My K5 Blazer Story.

[lytemup454]

Your the man!!! next years desert trip will see an invasion of fuel injected k5's

[DirtyLarry]

It’s like chopping down a big old rotten tree. It just keeps getting shorter

Rob came by tonight and help move some of the heavy stuff and empty the fridge of adult beverages

I drove the K5 on the trailer without even using ramps

[Zoomad75]

Note to those guiding others onto trailers without ramps: Don't stand on the tongue of the trailer as it's driven on. I stood up there to guide and when the front tires rolled up the tongue went up as the ass of the trailer went down. I managed to stay put, but wisely got off before the rear tires came up! Keep in mind despite my size, I've got mad balance skills. LOL!

It was officially the last time the 75 was shifted into 4wd as a complete unit. Well, sorta complete! Funny thing was despite having open diffs it crawled up on the trailer like an old dog hopping into a truck to go for a ride. We joked that it was asking us what adventure were we going to this time?

As Larry said, the top got pulled. We wrestled the gate off too. As usual, stuff had broke back there and some prior owner (aka hack booger welder) welded a bolt in place where the pin goes behind the bumper for the gate torsion spring. We talked it over some suds and decided the sawzall is the tool for the job here. I hit the trigger on the bolt and magically the stupid booger welded bolt busted clean off the mount! Ha! So we check out the other side and it has the stock pin in place. We try to wiggle the gate to rotate the spring just right but no luck. So out comes the sawzall. We take a different tactic. I'll saw the end of the bumper off right by the pin so we can pry it off. Then I busted Larry's last blade a 1/4" from cutting the end off completely. Larry comes out with the mother of all prybars, slams it into the quarter then proceeds to twist the end of the bumper off. He was able to pry the spring over the pin and we wrestled the gate from the grip of the K5.

All in all, the Titanic level of rust is going to fight every last bolt we yank from the truck. But, it's pretty close to being done. It's sad to see it get torn up, but I'm happy to know the soul will live on. I'm excited to move forward with a better body.

Now one more word to the wise.. When you are jumping the starter with a screwdriver by standing directly in front of the engine (no core support or radiator in the way), remember when the starter does kick in, the big fan directly to your right is going to be ready to chop your side up if you move wrong. I hit it and felt the odd feeling of a fan blade hitting my side. Not hard but just enough to know it's there! Yikes! Don't do that!

[DirtyLarry]

Went to the best place in town to dump a dead body this afternoon









So long sucka


Looks better already

[Zoomad75]

It's a little gut wrenching to see in larger photos than on my phone. That would have been hard for me to do. Kinda like taking an old family dog to be put down due to age or disease. Thanks for taking it down and doing the dirty work.

Now we get to move onto a new phase. The build!

[Zoomad75]

Stopped by Larry's Chop Shop tonight on the way home from work. Ian was there along with Larry's buddy Derek. They yanked the engine off the frame and were getting it onto it's new storage rack when I got there. We then proceeded to yank the rear driveline and the trans/tcase as a unit. Once the frame was picked clean we rolled it right back on the trailer and locked it down to prep for the ride to Ian's house.

Big thanks to Ian and Derek for helping us out.

[ryanroo]

nice! lots of work getting done. looking forward to seeing it go back together!

[lytemup454]

Going to work at Larry's house is awesome, he does all of the prep work. Everything is either loose or sprayed with penetrating oil.

[DirtyLarry]

I tried to have everything ready so it would go quick and smooth to unload the chassis, pick the engine and trans off then roll the chassis back on the trailer. All went as planned except for the China’s finest engine dolly that needed some persuasion to fit properly. The Landa power washer dying on me yesterday also put a monkey wrench in the progress. We’ll see what the clowns at the Hydraulic shop have to $ay today. I would like to get the muck burnt off the chassis and engine/trans/tcase before they go to their new homes.

[justcuz]

If all else fails you can do what Bills guy at the dealership did...Dollar store oven cleaner and a high pressure garden hose.

[Zoomad75]

Traded out the old gate to one of my techs today as planned and got a fresh rebuild 700r4 (2.8 v6 case though), 207 t-case and a cast iron 6 bolt round t-case adapter. Also had the local Car Quest to our shop mix up some rattle cans with GM spec Doeskin Tan so my detail freak project manager (aka Larry) will be able to undo some of the wrong that happened under the hood of the 91. Who knows, this thing might get painted one panel at a time with the stuff!

Also got a couple of cans of duplicolor high temp Chevy orange engine paint. Yep, we are retro-grading the 5.3, at least in color. Should be pretty cool.

Got tix to the local oval track for some roundy-round races tonight. Got to go cheer one of my tech's on.

[justcuz]

Do the 700r4 transmissions behind the 60 degree V6 have internals capable of handling the V8 torque?
Dig the idea of painting the engine Chevy orange, we did the same with the 5.7 in my sons 1993 truck.
We went to the local roundly rounds too last night, wife's friend has a 13 year old nephew who drives Bandelaro, mini stock and spec trucks. His best finish was 4th last night in mini stocks. However it was his first time in that vehicle and driving a stick.
Lots of fun!
Following the build thread and looking forward to the end result.

[Zoomad75]

Originally Posted by justcuz

Do the 700r4 transmissions behind the 60 degree V6 have internals capable of handling the V8 torque?
Dig the idea of painting the engine Chevy orange, we did the same with the 5.7 in my sons 1993 truck.
We went to the local roundly rounds too last night, wife's friend has a 13 year old nephew who drives Bandelaro, mini stock and spec trucks. His best finish was 4th last night in mini stocks. However it was his first time in that vehicle and driving a stick.
Lots of fun!
Following the build thread and looking forward to the end result.

The v6 version does have a lesser amount of clutches and steels compared to the v8 version. Smaller torque converter too. This trans is mostly a backup to the one in the 91. If it's going to be put into play, the internals will need to get swapped into the v8 case. At that point while it's apart we'll perform the required upgrades to make it live behind the 5.3.

The racing last night was great. Twin 30 lap mains for the Grand American Modifieds that my tech runs. He took the win in the first main and came from the last row in the second main to take 2nd.

[Zoomad75]

Plan in action. Larry and I saw another thread about an LS swap where the guy painted the engine traditional chevy orange. We both really liked the idea. So I picked up some high temp chevy orange with some hi temp primer. Larry laid down some color yesterday. He started mounting the accessories today. This little 5.3 is starting to come together sweet.

[y5mgisi]

Sweet! Looks nice!

[2000Limited]

Nice im in

[Zoomad75]

Been collecting a few more parts. Larry got the old engine and trans cleaned up and ready for me to take back home. This way they are out of his way! Spent the morning getting a hole carved out of my pile of crap to put them into.

Got some horse trading done this weekend too. Last weekend at Larry's house we were over for his kiddo's 2nd birthday party. Got to talking with our buddy Bill and he told me to keep an eye out for a metal high top contractor style topper for his Dodge. I didn't think I'd see one come through the dealership but as luck has it we did this week. It was on a customer's Dirtymax that was in for a starter and flywheel and he ended up trading it off mid-repair. 3rd time this week somebody traded a car we were working on, odd. So I quickly called Bill and told him about it. He was on board and I sent him some pics. We hatched a plan for him to come up Saturday. Here's where things got a little off kilter. Saturdays in the shop are pretty laid back and we close by one. It comes up to 12:30 and Bill's a no show. I text him and he says he's on his way. He shows up at closing time, but it means we can BS without anybody bugging us. He's got one of his gun buddies with him, Andy. I've met Andy before, but didn't peg him as a wheeling nut. I begin to give Bill a ration of crap for being late and he tells me they were installing a lift on Andy's 84 GMC Suburban that morning. Hmm Interesting. We strike a deal over the topper and they invited me to lunch at a local hole in the wall BBQ joint that I can't say no too. So over some awesome brisket we get to talking about his Burb. It's a Doeskin tan color like the 91. He's got a fresh 6.2 oil burner in it with a brand new Banks sidewinder turbo kit. Now it's getting a 6" lift to top it off. Then he tells me about the Craigslist deal that he made for a 8 lug D44 front diff and 14B full floater that both were locked with 4.56 gears. They were going to swap them in at the same time as the lift but further inspection found a cheezy locker in the front and missing teeth on the ring gears in both. No swap done.

Andy says they need to go get some tires and wasn't sure what to get. I pipe up that I've got the 35's off the 75 that due to the 15" size and 6 lug wheels I won't be using them on the 91. We struck a deal and made arrangements for them to go get them from Ian's place where the old chassis is at. We finish up lunch and make the blitz back down to Pueblo. I had told another friend I'd help him install a new set of Lower control arms on a neat TJ Wrangler he bought from Bill's boss a few weeks back. I swing in and we get right to work and pop them in without much fuss. With time to spare I call Bill to see where they are at on the lift install. Just getting started on the rear and extra hands are welcome he tells me.

I cruise over to Bills place and Andy is just backing the burb into the garage. First look, that burb is CLEAN. Couple of minor rot spots in the rear wheel openings but otherwise it's very nice inside and out. Really unmolested. Larry's Polarbear wasn't this clean on the inside when he got it. Bench seat, rear heat and a/c with a tailgate. The rear lift install went as planned as it was only blocks, but he's interested in my old shackle flip brackets. Lift completed we made a quick spin to an atm to grab some cash for the tires. The truck rides nice, but needs an adjustment to the draglink as the steering wheel is upside down. Andy sent me a pic after getting the wheels and tires on his burb today.



Parts from the 75 have helped out yet another old squarbody owner. He's itching to see mine and put the two tan rides together. Probably do some wheeling too! I know the tires will handle it!

Little history note: Andy is the guy that Bill bought another 6.2 Suburban from way back in the early days of my K5 story. The one the broke a crankshaft shortly after pulling my stupid self out of a pile of mud when I decided to play on my own. That burb to those that have seen Larry's previous builds was the one he and Bill stuffed a 6.5 in with the existing Banks sidewinder. I didn't put that link together until we got to talking about that other burb over lunch.

[Zoomad75]

Ok Folks. Update time. Between work, collecting parts and Larry's hectic schedule he's got a little bit done. Little, nah it's a large chunk and in typical Larry style it's clean, sanitary and better than factory. He's reworked the MEFI4 wiring harness to really fit tightly to the engine.

Here's the passenger side:


Sorry for the fuzzy cell phone pics...More of the pass side.


Drivers side. Little note, I got the stock PCV pipe on this side and the vent hose from the other side to the throttle body from work. The $30 spent between the two hoses is WELL worth it for the fit


The stock engine cover on the intake. I'm missing the rear mount, but will get that at work. I like the look. Finishes off the engine and hides some of the "ugly" that is a LS/Truck intake.


Only need a couple of items for the engine now. Intake air temp sensor and an intake tube to put it in. I thought I had given one or two to Larry way back when the 454 injection project was in full swing, but he's squirreled them in the attic. That is if I remembering what I gave him. Might have been just the air filter housings. I've got a buddy in Denver that worked at a truck accessory shop that installed a lot of cold air kits. He'd give my Dad the stock bits. Talked to Dad tonight and he might have another one up there.

Larry's going to give a couple of spots in the floor a sand blasting and touch up. I've changed plans to spray the Raptor liner at work. We just sprayed the same stuff on the inside of our 59 Apache Project and after it got baked on in the paint booth it came out so nice. Rock solid. So we'll do it at the shop and bake it on. Stuff should be bulletproof!

Getting exciting for sure.

[DirtyLarry]

The 5.3L is coming together nicely! The MEFI-4 harness actually fits your engine much better than it did mine. Can’t wait to pull your K5 around from storage into the shop to start getting jiggy with it. Soon!

[Zoomad75]

The drone of another Saturday morning in the shop was broken up by a text from my buddy John today. He and I were able to get the '56 Chevy of his sold this week for us both to profit a little on. He's bought a bad ass built little TJ Wrangler to go play with off road and he's itching to hit the trail with us. So anyway, his text just had a pic in it and then followed with another explaining it. '



He said he had this stuffed away in the attic of his shed and found it when he was cleaning it out. It's a 12 1/2" Tuffy deluxe stereo console and it's about 6" too wide to fit in his TJ. Come get it, it will fit in yours.

Huh? The box is dusty, but looks barely used if at all. I ask if he's sure and tells me to not worry about it and come get it. SCORE! It's great to have friends like I've got.



So I shot out of work and went to Larry's for a Beer and parts delivery run. I needed to restock the fridge of frosty products from Golden, CO. Plus I dug out the Radiator I swiped from the now sold GMC front clip that was to be used on the 75. Got to see Larry's progress on the floor. Got some small stuff to weld up but nothing major. We'll douse it with Por15 before the raptor liner goes on. Didn't really accomplish anything except he and I got the plan mapped out on what steps to hit next.

Hit list is:

Finish blasting the floor.
Seal it off with Por15.
Pull it out from the back.
Remove front clip.
Powerwash the snot out of it.
Push inside shop.
Paint firewall and inside of fenders.
Paint frame.
Install ORD steering box brace.
Drop engine in. Check fitment of manifolds.

Probably won't get all that done this week, but a good chunk should get knocked out. Need to get over to discount tire and order the wheels and tires.

[DirtyLarry]

I think the radiator is still in the back of your S10, I never got it out! Not sure if you did

[Zoomad75]

Originally Posted by DirtyLarry

I think the radiator is still in the back of your S10, I never got it out! Not sure if you did

Yes I did. Got back to the S10 and saw it back there. So as you went to fire up your grille I got it out of the bed and laid it on the cardboard box behind the blue truck. I'm sneaky for a big guy.

[Zoomad75]

John was out in his Jeep today and dropped off the tuffy console. I immediately got to work on it. The opening for the radio was barely a 1/16th of an inch off on all sides for it to slide through. So I broke out my trusty Dremel and shaved it down until it fit tight. I used the typical bracket to attach the CB radio to the box with a couple of screws and lock nuts. Here's the box post surgery.



Inside. Lots of room in there.


Closer of the CB. Now it all needs cleaned up. Dusty and dirty.


Front side. I used a step drill to bore a hole in the side for the mic cable to pass through. Added a thick grommet and pushed the cable end through. Now I need a Mic mount on the outside.


Plans for the console are to add 12v power and 1/8th" Aux input jack for the stereo. I've got a dc/ac inverter we pulled out of a used truck I could put in there, but I really haven't had a need for 110v power out in the mountains.

[DirtyLarry]

Saw Wheat! The box looks great. Glad you got that CB mounted, maybe you can talk to the Bandit, Snowman, Rustynail or some ghost truckers from 1979 since nobody else you go off-road with has a CB to talk to. Would you like me to wire in provisions for a fax machine and VCR too?

[Zoomad75]

Originally Posted by DirtyLarry

Saw Wheat! The box looks great. Glad you got that CB mounted, maybe you can talk to the Bandit, Snowman, Rustynail or some ghost truckers from 1979 since nobody else you go off-road with has a CB to talk to. Would you like me to wire in provisions for a fax machine and VCR too?

Yes I like it. You need one. I'm tired of trying to talk on these crappy walkie talkies we have. I know you are space limited in the blue truck, but there are a few radios that don't take up that much room. No more than a couple of packs of smokes at least!

Granted, they CB's aren't as long range as the HAM radios Lance uses, but as the one that's usually running behind it would be nice to be able to send out a message before you get out of range. They are longer range than the stuff we've been using.

Besides on a nice summer night it's fun to fire up the CB and listen to the Lot Lizard traffic at the local gas-n-go.