1972 Blazer - 'Bullet' Project

[VA72C10]

Looks good to me. I want to learn sometime soon and find a decently priced welder myself...

[lks dcvn]

I got some more done last night - but didn't have the camera available...

Front cab mount is now solid and welded in - I shook it to death to make sure it was in there - That is my non-scientific way of testing my welds...

I only get about an hour or so a night to work on this stuff.

[lks dcvn]

Alright - had a full day yesterday to get some stuff done-

Got the outer floor and inner rocker burned in and coated with some rust prevention paint.

Plenty of pix coming up...

I will have to fix my B pillar post patch panel - I got a bit zealous at trimming it to fit and took a bit too much off the top -

[lks dcvn]

more pix. I had to keep welding, grinding and then rewelding to get it all to solid metal without any holes - what I PITA!

[lks dcvn]

coating on and mocking up my B-pillar -

I couldn't get my cut-off wheel or the flap disk close enough to the step up to get the welds ground down smooth - so I left them - they are in there solid - so I didn't worry about it too much...

[nuke1]

Cool, lookin good.

[my67chevytruck]

nice progress.

[my67chevytruck]

nice progress!

[BLUE THUNDER]

Wow Tom, you've made a lot of progress on the Blazer. Nice work too. Keep up the good work dude and post plenty of pics.

[VA72C10]

looking good. Starting to come together nicely.

[lks dcvn]

Thanks guys - snails pace but making some progress - with the foot of snow we are going to get today/tonight I am going to wish this thing had a plow on it...

[AKoldstyle]

hit me up when you get 2 alaska and i will give you a ride in a blazer ! these bodies are all over up here and even a bunch of the trucks lol. good progress is a series of small steps. work is looking nice

[lks dcvn]

You got it! PM sent with my schedule to be in Anchorage for few days -

[lks dcvn]

Spent some more time last night out in the garage...trying to figure out what I am going to do with this door/fender that I have.

They are workable - just need to put in the time to get them presentable.

After reviewing jaros's thread - I might drag them down to my local Maaco to have them media blast and epoxy primer the front fender - (how can they screw that up) to see what I am working with. The door works good, just has surface rust and I also like how all the glass on this thing is etched with the VIN.

They (door and fender) will both be coming off in the Spring anyway when the warmer climate hits and I get to doing the body work on this thing and paint it all one color in the jams and the floors -

I got the torsion box end cap bolted on and then started working on the floor patch panel - should get that side wrapped up this weekend - if I can get some time out in the garage.

If I can get this thing turned around this weekend - I will be very happy with the progress.

I will post some pix this weekend if I get this done.

[VA72C10]

congrats on getting it turned around...looking good......on the passenger side

[Chevyman63]

Way to go Tom...looking good!!!

[1956cameo]

The blazer is really coming along nicely!

[lks dcvn]

Thanks guys!

Got up pretty early yesterday to get moving on this before the day began...now that the truck is turned around in the garage - I feel like I am making serious progress. I would like to get the driver side done by St. Patrick's Day (my goal) - 32 days.

I got the driver side front fender and the door off and then removed the most of the rest of the outer rocker - no pix yet - as I am at work right now, but I did get some of the progress documented.

Having tackled the other side I know what I am dealing with now so I should be able to move a bit faster on the driver side.

Now that I have a spot weld cutting drill bit - things should go a bit smoother for the areas I struggled with before [without one].

If I get time tonight I will continue removing the outer rocker and clean up the floor a bit to see what I am really getting into. Driver seat will be coming out and soft metal will be identified in the next coming days.

Pix will be posted later tonight.

[lks dcvn]

Pix as promised - also ran into a new issue - see later pix for that ordeal...

first few are getting started on Sunday and then I knocked out an hour when I got home from work.

[Blizz]

Looks great! I'd say replace it, I don't know if you wanna patch something that's crucial to the structural rigidity of the vehicle. Besides, you replace it and you'll never have to worry about it again. Thanks for the pics, this is really giving me confidence to do this myself. I'm not a big time mechanic type, I'm in IT but you're making it look not so bad. You need to come back down to SA for a few weeks and help Mario and I do ours

[lks dcvn]

I would love to head back to SA for a week or so - I really like that area. It won't be happening this year though - no trips other than Alaska is planned.

I also do IT for a living - I hesitated for weeks wondering if I had the skills to do this. Actually with a IT background it is somewhat comparable [analyze the issue, determine a plan on how to approach the situation and then take action].

I would walk out there and look at the truck and even asked a few board members what it would cost to have them do it - price was more than I wanted to spend [now I see why], and figured - what the hell - just do it. It hasn't been that bad really.

There really isn't a 'hard' part - it just takes patience, time and repetition to get moving forward. Take plenty of measurements before and during to make sure that you are in spec.

The question is - should I patch the a pillar, b pillar and the floor and then cut out the old torsion box and replace it or should I approach it the exact opposite way and do the torsion box first?

[Blizz]

Yeah I hear ya. Most of time that I've spent on my has gone to walking out there, staring at it...picking at some of the rust...opening and closing the doors and going back in. The more of these threads I see, the more I understand what needs to be done and how and the "easier" it looks. Now I say easy because I had it damn near impossible in my head, not that it's easy by any means. I'm Mario's brother btw. I have no idea what you should do first, but you could always brace the door opening while you tear all that rust out. Good luck and keep up the work and thanks for the pics, they're what's giving me confidence.

[lks dcvn]

Guess I will do the torsion box swap last - since plenty of trucks are out there with saddle tanks and no issues -

I will need to identify any issues with removing them afterward and then welding on the new ones when I am done with this side - I think I am doing it in the right order - if not - I am sure I will find out in a month or so.

Moving forward again - this time on the driver side of things.

Cab mount = toast - patch panel will be mated up after I get a better cut on the current mount remnants.

A Pillar = sketchy at best - patch panel will be mated up

I have a few busy nights this week so I won't make much progress, if any until this weekend.

Thanks again for all the comments and advice guys - I need it to keep moving on this thing.

[lks dcvn]

So I got some free time tonight [got done with my other stuff earlier than I expected] soooo - what did I do - I headed out to see what I could do on the Blazer.

I really thought starting with the passenger side would be better since it looked worse. Boy was I wrong. The driver side is way worse...

I got the torsion box end cap off and started to have a look at the back of the B pillar and the step area - yikes - look familiar.

Then I spent some time trying to cut out that piece that connects the floor, outer bedside and B pillar together - got about half way and then called it a night. I was actually surprised that the top bolt came out.

I forgot how big of a pain it was to get the other side out (and that wasn't that long ago):

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...&postcount=107

Not sure if it was a blessing or not, but most of it was pretty soft so I just wiggled it back and forth until it snapped off. The rest is pretty solid so I will need to cut it out.

I really hate the way they bolted it from the top into those square nuts - I have to cut them out and the angle sucks to get to them...oh well - I will stop complaining now - many other members have resurrected much worse.

[1956cameo]

I just read thru the entire thread again! All I have to say is Thank You for going into such detail on your repairs; and for all of the close up pics of everything. This thread is really helping me to understand how I need to tackle my rocker area.

I had a question. On post #107, about the rocker box reinforcement plate. You showed the rusty plate in a pic; then you showed a non rusty black plate going back into place. Was that a reproduction rocker box reinforcement plate? Or was the original rusty one that had been repaired? Also the floor supports that you mention on post#116 that you got from GMC Pauls. Do you have any pictures of where those go? This whole area on my blazer is pretty rusty. So much so that it is a little difficult for me to understand how it all went together originally. Thanks for any help!