1972 Blazer - 'Bullet' Project

[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.

[jaros44sr]

I will be the first to recommend you to the board for the 'Stick toit award' above and beyond the call of fun, under adverse conditions(cold), and still performing a job well done! You wouldn't catch me out there

I was kinda surprised with the cost of Maaco, my fender was already blasted, and to just epoxy prime, it was 100. Seems high to me, but I can't shoot paint in my workshop, so it did resolve a problem

Didn't know about the etching on the glass, I'll have to check that out

Wait till you try and hang your door without all the guts in it, so much easier

[lks dcvn]

Thanks for the nomination for the "BLAZER" [Busy Leading A Zealous Endeavor of Revival] Award...little at a time and then a few long hours on the weekend.

I get cabin fever in the winter so being outside and productive helps to pass the cold months quicker - at least for me that is. I will be looking forward to taking the top off when the body is done and then doing some cruising this Summer [might be getting ahead of myself though] - LOT of work to go.

I don't think any vehicle came with the VIN etched in the glass - one owner along the way did it on the Blue one though...

$100 to just spray it - hmmmm - maybe I will just wait until Spring to worry about the fender/door since they will be removed [and possibly replaced] anyway.

I will be replacing the windshield and the broken rear driver side hatch glass in the spring as well - so those won't have the VIN after that.

I want to get this done before April so I can get my other cars out of extended storage and back into my garage. It keeps me moving to stay within my 'time line'.

I hope the driver side doesn't take me months though - the pix offer a double-edged sword - I like the pix for reference, but they can slow down the progress a bit -

[lks dcvn]

Another day down...more progress.

I was out there last night and today for several hours...getting the floor patch in.

First pic was a few days ago when I tested the weatherstrip and the door closing - no issues - yes.

Today and last night I spent my time getting the floor pan patch fit in there...

I realize that the floor is pitted in places, but when I cleaned it up in the Fall and put on the rust preventative paint - it was pretty solid. Plus this will eventually have carpet or a rubber mat over it so it won't matter that much [at least not to me] - it is better than it was for sure.

I left the patch a little long and cupped it over with some to recreate the firewall seam. Once the rust paint dries I will add the seam sealer before I paint it.

There are plenty more pix coming in the next few minutes...

[lks dcvn]

more floor pix...got the whole floor coated now -

I left the front of the rear quarter to do in the Spring on both sides since I didn't have the B pillar patch yet - plus I want to be able to do the body work right after that so I can get it to paint...

and the last pic - yes it happened - moving on to the driver side!

[lks dcvn]

Here is what the driver side looks like before starting...not sure if this will be easier or not - seems that a lot of the rear floor is intact [until I really get in there and have a look].

I will be replacing more of the driver floor since it is pretty weak in spots...

[lks dcvn]

more pix

I threw in a shot of the passenger side done now - glad the major part is done...still need to do a few minor things over there - but not as much as the driver side now.

[lks dcvn]

last of the driver side before pix - as mentioned - plenty of work ahead.

Not sure how much I will be able to do tomorrow - need to get some stuff done around the house - and it is Valentine's Day - maybe we will hit brunch and then my gift to her will be the whole house to herself to do whatever she wants while I freeze my behind off in the garage.

plus I added a passenger side before and after shot - wow.

[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.

[lks dcvn]

here is the new issue - the middle portion of the torsion box is weak and is rusted out - the front half, the rear half and the portion that runs along the back under the floor is solid - should I patch this or would it be easier just to replace the whole thing [I do have the whole torsion box...]?

I didn't remove any metal really - just the front of the remnants of the rocker and the remaining portion of the inner rocker - the doors shut fine and this would have been weak for months and even when I drove the truck in/out to switch sides - the door opened and closed fine [with me in it and when I was out] - so I don't know what I should do at this point...

thoughts?

[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?

[vtblazer]

Originally Posted by lks dcvn

here is the new issue - the middle portion of the torsion box is weak and is rusted out - the front half, the rear half and the portion that runs along the back under the floor is solid - should I patch this or would it be easier just to replace the whole thing [I do have the whole torsion box...]?

Replacing the whole part as one piece will be far easier in the end, with better results too.
(good rule of thumb)

As long as the torsion 'rod' is still intact everything should stay in place.

Great watching you dig in and push forward.

[lks dcvn]

Thanks VT - the toughest part of the project so far was the time I spent wondering if I could pull this off - now it is moving along pretty steadily -

torsion rod is solid - just that middle portion of the torsion box is pretty much gone...

so replace torsion box last or first?

my thoughts - (but not sure if they are accurate):

Replace everything else [except the outer rocker] with the current torsion box in place and then swap out the torsion box and then do the outer rocker last - since the rest of the metal will hold everything in place...or am I wrong in that theory...I think Jaros did it this way...

How hard will that be to cut the torsion box out when I have the rest of the floor done?

As mentioned the doors open/close fine now with me in/out of the truck - so things are lined up now. I should test fit my driver side rocker and see how it lines up now before I start to see if I am out of whack at all.

[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.