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1971 K5: Hardtop/Hatch Help

Jetfire

Jetfire

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Joined
Sep 29, 2016
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Location
Seattle WA Area
Just recently purchased a 1st gen Blazer and trying to sort out a few things. I'm looking at buying a hardtop for the northwest winters. I have a couple questions.

See pics, can I repair this hatch?

Also, I checked the hardtop mount points on my Blazer. Looks like there is no welded nut on the bed rails, but there is a welded nut on the header mount points (above the windshield). Does this mean up setup for a double wall hardtop?

Thanks in advance!

Hatch #1.jpg

Hatch #2.jpg
 
Ouch! that's going to be a tough repair. I'm sure it's possible, but not sure how good the results would be.

I'm pretty sure the bolt holes are the same for single and double wall tops, but either way that is correct for a double.

Welcome aboard!
 
ashman said:
Ouch! that's going to be a tough repair. I'm sure it's possible, but not sure how good the results would be.

I'm pretty sure the bolt holes are the same for single and double wall tops, but either way that is correct for a double.

Welcome aboard!
Click to expand...


Thanks for the welcome!

Copy on the hatch.....I'll swing the pics by a couple friends and see what they think before I pull the trigger. That's the only hatch I've been able to find. I've located 3 hardtops, 2-double wall and 1-single wall. Ok, I'll focus on the double wall tops now.
 
I "might" have my old hatch still. It's not in great shape but it is at least all in one piece... if I still have it.

If I haven't posted back in a couple of days remind me to check. :D
 
If you are going to run interior sides along the bed of the blazer, to help with interior comfort (keeping out road noise, holding speakers and providing a layer of insulation on the sides), you may want to figure a way to weld/place nuts in the bed rail. Otherwise you will have to remove those interior sides each time you go to put/take the hardtop off. If that is rare, then not a big deal. But if you are fortunate to have a nice pulley type setup where you can take the top off and on at will, by yourself, it may be handy to convert the rails to single wall top.

It being not as rainy here, and my blazer being relegated to the driveway, I took the top off over 2 years ago, and it hasn't gone back on. The soft top ended up being my permanent top, so far.
 
ekajkrats said:
I took the top off over 2 years ago, and it hasn't gone back on. The soft top ended up being my permanent top, so far.
Click to expand...
Before you spend too much time and effort getting a hard top, I think you'll find the above experience to be, by far, the most common. Most of us ditched the hard top years ago because it's just too much of a pain to use.

That said, the soft tops don't seal for crap. I'm considering giving a hard top a go again, but only if I happen on one that I can get cheap since it's probably a bad idea anyway. :surepal:
 
ekajkrats said:
If you are going to run interior sides along the bed of the blazer, to help with interior comfort (keeping out road noise, holding speakers and providing a layer of insulation on the sides), you may want to figure a way to weld/place nuts in the bed rail. Otherwise you will have to remove those interior sides each time you go to put/take the hardtop off. If that is rare, then not a big deal. But if you are fortunate to have a nice pulley type setup where you can take the top off and on at will, by yourself, it may be handy to convert the rails to single wall top.

It being not as rainy here, and my blazer being relegated to the driveway, I took the top off over 2 years ago, and it hasn't gone back on. The soft top ended up being my permanent top, so far.
Click to expand...

I will likely run the interior panels down the road, but I really want to get driving it now. I hate having it parked in the shop. I will be able to have a pulley setup at my Mom's place nearby, she has a huge garage and high ceiling.

Yeah, I get a lil rain here.....
 
ashman said:
Before you spend too much time and effort getting a hard top, I think you'll find the above experience to be, by far, the most common. Most of us ditched the hard top years ago because it's just too much of a pain to use.

That said, the soft tops don't seal for crap. I'm considering giving a hard top a go again, but only if I happen on one that I can get cheap since it's probably a bad idea anyway. :surepal:
Click to expand...

I've seriously considered going just soft top......but for the NW and wanting to drive it in the winter, I'm going to give the hard top a run.
 
Jetfire said:
I will likely run the interior panels down the road, but I really want to get driving it now. I hate having it parked in the shop. I will be able to have a pulley setup at my Mom's place nearby, she has a huge garage and high ceiling.

Yeah, I get a lil rain here.....
Click to expand...
Did some more reading, and I guess the holes won't line up between the single and double either. So if you did go single and as you've stated, you have double. holes would most likely have to be drilled in the bed rail as well. Other than not having to remove the interior bedsides, the benefits of single were less sagging on top (according to some) and interior dome lights.

I totally understand getting it driving now, that's what it's all about! And definitely keeps the motivation up work on it on the side.
 
ekajkrats said:
Did some more reading, and I guess the holes won't line up between the single and double either. So if you did go single and as you've stated, you have double. holes would most likely have to be drilled in the bed rail as well. Other than not having to remove the interior bedsides, the benefits of single were less sagging on top (according to some) and interior dome lights.

I totally understand getting it driving now, that's what it's all about! And definitely keeps the motivation up work on it on the side.
Click to expand...


Thanks for looking into that and sharing!
 
Ok, found another broken hatch. This one only has 2 breaks.....should I go for this one? Anyone have a spare hatch around :)

hatch.jpg

Hatch 2.jpg

Hatch 3.jpg
 
dude, totally dropped the ball on checking over the weekend. I'm writing myself a note now to check this evening.
 
ok, took a look and I do still have the hatch. It's all in one piece, but I removed the hinges (I might still have those), and the latching mechanism never worked so that would need to be replaced. Also, I'm in Utah. Shipping might be an issue.

If you are interested in it I can post some pics and we can go from there.
 
For reference to anyone else looking, they don't make the internal latching mechanisms anywhere last I looked. Those are the most valuable part of the hatch. They aren't super technically designed, so if you can at least find one with the outer latches on it, you'll be ahead.
 
ashman said:
ok, took a look and I do still have the hatch. It's all in one piece, but I removed the hinges (I might still have those), and the latching mechanism never worked so that would need to be replaced. Also, I'm in Utah. Shipping might be an issue.

If you are interested in it I can post some pics and we can go from there.
Click to expand...

Interested, please shoot me a PM. The first broken one I located has all hardware, I might hit that guy up again.
 
Will a 2nd generation hardtop ('73-'75) fit on my 1st gen Blazer? If not, how can I tell the difference when buying one? I'm pretty much ready to pull the trigger on a hardtop. The owner thinks it came off a '72.

Any measurements or other differences? It does have a broken hatch, and matches up with my double wall configuration. Should I have the guy measure mounting holes or anything?
 
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