70 Blazer Frame Off

[IronCanine]

Originally Posted by Tom Vogel

I have a 2wd. I put in a 6pt cage. Does it looks good? No.
However, having broken my neck in a roll over 20 years ago, I learned my lesson. Cool does NOT outweigh paralysis.

Hey...I hear ya. There is no point to argue here. You are right. I view it as any convertible of this vintage...though candidly with a higher center of gravity...and though anything can happen, this truck will never be off road...and probably not on highway either. She'll make a 4 mile round trip from home to work and probably not break 50 mph...but by doing a basically factory resto I'm also in serious trouble with a side, rear and front impact. It's a flexy body, no head rests, thin body, no reinforcement, no top, and all hard interior surfaces. It's an old truck designed in the sixties. It is definitely safer with a roll bar.

[IronCanine]

Super rainy here today...just some piddling progress and tying up loose ends. After Mike's(72K5CSTDarkOlive) issue with the Wilwood dual piston calipers hitting his rim, I got cold feet and sent mine back. Went back with stock single pistons and got them installed today after Eric hit them with a coat of high temp clear.

[IronCanine]

Seemed to run out of end play on the driver's side axle and couldn't quite get the outer snap ring into the axle groove (as pictured) when originally putting things back together. I had left it and moved on to other things until today. Made a makeshift puller with some angle iron and an end bolt on the axle...just about a turn and a half and the snap ring popped right into place.

[IronCanine]

Also addressed another lingering pain. Toe in was easily persuaded with a pipe wrench...I had to concede the scratches to and repaint of the connecting rod. Once through the binding threads it was easily adjustable by hand. After repaint and re-install of the rod, we lightly installed the steering stabilizer. Gonna paint the u-bolts/hardware black after front end alignment.

[IronCanine]

Shims replaced, body bolts torqued and reinforcement bars removed. Clean bits saran wrapped and back to metal prep. Panel and door re-fitment, holes for AC and trim forthcoming.

[72K5CSTDarkOlive]

Originally Posted by IronCanine

Super rainy here today...just some piddling progress and tying up loose ends. After Mike's(72K5CSTDarkOlive) issue with the Wilwood dual piston calipers hitting his rim, I got cold feet and sent mine back. Went back with stock single pistons and got them installed today after Eric hit them with a coat of high temp clear.

Damn.. You work fast! I'm still messing with the Wilwood Calipers.. I found a wheel spacer 1/4" that will give me the clearance, but now I need to find wheel studs that are 1/4" longer to compensate for the spacer...actually that's me banging my head against the wall... I'm determined to find a solution to make these Willwood calipers work. I let you know what I come up with

[72K5CSTDarkOlive]

forgot to mention... Awesome work and attention to detail!

What powder coating did you go with? is that 40% or 60% gloss black?

I'm taking my frame and front axle in this week along with some other parts to get powder coated

[IronCanine]

Originally Posted by 72K5CSTDarkOlive

Damn.. You work fast! I'm still messing with the Wilwood Calipers.. I found a wheel spacer 1/4" that will give me the clearance, but now I need to find wheel studs that are 1/4" longer to compensate for the spacer...actually that's me banging my head against the wall... I'm determined to find a solution to make these Willwood calipers work. I let you know what I come up with

I'm glad you think so...there's enough waiting involved to make it seem like it's going slow...waiting for powder coat, waiting for transmission guy, waiting for chrome, waiting for interior, waiting for O'reillys, AutoZone, or Advance to hire anyone who knows anything about anything ever.

But I have been missing your posts. I have enjoyed working on mine the same time as you. As they say misery loves company.

...one more note on the D52s (good for you for making it work BTW), mine seemed to clear when I dry fit them unloaded (after your post). I was just so scared I was going to scratch them, that I chickened out and boxed em back up and sent them back. Those bad boys aren't cheap.

Originally Posted by 72K5CSTDarkOlive

forgot to mention... Awesome work and attention to detail!

What powder coating did you go with? is that 40% or 60% gloss black?

I'm taking my frame and front axle in this week along with some other parts to get powder coated

Thanks Mike....I didn't specify finish on the black and they didn't ask. Basically semi-gloss was the extent of our conversation on it. He had a bunch of other black stuff out for a Chevelle or something when I was there that looked good, and I was basically like "that'll work." I was too concerned that he was going to lose all my bits or get the colors wrong. I asked him for five different colors. We didn't lose anything, but came close...and one thing did get shot wrong. All of my black stuff is the same finish. My air cleaner, core support, frame, radiator hose, brackets, spare tire carrier, you name it...it's the same "semi-gloss". I don't know if it's 60% or what though.

[CTENTA1]

This is got to be one of the cleanest K5 stock looking restoration I have seen, Big prop's to you. Cant wait to see it all finished.

[IronCanine]

Originally Posted by CTENTA1

This is got to be one of the cleanest K5 stock looking restoration I have seen, Big prop's to you. Cant wait to see it all finished.

Thank you very much. It's been fun. I've had a lot of help. I can't wait to see it finished too.

[IronCanine]

Bought two sets of repro hinges, before caving and rebuilding originals. Dash stripped..ready for A/C holes.

[IronCanine]

I can't say thank you enough to member ChipFlyer(Jeff) for his help, advice, and indulgence on the SPID. He spent a lot of time listening to me rationalize and argue both sides of how "wrong" I was going to be...how much was too much and ridiculous and how much was too little and pointless. In the end he very politely got us to what I think is the best 1970 SPID representation of what we've built...and definitely the most St.Louis-y.

Thanks again Jeff.

[DeadheadNM]

Nice!! And when we nail down the birthdate he can do the door VIN decal!

[IronCanine]

Originally Posted by DeadheadNM

Nice!! And when we nail down the birthdate he can do the door VIN decal!

Well we definitely need more info. I made an executive decision and got one going, just in case the threads have petered out. I guess they're probably due for a TTT...I figured if I got a smoking gun...and I'd guessed wrong, I just get Jeff to make me another. Same thing I plan to do if I run up on a skid plate or tow hooks that I just cannot resist.

...who am I kidding, I'm not touching that frame except with a diaper

[IronCanine]

Doors back on with the rebuilt OEM hinges. Everything going back on rock solid and square, with minimal fuss. Remarkably so...hope the trend continues with the top. Makes me think those GM engineers knew what they were doing after all ....It's really sobering looking at these pictures and seeing how little red is actually left on this tub. Firewall, windshield frame, dash, "parts" of the floor board, 30% or so of the rear deck, and the inner half of the passenger door are all that's left of the original St. Louis sheet metal.

[chipflyer]

Just a beautiful job Brad, very nice work.

Guys I finally posted a request for door label pics on the main board, been meaning to do it for a long time and just never got to it. Hopefully we can collect enough pics of real labels with dates to make future requests about build dates a little easier.
If you have any post them!

Jeff

[IronCanine]

Originally Posted by chipflyer

Just a beautiful job Brad, very nice work.

Guys I finally posted a request for door label pics on the main board, been meaning to do it for a long time and just never got to it. Hopefully we can collect enough pics of real labels with dates to make future requests about build dates a little easier.
If you have any post them!

Jeff

Thanks for the kind words Jeff and all your help. The build label pic thread is a great idea. I hope it's as quickly populated as the SPID threads.

[IronCanine]

Top back on once more for the penultimate fitment...ideally it should only come off and go back on one more time...which is good, because it gets lighter every time It didn't monkey up the gaps too much at all really....though there's definitely some fine tuning to be done and hood to get on. The driver's side window gap is still the thing that's gonna need significant massaging. For as much metal work as has been done, I still think the discrepancy is in the top. It's a little asymmetric or wonky.

...not too satisfied with the two paper patterns I pulled from the salvage yard to make our AC dash cuts...I went back and got some metal ones.

Edit: Don't cry too much for the dash cuts. That cab had been in a fire...then basically outside in GA for most of it's life...so that was kind of all she had left to offer.

[OLDYELLOW]

Getting closer!

[IronCanine]

Originally Posted by OLDYELLOW

Getting closer!

Yep. The light is looking more like the end of a tunnel and less like a train.

[IronCanine]

Mocking up all the trim and emblems. Still gotta drill the "350" badge holes since the fenders came off of a 72....in fact the list of holes left to drill is remarkably long.

[jaros44sr]

Very nice build, glad it s coming along so quickly

I could use some help on the warn locking hubs, i can t locate a spanner/hub tool to remove the inner threaded collar. Warn sent me to a dealer which told me to buy a Lisle #27250, after calling their tech line, he said a #27400 should work, brought the tool home last night and it is nowhere near close to work

Any help in this matter would be great, as i m at a standstill on my hub

https://www.flickr.com/photos/97391199@N06/15617985463/

[IronCanine]

Originally Posted by jaros44sr

Very nice build, glad it s coming along so quickly

I could use some help on the warn locking hubs, i can t locate a spanner/hub tool to remove the inner threaded collar. Warn sent me to a dealer which told me to buy a Lisle #27250, after calling their tech line, he said a #27400 should work, brought the tool home last night and it is nowhere near close to work

Any help in this matter would be great, as i m at a standstill on my hub

https://www.flickr.com/photos/97391199@N06/15617985463/

OK Jim,

I looked at your picture...and I hope I'm on the same page with you. What I see is the retaining washer, which you should be able to just pick off. Two spindle or lock nuts should be on either side of that. One of those nuts should have a small dowel that engages the holes in the retaining washer. The Lisle part numbers you have look like 4WD spindle nut sockets...you definitely need one of those to break these down (and what I would assume you had to use to take the first lock nut off if it was assembled in the correct order). I got my socket off the rack for $20 from AutoZone (OEM brand, part #25072A), but everybody's got them I think. That socket engages the lock nuts, not that retaining washer.

Here's a good hub breakdown link...it's a Jeep Dana 44...but the sequence is the same:

http://www.pavementsucks.com/tech-article-14.html

If you're talking about the locking hub assembly themselves...I didn't have to do any breakdown there...I slid the old Warns out and the new Warns in.

I hope this helps.

[1972 Jimmy]

Great looking resto!! You done a fine job put this truck. Wondering how you placed the emblems and moldings on the new sheet metal. Did you make templates from the original panels??
Eric

[IronCanine]

Originally Posted by 1972 Jimmy

Great looking resto!! You done a fine job put this truck. Wondering how you placed the emblems and moldings on the new sheet metal. Did you make templates from the original panels??
Eric

Thanks Eric.

Popped a line for the lower belt molding. Brothers' actually has a helpful video on YouTube for this. I got the fenders off a truck and the holes for the truck badging match up with the holes for the K/5 Blazer emblem. The 4 Wheel Drive badge matches up with the later engine badge location. We will have to drill holes for the engine badge under the K/5 emblem, but will pull that template off the old fenders. It's been raining here all week and they were just outside and wet.

The Assembly Manual shows where to put the CST door badge, but I just pulled a pattern off a truck at the salvage yard.