‘76 K5 LS swap fiberglass body

[Asherk5]

CUCV not sure yet on the tub. I did message 73k5 at New Years. He is the only person I have found that did this which was like 20 years ago... Blazerchalet I will post up the weight savings since I do have a set of scales.

 

[centexk5]

The fiberglass tub we did on dads bronco weighed about the same as the steel tub due to the amount of reinforcing inside of it and the thickness of the fiberglass.

 

[73k5blazer]

The curiosity question I've long had is what the weight difference is between the US Body fiberglass tub is and how much the factory steel tub weighs. If I had unlimited cash and was desperate to have a fully modern, practical camping rig that occupied the same physical space as a vintage Blazer Chalet, I'd take this fiberglass tub route along with an orphaned Chalet shell that's engineered for easy installation & removal, gutted and re-outfitted with lighter weight interior and a properly designed pop-up roof that doesn't leak rain & snow into the camper unit.

No weight savings, or minimal. Well, if it were apples tto apples, probably. But witth roll cage, modified mounts, huge diy4x4 bumpers and other add-on heavy equipt some of which is somewhat necessary for crash protection some of which is just off-road stuff.... with the glass body, no weight savings. I weighed in at 5500lbs-ish before doing anything to my k5, more or less stocker with a lift and 33's. To 4900lbs ish today with the glass body.

 

[Asherk5]

I've been pretty quiet on this thread so I thought i would post a quick update. I picked up a 79 k5 over winter for cheap to use as our cutting/trimming templates on the fiberglass body. She's real rough but the important areas are good. We are currently prepping for our trip to Florida to pick up the body which will be in May.

 

[Asherk5]

Here is a picture of the gem.

 

[Asherk5]

I have also been working on restoring the old rally wheels over the last week.

 

[Chevy305]

I still see floors and rocker panels on your tub, it can't be that bad

 

[Asherk5]

We went to pick up the fiberglass body last week and it wasn’t done yet but man does it look good! The guys were really cool and are helping with shipping since it wasn’t done yet. Very detail oriented and committed to making the body right before sending it out.

 

[Asherk5]

In other news, I’m getting the rust bucket cut up for trim and hole templates when the fiberglass body arrives. Not much to cut...

 

[centexk5]

I keep pondering a fiberglass body. Let me know how it works out for you. Expensive but not having to cut and patch and trim and fit and grind would be awesome.

 

[Asherk5]

I keep pondering a fiberglass body. Let me know how it works out for you. Expensive but not having to cut and patch and trim and fit and grind would be awesome.

Centexk5
For me, fiberglass was going to be cheaper. This is mostly due to paying a shop to complete the metal repair, prep, and paint. I could probably do it but I don’t have enough experience to be comfortable and want this truck to be perfect once complete. COVID also throws a wrench in getting the required panels which the shop was concerned about.

 

[Asherk5]

2 weeks ago we finished cutting up the rusty body and swapped the decent body to the frame I’m not using, loosely bolting everything together.

 

[Asherk5]

The new body was delivered last week.

 

[Asherk5]

The blazer had a 4-6” lift on it and was simply too tall for our tast so once the old body was off, we cleaned the frame up and ordered a 2” lift and new body bushings. I hope to try and set the fiberglass body on this weekend.

 

[Asherk5]

We set the body on last weekend to find the floor supports will need some trimming. They are hitting my frame rails under the driver and front passenger seat. US body was notified and are updating their mold for future buyers. I’m pretty sure I will have to modify the middle bed mounts as the support structure makes my body mounts not all sit correctly. I plan to get my current interferences address this weekend so we have a better idea on the other mounts.

 

[Truckman4life]

Very cool! Any Idea what the new body weighs and also what the weight savings might be in the end?(I suppose you might need to wait til finished for a finally weight) My brother-in-law used to have a fiberglass bodied CJ that had a healthy little V8 and it was a blast to drive due to being lighter.

 

[nvrenuf]

Wow!

 

[Asherk5]

Update for this week/month. The blazer finally went to the body shop where they started fitting body panels. I think we are going to order new doors so that will take a while due to COVID delays. In the meantime I’ve been working on the dash/firewall inner structure to incorporate into the new body. Here is a snapshot of current state. Outer panels all removed. I hate removing spot welds.

 

[Asherk5]

I’m also removing the outer panels in a similar way for the inner roof skin. For those who didn’t know, there is a decent roll bar structure between the inner and outer roof skins. This is also what the removable top bolts into.

 

[Asherk5]

It’s been a busy couple weeks. Picked up a 79 f250 last weekend because “why not”?! I needed a Dana 60 front axle for my mud truck. But now I might have to keep this Ford.