74 K5 - Harry's Budget Blazer

[flynhawaiian]

Anyways I decided I could use some motivation to finish my blazer. Since my old buddies got out of wheeling, I have had little motivation to finish the thing.

I have slowly been collecting parts over the past couple of years and if I am going to try to make to Oregon sand weekend I need to finish the dang thing.

Since it is currently my spring break I figured now would be a great time to get my rear in gear.

Comments and advice is always appreciated.

I bought this blazer compete but not running from what turned out to be a homeless guy living east of Hood River for 300 bucks back in 2009.

Current plans are 1tons with welded rear, crossover, 4 inch lift with shackle flip, 35inch tires.

 

[flynhawaiian]

Couldn't figure out why the engine would not run. Ended up pulling it out and tearing off the timing cover. Turns out the power wire going to the coil was on the fritz. After replacing it ran great. Oh well I wasn't out much more then my time and pride.

Spent the next couple of summers driving it around and doing small modifications. Added a radio from a 84 t-bird, put in a bench seat and best of all removed the top.

 

[78SWB]

Sounds like a good start. I'll watch. Do you have the ton's, lift, or tires yet?

 

[flynhawaiian]

Yeah. I got the lift and rear axle from 1BeatK5 old suburbanlche, diy4x shackle flip, Dana 60 and tires from my pickup, cross over arm and draglink from WFO. The 35's I got are pretty low on tread, but they will work for now.

Hopefully more pics to come tonight.

 

[83ChevyK5Blazer]

I wish I was closer to help, hopefully you can make the sand weekend

 

[flynhawaiian]

Thanks. If I don't have to go to Idaho for work I should be there.

Got the old axle out, and the new one hung with the lift springs.

Dana 60s are heavy but having access to a tractor helps.

 

[1AAuto.com]

I love these old trucks. Looks like a pretty cool project truck.

 

[Deuling]

Cool!

 

[magik235]

Great start to your project.

 

[flynhawaiian]

Thanks for the feedback

Not much progress today. I put the tires on the front to see how it looked. Still got to put in some brackets to lower the brake lines and install the shocks.

 

[flynhawaiian]

Decided to put the rear axle in using some lift blocks I had. Looks pretty good except the rear end sits a little low and now the driveshaft is close to an inch short.

Instead of trying to move the axle or find another driveshaft, I decided to just go ahead and install the shackle flip I bought last year. Well in order to do that I probably have to drop the tank. In order to drop the tank I had to cut out the old trailer hitch the previous owner welded in there. Well now the hitch and rear bumper are out but the tank is still in there.

 

[natemc]

Good start! Keep at it and don't hesitate to call or text me. I'm through Corvallis all the time and can swing by maybe. Even if just for a few minutes it can be helpfull. Good job

 

[flynhawaiian]

Thanks for the offer nate!

Got a little more done tonight. Gas tank out, got the rivets off one side and got the shackle hanger on. Grinding rivets is a pain, but the end result was pretty satisfying.

 

[Deuling]

If you have a grinder and an air hammer, rivets are cake.

Put a slice in the rivets with a cut off wheel, then a straigh blade in the air hammer. I had my stock hangers off in like 5 minutes..

 

[flynhawaiian]

An air hammer would be nice, but I can't complain. The die grinder and cut off wheels made relatively short work of it. Probably took 10 minutes to grind the heads off and another 5 minutes to knock out the rivets.

Also some props to DIY4X. I am not worried about the hanger braking and all the holes lined up.

 

[natemc]

Nice!

 

[max 02]

Nice!

 

[Mundy]

Agreed!

 

[82355]

I love full convertibles. The T-bird radio cracked me up.

Martin

 

[flynhawaiian]

After I got the thing running and took off the top I was desperate for some tunes. Someday I will change it, but it works just well enough right now that it will probably stay awhile.

Got some more done tonight. Got the other shackle flip put on, and the axle put in with some 56 inch springs. Putting the shackle flip in solved my driveshaft to short problem and my slightly lower in the rear problem. Also able to remove the rest of the old trailer hitch brackets.

Didn't have the right sized u-bolts so I reused the ones for the 4inch lift blocks. Not a permanent solution, but it should be good enough to roll around the shop.