72 frame off

[Jimmywood]

recently purchased a 1972 Jimmy with cancer everywhere. We just started pulling parts off and it is worse (of course it is) than we have thought. I have found the Chinese supplier of body panels and that should be somewhat straight forward. I have all of the front end off and associated radiators, coolers and all of the things out of the way to pull the motor. It has a crate motor from Chevy in it now (HO 350 with aluminum heads and a Holly 650) My question of today is, do you think that a rebuild or another crate motor is the way to go? Not really interested trying to make this a rocket, just a reliable driver with around 350 hp would be perfect. Thanks in advance for any input!

 

[obijuank5]

How much money do you have and how easy is it for you to get more?

What makes your current motor unreliable?

 

[Jimmywood]

It’s a 2001 with a lot of miles. I have some money but would like to do this economically

 

[bp71k5]

Welcome! If it has lots of cancer and it already torn apart, I’d not worry about the motor for a bit if you’re going for a traditional engine swap. If you were planning an LS swap or something that required different fuel system or wouldn’t fit easily (BBC maybe), then it’d be different. It’s going to take a lot of work and time to replace all the rusted parts, a lot longer than finding a motor. So I wouldn’t buy a motor that’s going to just sit there for a year or two while I was fixing rust.

I’d clean the current motor up and get it running reliably if possible at the same time your fixing the rust. There’s a bunch of people here who’ve tackled the rust problems in different ways so read through those threads, ask questions, and make sure you know what your in for. “Economical” isn’t one of those words found in rust repair. Ha!

Post up some pictures of it. People would be happy to provide advice. Mine (along with everyone else) would be to keep your doors on or brace them well before removing any rusted panels. The windshield frame can move a lot when the structure is removed and if you weld in new panels after it moves, your doors won’t close anymore.

 

[Jimmywood]

Thanks for your reply. My plan is to take it down to the frame. The firewall is shot, the inner and outer rocker panels gone, the bed, history, you get the picture, so leaving the doors on is impossible. I will post some pics tomorrow and when the reassembly begins, I’ll need everyone’s help!

 

[ekajkrats]

Hey @Jimmywood

Check out this thread:
https://ck5.com/forums/threads/70-jimmy-rusty-rebuild.326462/

He's been dealing with a ton of rust. May give you some ideas about "peeling the onion" of rust. You can see he even kept it braced with the amount of work that he's been doing. From your picture of the cobra, it's obvious you can do the work. I think the rest of the guys just don't want you to get to the point of no return.

The paint on yours sure did fool me, makes your rig look a whole lot better than mine! Not that that is saying much...haha.

2 small pieces of advice, post your pics in here, I think it will help us all figure out what's going on with your Jimmy. And if you want more people to see your thread, a moderator could move your thread to the garage. But being here is just fine as well, that's all up to you. Mine is in here, but I'm not doing a full build like you.

Good luck and keep the pics coming!

 

[bp71k5]

X2 what he said. The blazer also happens to not always have very good patch panels or even exact replacement panels so expect to have to modify them or create some of your own. Most panels are made for the trucks.

 

[toomany]

Hey @Jimmywood

Check out this thread:
https://ck5.com/forums/threads/70-jimmy-rusty-rebuild.326462/

He's been dealing with a ton of rust. May give you some ideas about "peeling the onion" of rust. You can see he even kept it braced with the amount of work that he's been doing. From your picture of the cobra, it's obvious you can do the work. I think the rest of the guys just don't want you to get to the point of no return.

I'm the guy dealing with "a ton of rust."

What everyone else is saying is true. If you've got rust in one spot, odds are it's hiding everywhere. Mine didn't look terrible (for a 40 year old Michigan plow truck), but even I found spots that were bad I didn't know about.

If you look through some of my pictures, you can see I pretty much cut everything away down to the firewall. Even parts of that are getting replaced now. With everything I've replaced on the tub, I could have built one from all aftermarket parts by now...which I pretty much did. Regarding those aftermarket parts, they seem to be fitting pretty well for me. Not sure if it's because I replaced everything and am not trying to line up with factory stuff, or if they've gotten better.

Best thing you can do is make a plan and stick to it. I went into my project knowing that I'd replace most every panel, so I wasn't too bummed out when I had to buy $5k worth of sheet metal. Rust repair by far takes the longest, especially when you are trying to cut back into good metal on the factory parts, then line the new aftermarket parts up. I'm just over two years into mine and am just now coming out of it. Sure, life happens and you need to take a step away every now and then, so you will loose more time then you think. By having and end goal in mind it helps to keep you motivated.

When your truck ends up in half, either you did something wrong or are going all the way and doing it correct.

 

[ekajkrats]

I'm the guy dealing with "a ton of rust."

You are dealing with it, the rest of us are just in denial. Well, I can only speak for myself.

 

[Jimmywood]

I'm the guy dealing with "a ton of rust."

What everyone else is saying is true. If you've got rust in one spot, odds are it's hiding everywhere. Mine didn't look terrible (for a 40 year old Michigan plow truck), but even I found spots that were bad I didn't know about.

If you look through some of my pictures, you can see I pretty much cut everything away down to the firewall. Even parts of that are getting replaced now. With everything I've replaced on the tub, I could have built one from all aftermarket parts by now...which I pretty much did. Regarding those aftermarket parts, they seem to be fitting pretty well for me. Not sure if it's because I replaced everything and am not trying to line up with factory stuff, or if they've gotten better.

Best thing you can do is make a plan and stick to it. I went into my project knowing that I'd replace most every panel, so I wasn't too bummed out when I had to buy $5k worth of sheet metal. Rust repair by far takes the longest, especially when you are trying to cut back into good metal on the factory parts, then line the new aftermarket parts up. I'm just over two years into mine and am just now coming out of it. Sure, life happens and you need to take a step away every now and then, so you will loose more time then you think. By having and end goal in mind it helps to keep you motivated.

When your truck ends up in half, either you did something wrong or are going all the way and doing it correct.

View attachment 269358

So did you toss the entire rear and buy all new panels? What you have looks like what I’m envisioning. Rather than chase rust, I’d chose new all day. My firewall and windshield frame are possibly the first thing I will attack. Do you think that I should leave the bed and rockers alone until the firewall and cab frame are installed? In one of the posts someone recommended keeping some pieces in place as a reference and makes sense to me.

 

[toomany]

Yes, I tossed everything from the firewall back. In my case, nothing was really salvageable.

Generally, it's best to do one piece at a time. That way you can keep things in check/square. When doing floor or rocker work, brace the door openings before cutting old stuff out.

Reason I went the route I did, the body can really only go back together one way and have everything fit and line up (doors, gaps, fenders). This wasn't my first time dealing with major rust repair, so lopping off 90% of the body and starting over wasn't that big of a deal to me. Also, using all replacment panels odds are I'd have to work them some to get them to line up correctly.

If this is your first time dealing with rust, picking spots that are hidden are the best places to start and learn. Firewall around the heater box is a common area and a great place to start.

There is a breakover point where it makes more sense to replace the entire panel than to put in multiple patches. It might cost more, but spending $800 for a bedside/B-pillar is much easier than 4 or 5 patches. The more you work the panel, the more you risk getting waves into it and creating more work.

Your door post looks a lot like mine did, bubbly rust underneith the paint. Early in my build I replaced both sides. Passenger side I did most of the cab floor/A-pillar (then cut all the floor out again) with a section of a truck cab. In both cases, I used cut offs from parts trucks as I wasn't happy with any of the aftermarket parts.

 

[Jimmywood]

Yes, I tossed everything from the firewall back. In my case, nothing was really salvageable.

Generally, it's best to do one piece at a time. That way you can keep things in check/square. When doing floor or rocker work, brace the door openings before cutting old stuff out.

Reason I went the route I did, the body can really only go back together one way and have everything fit and line up (doors, gaps, fenders). This wasn't my first time dealing with major rust repair, so lopping off 90% of the body and starting over wasn't that big of a deal to me. Also, using all replacment panels odds are I'd have to work them some to get them to line up correctly.

If this is your first time dealing with rust, picking spots that are hidden are the best places to start and learn. Firewall around the heater box is a common area and a great place to start.

There is a breakover point where it makes more sense to replace the entire panel than to put in multiple patches. It might cost more, but spending $800 for a bedside/B-pillar is much easier than 4 or 5 patches. The more you work the panel, the more you risk getting waves into it and creating more work.

Your door post looks a lot like mine did, bubbly rust underneith the paint. Early in my build I replaced both sides. Passenger side I did most of the cab floor/A-pillar (then cut all the floor out again) with a section of a truck cab. In both cases, I used cut offs from parts trucks as I wasn't happy with any of the aftermarket parts.

Thanks, I saw your pics and read your posts. The pics ended after you pulled the motor, are there more elsewhere? I like the idea of replace vs repair, LMC’s pillars/cab parts weren’t acceptable?

 

[toomany]

Thanks, I saw your pics and read your posts. The pics ended after you pulled the motor, are there more elsewhere? I like the idea of replace vs repair, LMC’s pillars/cab parts weren’t acceptable?

There should be more pics, I'll go back and see if they are still messed up from the photobucket debacle.

Certain parts, there are only one supplier for. So everyone has the same stuff. Other parts there are a couple places stamping replacements and depending on who you buy from, you get different quality. I've gotten all of my sheet metal from GMCPauls and have been very pleased with it.

Reason I didn't go with aftermarket for my A-pillars was I had read that the patch panels for that area weren't the best. Mainly down around the lower fender tab. Plus by using OEM metal, I was able to keep the caged nut for the door hinge and know the bolt pattern was correct.

I still need to fix some spots under my cowl panel (and probably replace that with new while I have it off), install rocker boxes and rocker panels then I can consider my tub ready for finish work. My windshield header is decent and only requires a small patch. Just yesterday I ordered rocker box parts ($748 worth for those keeping score). After it's all said and done it'll be an easy 10-12k by the time I get color on it.