Left for dead: 72 2wd blazer build

[nonamecharlie]

My truck is starting to leak in this area, after looking at your picutres I am convinces it is coming form this place under the cowel. The problem is I am not sure how to fix it. I want to stop the leak to save the door jams and the side wall before it gets bad, but I don't want to disasemble the entire sidewall like this.

Is there a rubber seal I can replace to stop the damage? I don't have much damage right now, I think just stopping the water from getting in will be enough.

[Jeffs70]

Originally Posted by nonamecharlie

My truck is starting to leak in this area, after looking at your picutres I am convinces it is coming form this place under the cowel. The problem is I am not sure how to fix it. I want to stop the leak to save the door jams and the side wall before it gets bad, but I don't want to disasemble the entire sidewall like this.

Is there a rubber seal I can replace to stop the damage? I don't have much damage right now, I think just stopping the water from getting in will be enough.

IMHO I believe the cowl and vents inside the cab are a big problem with these trucks, The cowl alone gathers tons of water through time down along the doors and posts all due to the fact these trucks have the vents, If this area was reworked to get rid of those vents and close off the cowl none of these trucks would have these problems as much as they do. also think about all the other crap that gets piled up under the cowl and in the vents through time.

[1956cameo]

PHAT TONY, Thanks! It is definately easy to give up on a project that needs as much resurrecting as this one. Getting support and encouragement from members of the forum definately helps.

nonamecharlie, I wish I could help you with a simpler solution than what I have done but I don't know of any other solutions that aeren't simply temporary fixes. Maybe someone else on here can give you some suggestions.

Jeffs70, I definately agree with what you say. The whold cowl section is simply a moisture trap.

[nonamecharlie]

OK, Thanks for the information. I guess I will just try and cover it when parked in the rain, and repair the minor rust issues in the cab now. Out here in California it never gets all that bad.

It does look like there isn't much way to stop it, I don't think water is supposed to drip in the cab from under the dash, so there must be some seal up there to prevent that (I get water droplets on the e-brake pedel and the carpet underneath)
On the passanger side it gets drips on the top right corner of the carpet. The carpet gets pretty wet when it rains good.

Cameo - If this is a design problem, won't this just happen again to you blazer in another 20 years of weather? Maybe you should seal it off like Jeffs70 suggested.

[Jeffs70]

nonamecharlie I would do some checking around the windshield to make sure thats not the leaking problem. could be something as simple as that seal came away from the metal. but also could be something worse under that window too like rusted through. also check around your doors to make sure there isnt any leaks or vent window alone. if the seals in the doors aren't good it will happen too. with the wind blowing and rain it can push that rain up into the doors/windows if not sealed properly

[jaros44sr]

Originally Posted by Jeffs70

IMHO I believe the cowl and vents inside the cab are a big problem with these trucks, The cowl alone gathers tons of water through time down along the doors and posts all due to the fact these trucks have the vents, If this area was reworked to get rid of those vents and close off the cowl none of these trucks would have these problems as much as they do. also think about all the other crap that gets piled up under the cowl and in the vents through time.

It's not that it is a bad design, but more so owner neglect! If you keep the crap out, nothing will block the drainage holes. If you take these things apart you will see that there is alot of unpainted metal inside. The system is designed to allow water to flow on thru. It should have a screen over the area in front of the windshield

JMHO, but I like the idea of the air flowing through the cab, and the vent windows are tops in my book for the amount of air flowing thru

Please don't take this as agrumentative, but just my opinion

And to answer nonamecharlie's question, yes it will probably happen again in 20 years...but I won't be around to deal with it.lol

[PHAT TONY]

Originally Posted by Jeffs70

nonamecharlie I would do some checking around the windshield to make sure thats not the leaking problem. could be something as simple as that seal came away from the metal. but also could be something worse under that window too like rusted through. also check around your doors to make sure there isnt any leaks or vent window alone. if the seals in the doors aren't good it will happen too. with the wind blowing and rain it can push that rain up into the doors/windows if not sealed properly

These trucks are designed around leaking windshields; if you look at the dash top @ w/shield corners you'll see a drain hole on each side(l&r) for water to drain and drip from the areas you mentioned as it comes past the seal.

[nonamecharlie]

Originally Posted by PHAT TONY

These trucks are designed around leaking windshields; if you look at the dash top @ w/shield corners you'll see a drain hole on each side(l&r) for water to drain and drip from the areas you mentioned as it comes past the seal.

Thanks Everyone for the good comments, I will check into those things. Hopfully its not rusted through anywhere, but I don't think so, the problem is very small right now, no where near the severity of Cameo's project!

Cameo - What you are doing is amazing by the way, I am sure most owners would have "left it for dead" long ago, koodoes to you. That whole truck looks long gone, but you are slowly bringing it back to life, and from the looks of things it will look like a california orriginal when you are done (rust free).

I am a little curious, how does the Frame look? It it salvageable or are you going to have to replace/repair it too? What about all the mounting brackets and stuff like that under the hood and along the bottom?

[Jeffs70]

Originally Posted by PHAT TONY

These trucks are designed around leaking windshields; if you look at the dash top @ w/shield corners you'll see a drain hole on each side(l&r) for water to drain and drip from the areas you mentioned as it comes past the seal.

So I been installing these windshields all wrong for the past 25 years your telling me? I am supposted to let them leak? lmao geesh that makes my job alot easier since windshields is what I do for a living, Why would they in their right minds build them for leaks, Yes they build them incase there is a leak to prevent standing water, but that dont mean to go ahead and allow it to leak any farther if you know its leaking. those drain holes along the windshield are to just prevent standing water on the dash. those drain holes still allow water to drain on the floor board and in the rockers this can cause more rust this way if there is a windshield leak or leak at all infact. I guess some people dont mind a leak here and there then. but IMHO why would they have a windshield and windows with seals to keep the water out if it was ok to have it come inside the truck. if people didnt mind having water drain inside their trucks/cars then I am in heaven with my job and can just slap in any window/Windshield and not care if it leaks? lmao. I am also not trying to cause a fight here I am just a bit of a joker so dont take this all wrong.

[PHAT TONY]

Originally Posted by Jeffs70

nonamecharlie I would do some checking around the windshield to make sure thats not the leaking problem. could be something as simple as that seal came away from the metal. but also could be something worse under that window too like rusted through. also check around your doors to make sure there isnt any leaks or vent window alone. if the seals in the doors aren't good it will happen too. with the wind blowing and rain it can push that rain up into the doors/windows if not sealed properly

Go back and read your previous post before you go on a rant about my post!
I've owned 2 trucks with factory glass and 3 others with new glass and they ALL leaked!
Let's return this thread to it's owner.

[1956cameo]

Well I had alot of stuff going on this week but was able to get a days worth of work in on Wednesday. Unfortuntately I have not had time to upload pics for an update. I will do that on Monday to show the latest progress.

nonamecharlie, No problem. If you have any questions about anything please feel free to ask away! As far as the frame on my blazer goes, it is in good shape. No rust at all and no damage from accidents. I think what makes this blazers body so rough is that at one point in time someone put house carpet in it and when the PO got it he said the windows were open allowing the carpet to get wet and stay wet. It is funny I live in Texas yet most of my projects are from areas up north or out east where rust is usually more prevelant. As an example the blazer I am building on this thread is from Georgia and my 54 suburban is from Virginia and I had a blazer from Nebraska.

jaros44sr, PHAT TONY, and Jeffs70, Thanks for all giving your input about the vent topic.

[PHAT TONY]

I appologise for being part of this thread going somewhat sideways. Get back to work; you aint done yet!

[lks dcvn]

I think any carpet in these things [unless out of the elements] might be the cause of a lot of the rust...

These trucks are not waterproof - maybe water resistant is a better term - once water gets to the floor and the carpet - moisture will just stay and start the rotting procedure.

As mentioned in my post - if the guy who had my truck before me would have removed the carpet - the floor would have been saved [or would have been a LOT better than it was].

If you take the necessary precautions after cleaning out the rust [POR15, Rust Bullet, Bedliner, etc.] - I think you will extend the life of the floors in these things tremendously.

[1956cameo]

PHAT TONY, No need to apologize for anything! A fellow member asked me a question that I couldn't fully help him with so I opened the floor to fellow members to help him. You helped with your ideas on the subject. It is all good! As far as getting back to work, I will be back at it soon. Expect to see an update on this weeks work Monday evening!

lks dcvn, I definately agree with what you said. I also wanted to say that I definately plan on protecting all of the metal with some sort of rust stopping paint or coating. The only parts I am hitting now are the areas like in the cowl that I won't be able to get to when I finish metal work. The only reason why I haven't applied more than I have so far is because alot of the panels I have put in so far are just tacked in and not completely welded in yet. Once I completely weld them in and smooth out the welds ALL areas of metal will be coated.

[1956cameo]

Last wednesday (St. Patrick's Day!) I went out and got a little work done on the blazer. It was kind of a short day so this is just a minor update. The first thing that I did was bolt my new reproduction rocker box reinforcement panel into place. I did this to make sure everything will be welded into place where it will line up to the bolt holes in the rocker box reinforcement panel.

This is a shot of the reinforcement panel after bieng bolted into place.




The next area that needed to be put back into place was the patch panel for the rotted out rear door jamb section. I tacked that in once it appeared to be lined up properly with the quarter panel support that I made and to the floor section.




After doing ALOT and I mean ALOT of lining up and checking the gaps with a door hung I finally tacked the rocker into place. The gaps look great with the door closed. The only issue is that when the door that I was using was open it would rub on the very front of the rocker panel. I figured that when I hang the door that I will be using and if it also hits I will just tweak everything.




When I got done placing the rocker panel I had just enough time in the day to do one more small scale task. I had noticed that the rear section of the blazers floor was rotted out in an area just inside of the reproduction outer floor panel. Since that section was still on the donor cab I took the floor out of I cut it out and cut out the rotten area in the blazer. Below is a picture of the rotten area in the seat belt bolt in area of the blazer.




After a little lining up the donor section was tacked in and I called it a day.

[VA72C10]

good progress!!!

[lks dcvn]

Congrats - it is amazing how with only 5 pix I can guesstimate your time working on your truck -

[1949gmc]

Originally Posted by lks dcvn

Congrats - it is amazing how with only 5 pix I can guesstimate your time working on your truck -

I was thinking the same thing, but my guesstimator is probably a little different than yours..... for me, I guess then multiply by three as it takes me three times longer than the average person to figure something out. For example: measure, cut, fit...... cut, fit...... cut, fit..... cut, fit. Damn, cut too much. Start over.

[Muleman100]

After disassembly of a few Blazers it is apparent that the factory used a lot of seam sealer. So my guess is when going back up with the build around the cowl area use a lot of premium sealer to make it last. Just an observation.

[1956cameo]

Thanks for the replys everyone! I am hoping to have a much larger progress report soon. Until then keep on 'n.

[1956cameo]

Well I knew it had been a while since I updated but I didn't know it had been almost 2 and a half months! Im sure some started thinking the blazer really had been "left for dead". The reason why I had not done much updating is because I got a new job that allows me to spend alot less time with the truck but a whole lot more time with the family (which is fine with me). Below are a few things I have done to the blazer since late March.


I pressure washed all of the grease and grime off of the firewall so I could start sanding the area down for primer once the metal work on the firewall is done.



The after shot picture once the firewall was pressure washed. As you can see some of the factory paint was knocked off leaving the factory oxide colored primer.



There was a TON of grime on the frame. Even though the engine was missing when I got the blazer I can assume it was completely worn out.



There is still a little grease here and there that needs to be cleaned off before primer goes down, but everything is much cleaner now.

[VA72C10]

Looks much better. I see you had to use the finest setting on the washer to get some of it off...I had to do that on my frame and liked the lines it left all over...

[shaneschevys]

Looking good! Were you able to find any parts out at pate for it?

[1956cameo]

I didn't take any pictures to show on here but I also spent an entire day grinding down welds. It is not a glamerous step of the restoration process but it needed to be done. I also spent a day sanding down my front fenders down to bare metal and coated them with base primer.

Before I finished out the drivers side rocker box replacement I wanted to address the pitted and rusted toe board (Drivers Side).



I know everyone has seen the body shell of the green 72' donor suburban that has been helping this project out. This is a picture of a white 72' suburban shell that has given up some of its parts for the cause as well.



The donor toe board that was removed from the white parts suburban body.




A view of the removed rotten toe board in the 72' blazer.


It isn't welded in yet but this is a shot of the donor panel set into the 72' blazer.




I know it is not alot of work for over two months of time, but the time I have been able to spend with my wife and two boys over the last couple of months has been priceless. I am going out to my dad's tomorrow to work on the blazer some more, and I am bringing alot of parts home to work on at my house to help keep progress going. I will update again as soon as I have more progress to show.

[1956cameo]

VA72C10, Thanks! The pressure washer was definately dialed down to a small diameter! I think I used about two gallons of grease remover on it as well. I think about 1/3 of the grease that came off of the blazer ended up on my face and in my hair.

Shane, Thanks for the comment! I found alot of cool stuff at Pate, but the only things I picked up for the blazer were items that I had bought on the forum and simply picked up at Pate. I am already looking forward to next year.

As you can see my dad and I are putting both of the suburban body's we got from you to good use. You might now want your son to see this thread. He might not like what I have done to his suburban.