'72 K5 - Greg's @MightAsWellK5 Build

[Greg72]

It's nice to have my other 465,248 views displayed properly on this thread.

Seeing this thread displayed with only 1M views was making me feel worse than being locked out of my Instagram account.

Special thanks to @CK5 for figuring out how the fix the new forum software to display the view counts properly again.


-G

 

[Greg72]

2021.03.30 - UPDATE! - FRONT FENDER "V3"...

For those of you following along at home..... the front fender arch project has not reached it's third iteration as of last Sunday.

Presenting..... "V3".

The changes are getting subtler, and subtler now... with the overall shape of the flare and proportions really seeming to strike the right balance. The main difference with "V3" was a slightly tighter opening at the bottom to allow for the "stock" shape to carry all the way down below the style-lines, but due to clearance issues on full-lock steering the flare was extended to the very bottom of the panel now instead of disappearing at the style-line as it did with "V1" and "V2".

That extra stickout allows the tire the just squeak behind the flare at the bottom corners while keeping the overall arch as small as possible.

Ultimately, it seems like it's really going to come out nice. As you can also see.... there is a complete 4' x 10' sheet of 20GA (sheared to a 60/40 split) which will allow the transition from foamcore fender arch shapes to ACTUAL metal this coming weekend. That should be another massive step #FORWARD.


-G

 

[Greg72]

2021.04.06 - UPDATE! - FRONT FENDER "V4"....yes... "V4"

The revisions keep on rolling along....

You really have to just make peace with the fact that custom work takes lots and lots of hours. Doing something "off the menu" is not for everyone and it definitely tests patience.

This weekend, the "V3" fender design (shown installed in the photo below) was revised slightly to increase the arch size by 1/4" all the way around. This was to accommodate the extra material needed when the beaded edge is actually rendered on the part. It wont just be a blunt-cut like it is now so that radius of extra metal needed to be accounted for. Here is a shot of the "V1" "V2" and "V3" revisions all in one photo:

The larger arch was transferred to a huge paper template and that template was taped-down to the new 20GA steel sheet....

The new Bosch cordless shears made quick work of the cutting (this tool is worth EVERY penny!)... I stayed just outside of the blue Sharpie lines so that there would be some material available to for the final smoothing and finessing of the curve.

At this phase, the arch was cut with a generous extra amount of material to "curl under" the arch to finish that edge off, but ultimately the amount of shrinking and twisting of the part as a result was going to make it unmanageable for a rookie metalshaper like me, so it seemed like a safer option to build that detail later and weld it on instead. Here is a quick little marking tool that was made to accurately follow the outer curve and mark the next cut line.

With the steel arch ready to go, it was time to tape it to the stock fender and start the templating of the upper flare piece. Working with steel instead of cardboard was a mixed blessing. It was more resistant to being placed into correct orientation, but once it was there it held dimensions much more accurately and allowed for a higher quality upper template.

Here we are about mid-way through the templating process.... there is no real obvious way to establish the profile of the curve where the flare joins to the original fender. It's all done visually... stretch some blue fineline tape to create a curve, step back and look for any oddball sections and make small adjustments to the curve or size until it just "feels" right. Ultimately, one thing you learn after a few revisions is that there really isn't a very large range of "acceptable" choices. Almost immediately the variances make the arch look WAY too big, or WAY to small... or the flare angle itself just looks goofy. For me, I always start at the top of the curve... play around with a few different lengths of spacers and see what seems to work best... then use the blue tape to establish the curve from that topmost reference point..... then slowly fill in the intervals with more foam spacers until the metal arch is "in plane" everywhere and not twisted or misaligned.

After a few hours, and a full roll of gaffer tape... the results speak for themselves. The upper template is quite sharp and precise and can be carefully cut off and laid-down onto a large sheet of paper to have the shape transferred over. From there, any small irregularities from the template can be smoothed out so that when the metal is cut and edge-finished it should have a tight fitup with the front curved part.

NEXT UP:

Two experiments still need to be done... the first is the arrival of a new beadroller die which SHOULD allow me to replicate the factory beaded edge around the fender curve. It's a subtle detail and it's unclear how easy (or hard) it will be to replicate and then weld on to this flared part after the fact.... the other experiment will be to put a small radius on the upper filler panel to soften the transition where it attaches to the stock fender. This will reduce the visual size of that flare a little bit and should help give it a nicer proportion and blend in more with the original aesthetic of the fender.




-G

 

[bp71k5]

Seems like you could put a shallow crown in the center of that big “arch” piece to blend it in with the fender rather than a small radius at the edge. Or are these pieces just templates for the “real” parts and you’re going to add extra radius material to the final part? Super curious to see how it turns out.

 

[Greg72]

Seems like you could put a shallow crown in the center of that big “arch” piece to blend it in with the fender rather than a small radius at the edge. Or are these pieces just templates for the “real” parts and you’re going to add extra radius material to the final part? Super curious to see how it turns out.

Brian,

You talking about the flare part that is made of black tape in the photos?

The stock fenders have a concave shape going out to the original fenderlip. It's OK... but IMO, it's a bit more "soft spoken" and as the truck gets beefed up with the larger and wider tires, the straight flare is a stronger and more muscular look that enhances what is already going on. As soon as I run that top piece through the beadroller to add the edge radius, it's immediately going to stiffen up and won't want to bend around the curve anymore... so it will need to be stretched all along that beadrolled edge to put it back into the proper curvature again.

That is one of those details that can be tried out on a scrap piece of metal just to confirm if it will work as expected....don't have to cut and waste a 60" long section of sheetmetal. A 4x10' sheet of 20GA seems big until you start cutting fender arches out of it. It wastes a lot of material...


-G

 

[bp71k5]

but IMO, it's a bit more "soft spoken" and as the truck gets beefed up with the larger and wider tires, the straight flare is a stronger and more muscular look that enhances what is already going on.

-G

But what happened to “stock”?

I guess you might piece it together as well to avoid scrapping too many 60” pieces of steel?

 

[Greg72]

But what happened to “stock”?

I guess you might piece it together as well to avoid scrapping too many 60” pieces of steel?

Stock-ish
Stock-plus
Stock-like
Stock-a-doodle-doo


I guess "stock" is whatever I say it is.... and to whatever extent suits the MightAsWellK5 build.

There are some seriously "not stock" parts (/cough /cough..... aluminum 4-link / 3-link suspension).... but it will still have an uncut dash with the period-correct working AM radio, just like 1972.


Don't ask me to explain it..... I can't define it, but I know it when I see it.


-G

 

[imiceman44]

Stock-ish
Stock-plus
Stock-like
Stock-a-doodle-doo


I guess "stock" is whatever I say it is.... and to whatever extent suits the MightAsWellK5 build.

There are some seriously "not stock" parts (/cough /cough..... aluminum 4-link / 3-link suspension).... but it will still have an uncut dash with the period-correct working AM radio, just like 1972.


Don't ask me to explain it..... I can't define it, but I know it when I see it.


-G

And it has stock hubcaps.
So it's stock.

 

[centexk5]

It’s a bolt on vehicle. That’s all.

 

[Greg72]

It’s a bolt on vehicle. That’s all.

Indeed.

I'll leave the hardcore builds to the experts... I'm more of a parts catalog & checkbook kinda guy.


-G

 

[centexk5]

It shows for sure hahaha.

 

[bp71k5]

But what happened to “stock”?

Stock-ish
Stock-plus
Stock-like
Stock-a-doodle-doo


I guess "stock" is whatever I say it is.... and to whatever extent suits the MightAsWellK5 build.

There are some seriously "not stock" parts (/cough /cough..... aluminum 4-link / 3-link suspension).... but it will still have an uncut dash with the period-correct working AM radio, just like 1972.


Don't ask me to explain it..... I can't define it, but I know it when I see it.


-G

Obviously it’s your truck and not mine and it’s an impressive truck even as it sits now and so it’s not meant as a criticism, but I’ve always thought the fender arch design was one of those “have to keep” design features similar to the radio in the dash. I guess if you were going to rework the rear fender to match, I could “forgive” this blasphemy easier.

Either way it looks really well done in its own right (and gaffers tape) even if you completely ignore my design preferences for your truck and I’m sure I’ll be pleasantly surprised on how good it looks when it’s done.

 

[ryoken]

Luv seeing you back at this... I may have missed it, but did you pick up a stretcher and shrinker? I could really see those being helpful for wheel lip work, etc....

 

[Greg72]

Obviously it’s your truck and not mine and it’s an impressive truck even as it sits now and so it’s not meant as a criticism, but I’ve always thought the fender arch design was one of those “have to keep” design features similar to the radio in the dash. I guess if you were going to rework the rear fender to match, I could “forgive” this blasphemy easier.

Either way it looks really well done in its own right (and gaffers tape) even if you completely ignore my design preferences for your truck and I’m sure I’ll be pleasantly surprised on how good it looks when it’s done.

Yeah, honestly this modification is a tough one for me as well.

The "stock" fender is a key part of the identity of the 1st Gen Blazer.... that nice sweeping curve is a really classic look. But as we all know, when you throw on tires larger than maybe 31"... they aren't going to have the clearance. You have two options (3 really)....

1. Lift the truck to the moon so that big tires never get close to the fenders. This often looks odd with a big balloon tire under a tiny stock arch.
2. Cut the leading and trailing edges for the necessary clearance, creating a disjointed appearance
3. Try to build a larger "stock-ish" fender opening to respect the original aesthetic but provide the needed clearance.

Trying to balance form vs. function isn't easy. If I was willing to artificially limit by bump travel from 6" down to something smaller, this whole fender arch could be WAY smaller... but the offroad performance would be lousy and defeats the whole purpose of building such a capable suspension & axles. There are WAY too many hours invested in those systems to just throw in a set of bumpstops on it.

The rear fenders will get a larger set of arches and flares as well. Not really because they need nearly as much clearance (they don't) but to restore the visual balance front-to-rear of the truck. The factory Blazer used a much smaller rear arch than the front, so it wonn't need to be a crazy huge change... but it does need to grow in size to maintain the proportion and also to make sure that the rear of the truck has the same flared look so that there is a balance to the stance of the truck. Otherwise, the look would be like a bodybuilder who always skips leg day!!! Muscular up front, skinny out back.... it's not going to work.


-G

 

[Greg72]

Luv seeing you back at this... I may have missed it, but did you pick up a stretcher and shrinker? I could really see those being helpful for wheel lip work, etc....

Hey Paul!

Yep... a dozen or so pages back I picked up a deep throat shrinker/stretcher from Eastwood. Charlie helped me put it together....

That was followed by the English Wheel, the BeadRoller and the new Arbor Press Shrinker. With that quartet of new tools, I feel like I've got a strong capability to do almost anything sheetmetal-related now.

This fender project feels like a real "hot rodder" moment for me personally. There is something about building a set of steel flares that just feels cool....bulking out a set of stock fenders to make them work over a larger set of tires gives the vehicle a more purposeful look and is a real "next level" update that you just don't see very often in the Blazer realm. I'm having a lot of fun with it for sure, and can't wait to get these completed so that I can pull the truck off the jackstands and set it back at ride height so I can just step back and check out the effect from a distance at all kinds of different angles. I think it's going to look pretty good.



-G

 

[bp71k5]

I wonder if you can get some modeling clay and run a bead of it at the joint to simulate a small radius? Kinda like real GM designers did back in the day.

 

[Greg72]

I wonder if you can get some modeling clay and run a bead of it at the joint to simulate a small radius? Kinda like real GM designers did back in the day.

Maybe... why not Bondo?

With an expensive new beadroller in the shop there is really no excuse not to try to do it the right way... and its always fun the learn something new.

Got a ship confirmation from Mittler Brothers last night. Looks like the new dies to replicate the 1st Gen fender crease will arrive in time for this weekend!

-G

 

[bp71k5]

Maybe... why not Bondo?

With an expensive new beadroller in the shop there is really no excuse not to try to do it the right way... and its always fun the learn something new.

Got a ship confirmation from Mittler Brothers last night. Looks like the new dies to replicate the 1st Gen fender crease will arrive in time for this weekend!

-G

I was trying to save you some money. clay is cheap and can be smoothed and reworked forever and then removed without grinding or harming the metal.

If you go the metal way, remember to leave some extra material to account for the radius that’ll be added.

 

[Greg72]

2021.04.12 - UPDATE! - !! 100% METAL FENDER WEEKEND !!




It happened..... and it was glorious.

Got a good start on Sunday morning in the garage, carefully cutting off the "V4" upper flare template and transferred it to heavy cardstock.

Transferred THAT pattern over to some 20GA and used the Bosch cordless to cut through that pattern like butta...

At this point, I did a quick experiment with a Mittler Brothers "Spoiler Die" to put a good strong radius on a test panel to see if it would look good. It did... so the entire new upper flare panel was run through the beadroller to get that radius applied. The only problem is that it immediately made the panel SO stiff that it could no longer be bent around the fender arch shape.

Out came the shrinker / stretcher to gently apply the necessary persuasion to the outermost 1/4" of the lip... it really doesn't take much to start putting the curve back into the panel... and within maybe 30 minutes it was laying up pretty well to the fender.

Cleco fasteners are AWESOME for this kind of work.... it's like having a couple extra sets of strong hands to keep things in position while trying to get some TIG tacks applied.

A close-up of the upper radius from that spoiler die..... it really softens the look of the flare and takes some of the bulkiness out of it. The results speak for themselves....

The last piece of the puzzle is the fender arch "crease" to replicate the factory look. The new beadroller die arrived on Friday and the results looks pretty close to the crease on a "reproduction" fenderlip. My recollection is that a true factory fender has a much "crisper" crease... so maybe this first attempt isn't really so bad after all? With different upper / lower die combinations and offsets, a lot of different variations are possible.... so this will just require a bit more experimentation.

Ultimately, the crease gets welded on later as part of the underside lip so that there is a place to bolt the inner fenderwells (yet to be created).... Trying to build these details directly into the new fenderarch is unfortunately beyond my current skillset, so it's going to have to be a 2-piece solution.... welded and metal-finished smooth.



That's it! Small details remain, but the beauty of all of this tedious templating is that I can flip all these cardboard templates over and they magically become driver's side templates for the opposite side. Easy peasy....


-G

 

[max 02]

2021.04.12 - UPDATE! - !! 100% METAL FENDER WEEKEND !!




It happened..... and it was glorious.

Got a good start on Sunday morning in the garage, carefully cutting off the "V4" upper flare template and transferred it to heavy cardstock.

Transferred THAT pattern over to some 20GA and used the Bosch cordless to cut through that pattern like butta...

At this point, I did a quick experiment with a Mittler Brothers "Spoiler Die" to put a good strong radius on a test panel to see if it would look good. It did... so the entire new upper flare panel was run through the beadroller to get that radius applied. The only problem is that it immediately made the panel SO stiff that it could no longer be bent around the fender arch shape.

Out came the shrinker / stretcher to gently apply the necessary persuasion to the outermost 1/4" of the lip... it really doesn't take much to start putting the curve back into the panel... and within maybe 30 minutes it was laying up pretty well to the fender.

Cleco fasteners are AWESOME for this kind of work.... it's like having a couple extra sets of strong hands to keep things in position while trying to get some TIG tacks applied.

A close-up of the upper radius from that spoiler die..... it really softens the look of the flare and takes some of the bulkiness out of it. The results speak for themselves....

The last piece of the puzzle is the fender arch "crease" to replicate the factory look. The new beadroller die arrived on Friday and the results looks pretty close to the crease on a "reproduction" fenderlip. My recollection is that a true factory fender has a much "crisper" crease... so maybe this first attempt isn't really so bad after all? With different upper / lower die combinations and offsets, a lot of different variations are possible.... so this will just require a bit more experimentation.

Ultimately, the crease gets welded on later as part of the underside lip so that there is a place to bolt the inner fenderwells (yet to be created).... Trying to build these details into the new fenderarch is unfortunately beyond my current skillset, so it's going to have to be a 2-piece solution.... welded and metal-finished smooth.



That's it! Small details remain, but the beauty of all of this tedious templating is that I can flip all these cardboard templates over and they magically become driver's side templates for the opposite side. Easy peasy....


-G

That’s looking really good!

Easy peasy Eh!