73 k5 half cab?

[lowrodderchev]

hey guys i have a question for you. im looking to get a older blazer and my neighbor happens to have one. he swears up and down its a 1973 but it has the half cab. i was told that chevy didnt make half cab blazers till 1975. is this true or maybe my neighbor has the wrong paper work on the truck.

[BLE 'BURBAN]

73-75 were full convertibles while the 76-91's were back half convertibles only.

[68Timber]

Originally Posted by BLE 'BURBAN

73-75 were full convertibles while the 76-91's were back half convertibles only.

That's the way the factory made them, but guys have been swapping them around for years. Seems like most want to go from half-cab to full-vert, though. But if the truck is indeed a half-cab '73, someone put the half-cab on at some point.

[joaephdp]

Originally Posted by lowrodderchev

hey guys i have a question for you. im looking to get a older blazer and my neighbor happens to have one. he swears up and down its a 1973 but it has the half cab. i was told that chevy didnt make half cab blazers till 1975. is this true or maybe my neighbor has the wrong paper work on the truck.

Yes, it's true. I have a 1973 half cab Blazer Joaephdp

[lowrodderchev]

shoot maybe i'll buy it off of him after all. i like the half cabs but dont want to deal with smog on them thanx guys

[Berg]

Since you are in Cali I'd guess its either a re-body or more likely a tag job. When I was parting out my 75 I got more calls for the body plate with the title more than anything else! All the guys were from California. One of them told me its the only way he could get his 78 Blazer to not have to pass smog tests without having a cat or air injection or anything like that on it. If you really know the earlier trucks well and dig deep you could figure out what year the truck is as long as a lot of stuff hasn't been swapped out but you never know on something that old. A good check would be the fuse block. See if it came with a resistor wire on the engine side of the harness and see if it has been changed. If the truck now has an HEI distributor they couldn't feed it with less than 12 volts so they'd have to get the ignition hot source from somewhere else or open up the harness and bypass the wire. I'd say about 98% of people abandon the wire in-place and about 15% use the wire to trigger a Bosch-type relay getting its power from the battery or the junction block on the firewall. If it has the original gauge cluster it will have an Ammeter, not a voltmeter. It should also have glass fuses on the fuse block. GM didn't start going to the plastic style ATO fuses until somewhere around 1978. Another check is does it have a round filler hole for the fuel neck or does it have a square? That and don't forget the floor drop-off. 73-76 had the full rear floor right to the back of the front seats while the 77-91's had a step down for the rear seat so tall people would have foot room. 77-up also had the hinges on the rear seats that let them tilt forward and all earlier ones used bolts at all corners to hold them in if I remember correctly.

[Keith Seymore]

If you can find it you should be able to check the VIN on the frame as well.

Top of the frame rail, driver's side (I think) about midway back.

K

[Berg]

Another way is to check the axles if it is 4x4. 73 to early 76 used a smaller spindle on the front axle and had a Dana 44 with the flat top passenger side knuckle. Trucks built 77-later came with a Corporate 10 bolt front axle. It should also have a 12 bolt truck rearend instead of a 10 bolt. The same goes for 2wd rearends. The problem with axles is they are so easily swapped over the years. There were different grille styles but obviously you can almost never go by that since they are so easily swapped also. best thing to do is find the hidden VIN numbers. If it has the original engine and transmission the stampings / tags on them should also contain a partial VIN.