'72 K5 - AJ's Gray Matter Build

[vtblazer]

Just now noticed those spot lights...

That's some serious fast attention you got from your body guy, treat him right.

I'm guessing you'll be driving it again in no time.

 

[AJs72K5]

I'm not at all crazy about the spot lights. They'll be coming off when the truck gets repainted eventually.

It'll probably take me most of the spring to get the truck back together. Gotta get all the pre-requisites for the fuel injection taken care of. And as long as the front clip is torn down, I "might as well" clean up some of the wiring and brake line plumbing. AND I have a list of things that have to get done around the house. We'll see...

 

[Chevy305]

ya that whole "might as well" thing really kills your wallet...

 

[chalet2506]

let me know when you decide to get rid of those spot lights. I could put them to good use.

 

[AJs72K5]

Not a real update, but here's what I was up to today.

 

[AJs72K5]

UPDATE 03/29/09: The last of my major part purchases (I hope) for the rebuild showed up yesterday. I picked a DIY4X crossmember that had changed hands a couple of times cuz it wouldn't fit (LSX and a Cummins). It's never been fully installed

So, of course I had to run by the shop this morning to make sure it would fit.

Tons of clearance on the Milodon pan

Now, I just need to repaint it. Stay tuned, next week, the work on the motor starts...

 

[AJs72K5]

UPDATE 04/03/09: Picked up my hood and cowl from the body shop today...no pics of the hood. But, I did get the pics the body guy took of his progress. These will show a bit better how he cleaned up the dish in the firewall for the BBC.

Bringing back a pic of the firewall showing the PO's "work" to get the BBC in. You can clearly see where he beat on, and cut the firewall up.

The patch for the passenger side...he finished this the day the truck showed up :metal:

The driver's side took a lot more work. He cut the dish to open it up, and then smoothed out the lines while patching the hole.

Here's a shot of the firewall with both patches.

Filler to smooth and ready for primer.

I'll post up a pic of the hood tomorrow along with any progress I make.

 

[AJs72K5]

UPDATE 04/04/09: Made a little more progress today.
But first, as promised, here's a picture of the refinished hood. No more graphics...or big burn mark in the middle

Got the new to me DIY4X crossmember installed. Took a little persuasion to get everything to line up, but it's in. I really need to wipe the frame down...

Finished pulling everything off the engine to prep for the MPFI conversion. I'm also putting a Comp Cams adjustable timing chain. This'll allow me to get the timing on the cam dialed in a close as humanly possible to the grind sheet...which equals MORE HP.

On a side note, the fire may have been a blessing in disguise. The pre-screen on the oil pickup was almost completely clogged with purple paint flakes. They got really sloppy when spraying the purple. Nothing was taped off...there's purple on the crank, the timing chain, inside the heads....

 

[Big Blzn]

AJ. How difficult would that cross member be to install with the motor still in the bay? That thing looks great.

 

[norcal70blazer]

Looking good, your truck will be ready for those warm Texas nights cruising over the rocks…LOL


My plan for quite a while was to paint my blazer bright, bright almost a headache orange…after showing my wife a few pictures of yours, She wants silver now!!!! I feel compelled to let her have one and only one decision regarding my blazer build. She has been a good sport letting me miss diner after diner and leaving me alone while I spend hour after hour in the garage building my rig…So silver it is…..Would you mind sharing the color info? Paint code number ect…
My wife told me tonight when I’m done with the blazer is going to be hers!!! I said Okay, guess I have to build another one!!!! I’ll keep the sb350 and the D44/12 bolt for her! The D60/14bolt and 496 is going to be for me!…..

How are you going to run your throttle linkage? If I remember correctly (been a few months since the tear down) that the linkage went through the firewall in the area that you had patched up. Just curious to how you’re planning to run your throttle linkage…

Also, while having your big block in long block form you “ might as well” have it broken down and freshened up….I would rather spend a little money now for peace of mind later…Just a thought!!!

 

[AJs72K5]

AJ. How difficult would that cross member be to install with the motor still in the bay? That thing looks great.

Wouldn't be too hard. I've seen other guys do it. You'll just need a cherry picker to pull the engine up off the mounts and to unbolt the old x-member. If you have the tranny still bolted up, you might consider a tranny jack too for extra support

My plan for quite a while was to paint my blazer bright, bright almost a headache orange…after showing my wife a few pictures of yours, She wants silver now!!!! I feel compelled to let her have one and only one decision regarding my blazer build. She has been a good sport letting me miss diner after diner and leaving me alone while I spend hour after hour in the garage building my rig…So silver it is…..Would you mind sharing the color info? Paint code number ect…
My wife told me tonight when I’m done with the blazer is going to be hers!!! I said Okay, guess I have to build another one!!!! I’ll keep the sb350 and the D44/12 bolt for her! The D60/14bolt and 496 is going to be for me!…..

How are you going to run your throttle linkage? If I remember correctly (been a few months since the tear down) that the linkage went through the firewall in the area that you had patched up. Just curious to how you’re planning to run your throttle linkage…

Also, while having your big block in long block form you “ might as well” have it broken down and freshened up….I would rather spend a little money now for peace of mind later…Just a thought!!!

Paint code for silver: Chrysler Argent DAH1-S4A

Throttle linkage will still be in the factory location. As for the motor, no $$ to work it over any more than the timing chain and the MPFI kit.

 

[Greg72]

AJ,

If you have time would you mind taking a few measurements off the pulleys before you install them? I'm wondering what the diameter of the main crank pulley is, power steering, etc.

I've got to order an entire front pulley setup for my BBC, and I was curious since they offer a few different diameters and I have nothing left to measure and compare against.

 

[AJs72K5]

PM sent with your info Greg.

 

[AJs72K5]

UPDATE 04/11/09: Got a little shop time this morning. The goal was start cleaning up the block, put the new timing chain on, and degree the cam. However, when we pulled the cam sprocket for the timing chain off, we found this:

Whoever built the engine, neglected to put the thrust washer on behind the cam sprocket. The sprocket has chewed into the block over 1/8". And because the cam wasn't in snug, the lifters are unevenly worn and a couple of cam lobes in the rear are flattening. Additionally, several of my pushrods are flexing. What does all this really mean? I need to rebuild the engine and get the block machined to fix the damage. Not something I had wanted to do right now, and definaltely something that was not budgeted for this year. It was one of those days, where I wish I had stayed home.

 

[ChefBear]

AJ that sucks

Man I feel for you. Being 98% of the way done myself and hitting the wall and just wanting to be done, maybe even drive the truck...

My wife has hit the wall to and just wants it done!

Finding that kinda set back would suck!

I feel for you! Look for the opprotunity...

 

[Greg72]

When you were describing how the P.O. had spray painted the crank purple and that there were paint flecks in the oil screen, it gave me a sinking feeling that maybe things weren't as carefully assembled as they should have been..... unfortunately, this most recent news proves that's true.

We all know that it's one of those "blessings in disguise"...that motor was well on it's way to munching itself to death, and it would have happened just after you got all the paintwork done and were finally feeling really GOOD about things again. You've just been forced into a "Might As Well" decision on this one and there's not much you can do but make the repairs and move on knowing that it's been corrected.

Sorry dude.

 

[vtblazer]

Bad news, sorry AJ.

If your blazer is going to end up sitting for this years driving season, consider this offer.

I'll bring to the Tenn. meet-n-greet a good running low mileage 350 motor and a working th-350/205 combo for ya.

It's working somewhat backwards but you'd be able to drive it till the big block gets repaired.

 

[AJs72K5]

Thanks guys. At this point, I'm gonna get the truck put back together as far as I can without the engine. There's still a fair amount of work it needs to get the MPFI setup. That'll keep me busy long enough to figure out a plan and a budget on the engine.

 

[makovai]

must be a blazer thing.....had the same issue when i bought my rig. some poeple shouldn't build engines. This is what happened 2 months after i bought my rig.
the cam was jumping all over the place. i ended not even fixing this motor and bought the 330 horse GM crate.

 

[bp71k5]

Doesn't Greg have a big block just sitting around for sale in the manspace?