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71 K5 with a Cummins

y5mgisi said:
Thats the best and toughest thing to do. Breaking the project down like that. Otherwise it can get pretty overwhelming.
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:sign17: The axles are starting to come together now. Just waiting on some parts. Then the front clip will get mocked up so the intercooler can be placed. I have three radiators that I can try out on this; the 93 Dodge truck's, a stock 71 k5, or a CUCV version. Ordered some body mounts for that part of the plan as well.
 
I have to laugh looking at the last post. Just brought this out of barn and into the garage. It has been awhile. Started forming a strategy to get this project going again. I think the most daunting part of this is that I have never worked on this era Chevy and did not take this apart.

This is where it starts. To put the intercooler together, the front clip needs to be on. To put the front clip on, the doors need to be hung. To hang the doors, the hinges need to be rebuilt and the Blazer specific parts of the door need located. To find these parts is the where the trail currently is at. Any knowledgable input in putting this together is appreciated. Going to look at he vendors to see what can be found.

Trying to find some of these;

striker.jpg
 
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I take it you're looking for the plates and the clips? I've never seen them on any site yet. Been looking over at 67-72 for close to a year for some on my own. They occasionally pop up, but go fast over there.
 
Why do the doors need to be on to put the front clip on? Seems like it'd be fine all by itself. Unless you are anticipating insanely tight fit of components... :)
 
ashman said:
it's only been 2 years... right on schedule! LOL
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Right about when my last kid was born. Finally getting a little time to play :waytogo:.

ekajkrats said:
I've seen that part here:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/105622812/TS-60-72-2012-web

Page 14 in the catalog. Never messed with mine, so I can't tell you anymore than having seen them on my door and in a catalog.
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Not seeing it in the catalog :dunno:. Looking for the part that covers the door latch. Thanks for the link though.

NorCal69 said:
I take it you're looking for the plates and the clips? I've never seen them on any site yet. Been looking over at 67-72 for close to a year for some on my own. They occasionally pop up, but go fast over there.
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I have one but the other door looks like it was a converted truck door because it does not have either piece. I went through some of the classifieds over on the 67-72 board. Blazer doors in general seem to be a holy grail of sorts.

bp71k5 said:
Why do the doors need to be on to put the front clip on? Seems like it'd be fine all by itself. Unless you are anticipating insanely tight fit of components... :)
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It's all going together before it is painted. The doors have to be aligned before the fenders can be aligned. And there seems to be a lot of adjustment on the front clips, so, getting the front clip set right where it going to be seems like a good way to avoid some future headaches.
 
Those reinforcement plates are going to be hard to find.

I drilled out the spot welds and removed them from my old Blazer doors before throwing them away. I will weld them onto my repro doors as the build continues.

Best chance is going to be a salvage yard. Maybe a west coast guy can find a donor and sawzall that section out of each side? It's a pretty big favor, but maybe. :thinking:

-G
 
Greg72 said:
Those reinforcement plates are going to be hard to find.

I drilled out the spot welds and removed them from my old Blazer doors before throwing them away. I will weld them onto my repro doors as the build continues.

Best chance is going to be a salvage yard. Maybe a west coast guy can find a donor and sawzall that section out of each side? It's a pretty big favor, but maybe. :thinking:

-G
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Finding parts for 1st gens is starting to look like a treasure hunt of sorts. Really wish I could find some complete K5 doors in good shape but this is what is available. The one with the correct Blazer parts is the one that needed a replacement panel welded to the bottom. The "rust free" door still needs the correct Blazer parts. Thinking I will just keep track of the parts that will be needed as the project progresses and hope they become available somewhere on the way to completion.

The correct Blazer door is mounted now. The hinges were in good working order on that side (p-side). Then moved onto the front clip which is all repro. With the front clip bolted up, the front radiator support lifts up about an inch :dunno:. Wondering if this is because of the repro parts or maybe a body mount issue. Or something else? On the plus side, the door fit great.
 
Moved on to the driver's side door. Had to do some door hinge restoration that turned out nice. Those hinge pins can really put up a fight :bow:. I can see why the 1st gens have door hinge attachment issues. The hinges need to be oiled on a regular basis or they will wear on the attachment points.

Went to attach the door only to find that it did not fit in the door frame. Checked the body mounts and found three shims under the D-side firewall. One under the D-side rear door frame. Moved two from the front to the back and the door fits better but the body will need to be bolted down tight to get a better idea of where things stand. This helped resolve why the front clip was angling up.

So, with the front clip on. It was time to mount the radiator and intercooler. This project is lucky enough to have had a full donor truck and therefore the old radiator support from the Dodge. After comparing the two radiator supports, it will be possible to graft the centerpiece from the Dodge onto the K5s and use the Dodge radiator with the factory mounts for the radiator and intercooler. It will take some work but it looks like the best solution so, that the inlet/outlet size will be correct and cooling should happen as it was originally designed to.
 
Awesome that you're moving forward... :waytogo:




















But, pics brother.....we need pics.. :D
 
Thanks.

And yeah, I know, Pics. I am usually pretty good about it but the camera cord to upload the pics refuses to work. I go through cell phone charge cords about every 3 months and am just getting tired of replacing crap with more crap. I will eventually though. Hopefully sooner rather than later.
 
Awesome build! I'm a major Cummins fan and absolutely loved my 12 valve so its cool to see these conversions. I am planning on doing this to my 72 Blazer when I graduate from college in a year or so and hopefully have more time and money.:whistle:

Also, if you haven't done it already, I would highly recommend fixing the "Killer Dowel Pin" in the timing case... they can cause all sorts of havoc if they fall out.
 
BlazinWhiskey72 said:
Awesome build! I'm a major Cummins fan and absolutely loved my 12 valve so its cool to see these conversions. I am planning on doing this to my 72 Blazer when I graduate from college in a year or so and hopefully have more time and money.:whistle:

Also, if you haven't done it already, I would highly recommend fixing the "Killer Dowel Pin" in the timing case... they can cause all sorts of havoc if they fall out.
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Thanks for the advice. Fixing the dowel pin is on the "to do" list.

Recent progress is getting the body mounts and all their respective hardware in order. That fixed the body alignment issues.

Here are some pics from this morning. Including the pics of the two radiator supports so you can see what there is to work with.

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Started integrating the Dodge intercooler bracketry into the Chevy radiator support. Also, pictured are the remains of the Dodge radiator support. The Dodge radiator brackets will be integrated as well.

IMG_1153.JPG

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Minor update. Found oil for the NV4500 for $15/quart. That was better than I was expecting. Plans are to do the half quart overfill for additional lubrication. Here is a link to read about the Amsoil synthetic lube and for future reference.

https://www.amsoil.com/storefront/mtg.aspx
 
K5 rad support and the Dodge donor truck rad support are officially integrated. The weld on steering box brace is mounted as well. It all still needs to be painted up (meaning it will get painted when the weather gets nicer). Pretty happy this part of the project is done. I have way more hours into this than I care to admit :whistle:.

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everything takes more time that we think it should, but still a nice milestone to get completed.

good job!
 
Thanks for the motivating words.

Getting the steering box on and hooked up is next. Then route the intercooler tubing. Does anyone know of a good place to get the 90 degree bends and such for that? One side will be fine with the stock set up but the other side intersects with the brake master cylinder.
 
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