70 Blazer Frame Off

[IronCanine]

Got back to plumbing. The rest of the InLine Tube stuff seems workable so far.

[IronCanine]

The rear is still unresolved. This is what it looks like with the line stretcher utilized. Not gonna leave it like this, we'll bend our own first. InLine Tube's customer service and attitude has been poor for me. The initial phone call before I ordered was so disheartening that I just called Wes at Classic Heartbeat and ordered them through him. God bless him, it's worth it for me to let him deal with them. For some reason even though I still don't have back lines that fit (and aren't close yet actually), it's a lot easier mentally to call Wes and hear what a PITA dealing with InLine Tube is than dealing with them myself...Thanks Wes.

[72K5CSTDarkOlive]

Originally Posted by IronCanine

The rear is still unresolved. This is what it looks like with the line stretcher utilized. Not gonna leave it like this, we'll bend our own first. InLine Tube's customer service and attitude has been poor for me. The initial phone call before I ordered was so disheartening that I just called Wes at Classic Heartbeat and ordered them through him. God bless him, it's worth it for me to let him deal with them. For some reason even though I still don't have back lines that fit (and aren't close yet actually), it's a lot easier mentally to call Wes and hear what a PITA dealing with InLine Tube is than dealing with them myself...Thanks Wes.

I had the same issue with the rear not fitting correctly.. I had to make some adjustments to get them to fit.

[Rack Man]

Originally Posted by IronCanine

...all together now: "AAAARGH!"

I knew this pic looked familiar....I had so many issues with Inline Tube...worst customer service ever!!!!
From my build thread:


Yours:

[IronCanine]

Yep Dan...your build was one of my first subscriptions and I still reference it often. I knew your pic well before I took my own. Yours and many other documented experiences on here had made me leery about getting to the plumbing stage. Unfortunately, ILT resoundingly confirmed my fears...but hey we press on. The great part about this board is that if you spend a little time looking you can avoid a lot of problems. This one sucks because I saw it coming and still could not avoid it.

Originally Posted by Rack Man

I knew this pic looked familiar....I had so many issues with Inline Tube...worst customer service ever!!!!
From my build thread:


Yours:

[Rack Man]

LOL...I know, we all hope that it won't happen to us...but that place seems to piss a lot of people off...

For my solution I had to send detailed pics to them and they custom made them for me...that was after 3 attempts of course...Good luck Man!

[IronCanine]

Originally Posted by Rack Man

LOL...I know, we all hope that it won't happen to us...but that place seems to piss a lot of people off...

For my solution I had to send detailed pics to them and they custom made them for me...that was after 3 attempts of course...Good luck Man!

Thanks...I'll take it.

[IronCanine]

A little color on the firewall...can't wait to write on this.

[DeadheadNM]

Nice! Is that a tach harness firewall grommet hole I see?

[IronCanine]

Originally Posted by DeadheadNM

Nice! Is that a tach harness firewall grommet hole I see?

It is now.

[IronCanine]

...

[OLDYELLOW]

Originally Posted by IronCanine

...

That sticker is sharp. Where did you get and how much?

[IronCanine]

Originally Posted by OLDYELLOW

That sticker is sharp. Where did you get and how much?

Had it reproduced utilizing some persistent (read: patient) local graphic art talent using mostly a lot of original pics that member Steve Hafner had collected...and you don't won't to know the second part.

[DeadheadNM]

Strong work on the decal!!

[IronCanine]

Originally Posted by DeadheadNM

Strong work on the decal!!

Thanks Pete...was gonna wait til the build's end to post a pic of it, but I just couldn't wait.

[IronCanine]

Got the motor, transmission and transfer case in today. SMI did a great job on the carb resto. Old neck on the new tank. Made a new square U-bolt so we could refurb and re-use original tank straps. It sure is fun to be putting things together.

[IronCanine]

Don't like the finish on the transmission...of course was gonna leave it raw, didn't come back completely clean from the rebuild. Hopefully some more clean up will do the trick. A lot of thought and discussion on the transfer case color. Looked at everybody's take on here. I ran across a very original 72 with a clean original TC. It looked red oxide. I generally like the look of the Chrysler red and didn't like the flat red oxide when we first sprayed it. The gloss clear on top did the trick for me though.

[IronCanine]

couple more

[DeadheadNM]

Turned the corner - all downhill from here! Great job - glad the SMI build turned out good

[72K5CSTDarkOlive]

Originally Posted by IronCanine

Got the motor, transmission and transfer case in today. SMI did a great job on the carb resto. Old neck on the new tank. Made a new square U-bolt so we could refurb and re-use original tank straps. It sure is fun to be putting things together.

Where did you get the gas tank?

[72K5CSTDarkOlive]

Originally Posted by IronCanine

Yep Dan...your build was one of my first subscriptions and I still reference it often. I knew your pic well before I took my own. Yours and many other documented experiences on here had made me leery about getting to the plumbing stage. Unfortunately, ILT resoundingly confirmed my fears...but hey we press on. The great part about this board is that if you spend a little time looking you can avoid a lot of problems. This one sucks because I saw it coming and still could not avoid it.

Check out mine here. Maybe in 72 they changed the location of the connector. I have a bracket that is bolted to the differential cover.

[IronCanine]

Originally Posted by DeadheadNM

Turned the corner - all downhill from here! Great job - glad the SMI build turned out good

I hope so. The same amount of effort at this point of the build seems to yield a much greater reward than at the beginning...kind of like infants vs. toddlers. Sean was great. He is very available and the carb looks fantastic. It's cool that he's the guy who always answers the phone...on the first ring.

Originally Posted by 72K5CSTDarkOlive

Where did you get the gas tank?

It's an aftermarket tank...most of the vendors on here have them. I got mine as an unused second hand item from board member 1Rippen. I had a local radiator shop swap for the correct neck and seal it. They put a coat of "galvanized" paint on the outside that didn't look too hot, so Eric just sanded it down and painted it silver.

Originally Posted by 72K5CSTDarkOlive

Check out mine here. Maybe in 72 they changed the location of the connector. I have a bracket that is bolted to the differential cover.

It is different. My bracket is on the driver's side and a little different. Apparently no one has the correct rear lines for this application...as evidenced by previous threads and posts in this thread. InLine is done with me as of this week unless I've got something to send them to copy. I don't...yet. May start hunting a good original set...not sure what I'm going to do at this moment.

[1rippen6]

subscribed

[IronCanine]

How about some random "waiting for Santa Claus" pics. A pic of the refurbed gas tank straps and a couple more of the motor with a few new bits on.

[IronCanine]

...and a few random transfer case pics for good measure. "Pain of the Week" goes to the valve cover grommets. Ordered a couple from Truck Shop that were non-starters (non-finishers is probably a more appropriate term). The breather side was the worst. Don't you guys love extended periods of wasted effort? Believe it or not...bought two off the Help! rack at AutoZone today that popped right in (and accepted with minimal fuss the breather and PCV). I guess since it's officially Christmas Day...now is the right time to pay AutoZone a compliment...not optimistic about the 26th and beyond.