Junkyard Jimmy Super Low Buck Build Thread

[hgs_notes]

I really haven't worked on it much. Everytime I go over there, I end up driving it around the farm.

Anyway, I've changed the oil. Fixed the console lid (it was loose), and installed a custom steering wheel cover. Check it out.



That damn steering wheel was busted up pretty bad and sliced my fingers a couple times. Finding a cover is kinda tuff and a new wheel couldn't be found yet at the junkyards. I was looking for my duct tape when I came across some of my sons hockey tape. Perfect!

I also installed some BLING. Check out those unmatched mostly shiny trim rings. I do have wheel centers also, just need to dig them out of the garage. I'm thinking about painting the wheels black. Any opinions?



And of course, the budget. Spent $20 on the rings and $5 on an exhaust pipe coupling, yet to be installed. Total now up to $413. And I also found a spare ralley wheel for zero dollars. Just needs a tire.

[hgs_notes]

My plans for this truck over the next few months are simple. The motor will not develop any oil pressure, so I need to address that. The short block I have in the garage is going back together and will be swapped into the Jimmy. My son and I put the crank in the block today. I have to get some fresh parts washer fluid to clean up the pistons and rods before they go in. I also need to get a rear main seal (wasn't included in my cheap kit), get an oil pump, dip stick, lifters, and maybe a vibration dampener. I am going to use the old headers from my pick up if they'll fit the 4x4 chassis.

After that, I'm going through the brakes and get them up to par. And that is it for the time being.

I got my stick welder working this winter and plan on building an engine hoist for my 1st project. I am concentrating on my C-10 restoration for auto projects. I've convinced the wife to let me add onto the garage. Not to the size I want, but to what she will accept, so I have a lot of work to do there. I also have to get some kitchen cabinets refinished, get a couple walls sheetrocked and replace the kitchen window and maybe put in a new hardwood floor. Maybe with all of that I can negotiate another 60 sqft of garage space. Wish me luck.

[VA72C10]

Cool build thread...will be watching as you chip away at this thing :GMC:

[hgs_notes]

I got my shipment of new engine parts today. Oil pump, oil pump drive shaft, oil pick up screen, front cover and bolts, etc., oil dipstick, new timing chain set. I also got the whole cam and lifter kit from summit. I kind of planned on reusing the cam, but I needed lifters. Once I saw the prices it was only another $40 to get a cam with them.

I got the rings, rod and main bearings and a gasket set from a ebay store for like $80 shipped, the summit parts were another $159 shipped. Got the rear main seal for $10 at napa. I paid $75 for the short block off ebay about 2 years ago. I spent some money getting the block tanked, honed, new cam bearings and freeze plugs and painted, and the crank journals polished. I don't remember what that cost me, but I think it was about $120. So my short block with rebuild will cost around $444.

Cripes, that more than doubled my investment. All the top end stuff will be transferred from the other engine. I need to get another vibration damper too, but they are cheap. I might be able to get one for free. I got the pistons and rods all cleaned up last night. I need to check the ring end gap and then start putting those in. I might have time tommorow, otherwise it will wait til the weekend. It may be a while before the swap happens, but we'll see.

I will be using the short block from the Jimmy for a more solid rebuild for my C-10. It's a 4 bolt main block. I would like to build a stroker, but might just settle for a robust 350. I have a 283 in it now I built back in high school. That will smoke the tires just fine, I just want more grunt, with maybe a shot of NOS for a trip down the 1/8 mile. That engine will be $200 coming off my total, since the engine will be used elsewhere or maybe sold. To be fair I need to keep the cost of the heads on this project though. They typically will go for $65 around here, so the total is at $722 and I'll sell the exhaust manifolds later. There are so many things to fix, I can't let myself think about it. I just need to focus on the task at hand.

[hgs_notes]

I had an off day today so I went out to start the beast. It's been sitting out side all winter and turned right over. I just had to put some gas in it and away she went. What's kind of sad is that this engine has no oil pressure, low compression but runs great. It started and ran better than my C-10, which gets 10 times the attention. I added some water and tranny fluid, put some air in a couple tires and sprayed some lube into a couple hinges and the shifter and beat around the friends farm for a while. Almost forgot, I also got a little poison to help fight the critter invasion. Little buggers started eating my original manual.

Then I came home and got started putting rings on the pistons. I picked up a vibration damper at the local yard for $20 and got a line a posi rear axle for the blazer project. He has a 87 blazer 4x4 with a posi, and other trucks that are 2wd. I'm going to see if the axles are a direct swap so I don't have to redrill the rotors to 5 lug. $150 for that. I might see if he will trade me for that ford engine I have.

[hgs_notes]

It's been a good day. Cool outside, but I kicked the heater on for a while and got the garage comfortable. I got the short block assembly pretty much together. I had one problem on re-assembly. One of the main bearing bolts wouldn't reach the torque number, the bolt was stretching. I found one at the junkyard for a $1.

I need to figure out a fix for the nose of the crankshaft because a piece is broke out where the keyway is for the dampener. I'll add a picture later. I think I'll put a key in it, then make a small piece of metal to fill in the broke area. When the dampener is on, it will lock it all together tight. Or I could grind out and file the broke are so it is square and os some key stock to fill it in. Hmmm, I like that better.

I should have bought the new oil pan from summit while I was buying stuff anyway. I just figured on using the old one, but summit has brand new chevy orange powdercoated pans for like $21. Maybe on my next order. That way I can button up the bottom end completely. The swap of the engines will probably be later in the month.

[hgs_notes]

Heres a pic of my nicked crack shaft. And one of my 21st anniversary present. $200 at Northern Tool and included a load leveler. I couldn't build one for that price.

[lks dcvn]

I bought my lift last summer - I have used it for more stuff than I can remember since I got it.

Nice buy! Congrats!

[onlyifihadachevy]

How come people find great deals on k5s, i can ownly find them on trucks. It makes me mad, but nice jimmy.

[hgs_notes]

Crankshaft repair, JB Weld, already had some, no cost. Seems to work ok. I'm not too worried about it. The threads in the crank for the balancer bolt were kind of stripped, so I drilled it out and tapped it for the next larger size, 1/2"-20 and bought a new bolt, $1.34. I had to order some stuff for my C-10 so I got the new oil pan for $21. I also found my receipt for the block prep and I was off by about $40. So now the cost of the rebuild went up, we'll call it $62 for a total spent of $784. I think this engine is going to kick some...dirt.

[71swb4x4]

I see a spot of oil on the floor, better get that cleaned up!!

My floor is covered with "oil camo". There are spots all over, so you never notice a new one.

[hgs_notes]

Originally Posted by 71swb4x4

I see a spot of oil on the floor, better get that cleaned up!!

My floor is covered with "oil camo". There are spots all over, so you never notice a new one.

That's nothing, you should see where my truck is normally parked. The tranny had some leaks over the years and the front of the oilpan/timing chain cover always leaked.

I thought again today that I should get some of that fancy garage floor paint, then I realize that I am always dragging things across the floor and would just scrape it off anyway. Maybe I should just liberally spray the floor with used motor oil to even it up. I've got almost 5 gallons in a pail right now.

Isn't that shortblock a thing of beauty though?

[lks dcvn]

Looks great to me - nice to see it coming back together...

I can't wait to get started here - now that the cold and rain has stopped for a bit -

[hgs_notes]

Just a couple notes here. I was visiting my sister sunday and her husband has a bunch of junker trucks out on his property, mostly abandoned mudders. One of those was his dads mid 70's blazer and he's going to scrap it. The console was in good shape so I pulled it. Don't need it for this jimmy, but it will come in handy for the other blazer project and it was free. No cracks, just rubbed off paint and some rust on the shiny insert part. Anyone no if there is any difference between this and the original 72 style?


I also went to the local junkyard today and found a gas tank from a 75 blazer to use in my C-10. That blazer also had a roll bar, so I took some measurements and it looks like it should fit OK in the jimmy. I plan on adding some supports to go from this bar to the windshield frame or to another bar bent to fit the front door frame and windshield frame. Not a true rollbar, but it will look good and add some support to the windshield so the top can come off before the rocker boxes and floor get repaired. I should get it in the next few days and will post pics then. There was at least one other console out there to if anyone is interested.

[badpeanut]

Originally Posted by hgs_notes

Anyone no if there is any difference between this and the original 72 style?

The consoles are the same (other than a yellow bowtie instead of blue bowtie, and some of the later ones had a slightly improved hinge which went farther into the console and had more fasteners).

Originally Posted by hgs_notes

I also went to the local junkyard today and found a gas tank from a 75 blazer to use in my C-10. That blazer also had a roll bar, so I took some measurements and it looks like it should fit OK in the jimmy. I plan on adding some supports to go from this bar to the windshield frame or to another bar bent to fit the front door frame and windshield frame. Not a true rollbar, but it will look good and add some support to the windshield so the top can come off before the rocker boxes and floor get repaired. I should get it in the next few days and will post pics then.

I think the '73-'75 Blazer rollbars will fit our Blazers. I have a couple of pictures I can send you if you are interested.

[hgs_notes]

Thanks for the info badpeanut. I know the bar will fit, the newer blazer is a little shorter than the 1st gen, in hieght, width is the same. Distance from front floor edge to wheel well is shorter on the 75 also. I'll have plenty of room.

[hgs_notes]

Here it is for $50. Needs a little cleaning on the bottom ends and some black paint. Total spent is up to $834.

[hgs_notes]

I went out to the farm today and started it up and drove it out of the weeds. Still want to do the motor and brakes before winter. My oldest just got her driver license yesterday. She waited quite a while because she didn't have much interest in driving. Now that she has the license however, I need to find her something to drive, and well, the Jimmy came up as an option. I took her out today to give it another look, and she said it looks better than she remembers it. I'm not pushing it on her though, because it does need a lot of work yet and the gas mileage would be bad. I'll let her decide over the weekend. If it's a go, then I'll be back to work on it, if not, back burner again.

[hgs_notes]

I bought an oil pressure test gage to use a while back, knowing that I was going to try it on this engine before I did the swap. You know, why fix it if it aint broke. I never really trusted the one in the cluster. VTBlazer suggested this a long time ago and I finally got around to it. Anyway, turns out I got 45 psi at idle.

So there had to be enough pressure during the first start up to at least keep the bearings from being wiped.

This makes a big difference in the cost of the project. Total layout rests at $528 because I'll stick with this engine. It starts as good as my wifes denali as long as you pump the hell out of it first.

I tried figuring out some of the electrical today. I want to get the flashers working so when I'm cruising down the shoulder of the highway to get it to my driveway, I'm more or less legal. It's about 1 mile from town, 1.5 from my house. The only wiring stuff I did prior to today was just to get the engine running. I hooked up a few more plugs to the harness, replaced some fuses, found a couple things to replace, but got no closer really to having any of the lights working. I've got broken ground wires, broken bulbs, corroded terminals, wires that don't match the published diagrams, etc.

Now that I don't have to swap shortblocks, I just want to get it home to put in the exhaust, replace the brakes, and sort through some wiring. Oh yeah, and use my pressure washer on the beast to brighten it up just a bit. I ordered a set of headers for my C-10, but they won't fit a 2wd, so I will use them on this. They are very nice Hooker Competition headers, ceramic coated for $125 shipped. The rest of the exhaust is the stuff I took off my C-10 because it's all getting replaced. So now the total will creep up to $653.

I think I'll bring it home this week. It's just easier to work on by the garage, rather than in the weeds. I am not looking forward to this brake job. I really don't think it will go well at all.

[VA72C10]

This has been an interesting thread to follow. thanks for the updates. Best wishes with the brakes.....

I must have missed it but are you using the original tub or the donor you got?

[hgs_notes]

Originally Posted by VA72C10

This has been an interesting thread to follow. thanks for the updates. Best wishes with the brakes.....

I must have missed it but are you using the original tub or the donor you got?

"Interesting"? Just goes to show how far I'll go to save a buck, though I did "splurge" on a few items, like the headers, beauty rings and a roll bar. Once I figure out one problem, another comes along. Once I decide to do something one way, another option reveals itself, or I just change my mind. I don't even have the Jimmy that started all this. It was parted out and put to use for Junkyard Jimmy Part II.

I'm using the original tub. The rust free one I bought is now sitting on a 2wd blazer frame. That's another build thread, but nothing being done on that until my truck is painted and back on the road. Cripes I need some money...

[Tynee]

Originally Posted by hgs_notes

Cripes I need some money...

And the Amen Pew said, "PREACH ON< BROTHER!!!!" I just replaced tile in the bathroom and replaced a bunch of baseboards in my house this weekend only to find out that the water got farther than I thought (as usual), and the flooring the bath and the kitchen both gotta be replaced.

What did #1 Daughter decide on the Jimmy as a first car daily driver plan?

[hgs_notes]

Originally Posted by Tynee

What did #1 Daughter decide on the Jimmy as a first car daily driver plan?

I knind of told her to go a different way. This thing is just a bit rough for me to put my first born in right now. There's no guarantee that the brakes will be an easy fix, and if the major parts all have to be replaced, well then they will have to wait. We got hockey sign ups this weekend and that will kill the discretionary spending for a bit.

The things we do for our kids. Yikes!

[hgs_notes]

I brought it home today. I used a trailer because the lights wouldn't work and I didn't want a hassle from the local cops. I drove it on and off the trailer though. Anyway, I got started figuring out the electrical situation. It's kinda bad, but fixable. I got the headlights to work, except one high beam, which is probably a bad bulb. Did you know that not having a dimmer switch hooked up prevents the headlights from working? Good thing I had a spare hanging around the garage. I have power to both front parking lights, but bad bulbs. I have power to the rear tail light harness, but that is probably the worst part of all. The tail light assemblies are corroded beyond use. The tail light harness is a bit messed up in a couple spots. All the ground wires are corroded off. I'll have to swing by the junkyard in the morning, because I didn't keep any spares of those tail lights around. Maybe I'll get lucky and find a good harness too. I got power to the dome lights, but there is a ground problem on the wires running through the top wall. I unplugged it to keep it from draining the battery. I had to patch the harness from the fuse block to the top, that's when I found the other problem.

So all in all, I think I have it diagnosed and know what needs to be done to get the lights working properly.

I love my pressure washer. It cleaned the top off beautifully. It's actually white again. I didn't have the camera today for a good comparison shot, but it was unbelievable. I'll post some after pics later. Got a bit of a rain storm coming through at the moment.

I found some rusted out rear body mounts. I'm not even sure yet how I'm going to fix this. I'll post pics of that also, and hopefully someone will chime in with a suggestion.

More later.

[hgs_notes]

Pictures, as promised:

The top, nice and white



Found a new crack


Rusty mounts