71' Blazer Rust bucket build

[richard2717]

still collecting parts for this someday build. got a real nice back seat as well as some seatbelts I got cleaned up to almost new condition. Found a nice set of DG4 mirrors I think i will put on it instead of the sports it came with and also got a decent original black steering wheel to replace the square body one on it now.

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[DeadheadNM]

The DG4's work nicely. It's odd to me that GM never offered these on K5s.

[richard2717]

Well after sitting down and looking at the multiple projects I have sitting here I have decided to push forward with the 72 original paint green Blazer. I have made a cart up to put my 68 panel truck on to get it off of the lift and have the blazer now on there. Plan is to get it 100% mechanically ready so I can at least drive it this summer. It has been sitting inside the shop since 2011 when I bought it so everything is dry except for the bottom of the engine, bottom of the transmission, bottom of the T case and the yoke of the 12 bolt. I am separating the body from the frame tomorrow with the help of a friend. I have purchased a LOT of new parts and have almost all of it here sitting on the table ready to go. Still waiting on the brake & fuel lines as well as the brake booster setup and a few small parts from Rock auto.

Plan is to completely replace the braking system front to rear and top to bottom.
Replace all the fuel lines including the vent lines
Replace all the tie rod ends
Replace yoke seals and pan gaskets on both rears and put all new fluids in
Rebuild 3 speed transmission
Rebuild Dana 20 T case
Send driveshafts to vendor foe rebuild as needed.
All new body bushings from Wes
Install new crate 350 along with new clutch kit.
Install new heater core while it is accessible (hoping Wes gets new stock in of the brass ones)
new 33x12.50x15 tires to replace the new dry rotted ones on it now
Clean and paint frame and suspension.
I am only going to do the outer floor repairs and rockers for now and work on the more major stuff this coming fall. I really want to drive this thing this summer for a bit.
I may throw the original paint doors on it that I sourced a few years ago if time permits.
I bought a set of nice used seat covers that i am going to try my luck at getting put on as well.

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[1rippen6]

Awesome!

[richard2717]

My buddy stopped by this morning and gave me a hand with getting everything separated & labeled. I am pleasantly surprised with how good a shape the frame is in. There is no damage to any of the mount holes that I am accustomed to seeing on the rust belt blazers. Usually the back mount holes are rotted and need a lot of work. What I thought was a lot of old oil leaks is actually undercoating that did an amazing job of preserving this thing. I am glad I saved this thing back in 2011 and put it in dry storage. I don't think it would be nearly as nice as what I am uncovering now. The entire cowl and both rear portions of the fenders were totally full of pine shats and leaves/dirt. The undercoating must have been done when the blazer was new because there is no rust in 95% of those areas. My buddy had to leave so I am taking a lunch break then headed back out to get the drive train apart. I need to determine if a can use a 12" clutch vs the 11" I think it has in it now. Also want to verify the spline count before ordering. In my haste ordering parts I ordered new rear drums before pulling the old ones off. After pulling them this morning, I think the ones on it are pretty new. I am going to take them with me to the machine shop when I take the flywheel to get it surfaced and have them check them. If they are still virgin I may have them cleaned up a bit and put them on the shelf for my other blazer down the road. I bought rebuild kits for the transmission and T case so gonna try my luck at doing them here. Found some Utube videos that I think will help fill in the gaps.
Plan is to strip down the frame (not busting anything that is riveted) rent and air compressor so I can sandblast it clean. I got some SPI epoxy primer here to shoot it with once done then get it painted. Still trying to figure out when my brake & fuel lines will be here but there is plenty of work to be done before then.
Feels good to get back to work on something. Been at a stall for a little over 2 years on all of it.

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[jaros44sr]

Great candidate for a build, and the voyage begins!

Give me a shout if you need a hand, been telling my wife about the crab cakes on the eastern shore for years, would give me a reason to let her taste them

Good luck I'll follow along

Measure the frame to make sure its straight

[richard2717]

Originally Posted by jaros44sr

Great candidate for a build, and the voyage begins!

Give me a shout if you need a hand, been telling my wife about the crab cakes on the eastern shore for years, would give me a reason to let her taste them

Good luck I'll follow along

Measure the frame to make sure its straight

Thanks Jim. I am going to finish breaking down the chassis this morning so I can get what needs to be taken to the machine shop after lunch.

After looking at the frame a little better I did find 2 minor damage spots from where the hitch bolted on the bottom of the frame rail. Won't take much to fix that though.

More part deliveries today, tomorrow and Monday

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[richard2717]

Got the frame stripped down to just a roller. there were quite a few home made brackets on this thing. Even had some lag screws in some of the exhaust brackets. Degreased and power washed the whole thing. Found some original markings on the rear driveshaft and front dana 44 cover.

Dropped off both driveshafts and the flywheel to the machine shop for service.

Now to decide if I am going to sandblast or not. It would be the quickest, just adds more expense. Trying to find out what a mobile blaster would charge versus me renting a setup. rental is about $400 for everything for a day. I can't imagine a mobile guy coming out for double that cost but who knows until I get in touch with one.

Emailed the local spring shop and they want $1400 for 4 new springs and bolts. Not in stock and would have to be ordered. I can order them online including delivery for about $825. I don't have to have them it's just a matter of "while you are there" kinda thought.

FedEx apparently delivers on Sunday now? Just got an email that all my brake & fuel lines will be here that I got from GMC Pauls. I also ordered some 2.5" ramhorns and a poly mount kit for the dana 20 t case from Summit yesterday. They are supposed to deliver tomorrow as well.

Today's plan is to fix the two damaged spots from the hitch, change out the tie rod and steering links with new moog units, clean it all up and prep for paint. Reseal the transmission and t case and get them ready for paint. If time permits clean up the engine bay while it is all exposed.

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[richard2717]

I think next time someone with more patience may be doing the mechanical. That list I posted to get done today.....yea scratch that We have been all day breaking the dana 20 apart. 2 slight mishaps but recovered from both thankfully. Lots of running back and forth from Utube videos. But it is completely apart. Gotta take a break from it for a few to rest my brain on this. It would probably be easier with a manual or at least some written instructions that I don't have so next best thing is lots of pictures, pad and paper for notes and video's. Thankfully there are a few out there with working CC so I can "hear" what they are saying. After the break I am gonna get the case all cleaned up and hopefully get it back together while it is all still fresh on my mind.

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[richard2717]

I think the transmission will just get the seals and gaskets at this point. I don't see me trying to take that one apart. Thankfully I do have a spare of each in case I do mess this up. Definitely not my comfort zone.

[richard2717]

Finally found some written instructions for the dana rebuild and glad I did. It states to not use wheel bearing grease to hold the 48 needle bearings in place but rather use frozen petroleum jelly. the bearing grease will cause failure bc it will not dissolve.

Here is a link should anyone else need it in the future

https://www.novak-adapt.com/knowledg...rebuild-guide/

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[richard2717]

Slipped something in my neck yesterday morning and have not been able to turn my head to the right, same thing happened back in 2012 after a car accident. I am hoping it does not put me down too long. Seems a little better today but gonna give it another day or so. My brake and fuel lines showed up this morning as well.

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[richard2717]

Came across this link searching for other stuff if anyone is interested in it from the heritage center

https://www.gmheritagecenter.com/doc...let-Blazer.pdf


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[richard2717]

Got my little blasting pot out today and blasted the engine & transmission cross members. My snap on 2 stage compressor was struggling to keep up so this afternoon I hooked up my other 2 stage compressor together with it so when I go to do the whole frame on Friday, I won't have to stop every few minutes (I hope). My satin black paint is supposed to be here tomorrow so once everything is blasted I can put some epoxy primer on then go straight to spraying some satin chassis black.

I also had a few minutes to kill so i pulled the outer heater box off of the firewall. I was figuring it was going to be really rusty behind it and full of crap, but was pleasantly surprised to see no rot and not full of crap. The heater core has been changed at some point and still looks like new. I may leave it alone for now and just clean, paint and install new seals on the box. There is one small metal rust breakout just above the fan on the firewall that i might as well fix while I have it out.

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[richard2717]

Both air compressors together are the ticket. They will actually shut off while blasting and I can maintain 100psi at the pot. That is the good news. The not so good news is the harbor freight nozzles are junk and wear out in less than 5 minutes of blasting. Got some better ones coming from McMaster in the morning. Before the rains set in this afternoon I was able to start on the main frame but went thru all 4 nozzles pretty quick.

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[jaros44sr]

Nice progress, Richard. Man does that bring back memories

TIP makes some good sand blasting parts......

[richard2717]

Jim
I looked on TP tools site but did not see anything for this type blaster. All I saw was stuff for cabinets. I did get my upgraded gun for the cabinet from them a while back. I "think" i ordered the right tips from McMaster, I guess I will find out in the morning.

Richard

[jaros44sr]

CRADT, check your tip often, or you will burn though your gun

Your making great progress

[richard2717]

Got my new tips in from Mcmaster this morning. What a difference. harbor freight tips might last 10 minutes. I am still on my 1st tip and have about 2 hours on it. still looks pretty fresh. Paperwork says it has a 4 hour lifespan. We shall see. I am about halfway done with the frame. Lots of undercoating slowing it down. I want to get some epoxy on it b4 the end of the day. The little bit I did yesterday had flash rust on it this morning even though it was sitting in the shop overnight.

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[richard2717]

boy what a long day. Makes it worth while being able to at least get the epoxy primer on the frame and some other parts I blasted in the cabinet earlier this week. It helped that the bobcat will put it in any position I needed.

I have a few things to weld up on it in the morning then it will get some chassis satin black. I will be dropping the rears out of it before I do that though. I needed to keep it mobile while blasting since I have no help other than the bobcat.

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[richard2717]

Welded up the extra holes and put a patch in the rear frame horn that the hitch ripped out at some point. Brushed a little bit of epoxy primer on and then shot 2 coats of eastwood chassis satin black on after letting the epoxy dry. Gonna let the paint cure for a few days before doing anything else to it.

This is the 1at time I have used SPI epoxy primer and I have to say it is some really nice stuff. Mixes good, sprays good and covers excellent. I used some Matrix epoxy from local paint supplier on the last project and it sucked, start to finish and was more expensive overall considering they only sold it in quarts. SPI shipped right to my door as well.

Tomorrow I will "attempt" to reassemble the transfer case and that will let me know if I am pulling the transmission apart or just resealing it. I got a feeling it is just going to get a reseal. I stopped by the machine shop yesterday since I had not heard anything from them and he said the flywheel and shafts are done but he is waiting on the new flywheel bolts I asked for. The heads were a little buggered on the old ones and I like to use new ones anyway. My clutch kit is sitting there waiting as well.

Once the paint cures on the frame I will drop the axles and springs away from it so I can work on them. Gonna just put new spring bushings in for now. If it ends up riding bad or sagging (which it wasn't sitting here in the shop) I will replace them later on. I am probably not going to do any u-joint or ball joint work on the front axle either, out of my comfort zone totally.

I found some high temp spray paint that I want to use on the transmission and T case so I figured I would paint the clutch cover to see how it looked. I like it so gonna go with it.


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[richard2717]

Found out today I do not have patience for the transmission reseal. My dumb ass can't figure out how to get the thing apart enough to get the gaskets in and what I feared would happen did happen. The needle bearings fell out of the front shaft area into the bottom of the case. Can't find any solid videos of the disassemble for the 4x4 setup So I decided to play who wants to be a millionaire and used a life line to phone a friend. He will be here later this week. I am going to have him look at the front axle ujoints to see if he thinks a rebuild is needed. I am still trying to get the T Case back together as well. Got all the parts cleaned up and new seals put in as well as some fresh paint. I forgot to grab some petroleum jelly yesterday while out so could not start the reassemble yet.

Since that all kicked me in the nuts I decided to finish up just doing little stuff this afternoon. I bought some 2.5" ram horn manifolds last week and had to cut the accessory ears off of them so took care of that this afternoon. I may smooth the whole thing out before coating them (open to suggestions on manifold paint that lasts).
I thought the gas tank was good since it was bone dry when I bought it back in 2011. I have a NOS pickup here so figured I would get it cleaned up and ready to go in. Pulled the old one out and stuck the flashlight in and no dice. Bad scale inside. I looked at the tank lining kits but by the time I buy the kit and spend the whole day doing it, I might just as well order a new tank (which I just did). I have several sets of factory straps and hardware here already in good shape so i just ordered the bare tank. Started sorting out all the brake & fuel lines too. I messed up and forgot to order new hold downs for the frame rails so I am going to clean these up, paint and reuse them. They all look in good shape anyway.

[jaros44sr]

Welcome to the life of restorations

I've used Eastwood on my manifolds for years, but for some reason they are not holding up as well as in the past

[jaros44sr]

Sorry my battery ran low

16490838956488276721755969835546 by [url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/97391199@N06

Oh BTW, check your drive shaft splines, thought mine were good, until the mechanic at the transmission shop brought it to my attention, took it to a drive shaft shop and they replaced the splines

Nice progress!

[richard2717]

Originally Posted by jaros44sr

Oh BTW, check your drive shaft splines, thought mine were good, until the mechanic at the transmission shop brought it to my attention, took it to a drive shaft shop and they replaced the splines

Nice progress!

Thanks Jim.

The machine shop was supposed to go thru everything on them and fix anything that was bad so hopefully they did.