I'm hunting down answers and figured I'd come to the experts. I posted this elsewhere and remembered I used to come here years ago..
My first car was a 73 Blazer 4x4. in the early 90's I mildly restored/updated it, rebuilt everything etc.
Somehow it survived my marriage. It wasn't practical for a young family and it spilled oil. (believe me, my wife tried to make me sell it and I'm still married to her) I was able to hide the truck out of sight for years.
The next time the truck came up, I had the brilliant idea to say the truck was going to be for my son.
One day, Texas happened.
I let my father take the truck out to South Texas when he retired. He was/is a master mechanic and experienced collision expert. The idea was that I would move there (I did, for a bit) and bring the truck back to road-ready condition, it still ran great but had things that needed doing/awful commute vehicle.
Fast forward 10 years and the warm salt air has cannibalized the body.
TLDR: I need a new body and I would like to do it as cheaply as possible - so I'm looking at available K5 bodies and the most intact I can find are 80's K5. - specifically 85 -86 on craigslist at the moment.
I know there are differences - the door posts will have to be cut, along with the windshield frame, etc. There's also the gas door thing. power windows, locks would be cool.
I'm wondering if anyone has done this before?
My goal is to get the truck to how it was - as original as possible, the 73 body style hood/fenders/trim and interior pieces. I have a lot of pieces and i know there's repro hood/fenders. It's just this body thing, I think it would be easier to slap a new cab on the truck than to weld up new sides and possible floorpans.
***
P.S. My father insists that he once measured an 87 Suburban and that chassis was narrower than the one in his 74 Suburban (He was looking at a potential swap and EFI, etc). We did a swap eventually on that body from a 76 or 78 Suburban to the 74.
I found aftermarket replacement frames for K5 and there is nothing that I could find about these differences.
I don't have long to get this truck ready, my son just turned 14 - your help is appreciated.
Thanks..
My first car was a 73 Blazer 4x4. in the early 90's I mildly restored/updated it, rebuilt everything etc.
Somehow it survived my marriage. It wasn't practical for a young family and it spilled oil. (believe me, my wife tried to make me sell it and I'm still married to her) I was able to hide the truck out of sight for years.
The next time the truck came up, I had the brilliant idea to say the truck was going to be for my son.
One day, Texas happened.
I let my father take the truck out to South Texas when he retired. He was/is a master mechanic and experienced collision expert. The idea was that I would move there (I did, for a bit) and bring the truck back to road-ready condition, it still ran great but had things that needed doing/awful commute vehicle.
Fast forward 10 years and the warm salt air has cannibalized the body.
TLDR: I need a new body and I would like to do it as cheaply as possible - so I'm looking at available K5 bodies and the most intact I can find are 80's K5. - specifically 85 -86 on craigslist at the moment.
I know there are differences - the door posts will have to be cut, along with the windshield frame, etc. There's also the gas door thing. power windows, locks would be cool.
I'm wondering if anyone has done this before?
My goal is to get the truck to how it was - as original as possible, the 73 body style hood/fenders/trim and interior pieces. I have a lot of pieces and i know there's repro hood/fenders. It's just this body thing, I think it would be easier to slap a new cab on the truck than to weld up new sides and possible floorpans.
***
P.S. My father insists that he once measured an 87 Suburban and that chassis was narrower than the one in his 74 Suburban (He was looking at a potential swap and EFI, etc). We did a swap eventually on that body from a 76 or 78 Suburban to the 74.
I found aftermarket replacement frames for K5 and there is nothing that I could find about these differences.
I don't have long to get this truck ready, my son just turned 14 - your help is appreciated.
Thanks..
