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1971 K5 Blazer (paint, hardtop, and .....)

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Jetfire

Jetfire

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Joined
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Seattle WA Area
Jetfire submitted a new Build:

1971 K5 Blazer (paint, hardtop, and .....)

Just picked up my '71 recently. Always wanted a 1st Gen Blazer! It's in good shape mechanically and a lot of the rust was removed. Lucked out and have access to a shop to work on it and keep it parked inside.

Not looking to build a show car, but I want it to look good and be reliable. I plan to use this for camping, tooling around town, and runs to the hardware store. I attached a bunch of "before" photos for posterity.

The first tasks I'm working on:
  1. Cut off the rear truck bumper, buy and install a chrome bumper with brackets
  2. Buy a hardtop! The soft top will not cut it for the Northwest winters. I've located a top without a hatch in Portland from a forum member.....but I'd really like a hatch lined up or a whole top.
  3. The previous owner sanded or cut off some metal by the top of the windshield on each side (pics attached). I have some small pieces of steal cut to size and need to weld them in.
  4. Paint the body and redo seals
If anyone has a lead on a hardtop near Seattle, please let me know. I'll upload some pics over the next few days of the rear bumper assembly....it's all welded and looks nutty. I will need some help as to what goes and where to mount the correct bumper brackets.

Also, the horn isn't hooked up....but I found an air horn setup? Not sure how to connect it though, pics included.

Just wanted to get this started! Thanks in advance for any help, I'll need it!

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Read more about this build here...
 
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Nice first post! Welcome to CK5 and the 1st gen club!

If no one on here has a lead on a hatch, try Wes at http://www.classicheartbeat.com Because he has a business catering to selling parts for early Chevy's he may have in his posession or know of a hatch available and he is relatively close to you.

-Jacob
 
ekajkrats said:
Nice first post! Welcome to CK5 and the 1st gen club!

If no one on here has a lead on a hatch, try Wes at http://www.classicheartbeat.com Because he has a business catering to selling parts for early Chevy's he may have in his posession or know of a hatch available and he is relatively close to you.

-Jacob
Click to expand...

Thanks! Pumped to own one of these bad boys.

Cool, thanks for the lead. I'll hit him up for the top or parts of it. I called Wes, he has a top...but no hatch.

Now I have leads on 2 tops, but zero hatches!
 
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Jetfire said:
Thanks! Pumped to own one of these bad boys.

Cool, thanks for the lead. I'll hit him up for the top or parts of it.
Click to expand...



Welcome to the 1st Gen Club..... :waytogo:

There's plenty to learn, and there is no rule that says you have to immediately cut it into 1000 pieces and put it on jackstands for 10 years to repair it. :haha:


Rear bumper should be an easy repair. The 1971 frames are pretty simple in the back... so you should be able to source the OEM bracketry and put a normal bumper back on there without too much drama.

Windshield header looks to be missing the plastic trim caps on both sides. Be forewarned, even a perfectly restored hardtop and seals will still leak at those upper corners..... GM did a poor design job on the windshield / door / hardtop seals and fitment.... There's a reason why every one of us has rusty floors in the front footwells!!!


-G
 
Cool, another 1st gen project! Are you going to stay with the factory blue?
 
Greg72 said:
Welcome to the 1st Gen Club..... :waytogo:

There's plenty to learn, and there is no rule that says you have to immediately cut it into 1000 pieces and put it on jackstands for 10 years to repair it. :haha:


Rear bumper should be an easy repair. The 1971 frames are pretty simple in the back... so you should be able to source the OEM bracketry and put a normal bumper back on there without too much drama.

Windshield header looks to be missing the plastic trim caps on both sides. Be forewarned, even a perfectly restored hardtop and seals will still leak at those upper corners..... GM did a poor design job on the windshield / door / hardtop seals and fitment.... There's a reason why every one of us has rusty floors in the front footwells!!!


-G
Click to expand...

Yeah, I want to drive it.......not let it live in the garage!

I'll take a closer look at the welding mess for the bumper and get some pics. I have friends that are certified welders, but I want to know where the cuts should be made. I found the attached pic of the rear bumper assembly, should help see what I'm looking at.

Does anyone have a picture of what the windshield header corners should look like? Fixing those is on my to do list prior to paint.

Rear Bumper Parts.gif
 
CK5 said:
Cool, another 1st gen project! Are you going to stay with the factory blue?
Click to expand...

I did want to go with factory blue.........although I'm not sure what it's called exactly! Haven't found a definitive answer looking around.
 
That looks to me like medium blue, Welcome to the first gen club from just south of ya. Just be patient on the hard top. they pop up in WA from time to time. Check Oregon and Yakima areas as well. May have to do some traveling to find one worth keeping. Also just like you, someone decided to weld on a chunky square body bumper onto mine as well... :doah:
 
Here's a pic of the windshield header closer to factory. The holes should have weld nuts for 5/16" bolts, but I used the clip-in style nuts instead on the two that broke off.

 
Lieferson said:
That looks to me like medium blue, Welcome to the first gen club from just south of ya. Just be patient on the hard top. they pop up in WA from time to time. Check Oregon and Yakima areas as well. May have to do some traveling to find one worth keeping. Also just like you, someone decided to weld on a chunky square body bumper onto mine as well... :doah:
Click to expand...

Thanks on the color, that's what I was thinking it was. I'll hang tight and keep looking around for the hard top, thanks for the encouragement! Yeah, I really want that beast bumper off and a chrome one on!
 
bp71k5 said:
Here's a pic of the windshield header closer to factory. The holes should have weld nuts for 5/16" bolts, but I used the clip-in style nuts instead on the two that broke off.

Click to expand...

Nice pic and paint job! Thanks, that's exactly what I wanted to see on the windshield corners. Is the 5/16" nut for the hard top? Are the other holes for the door seal to mount to? I'm wonderning how I can place the weld nut correctly without a top. Maybe order up the door seals and use the 1 hole I have for each side?
 
If you have the cash, you could probably pick up that 72 for sale in chehalis on CL right now for around 1700$, keep the top and part out the rest to make your money back
 
Jetfire said:
Nice pic and paint job! Thanks, that's exactly what I wanted to see on the windshield corners. Is the 5/16" nut for the hard top? Are the other holes for the door seal to mount to? I'm wonderning how I can place the weld nut correctly without a top. Maybe order up the door seals and use the 1 hole I have for each side?
Click to expand...

The nuts are for the rubber seal that covers that opening. The seal has a metal plate it it that you could make a template from. The hard top bolts down using the sun visor mounts and a couple brackets near the rear view mirror.
 
bp71k5 said:
The nuts are for the rubber seal that covers that opening. The seal has a metal plate it it that you could make a template from. The hard top bolts down using the sun visor mounts and a couple brackets near the rear view mirror.
Click to expand...

Perfect, thanks. I'll order those door seals up so I can work that out. Copy on the hardtop mount points.
 
Lieferson said:
If you have the cash, you could probably pick up that 72 for sale in chehalis on CL right now for around 1700$, keep the top and part out the rest to make your money back
Click to expand...

Good find. I don't have the space for another vehicle or I would pick the whole thing up. I still hit the guy up in case he'd sell the top only.........
 
Quick question. I checked my hard top mounts last night, they don't have a welded nut along the bed rails and they do have threads along the windshield header. Does that mean I'm setup for a double wall hard top?

I found a double wall top with a hatch, but the hatch is hurting. See pics. Is this something I could fix?

Hatch #1.jpg

Hatch #2.jpg
 
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