Here is a "Not Your Typical" 4wd Blazer build

[sandking]

I bought this 1972 Blazer last summer to fulfill my "ultimate" vehicle needs. The catch was a limited budget (Do those words even work in the same sentence???). My goal for this is for the Blazer to be able to go in just about any terrain that I want it to. It will not be "the best" at anything, but at least I can do it all to a point. I like the dunes, hardpack desert and street. I come from high speed desert vehicles, trucks and buggies. This Blazer will also prerun and chase for a Class 1 truggy that a friend of mine is also building and hoping for a 2010 season of racing in the MDR series (local So Cal desert racing). Again, this will be a street friendly, all around vehicle. It will have a lower center of gravity then most of the 4x4 you typically see..............

I will be doing 95% of this work myself. The only things I need to send out to be done will be the transmission work, gearing in both axles and then the machining in the motor. Enough of the boring stuff, here are my plans.........

Full cage front to rear, top to bottom. All to be done in 1.75x.120 DOM tubing.

The front will be using the stock 44 axle (until it breaks), 14" coilovers, raduis arms, pan hard and x-over steering. It should pull about 15" of travel (not articulation).

The rear will also use the stock 12 bolt (until it breaks) and have a 4-link design with a cantileever shock set-up. I do not want the shocks to go through the bed, thats the reason for the canti design. I should be able to pull 20"-22" of travel easily with this setup.

The motor will be the original motor, but I will build it to about 400-420 hp. It will have a nice cam, aluminum heads, intake, upgraded valve train, headers, etc.

For the trans, I will be removing the 4-speed and the 205 it has now and replacing it with a th350 with the 205 xfer case. I will have the trans fitted with upgraded cltches and a manual/auto valve body. I want the auto for the luxury and the ability for my wife to drive occaisionally (sp?)

The interior will have PRP suspension seats. Buckets in the front and a 42" bench in the rear. I will have four 4-point harnesses also.

Tires are 35x12.50x15 BFG A/T with cheapie steel "Soft 8" wheels.

Here are some pics. I only have limited time and budget to do this, it will be a long build. These first pics are how it looked before I started............