Seriously appreciate it guys, I am going to take your advice.
Thank you!
Thank you!
CK5
Register an account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members.
'85 K5 "Denali" Blazer: Front 4-link
- Thread starter Conner
- Start date
The goal is to restore and upgrade this truck for mixed use on/off road (ex: drive across the country to a national park to 4x4 camp).
My brother in law and I got the L92 out of the Yukon tonight 
Following, should be a sweet drivetrain for the K5. Are you parting out the Denali?
A preheat for a MIG starts on something like this where material thickness isn't a concern is usually just 20 or 30 seconds with the propane torch over the first couple of inches of the weld. For 1/8" overlay plates, I'd focus all of the flame on the frame. The overlays will burn easy.
Also, newer inverter welders usually have some programming in them that runs hotter volts for the first second or two to get the party started before tapering to the normal voltage and feed rate.
David
Thanks I am stoked for it! And yes I will be parting out the Yukon. Already sold the front and middle row seats actually. Gonna try to get as much of my money back on it as I can to effectively make the engine and transmission as cheap as possible, which will help offset the cost of rebuilding them eventually.
This is super helpful! I have an inverter welder (Everlast Lightning MTS 225) but I will probably still do a preheat just to be safe. Thanks!
Transmission is held up by a jack stand (with the jack pulling back up) at the moment. But the engine mounts are attached.
One of the driver side exhaust bolts broke off flush with the head, so I’ll need to extract that. That happened on my Silverado when I did the AFM delete, so I have an idea of what to do at least. But the passenger side header is on.
Not sure why, but putting a header on is super fun and makes it all feel real.
Pretty stoked on this milestone guys. Thanks for following along.
Got a few onesie-twosie little things done over the past few days.
Put the intake manifold back on, but clearance to the firewall was very tight. Then realized there's a plastic cover of some type (I assume for noise?) on the back side of the manifold that seems very optional. Took that off and now there's about an inch of clearance to the firewall at the closest spots. I also put back on some little stuff like the starter and alternator (just to have them in place to check clearances when I do the suspension).
I also put on the Summit AC compressor bracket, which fits a Sanden 508 style compressor and relocates it to the top passenger from the bottom passenger side. I don't have the compressor yet, but I will probably get it in the coming weeks before starting the suspension.
I was also having to keep at least enough air in the tires (which leak bad) for them hold their shape, because the transmission was sitting on a jack stand. So to make a slightly more permanent, but still temporary, solution I tried to see if I could get the factory W style crossmember in, even just partially, to support the transmission at least enough to be trailer-worthy.
It turns out a 6L80 almost literally bolts into a Squarebody, or at least an '80s Blazer I guess. With the engine in the stock location (via the ORD motor mounts), the transmission crossmember bolted into the original frame holes, and the transmission mount from the Yukon (which fits directly onto the crossmember without modification to either), the bolts that attach the transmission mount to the transmission are off by maybe a quarter inch (transmission sits too far back slightly). If someone was so inclined, I'm pretty sure you could make it work by just elongating the bolt holes in the transmission mount slightly. I'm not going to bother because I don't think I can use this transmission crossmember anyways (I think the ORD link brackets will be in the way).
To prep for the front suspension work, I still need to do all the front frame plates (including steering box plate) and install some easy stuff (brake booster, steering column/shaft) for clearance reasons. Hoping I will be able to start suspension stuff in January (I will have limited garage time in December).
Put the intake manifold back on, but clearance to the firewall was very tight. Then realized there's a plastic cover of some type (I assume for noise?) on the back side of the manifold that seems very optional. Took that off and now there's about an inch of clearance to the firewall at the closest spots. I also put back on some little stuff like the starter and alternator (just to have them in place to check clearances when I do the suspension).
I also put on the Summit AC compressor bracket, which fits a Sanden 508 style compressor and relocates it to the top passenger from the bottom passenger side. I don't have the compressor yet, but I will probably get it in the coming weeks before starting the suspension.
I was also having to keep at least enough air in the tires (which leak bad) for them hold their shape, because the transmission was sitting on a jack stand. So to make a slightly more permanent, but still temporary, solution I tried to see if I could get the factory W style crossmember in, even just partially, to support the transmission at least enough to be trailer-worthy.
It turns out a 6L80 almost literally bolts into a Squarebody, or at least an '80s Blazer I guess. With the engine in the stock location (via the ORD motor mounts), the transmission crossmember bolted into the original frame holes, and the transmission mount from the Yukon (which fits directly onto the crossmember without modification to either), the bolts that attach the transmission mount to the transmission are off by maybe a quarter inch (transmission sits too far back slightly). If someone was so inclined, I'm pretty sure you could make it work by just elongating the bolt holes in the transmission mount slightly. I'm not going to bother because I don't think I can use this transmission crossmember anyways (I think the ORD link brackets will be in the way).
To prep for the front suspension work, I still need to do all the front frame plates (including steering box plate) and install some easy stuff (brake booster, steering column/shaft) for clearance reasons. Hoping I will be able to start suspension stuff in January (I will have limited garage time in December).
Awesome progress, iIt always feels good to have the engine bolted in!
On my 97 jimmy the bolt holes in the crossmember are 1" long front to back for adjustment so yeah if you were to use this crossmember you could make it work
Thanks guys!
It does feel great to have it bolted in, even though it’s far from running still. I’ve looked at the truck for so long with nothing in there, it’s pretty cool to see an engine and transmission there now.
And I think maybe best case I can use the stock cross member and modify it, but I’m not sure. Going to cross that bridge when I get there. I have been brainstorming some about fabricating something that would be a more solid base for a skid plate to attach to and also maybe brace the link brackets against each other.
It does feel great to have it bolted in, even though it’s far from running still. I’ve looked at the truck for so long with nothing in there, it’s pretty cool to see an engine and transmission there now.
And I think maybe best case I can use the stock cross member and modify it, but I’m not sure. Going to cross that bridge when I get there. I have been brainstorming some about fabricating something that would be a more solid base for a skid plate to attach to and also maybe brace the link brackets against each other.
The LS had 2 exhaust manifold bolts on the driver side that had broken off in the head. One flush and one slightly recessed. I was able to weld nuts onto them and get them threaded out so I could put the header completely on.
I also started getting back to the steering box brace. I cleaned off the frame and thankfully there were no cracks. There were a few small indentations but looking closely at both sides of the frame, I am pretty confident they are just marks and not cracks.
I noticed that the frame brace would interfere with the bumper bracket on that side, which surprised me since I haven't read that anywhere before. I guess people that do this don't often use the stock bumpers maybe. My plan is to trim the brace to leave room for the bumper bracket. I'm going to try to trim as little as possible and keep it curved to avoid any potential future cracks.
I also started getting back to the steering box brace. I cleaned off the frame and thankfully there were no cracks. There were a few small indentations but looking closely at both sides of the frame, I am pretty confident they are just marks and not cracks.
I noticed that the frame brace would interfere with the bumper bracket on that side, which surprised me since I haven't read that anywhere before. I guess people that do this don't often use the stock bumpers maybe. My plan is to trim the brace to leave room for the bumper bracket. I'm going to try to trim as little as possible and keep it curved to avoid any potential future cracks.
Last edited:
Today I got the steering box plate trimmed at the front to allow the bumper bracket to fit. I had to remove a decent amount of material from the upper "leg" of the plate, and a small amount from the lower "leg".
Next I got the plate tacked down. I tacked the front "legs" and along the top of the plate. And then I ran out of shielding gas. LOL. It looks like the bottom edge of the plate is intended to weld to the other plate that goes on the bottom of the frame, so I probably won't tack/weld the bottom at all until I do the other plate.
Next I test fit the steering box and the bumper bracket (again). The bumper bracket should be good, I may have to grind a tiny bit on the front welds of the plate or on the bumper bracket, but nothing major.
The steering box required some grinding between the top and bottom bolts on the front bolts and the rears. Even with the plate fit extremely flush to the frame, it still needed a little more clearance.
Luckily the "ears" of the steering box now all fit flush to the plate/frame, so I think it should be good to go.
Next I got the plate tacked down. I tacked the front "legs" and along the top of the plate. And then I ran out of shielding gas. LOL. It looks like the bottom edge of the plate is intended to weld to the other plate that goes on the bottom of the frame, so I probably won't tack/weld the bottom at all until I do the other plate.
Next I test fit the steering box and the bumper bracket (again). The bumper bracket should be good, I may have to grind a tiny bit on the front welds of the plate or on the bumper bracket, but nothing major.
The steering box required some grinding between the top and bottom bolts on the front bolts and the rears. Even with the plate fit extremely flush to the frame, it still needed a little more clearance.
Luckily the "ears" of the steering box now all fit flush to the plate/frame, so I think it should be good to go.
I haven't gotten nearly as much time to work on the truck lately as I have wanted to, but I did get the Engineered Vintage behind bumper winch mount in their Black Friday sale. It's mostly installed with all the bolts a little loose to check fitment. I'm probably going to take it back out when I weld the frame plates just to avoid potentially messing up the powder coat on it.
I won't really need this for a while but I wanted to go ahead and get it because of the sale and because I can confirm clearance for it when building the front suspension.
I won't really need this for a while but I wanted to go ahead and get it because of the sale and because I can confirm clearance for it when building the front suspension.
This is a great build, the amount of work you have in that rust repair, and the documenting you have done, was great to follow along but was also depressing. You are going to end up with one of those $100K Barrett Jackson squares when you done. Two thumbs way up.
Yeah to be honest if I had known how much time was required to fix the rust properly, and how much more rust was hiding compared to what was visible to my at-the-time inexperienced eyes, I would have definitely found a cleaner one. Oh well, I got pretty decent at a new skill and it’s all done now at least. LOL
I am confident I will end up with a lot more money in it than it’s actually worth, but that doesn’t bother me too much because I’m building it for myself with no intentions to sell. And I do plan to actually use the truck, assuming I ever get it done LOL, so it won’t ever stay “perfect”.
Thank you for the compliments!
Finally finished up the weld-on steering box brace. Not perfect welds by any means, but also nothing I'm embarrassed about LOL.
Thankfully the trimming on the front of the side plate allowed just enough room for the stock bumper brace.
Small asterisk on this, there are a few short welds on the bottom that I didn't do yet. I figured since I will soon have the axle removed and the truck sitting up higher, I might as well do those harder to reach welds then.
Thankfully the trimming on the front of the side plate allowed just enough room for the stock bumper brace.
Small asterisk on this, there are a few short welds on the bottom that I didn't do yet. I figured since I will soon have the axle removed and the truck sitting up higher, I might as well do those harder to reach welds then.
Got the ORD bolt-in steering box brace installed today. There was an existing hole about where the brace lines up with the front crossmember, but it was off just slightly and would have made drilling a new hole difficult. So I welded the old one shut before drilling the new one.
I also started fitting up the driver side front Deuling frame plate.
I also started fitting up the driver side front Deuling frame plate.
These frames are old and have abused, but originally the hole was supposed to match up with bracket and just needed enlarging.
Unfortunately in the real world it doesn't always work out
Yeah it was close enough that I wondered if that was the case. Thankfully having a welder makes these little fitment issues no big deal. Don’t know how I ever got by without one!
Finished up the front-most driver side Deuling frame plate today. There is one more plate that goes behind this one, but I have to take the shackles off the frame for that one to fit so it will happen at the same time as the suspension.
2 plates on the passenger side, then reinstall a few things (steering column, brake booster, etc) and then I think I will finally be ready to start the front suspension.
2 plates on the passenger side, then reinstall a few things (steering column, brake booster, etc) and then I think I will finally be ready to start the front suspension.
