1st Post 71 Blazer Project

[max 02]

Looks great! Nice engine!

Way to go on the rust repair.... I'm working on my kids rockers and cab corners, so time consuming! I'm sick of rust.... But what do you do!?

 

[joedragrace]

12/22/2019 Update Moving up from page 8
Thought I would update my slow progress and put some pressure to get the Blazer running. I have been working on other parts of the build, just not rust repair. But I now have full floors in the front. I set the motor in a while back to make sure the motor mounts were in the correct location. Also put the trans case in to check shifter location.
Sent the steering box to Red Head Steering to get rebuilt. Removed the 3 on the tree guts from the steering column, replaced the bearings and turn signal switch, and filled the hole for the lever.
Finished mounting the seats. This had to be done first before the rocker boxes can be installed since the back outside nut plates are inside the box area.
Sprayed the inside and outside of the rocker boxes yesterday with Raptor liner. I bought the better Raptor gun, and it's well worth the money. $70 The texture turned out smother than when I sprayed the frame.
https://www.raptorcoatings.com/us/e...ies/professional-application-gun#.Xf-Kj25FzXI

Planning on installing the boxes in the next few days. Just need to clean up the underside of the cab and rust encapsulate the area before installing the boxes.

 

[6872xtc]

Quite a bit of work to get that all replaced. It looks good!

 

[joedragrace]

Quite a bit of work to get that all replaced. It looks good!

Thanks! I feel good when I finally have the rocker boxes welded in place.

 

[bp71k5]

Thanks! I feel good when I finally have the rocker boxes welded in place.

just going to grind off the liner in the welded areas?

 

[joedragrace]

just going to grind off the liner in the welded areas?

I taped those areas off before coating. Still need to sand off the black primer(e-coat).

 

[joedragrace]

Finished installing the rocker boxes this morning. Both sides went on without much hassle, which I guess is good.

This is what the inside of the box area looked like before the boxes were installed.

Both outer rockers fit good as well. Waiting to weld them in place until I hang the doors to make sure alignment is correct.

 

[bp71k5]

Finished installing the rocker boxes this morning. Both sides went on without much hassle, which I guess is good.
View attachment 323759 View attachment 323760 View attachment 323758
This is what the inside of the box area looked like before the boxes were installed.
View attachment 323762 View attachment 323761
Both outer rockers fit good as well. Waiting to weld them in place until I hang the doors to make sure alignment is correct.
View attachment 323764 View attachment 323765

For sure don’t weld the outer rockers until the doors are on. Those are one of the most frustrating parts to get back on. The replacement outer rockers frequently have trouble. Very nice work so far though.

 

[joedragrace]

For sure don’t weld the outer rockers until the doors are on. Those are one of the most frustrating parts to get back on. The replacement outer rockers frequently have trouble. Very nice work so far though.

Thanks! If you look at Project "RESPAWN" the alignment of the doors, outer rocker, and front bedside repair all line up nice. That's what I'm aiming for.

 

[joedragrace]

Peeled another piece of the onion. Looks like I'm going to replace the rear cross sill, along with the rear section of bed. Yea!

 

[joedragrace]

Finished cutting out the rear cross sill and ordered a new one. There is not a direct replacement for the Blazer, (that I could fine) so I ordered one for fleet side steel bed. The mounting pads are taller
since the bed bolts directly to the frame on trucks. So I had to cut them off so I can shorten them. The right side didn't line up very well anyway.



There is also reinforcement boxes on the Blazer cross sill. Mine were to rusty to reuse, so I made some new ones.


The sill and floor section had to be split in order to install without removing the one bed side. I left a 3/8" lip on the old floor just behind the cross member to weld the new section to. I was able to slide
the new section under that lip, so I can scribe a final cut line. Working on shorting up the mounting pads and boxes. Remember BRACE THE TAILGATE OPENING! Probably not necessary, but it's a
great reference point and you know nothing has moved.

 

[Greg72]

Nice work. Gotta respect guys who are willing to go this far into the truck to exorcise rust and hidden damage.

-G

 

[joedragrace]

Nice work. Gotta respect guys who are willing to go this far into the truck to exorcise rust and hidden damage.

-G

Thanks Man, This looks like the last structural area that needs major repair. I'm ready to get past rust repair.

 

[joedragrace]

Working on the mounting pads and boxes when I got sidetracked,(or maybe look ahead). You can see the amount of material I removed from the mounting pad. Still have to add the top flanges to the boxes.

2 issues I needed to address before moving on with the floor. The gas tank neck and the vent lines. The new tank neck is useless and welded on, not brazed on. So I took it to a local radiator/gas tank repair shop.
They said if I removed the existing neck(to save on labor cost) they would braze the my original neck on for $40.00. Problem 1 solved.

Issue 2. The vent lines I purchased from Inline tube were not even close to the original lines. They said if I sent my old lines in they would copy them, but my old lines were in bad shape. So I had them
send me the brass unions(no charge) I would finish the lines myself. I thought this was the best time to finish the lines as well as the fuel filler hose, since the working area was exposed. Problem 2 solved.





Back to finishing up the rear floor section.(Unless something else shiny catches my eye)

 

[joedragrace]

Finished up he rear floor section. When I was welding the floor section I made 3 stiches then moved to another area. There is a little bit of shrinkage(warping), but nothing a hammer and dolly can't work out.
Now I'm moving to the firewall, one small rust area, and enlarging the hole for the Painless Wiring fuse block.

 

[joedragrace]

One month update. Modified the fuse block opening for the Painless Wiring fuse block. Repaired the rust area on the cowl section and welded up all the unnecessary holes in the fire wall.

Now was the time to remove the top. It had never been removed since installed at the factory. I used a hole saw to cut holes to access the bolts. Sprayed them several times with wd40 and 3 in on oil. Used a pick
to clean the first exposed thread. Removed the bolts by hand, no air ratchet, and successfully removed all 12 bolts without any twisting off. Yea! Put some lifting straps under the top and used the engine hoist to
lift the top off level.



Now it was time to lift the body off the frame and send it out the be Clean Blasted. Bolted in some heavy duty lifting eyes and chain. I was able to adjust the chain links so the body came off level.


So the local Clean Blast man picked up the tub yesterday.



Once we get it back start prepping for Raptor Anti-Corrosive Epoxy Primer, then coat the firewall and tub inside with tinted( Tangier Orange) Raptor Bed Liner. The underside will be sprayed black.

 

[badriver19]

What a super cool build. Would love to do this with my original Ocre 72. Keep up with the updates. I definitely enjoy them.

 

[joedragrace]

What a super cool build. Would love to do this with my original Ocre 72. Keep up with the updates. I definitely enjoy them.

Thanks. Super excited to see the tub coated.

 

[joedragrace]

Got the tub back from Clean Blast on Monday. Still needs final sanding and metal prep coated, but over all looks great. There were only two small areas that still need repaired. Tony at Clean Blast
said he has blasted 6 or 7 67-69 Camaro's, and when the owners came to pick them up they we're like where is my car? This can't be my car. They had so much rust and bondo it was hard to believe
it was the same car.

 

[joedragrace]

Primed the front half of the tub with Raptor epoxy primer. Laid down nice. Finish up the bed area this afternoon. Ran the garage attic fan on high, so there was very little overspray.




First time using a HVLP paint gun, so I went all in and bought the Harbor Freight Purple gun and aluminum paint cup. $25 with the coupon. Instructions said to dissemble and clean gun before use. I had to modify a thin wrench to get the nozzle out. Glad I did, there was a big glob of grease inside the gun. Would have caused major problems. Gun worked fine. No Issues.