked at the C/10 builders guide also spotted it

[smbrouss70]

Originally Posted by lleff

I really have enjoyed reading through your build, you have made that blazer look great. I vote for throwing the 4 speed back in. Even having to put the shifter in a different zip code between gears I bet it will still put a smile on your face.

Thanks for following along! I did enjoy driving it when it had the 4 speed even with the long throw between shifts. It's not much for performance, but my wife did smoke a Vette with it at Cruisin the Coast! She even chirped the tires in third.

Originally Posted by gringoloco

You know I like it. Will the granny low be useable with the super highway gears? I’ve thought about doing a 3:08 or 2:73 with my Muncie. I may just end up screaming on the interstate as a trade off for fun around town...

I don't think so, it has a 6.55:1 1st gear, looks like 5000 RPM's will net 25 MPH.

Originally Posted by invicta455

I just looked at the C/10 builders guide also spotted it

I've never been so excited to be the background in a picture. A childhood dream of seeing my truck in print in a National magazine has been fulfilled!

[smbrouss70]

I pulled the old cable style Vintage Air out of Oscar's truck yesterday, that is officially the last good piece that I can rob from it. The one complaint I had about it when I was driving the truck was that the defrost wasn't dehumidified by running the compressor. Turns out one of the cables just needed to be adjusted a little to make sure that a micro switch was engaging when put into defrost mode. I have no idea where the blower motor block off plate went, and I never liked the plastic plate with the box that sticks out, so I started looking around for something better. I think I found what I am looking for at Full Custom Fabrication. https://squareup.com/store/full-custom-fabrication/ They will be painted to match the firewall after cutting holes for the hoses to come through.

Tonight, I got all of the electrical connections made up on the Blazer with the Vintage Air setup sitting on a table in front of it. Everything works well including pulling the A/C clutch in, even in Defrost mode now. I'm going to be able to cruise comfortably this summer on HRPT. WOO HOO!

Now, I can get those plates ordered and start pulling the factory heater out, once I get some help to remove the hood.

[smbrouss70]

Since I am in town this week, I'm going to take the new rear seat cover that I have to an upholstery shop here in town and see if they can narrow my seat cover and how much it will be. Hopefully they are reasonable and I can narrow my seat frame 2" and tub the wheel tubs 1.5" per side. That should cure my tire rubbing issues... at least until I decide I can fit a little more tire in there.

[jaros44sr]

Originally Posted by smbrouss70

Since I am in town this week, I'm going to take the new rear seat cover that I have to an upholstery shop here in town and see if they can narrow my seat cover and how much it will be. Hopefully they are reasonable and I can narrow my seat frame 2" and tub the wheel tubs 1.5" per side. That should cure my tire rubbing issues... at least until I decide I can fit a little more tire in there.

Please get a quote in writing, my shop raised the price 4 times, not saying your shop is dishonest, just that I had no recourse, once he had my seats done and it was cheaper to pay his inflated price

[Chulisohombre]

The 465 is no race at tranny but it is still fun to drive. Even with highway gears you should still have enough power to have fun around town with it. The state to state throw between gears is the toughest part of the Tranny. But you will never worry about breaking it. I’ve broke the coupler and the input shaft on my transfer case but never the 465. It does need a front input bearing now though. But I’m guessing it’s never been rebuilt in the 46 years of service.

[gringoloco]

Dang, those block-offs would have saved me a lot of time

[smbrouss70]

Originally Posted by gringoloco

Dang, those block-offs would have saved me a lot of time

Nah, you're doing it the right way. I would love to have the underhood of the Blazer all pretty with fresh paint while keeping the outside patina, but I REALLY don't want to kick that snowball off the hill.

I got a couple of quotes to narrow the rear seat cover and I finally found one that I could live with, so I stripped the back seat down and started cutting down the seat frame. I'll be bringing the modified frame, original & NOS foam, and the new seat covers to Mississippi this weekend to drop them off. I guess there's no turning back now. My rear seat has 4 legs in the back, but they weren't evenly spaced, so I decided to take the 2" out between the furthest spaced legs to satisfy my OCD. That is why the cut isn't in the middle.

[smbrouss70]

Seat frame is narrowed 2" and "almost" ready to go to Mississippi tomorrow. I used some 1" all thread that I found at Lowe's to slip inside of the pipes and plug welded them to the frame after I checked my measurements. Then I stitched the seams and dressed up the welds so that I wouldn't have any welds pushing out on the upholstery. After that, I got to use my super rare and extremely expensive "Paint Booth 9000" to coat it all with some POR15 to make sure it doesn't get rusty again. Hopefully the POR will be dry by the time that I have to load up and leave tomorrow.

I only have to work 1 day next week for our mandatory annual training day, so hopefully I can spend most of my time with the Blazer. I'd like to get the interior stripped out so that I can start cutting the dash for the A/C vents and possibly get the heater out so I can start going in with the Vintage Air.

[Advanced Design]

Frame came out nice! I like that paint booth 9000...is similar to mine.

[Palf70Step]

Nice work Steven!

[smbrouss70]

Well, I'm knee deep in tearing the Blazer half apart again. I had picked up some Doug's D375Y Tri-Y Headers for a 2nd gen Camaro because they will supposedly clear the Z-bar for the clutch linkage with a little tweaking. Trying to get the old exhaust out proved to be a challenge since my sawzall and air compressor both decided that they didn't want to cooperate. I eventually got it out and pulled the old headers and spark plugs so that I could fit the new headers. Today I got the driver's side header in and it is a VERY close fit to my lower control arm bushing. It's less than 1/4" clearance between the tube and the washer on the lower control arm. Besides that the fit is great! I still need to install the Z-bar to verify that it fits, though.

While crawling around under the Blazer I have come to the conclusion that every spot on the engine that could possibly leak is leaking. I also have an axle seal on the rear axle that is leaking gear oil into the inside of my back passenger's wheel. I'm not sure it wouldn't be easier to just yank the engine to re-seal everything or not.

[smbrouss70]

The good news is that the Z-bar clears the header with ease. The bad news is the Z-bar barely hits my brake lines dropping down to the frame rail. I'm pretty sure that I can tweak the arm on the Z-bar towards the header a little and keep it from hitting though.

[Advanced Design]

Very nice that it all fits!

[smbrouss70]

Thanks Doug, I think these are the only full-length SBC headers that don't hang way below the frame and still allow you to keep your mechanical clutch linkage.

Looks like I'll be picking up my back seat while y'all are having the Wire & Fire party (still wish I could make it). I got this picture in a text today. I'll FINALLY have a matching back seat! Plus it'll have room for bigger tubs. Now when a buddy's son and his girlfriend have to drive me home after drinking too much, I won't have to sit on the floor of my own Blazer.