398HBX's Build Thread - Engine is IN!

[398HBX]

Finally getting around to rebuilding my father-in-laws 73 K5. I started about 13 years ago and have just now got back to the project. I figured that I would post my plan and progress here so I could get input from those of you who have done this before. I created a site to track my progress, www.398hbx.com. If you have the time, please stop by and give me your advice and suggestions. Thanks.

Frame-Off Restoration of a 1973 K5 Blazer
The Truck
1973 Chevy K5 Blazer 4x4. Belonged to my father-in-law, Stan. It has been his dream to restore this truck for the last 24 years. Unfortunately, he has been unable to work on it so it has just sat. It has been sitting, unmoved since 1984. Flew out to California in June 2010 to get the Blazer and bring it back to Tennessee so I could continue the restoration.
The Donor
1986 Chevy K20 Suburban, ¾ Ton, 4x4. I bought this truck in California for $1000 just to pull the Blazer back to Tennessee. My initial plan was to get back to Tennessee and sell the Suburban to recover some of the cost of the trip. After doing some research, I realized that most of the parts that I will need to rebuild the Blazer; I already have, on the Suburban.
The Plan
Note: All parts to be cleaned, inspected, serviced, and painted before re-installation back onto the Blazer.
Chassis
Take everything off the frame of the Blazer. Sandblast the frame. Repair the frame near the steering box; install Off Road Designs Steering Box Brace kit. Remove the engine cross member from the donor and the Blazer. Install the donor cross-member onto the Blazer. Prime with Eastwood Epoxy Primer and Paint with Eastwood 2K Ceramic Chassis Black (Satin) paint. Install new chassis bushings. Install new 4” Rancho Suspension lift leaf springs and Rancho RS9000XL shocks.
Rear Axle
Replace the 12 bolt rear axle (3.73 gears) from the Blazer with the 14-Bolt, Semi-Floating, Gov-Lock ¾ ton axle (4.10 gears) from the donor truck. Clean and paint the axle assembly. Inspect all bearings and gears for signs of wear. Replace if necessary. Install on Blazer. (Be prepared to replace the differential carrier as some time in the future when the Gov-Lock fails. Preferably with a Detroit Locker and an open differential carrier)
Front Axle
Replace the Dana44 front axle from the Blazer with the GM 10-Bolt from the donor. Clean and paint the axle assembly. Inspect all bearings and gears for signs of wear. Replace if necessary. Install on Blazer.
Transmission
Replace the GM TH350 with the GM TH400 from the donor. Before installation of the TH400, rebuild it with a B&M Tanspak Kit. Install B&M Deep Pan on the TH400. Install on the Blazer.
Transfer Case
Replace the NP203 full-time 4x4 transfer case from the Blazer with the NP208 transfer case from the donor. Before installation, clean, inspect, and service the NP208. Install the transfer case and the skid plate from the donor using Skyjacker Transfer case lowering kit.
Front Drive Shaft
Install the front drive shaft from the donor on the Blazer. No modifications should be necessary.
Rear Drive Shaft
Measure the driveshaft length needed. Take the donor rear shaft to a shop and have it shortened to length and balanced. Install on the Blazer.
Brakes (Front and Rear)
Replace all brake lines with brake lines from the donor. Use Stainless Steel Braided Brake Hose Kit for 4” lift. Replace the rear brake shoes and springs. Replace front brake pads. It would be nice to upgrade to rear disks, but not really in the budget at this time. Use the Master Cylinder and the Brake Booster from the Suburban.
Ignition
Install an MSD-Offroad ignition control unit. Install an MSD HEI Pro-billet distributor. The distributor has a rev limiter built into it. May need to install a tach adapter as well.
Gauges
Replace the stock gauges with Autometer Cobalt gauges. Gauges will include the following: Speedometer, Tachometer, Water Temp, Fuel Gauge, Oil Pressure, and Volt Meter. All gauges are electric gauges, eliminating the need to bring combustible fluid into the cab. An additional gauge pod will be installed with the following gauges: Fuel Mixture, Vacuum/Boost, Transmission Temp.

 

[dfl701]

I don't think you will need that tcase lowering kit. It would look alot better underneath without it. Sounds like you have a great plan though!

 

[okieraptor]

Damn I want that 3/4t Burb. Is it a 454 or 350?

 

[398HBX]

It's a 350. I'll have the frame and body left when I'm done. Right now it runs great, but then again, I haven't touched a wrench to it yet!

 

[okieraptor]

Are you taking the interior out and putting it in the blazer?

 

[398HBX]

No. I plan on keeping the interior of the Blazer pretty much as is. The Blazer seats are in pretty good shape. I plan on swapping the doors from the burb to the Blazer (the burb doors have power windows and locks) so the interior door panels will go with the doors. I think that all I will need to do is cut the upper part of the door frame off and install the covers from the original doors. If you need some parts, let me know what you need and I will send pics of what is in the burb.

 

[398HBX]

Body is off, down to bare frame.

This weekend I made some progress. First I raised the body off the frame. I built a storage rack out of 4x4’s and used a come-along to raise each end of the body. I then braced the body off the frame by using a 2x8. It almost look like a hillbilly body lift. It was pretty easy, even with just one person. “Give me a big enough lever, and I can move the world!”



Once I got the body fully supported, I was able to move the frame out from underneath. Just about everything is off the frame. I just had to remove the bolts holding the springs on and take off the axles. Getting the old bolt out was not too bad. I remembered reading one of the blogs about using an air chisel to drive the bolts out. That worked like a charm. That and a little PB Blaster. At this point, I was stuck. There is only so much one guy can do. I called a buddy and he came over to help me move the frame over to some sawhorses.



Once I got the frame up on the horses, I was able to finish stripping off all of the old brackets, bolts, and assorted “stuff” that had been welded on by previous owners.


I was also able to finish up the ORD weld-on frame repair. It was a lot easier to finish the welding after I got it up on the saw horses.
One thing I found was that the brackets for the sway bar were broken. One of them had been welded before and the other was completely split. I read somewhere that this has been a problem with the 70’s model ½ ton trucks. The fix is to use the front engine support out of an 80’s ¾ ton truck. Not a problem. The truck I am using for the donor is a 86 ¾ ton Suburban. I just have to get it out of the truck and swap them over. I will have to drill a new hole since the 86 front engine support has two mounting holes instead of one. Once I get the new engine support installed, it is off to the sandblaster. I will then paint the frame with Eastwood Epoxy Primer and 2K Ceramic Chassis Black (Satin).


Additional Pictures of this weekends work are here: http://www.398hbx.com/home/body-off-bare-frame

 

[398HBX]

Sandblasting Fun, not!

I got home from work today and decided to start working on getting rid of all the rust from the frame. To my ultimate surprise, my son, Christian, decided to come out and help. The qhole reason I went out to CA to get the truck was to spend time with him. I was pleasantly surprised.





I had looked all over town for a place to have my frame blasted but could not find anyplace close by. We attacked the frame with a vengence. Using a wire brush and rust removal wheel, we got about 80% of the rust off the flat surfaces. There was no way that we were going to be able to get the small cracks.

I searched the forums for options and found several good posts about pressure blasters. I ended up going down to Tractor Supply and getting one of theirs. This is what I ended up with.



Although I only have a 5HP, 30 gallon compressor, it seems to work OK. I get a good 45-60 seconds of blasting with 1-2 minutes of waiting. I know it's not perfect but it works and is still faster than doing it by hand with sandpaper.

Here is what the frame looked like before anything, just basic cleaning:



After alittle cleaning with a wire brush and 30 seconds of blasting, this is the result:



You guys weren't kidding when you said the media gets everywhere. I was just testing my setup. (You know how it is, a new toy, you just HAVE to try it out). There was crap everywhere! I guess the first thing I'll do tomorrow when I get home is hang plastic up to keep all the media in. Then maybe I'll be able to reuse it. Does anyone know of a good way to filter the media before putting it back in the pressure blaster?

 

[jt512]

Nice progress !!

As far as reusing the media, I used an old section of some metal screen (like from a screen door, but not the newer fabric type stuff) and a clean 5 gallon bucket. Once I had made a big enough mess, I would sweep up the media and use the screen to "sift" the media letting it collect in the bucket, it seemed to work well.

 

[ryoken]

I called my garage the Sahara Desert for a month.......

 

[398HBX]

Blast booth!, sort of.

The pressure blaster works reasonably well, but it does make a mess. After 5 minutes of use, there was media everywhere. I ended up creating a "blast booth" by putting up plastic around the frame. I also suspended the frame from the trusses so I could have access to the entire frame. I will be able to use this setup to paint the frame as well.



Here is a better shot of the frame before blasting, some initial cleanup has been performed with a right angle grinder.



Like I stated earlier, the pressure blaster works, but it is a PITA. I spent about two hours last night and barley got the front of the frame done. The biggest drawback is not the pressure, it is having to stop, gather up your media, and refill the tank. You can get about 10 minutes of blasting before you have to refill. Here are some shots of the front after initial blasting.





Getting the entire frame blasted is going to take a few days but in the end, I think it will be worth it. My goal is to have the frame back to a rolling frame before the cold sets in. The I can work on the engine and whatnot until it gets warm again. Did I say that this process gets crap everywhere? When I went back in the house last night, my wife said said I looked like a coal miner. I am still getting sand out of places I didn't know I had!

 

[Greg72]

I sincerely hope you're wearing a respirator when you do that blasting...

Lots of bad repiratory problems occur from exposure to blasting dust.


3M makes a good one with replaceable filter packs for around $50.

 

[398HBX]

Respirator? What's that? Actually, I am pretty adamant about using the proper PPE. I appreciate the concern though. Even though 90% humidly and 90 degrees, I used a half-face respirator, goggles, blast hood, welding jacket, and leather gloves. The Army must have taught me something. I would like to find something that does not fog up so much. It can be a real bitch to see when your mask is so fogged, you feel like you are in a fog bank.

 

[76zimmer]

try Jewelry cleaner to clean your lenses.

 

[398HBX]

Frame is blasted and Primed!

Things have slowed down a bit at work and here at home. I have not worked on the truck a whole lot but I have managed to get some things done. I was finally able to get the blasting done. If anyone else is thinking of blasting your own frame, really think about it. Unless you have a BIG compressor you will spend more time waiting than actually blasting.

Once I got the frame blasted, I cleaned it with Eastwood Afterblast. It's a phosporic acid based cleaner that leaves a zinc coating on the bare metal. It does a pretty good job of stopping flash rusting and is supposed to help the primer adhere better. I am not quiet ready to paint the frame yet with the chassis black because I still have some frame support pieces and cross members to blast. In the meantime, I painted the frame with Rustoleam primer to keep it from rusting. (It gets pretty humid here in the south, things rust quickly).







Hopefully, I will get the front frame support cleaned and installed this week so I can prime the frame with the expoxy primer and maybe paint it this weekend. I want to get it done before winter sets in, otherwise I have to wait until next spring before I can start assembly.
I am using the front frame support from the 1986 Suburban for a couple of reasons, mainly because the one on the Blazer was broken.
Here is a pic of the two frame supports.

The Blazer support in the rusty one in front. Notice the bracket on the right side. In addition to the frame being cracked, the support for the sway bar is also broken. It was riveted to the frame with three rivets. The frame support from the K20 is riveted to the frame with 5 rivets, has a pass thru for the oil cooler lines, and also has an additional bolt-on bracket the help brace the steering box. Getting it out was not too bad. Sawzall, air chisel, air punch, and a BFH. I actually read about this repair in Peterson’s. It said that the best way to repair the weak 73 front frame support was to find a mid 80’s ¾ ton and swap them. How about that? I just happened to have one. It was work but in the end I think it will be better.
More to follow....

 

[398HBX]

Front Frame Support Installed

I got home from work and decided to try and get the frame epoxy primed. I was anxious to try my new HVLP sprayer. I must say, I was surprized at how easy it was to use. Here are a few new pics with the 1st coat of Eastwood epoxy primer.







Here is a pretty good shot of the front frame support from the 1986 K20 Suburban. It has the pass-tru hole for the oil cooler lines and also an extra brace for reinforce the frame where the steering box bolts in.

 

[max 02]

Looks nice and clean, good job! I`ve sand blasted a frame along time ago for a old Datsun roadster,Man that sure gets a guy dirty. Best way to do a good job,looks great!

 

[y5mgisi]

Good job! Like it so far!

 

[Greg72]

Looks really nice....

Are you planning to try Eastwoods newest Chassic Black paint? They've got a new formulation that is supposed to be 2X or 3X more durable than the original stuff, but you have to apply it with a gun....doesn't come in rattlecans.

I've been dying to do some "real" painting but I still need to buy a good water separator and HVLP gun setup for my shop. Someday....

 

[398HBX]

I got the new Eastwood 2K Ceramic Chassis Black in Satin. I bought an DeVilbiss HVLP spray gun kit from Amazon for $119. It came with two guns, one for heavy paints and expoies and the other for touch up. Last night was the first that I had used it and it was really easy to use and clean. I found a site that had a really easy set-up to seperate the water from the air lines. I just went to Home Depot and bought the parts instead of ordering their kit. It works really well. Here is a pic of the air line set-up.