1976 K5 Blazer!! Body parts Price check

[dasanii19]

Whats up guys? new paying member here with a 1976 "fixer upper" K5 blazer. I am pretty excited about restoring this truck top to bottom and I can go on for days asking questions on what brands to get blah blah blah so I guess ill start out on topic with the body work. now the rust on this truck is mosty on take off parts like the hood, fenders, quarter panels.. Im thinking with the time I put into trying to patch things it would just as well be worth it to buy some after market body parts, it just sounds right to me, then I can start out fresh with nothing haunting me later.. Now, I know there has to be "good" brand body parts and "bad" brand body parts for whatever reasons, Can you guide me in the right direction on what the good brand body parts are? and where to buy them at for decent prices?

Ive researched a little on the 1976 K5 hoods and see there are a few different models to choose from, im sure you guys have seen them all so what one should I choose?

 

[dasanii19]

anyone?

 

[73k5blazer]

Well, the 'good' brand, General Motors, is out. Unless you get lucky and can find some NOS metal on ebay or something. Fenders and hoods I see fairly regularly, quarters for a K5 are a little harder to come by.
Pretty much everything else, aside from different style hoods, comes from the same place. Some places in Taiwan bought the old tooling and still crank out quarters and fenders and such, but they don't adhere to tolerancing and standards like GM would, but they are decent.
I put a set of Taiwan quarters on my old '78 K5, just a few minor fitting problems.
My favorite place to get metal from is Shermans:
http://www.shermanparts.com/

But I *think* LMC,Classic Industries, JC Whitney, they all come from the same place. I'd be surprised to find if there were more than one real source. for them.

 

[dasanii19]

Thanks

Thanks man, LMC's website seems pretty easy to order from, I think Ill probably get the body parts I need from them. Am I reading thier site right? $100 for shipping?

Im sure ill be asking all kinds of questions on this forum, ill post pics of my progress as well, its gonna look sweet

 

[dasanii19]

Heres some pictures of the truck, any suggestions would be great!!! I mean any tips at all.. even if its something you might think I already know, I want to hear. Thanks agian!!

 

[dasanii19]

See how there is rust on the quarter panels? Couldnt I just cut that rust out to a bigger wheel well instead of buying all new panels? also wouldnt that give me an option to run bigger tires as well? Its all up in the air right now, any ideas will definitely help..

 

[73k5blazer]

You could. It's been done for sure. I've never done it.
There's an inner and outer panel to the quarter there, and thats where it rusts where the inner and outer panels meet at the wheel lip. If you cut it, the inner and outer will be flapping, so you'll need to rebind them together somehow. NOt like they aren't already flapping though...
rust...never goes away......urgh......

 

[dasanii19]

So what would you do if you were in my shoes? cut or buy new? and what tire size would you run? Tire sizes are confishing, there seems to be so many different specs on tires and I dont know which to choose..

 

[73k5blazer]

It's personal preference. Alot depends on what your plan to use it for, Daily Driver or pure off-roader. If your going to drive it around most of the time, I'd put new metal on. Cutting it & leaving it open it will allow more of the unprotected side of the inner and outer exposed and it will rust alot quicker. Of course, if you take you time, cut it, and fill in pieces to keep the panel sealed off, then that will last alot longer.
Tire size is also a very very personal question. Just beware once you go beyond 33 or 35, bigger axles,drivetrain,ujoints...engine....lift...all are required.

 

[obijuan]

ive used crashparts before but not on my truck, mostly newer model cars and trucks. they always fit very well wiht little to no tweaking to fit. its usually just a bolt in. they are thin metal though. just like the other aftermarket stuff. i would check them out and see what they can do for you.