Seattle 72/70 Blazer CST Soft Top

[72DFORESTR]

Hey,

I recently acquired a 72 chevy blazer with a 1970 front clip and a soft top. While most of the yuppies in this city (Seattle) are buying subarus, I present to you, the DEFORESTER.

Waiting for the ferry-ride home


Maiden Voyage


The good:

• It's apparently got a slightly built 350 crate engine with edelbrock intake, 4 barrel carb. Receipt for crate engine shows 10,000 miles on the engine. No receipts for supposed cam and head work so not sure what's happening on the inside. She starts quick, purrs, hauls ass and has a ton of power throughout the RPM range. Definitely much faster than other sbc 350 blazers I test drove, better power throughout the RPM range.
• TH350C Transmission rebuild has about 7,000 miles on it based on receipts, has a mild shift kit -- feels really tight.
• NP205 transfer case -- rebuilt with the transmission.
• Not sure about the differentials, I'll post some pics up when I make a build thread. P.O. Claims it was geared but couldn't tell me what the gearing was so we'll take all that with a grain of salt. Supposedly rebuilt/replaced shortly after the transmission & transfer case work -- I've got some ambiguous receipts about a posi-rear end and some rebuilt labor.
• 4" lift, 35x12.5"x15" Goodyear mudders with a season left on them. Rear is definitely of better quality than the front, however.
• came with Tuffy security console -- love this thing.
• frame, bed, firewall, all body panels (save lower passenger door) appear to be in good shape.

The bad:

• Rust spots on passenger door -- sanded and primed but not pretty.
• rust on the kick panels and inner kick/panel -- will need attention soon.
• Noticed minor gas leak on smaller gas-line when I top it off -- 1 3/8 tube appears to be disintegrating. Only leaks when I top off but this is a top priority because....
• Electrical is a terrifying rats nest. Everything in front of the firewall is terrifying, spliced, and incorrect wire colors.. If I double-tap the starter I blow a break-light fuse and all my electrical gauges start reading double voltage.
• PO redid the under-dash harness but did not rewire everything, just the stuff under the dash.
• High-beams don't work -- cleaned up the connections at the switch, harness, and headlight adapters -- the problem appears to be somewhere in the taped up wires.
• Original tilt steering column is loose, shifter is loose, and the while the girl will always go right where you point her, she tends to meander a bit on the way -- makes for a less-than-relaxed ride on those 55 MPH two-lane highways through the woods that we have so many of out here. Definitely need to replace the steering column and see what difference that makes before looking into the other steering-related issues.

Goals

• A Mechanically sound/safer vehicle to enjoy the Pacific Northwest's many State and National forests.
• Capable of self - recovery from things like accidental mud or deepther than expected snow
• Capable of assiting others who are in need
• A daily-driver quality build -- not too pretty to enjoy -- needs to drive to and from trails
• Part of my life and family for years to come -- I need to tackle known (and unknown) rust issues sooner rather than later

What I've Done

• Change the Oil
• Change Thermostat to run a bit warmer in the winter
• patch up some low hanging wiring problems -- back up lights, improved the grounds on the headlights, tail lights, running lights.
• Tracked down a full-size spare
• bought some 4 ton bottle jacks, some wood blocks that I can bolt the bottle jacks too, 24" 6-ton jack stands, a 60" hi-lift to suffice till I get a winch, heavy duty-chain and recovery straps,
• a cheap set of tools to live in the tuffy security console.

Current Todos
I need a few sets of chains -- Plans are to have one set for the rare snow-day in the city so I can bail out my friends and get around on the occasional snow day we enjoy in the grey, wet Pacific Northwest. I'm also looking for a more aggressive set of Chains for Snow/Mud/Ice duty when I am up in the mountains -- Most of the nearby forest service roads I like to explore are at least a few thousand feet up -- I need to be prepared for that.

I'm looking to buy the American Autowire complete wiring harness kit and redo the entire wiring the next time I have a free weekend. If you are a vendor, get me a quote to ship to Seattle.

I've got a fabricator making me a front-receiver hitch mounted through the bumper and we intend to add few recovery points before I invest in receiver mount and winch.

I'm in the market for a hard top -- once I track one down I'm going to have a roll cage that will work with both hard or soft top and actually provide some safety to the riders.

Anyways, lots of work to do. You all have already been more helpful than you could possibly know.

I'll post this in a build new thread as I get started on the work so I can follow up there.

Seattle/Western-Washington folks, I'm still a mechanical noob, but I'm an engineer by trade, and always willing to lend a hand when I can.

Please feel free to reach out and introduce yourself or suggest other people from my area to follow on the board.

Best,

DEFORSTR

[1ATony]

I love those old trucks, welcome to the site

Tony @ 1A Auto