'73 K5 Decade Long Build

[blazininthe73]

I've been around here since 2001, been distracted since 2004, and just started posting again recently. My previous screen name was ChadH82 and still can not figure out why I changed it back in '06. Maybe something to do with a pirate4x4/ck5 scandal or something...

My build began in '01 after I graduated from high school and had more money than sense. I bought my fully stock '73 K5 in good running condition, no rust and and straight body for $3000. Probably a decent price. She looked like this.

​

I quickly started tearing into it and came up with this.

​

Then this...

​

At this point I quickly found I'd make a better salvage yard worker than an restoration guy. I couldn't find anything I took off the blazer when I was trying to put it back together. I took the body to a body shop as I continued to work on the frame and drivetrain. Here are the goodies that found a home in my blazer... and remember I was 18 mowing 40 yards a week and not paying taxes, rent, food, etc.

383HT

14 Bolt with discs

Dana 60

TCI turbo 400

39.5 TSLs

​

I'll start with that for now. More pics and commentary to come.

 

[blazininthe73]

She rolls...

Into the body shop.

​

When the blazer came out of the body shop it was '04 or so, 3 years after I started the build. I was in college and didn't have much time or money to spend... oh, and it took them 2 years to do the body work. So here is how it set until '07 directly out of the body shop with wheels and tires thrown on.

This is where my salvage yard mentality on the tear down really came back to haunt me. Being my first tear down and rebuild, I had no idea where any of the wiring, interior pieces, misc. parts, and so on went or if I even still had them after 6 years. I took it to a shop where it sat for 1 year before it was finally up and running. Apparently I'm too nice or something when it comes to getting my **** done. All that was left after that was small stuff that took me another couple years which brings us to present day. The current specs on the blazer are as follows:

'73 Blazer
383HT motor - Demon carb, Hedman ceramic headers, flowmaster mufflers, ORD poly mounts
T400 tranny w/ TCI Saturday night special converter
Atlas II 4.3 low
39.5 TSLs w/ rockstomper beadlock kit on white steel wheels
Dana 60 w/ ORD crossover
14BFF w/ discs
1" ORD Body lift and poly mounts
4" TC ez rides up front with 4" shackles and Ford shock towers
56" leaves in the back with echobit flip inboarded shocks EDIT: swapped out echobit flip for DIY4X

​

Obviously she still needs some work but I hope to keep the build going at a faster pace than the last 10 years. I'll keep the build thread updated as I go.

 

[ryoken]

ummm, pics no workie.....

 

[blazininthe73]

Now?

 

[ryoken]

now they work..

 

[max 02]

Now I can see, looks very nice.

 

[folkenheath]

Nice build, so what happened with all the parts, did you find them yet? You are going to be LMCs friend, or what's the scoop? Truck looks real nice, I've always liked the full verts.

 

[blazininthe73]

Nice build, so what happened with all the parts, did you find them yet? You are going to be LMCs friend, or what's the scoop? Truck looks real nice, I've always liked the full verts.

I think the body shop had them and I never went back to get everything. Things didn't end so well with them and the thought of going back there just angered me. They did a good job though.

 

[max 02]

Sorry to say but 2 years is along time to store your stuff at a body shop. I can see how your parts went missing.

 

[blazininthe73]

Gauges

I'm working on my instrument cluster today. I put all new auto meter gauges in it and I'm trying to get the dash bezel to fit. Here's some pics so you can see what I'm doing.

The problem is the new gauges stick out about an inch which hits the back of the dash bezel and doesn't line up very good.

I had an extra bezel laying around so I did I little cutting on it to see what I could come up with. I doesn't look great and needs something to go from the bezel back to the outer edges of the cluster to block the view of the stuff around it.

Has anyone else done anything like this and have good ideas for mounting the bezel and making it look good?

 

[folkenheath]

I did the same thing by mounting them in the metal seperator plate. However, first I ground the outer bezel to fit into the gauge faces (2 5/8 and 5"). Then I put it together with no guage to mark the metal gauge plate where to mount them. Once I got that cut out, then put it all together to measure the spacing I would need. Which on the big ones was pretty spot on. The little guages all neede PVC spacers made to get them to sit up close to the outer bezel.

You also have to clearance everything to fit the gauge in there with a die grinder. And cut apart the factory pieces so you still have turn signal indicators, and a gear indicator light if you have an auto. Took me probably a good 12 hours or more. And you need a high beam indicator (green LED above shift indicator), and a brake light, (red LED in the middle of small gauges) which is also low oil pressure warning light

Once I got it all done, I used a little piece of angle aluminum in the back of the larger gauges to help tie them together.

Looks like this...(and I can take the whole cluster out as an assembly, seperate from the bezel, using a multipin connector I got from a salvaged harness).

 

[blazininthe73]

I did the same thing by mounting them in the metal seperator plate.

That looks nice! It looks like I might have to move mine around a little bit to get them to line up correctly. I may just pull the gauges and start over marking the holes like you did.

 

[blazininthe73]

Progress

I got a few more things finished today. Here's some pics of the progress.

I got the gauges to look decent. I think I'm just going to call it good because to redo it would take way too long. It's still a little off but when you're driving it's not that noticable.

I picked up a stock modified roll bar from a member and installed it. I think I'm going to do some more modifying on it to make it stronger at the mounting plates then run a 72" piece of 1/4" x 4" steel across the bottom of the body and bolt both rear supports to it. The red lines on the 2nd pic are where the steel plate will go.

This will have to do until I can afford a cage if I ever can. The rear support on the bar was welded to the inner fender on the previous blazer. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with it yet. Maybe just plate it on both sides of the inner fender and call it good.

I also installed a power steering pump cooler. I mounted it in front of the radiator. Looks like this.

I know you're jealous of my zip ties.

 

[blazininthe73]

The front is all back together now after robbing 3 different trucks of parts. Not as nice as getting LMC stuff but I can't afford them right now. The front bumper will stay on until I can afford one from DIY4X.

 

[ryoken]

love that front clip....

 

[blazininthe73]

Roll Bar Mods

My Blazer didn't come with a stock roll bar so it didn't have any way to bolt up the support off the main bar. I bought a piece of 1/4"x4" steel and cut it to 70" then put it directly under where the bar support mounts to the body and bolted them together. Here's some pics.

The obvious weak link now to the roll bar is the 1/8" plates that the bar is welded to. I plan on cutting these off and welding 1/4" flat plates to them for added strength. I think the current plates would just bend in a side impact.

 

[yearzero]

Thats a great looking 73. Sweet that you got the frame, engine, trans, suspension, body all squared away. The rest is just gravy...gravy that will take you the rest of your life to prepare and consume..

Great blazer and thanks for taking the time to post your progress and efforts.

 

[blazininthe73]

Thats a great looking 73. Sweet that you got the frame, engine, trans, suspension, body all squared away. The rest is just gravy...gravy that will take you the rest of your life to prepare and consume..

Great blazer and thanks for taking the time to post your progress and efforts.

Thanks!.. and I hear ya on the gravy. It's pretty hard to swallow.

 

[blazininthe73]

New parts and toys

Some new parts arrived today... DIY4X shackle flip n switch, 6" shackles and u-bolt plates. I also picked up a Lincoln 180 wire feed welder at Lowes. That thing is awesome! Yesterday was the 2nd time I've ever welded in my life and my welds are looking fairly decent. The strength of my welds is probably a different story. While I was waiting the for paint to dry on my new parts I started mocking up a crossmember for an Atlas support ring which should be on its way. I think the crossmember is made out of 1"x3" that has a pretty thick wall. Not exactly sure, didn't measure. I'm going to hang my support ring from above. Here's all the pics. I'm always open to suggestions.

I was going to use 1.5" round for the ASR but this turned out decent so I might just use it. I chose to hang the ASR from above the t-case so there won't be any contact underneath by rocks and such that could break a tranny mount footing or worse.

 

[blazininthe73]

Today I got the DIY4X shackle flip and switch w/ 6 inch shackles installed and the new ubolt plates. I didn't have any problems removing the rivets on the side of the frame but the bottom two on both sides were pretty tough for some reason. In the process of trying to get the bottom rivets out on both sides I bent the bottom of the frame as you can see in the pic. This made the getting the new shackle flip on more of a challenge to line up the holes but it worked out. These things are beefy!.. and look pretty sweet too. The shackle angle is perfect.