77 Blazer - The Beast build

[ZombieK5]

Could be open for business tomorrow or early next week...

Still alot to do but the big stuff is done. Mostly tiny things left. And since I figure I will never fully be done building this garage, that's going to be the new standard.

 

[ZombieK5]

IT IS ALIVE!!! Need to get this car fixed first then Blazer works starts again!!

Little Top Gun for background sound.

 

[ZombieK5]

Well, it ISN'T actual work but I got the body Rotisserie FROM Eastwood. I have my 1990 Silverado on the lift now getting needed seals replaced, New body mounts and 3" lift, New exhaust, new AC System, new steering and a bunch of other crap.

Hope to get body sandblasted in March.

 

[ZombieK5]

Last update was nearly a year ago. I had to deal with my 1990 Silverado and our 2014 Silverado...

No actual work starting soon because I need to change the timing chains on my wife's 2005 Explorer. Ughhhh. Engine has to come out for that.

However, the Parts Fairy came by today and dropped off my new PSC gearbox and fluid. Yipeeee for me!!

 

[ZombieK5]

SOON!!!

About to get back to work. Just picked up this 86 frame which should work with my 78 tub!

What is most amazing is that the frame includes all of the original brake and fuel lines showing the original places they were attached to the frame. It also includes all of the brackets for the brake lines and exhaust hangers. The fuel tank on it is shot and has a hole in the bottom. The only damage to the frame is a rusted out spot on the rear driver side body mount which is pretty much common on all of these. That will be a simple matter of using a hole saw on a piece of Steel and Welding a new piece in place. Then it comes down to cleaning it up and shipping it to the sandblaster.

My plan is to primer the frame and use either John Deere black paint or the Rust-Oleum Farm and Implement paint.

I thought about having it powder coated but there's a really good chance that after it's in the garage I'm going to need to attach brackets and other pieces. I really would hate to ruin the powder coating. It's easier just to grind off paint weld on a bracket and then paint over it. I've heard good things about the John Deere paint and the Rust-Oleum paint. I'll probably go with John Deere primer with Rust-Oleum black. There's a significant price difference between the two.

 

[Blue85]

Free EFI tank?

 

[ZombieK5]

Free EFI tank?

It has a hole in it. Somebody punched a hole in it to drain the gas out. I also have a 31 gallon tank to replace it.

 

[ZombieK5]

Major News!!

Body is off the trailer! Hope to have rotisserie assembled tomorrow!

 

[ZombieK5]

Step #2 of 6,953 steps.

Got the rotisserie assembled. Was pretty easy. Next step is to fabricate the steel mounts that will attach to the two rotisserie halves. If all goes well it should be fully mounted by Sunday.

 

[ZombieK5]

THIS THING IS AWESOME!

Took me about 6hrs total to get this up and running. Had to fab the front mount and kinda went overkill but I'd rather be safe than sorry.

I scoured the internet for tips and ideas. NO ONE had a simple example for a K5 rotisserie mount. What I came up with seems to work.

Tip #1 Huge SAFETY tip. On the mounting bars that slide along the upside down "T". I saw a video of a rotisserie mounted body that slid OFF. The guy really thought he had it secure. So, I drilled a 1/2" hole through the mounting bar and the T mount then used a grade 8 bolt and nut to guarantee it won't slide off.

Tip #2 on the long cross bar (runs under the body from front to back), take a paint pen and mark off every 6" it will help get everything even.

Tip #3 The MAIN hydraulic lift bar MUST be same height on both side. The Eastwood instructions were not clear on this.

All I need to do is tweek the balance. I actually got it abount 90% dead on balanced just by eyeballing it before I released it from the two post lift.

Gonna be fun getting the rust off. I'm gonna use dustless sandblasting. That will be fun too!

 

[ZombieK5]

NOTHING EVER GOES AS PLANNED

I purchased this 1978 tub with the understanding that it only had one significant rust spot along the window frame in front of the steering wheel. I cut that out yesterday and the repair doesn't look to be too difficult. I have a donor section of window frame to cut and weld in place. Easy Peasy.

Well, looking over the body closer than I ever have before, I came across two rust spots at the top right corner of the window frame above the steering wheel. Again, I have sections of window frame to act as a donor so, irritated as I was, it can still be fixed. I then went to sand the area of the top window frame and came across a section of body filler. I continued my investigation and found a major rust hole on the top of the roof over the driver side door. I got out my sander and came across a significant section of repair. The inside of the roof has got a bunch of rust scale. This rust hole cannot be fixed with just body filler or Kitty hair.

Thankfully I again have two different donor roofs that I can cut section from and weld in place. This is not going to be as easy as I thought since the damage goes right down to one of the drip rails. I might be able to remove the spot welds and remove a donor section of roof including the top section of drip rail and weld it back in place. What was going to be a day of straightening some small bends in the body turned into a major project.

The body filler appears to go across the entire front edge of the roof. There is no damage to the Leading Edge of the roof however. On the passenger side I found eight or nine additional holes that were drilled in the roof presumably to pull a dent out. I need to run my sander over the entire Leading Edge to see how much Bondo is in there.

 

[ZombieK5]

Found sooooo much more bondo. Also found the windshield frame structural support was.toast. Gonna order a new roof skin and cut new structural pieces from my donor roofs.

 

[Conner]

The roof skin is different on a Blazer vs a regular cab. The back edge where the camper shell bolts in is very different, but so are the sides above the door windows. The roof skin flattens out into a small horizontal lip that spot welds down to the drip rail.

I was not aware anyone made a reproduction roof skin for the Blazers, yet at least. I just went through a bunch of roof repairs in the past year on mine. It's weird that the screenshots of the listing seem to imply that the roof skin is for a Blazer AND a pickup. I worry they are incorrectly listing it as a Blazer skin. Based on the pictures it doesn't appear to be the right skin for a Blazer, but sometimes pictures are wrong.

Just a heads up on that, good luck...

 

[ZombieK5]

The roof skin is different on a Blazer vs a regular cab. The back edge where the camper shell bolts in is very different, but so are the sides above the door windows. The roof skin flattens out into a small horizontal lip that spot welds down to the drip rail.

I was not aware anyone made a reproduction roof skin for the Blazers, yet at least. I just went through a bunch of roof repairs in the past year on mine. It's weird that the screenshots of the listing seem to imply that the roof skin is for a Blazer AND a pickup. I worry they are incorrectly listing it as a Blazer skin. Based on the pictures it doesn't appear to be the right skin for a Blazer, but sometimes pictures are wrong.

Just a heads up on that, good luck...

I'm gonna call. I have two back up donor roofs. Neither are perfect but at least I have a backup

 

[ZombieK5]

The roof skin is different on a Blazer vs a regular cab. The back edge where the camper shell bolts in is very different, but so are the sides above the door windows. The roof skin flattens out into a small horizontal lip that spot welds down to the drip rail.

I was not aware anyone made a reproduction roof skin for the Blazers, yet at least. I just went through a bunch of roof repairs in the past year on mine. It's weird that the screenshots of the listing seem to imply that the roof skin is for a Blazer AND a pickup. I worry they are incorrectly listing it as a Blazer skin. Based on the pictures it doesn't appear to be the right skin for a Blazer, but sometimes pictures are wrong.

Just a heads up on that, good luck...

OK, need some clarification. I just removed the whole skin. I removed the spot welds for the drip rail. I understand the back edge is very different....however, I would think the rest of the skin would be nearly the same including the flat parts that weld to the drip rail. The windows and windshields are all the same, I'd think the drip rails were the same too.

 

[Conner]

OK, need some clarification. I just removed the whole skin. I removed the spot welds for the drip rail. I understand the back edge is very different....however, I would think the rest of the skin would be nearly the same including the flat parts that weld to the drip rail. The windows and windshields are all the same, I'd think the drip rails were the same too.

Yeah I would have thought that too. But on the Blazers the drip rail is welded in. The pickups don't have the same style. The edge of the roof skin folds down into the door jamb and the drip rail screws into the sheet metal. I have no idea why it's different, because as you said, that part of the cab is otherwise identical on Blazers and pickups.

These 2 pictures (both pickups) are just ones I found online but they kind of show the area. First one you can see the screws used to hold the removable drip rail to the roof skin. Second one you can see the roof skin layered down into the door jamb (notice the horizontal edge of the roof skin at the back of the door jamb and you can follow the edge all the way to the A-pillar). You should be able to zoom in to both pics.

 

[ZombieK5]

Yeah I would have thought that too. But on the Blazers the drip rail is welded in. The pickups don't have the same style. The edge of the roof skin folds down into the door jamb and the drip rail screws into the sheet metal. I have no idea why it's different, because as you said, that part of the cab is otherwise identical on Blazers and pickups.

Ya know....this is frikin bullsht and why hasn't anyone made a Blazer skin. Sometimes they really don't make this easy.

OK, I can do some fab work, I can deal with the drip rails...id settle for the aftermarket skin if it fit the windshield and all the way back to the back edge.

 

[Conner]

Ya know....this is frikin bullsht and why hasn't anyone made a Blazer skin. Sometimes they really don't make this easy.

OK, I can do some fab work, I can deal with the drip rails...id settle for the aftermarket skin if it fit the windshield and all the way back to the back edge.

Yeah I’m with ya, I was also cursing the fact that no one makes it (yet). When I fixed mine I, unknowingly at the time, probably did it the hard way by not finding a donor skin. So I think you’re smart to have donor(s). Given you’ve taken at least one skin off so far it sounds like, you may not find this super helpful, but in case it will help at all, I have pretty detailed info/pics of this at the below post (and for several posts after I think) in my build thread. If you happen to have any questions I’m happy to try to help, just because I’ve done it recently. Good luck man, it’s gonna suck but it will be worth it!

https://ck5.com/forums/threads/85-k5-denali-blazer-front-4-link.349395/post-4400085

 

[ZombieK5]

The roof skin is different on a Blazer vs a regular cab. The back edge where the camper shell bolts in is very different, but so are the sides above the door windows. The roof skin flattens out into a small horizontal lip that spot welds down to the drip rail.

I was not aware anyone made a reproduction roof skin for the Blazers, yet at least. I just went through a bunch of roof repairs in the past year on mine. It's weird that the screenshots of the listing seem to imply that the roof skin is for a Blazer AND a pickup. I worry they are incorrectly listing it as a Blazer skin. Based on the pictures it doesn't appear to be the right skin for a Blazer, but sometimes pictures are wrong.

Just a heads up on that, good luck...

OK, I looked over the pieces I cut off of the 78 Blazer that is my project. I also looked over the two donor roofs that I have in my yard. One of them is much better than the other. My plan is to cut and paste, for lack of a better word, pieces on to one of the existing donor roofs. This way I can make sure the roof skin keeps its shape before I fully remove it to put on the project. My biggest issue is going to be part of the passenger side b-pillar and the mounting holes for the cab topper along the rear edge of the roof skin. At least I'm confident I'll be able to keep the roof skin shape with this method.