Jeep Trailblazer SS

[gottattooz]

I scored a wrecked 2006 Trailblazer SS that i traded my 1968 Chevy C10 for. I also bought a 1968 jeep Wagoneer with 36,000 miles on it. The plan is to cut the floor pans and fire walls out of both vehicles and swap the jeep shell onto the trailblazer, retaining the dash and interior of the trailblazer.

-Josh

[Operatorfailure]

In for build!

[BigDaddyV]

Sub'd, this should be fun.

[67ChevyRedneck]

I followed the link from you C10 build... sucks the truck is sold/traded, but man, I love the old Wagoneers! There's a bunch on the road here still.

What's the wheel base on both... any tweaking needed?

I picked up a 68 Firebird I couldn't pass up, but i can't touch it until my shop is built... hope to start sept/oct.

[Operatorfailure]

I was curious about the same thing.

[gottattooz]

The jeep wheelbase is 110 inches. The trailblazer is 113 inches. All of the other dimensions are within an inch. There's more headroom in the wagoneer, but the dashboard is about 10 inches shorter than the trailblazer dash. The real trouble will be trying to get as much of the dash and firewall components to fit the jeep body.

-Josh

[CG]

You should move this to the alternative tinkering forum. You will get a ton of views and followers there. Ive been on this board forever and this is the first time Ive ever been in this area. Pure fluke I found it.

Looks like its going go be an interesting build

[gottattooz]

I started tearing into the trailblazer ss this weekend. Surprisingly, all of the doors comeoff with 3 bolts and a simple unplug of the door harness.

I apologize for the delay in the build. My dad and I built a 40x60x16' garage behind the house. The building it finished structurally, but we're still waiting to get power. So everything I do currently requires 2 extension cords and/or 250 of air hose.

-Josh

[mongocanfly]

gonna be a interesting build

[gottattooz]

Well, the plan is to drill out all of the spot welds and make the trailblazer skinny enough to slide the Jeep body over the skeleton of the trailblazer. There are a LOT of spot welds, but I'm not in any particular hurry.

-Josh

[Nut Case]

Rock on dude.

Keep on keepin on

Nuttz

[gottattooz]

Several drill bits later and one sawzall blade, the roof is off. I still have to skinny up on the passenger side, but I feel better having removed everything down to the rocker panel.

-Josh

[gottattooz]

Now that the top and sides of the trailblazer are trimmed down, it's time to focus on the Wagoneer.

-Josh

[gottattooz]

Just messing around with lighting. The trailblazer has separate turn and brake lights while the brake and turn on the Jeep are the same bulb. I did the same thing on my station wagon, using the reverse light housings for reverse and turn signals.

The bulb I use is called a switchback LED. I pulled the stock socket or of the housing and used 2 washers. The washer inside the socket centers the light bulb. The washer behind secures the bulb to the housing. With the lens cover on, nothing looks out of place.

-Josh

[gottattooz]

Here's what it looks like on my 65 wagon.

-Josh

[mongocanfly]

That stripped down trailblazer kinda looks like a jeep....
Great idea on the lights!

[61_FL_Apache]

Looking forward to this build and I like the switchback LED's too. Great idea!

[youngrodder]

Cool build….I used to have an 85 Woodie Wagoneer. I loved that thing. It was a tank in the snow...

Marc

[gottattooz]

A slight detour from the trailblazer.

My dad's birthday was April 11th, and he's out of town. So I upgraded the headlights on his 59 Chevy stepside. My "let me throw these on really quick" attitude was quickly thwarted by the size of the aftermarket headlights. I took pictures of what's left of the headlight buckets as well as how much I had to cut out of the back of the headlight holders for clearance to fit the lights.

I work second shift and I took big bird to work one night and the headlight output was abysmal at best. The low and high beams don't photograph very well, but I assure you they're very bright.

-Josh

[Ol Blue K20]

Subbed....cool build!

[Clyde65]

Did you put in the headlight relay harness?

[gottattooz]

Originally Posted by Clyde65

Did you put in the headlight relay harness?

No. I didn't get a chance to. I faced the back wall of the shop and closed the doors to I could adjust the headlights individuality. After adjusting the high beams, I went to turn the high beams off and the lights wouldn't dim. I tried a few times, and the headlights went out. Turns out, I melted the headlight dimmer switch. It was original from 1959, but we'll see how the new one holds up.

-Josh

[Clyde65]

The relay harness takes all that power from the switch and draws from the battery, saves the switch and makes the headlights brighter as they should be. Good luck

[Palf70Step]

As mentioned, the relays really make the headlights work well. Looking forward to seeing more of the Jeep project.

[gottattooz]

Originally Posted by Clyde65

The relay harness takes all that power from the switch and draws from the battery, saves the switch and makes the headlights brighter as they should be. Good luck

Originally Posted by Palf70Step

As mentioned, the relays really make the headlights work well. Looking forward to seeing more of the Jeep project.

Thanks guys. I ordered 2 of them. One for big bird and one for my 65 wagon.

-Josh