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CK5
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The blazee had set for almost 10 years with no use and come to find out the sloding windows on the top were leaking so the interior was pretty much shot. So the first thing to do waa gut the whole inteior and take care of all the rest spot
I know my patch work isnt the best but thats what bond is for. Yes I would prefer a better job done but short on money to pay a body shop.
Well next came sanding and primer
Well next came sanding and primer
I wantes something beside black since it seema like everyone doea black. I also wanted something a different than just a normal paint job. 1 im not much of a body man. 2 dont have the patients for it 3 worried it would lool like crap. So i got to looking at bedliners since i still plan on wheeling the k5 a bit and dont wont to worry about scratchs down the road. So I settles on hot rod red from raptor liner. So far I love the stuff but wish I would of went with a darker red. The truck looks almost pink in the bright sunlight. Lol. Also if you plan on using this product buy more of it then recommend. It took me 4 gallons to paint everything I needed.
I will have to take some more pictures to show the recent work done as this has already been a few months old. The interior got all nee seals in the doors along with new window motor and switches. I got rid of the standard old bucket seat and picket up some black jeep compass and a middle seat from a 2020 Silverado. The front brackets are almost complete and will build the rear bench seat brackets when time allows. I had to replace the heater core ao the dash is completely torn apart as well. The carpet had to be thrown away. I bought a truck bedliner kit to do the interior floor until I can afford new carpet. The interior is currently grey but i plan on repainting what trim piece I can reuse black and then buy the rest later when the wallet allows. Im trying to replace what I can now or while I have something already apart. Trying not to do things twice or three times. Lol
Onto the drivetrain and suspension. The suspension is a procomp 6 inch left. Its pretty much solid besides the front leaf springs needing new bushings and shocks.
I bought a seal and rebuild kit for the power steering pump amd gear box. The gear box was not a fun experience with getting all the ball bearing back into it.
Axles are 10 bolts for now with 4:10 gears and a arburn limited slip in the rear
Trans is 700r4 with shift kit and extra clutches and Corvette servo.
Now for the engine. It currently has a 350 in that was a good motor until a month ago. I put a holley fuel injection kit on it in 08 that worked great until it started to give me problems. Hence why I parked it. So i was going to switch it back to carb for the time being. That way I could drive it around again. Well one night I ctanked it up to let the battery charge back up and went in side for a few minutes. Came out to a dead truck. Got to looking amd come to find out the heater hose had busted and the engine got hot. Motor will ctank up amd run but its hard to odle and misses really bad. So im guessing a stuck valve or lifter. So on went the search for a new motor.
I bought a seal and rebuild kit for the power steering pump amd gear box. The gear box was not a fun experience with getting all the ball bearing back into it.
Axles are 10 bolts for now with 4:10 gears and a arburn limited slip in the rear
Trans is 700r4 with shift kit and extra clutches and Corvette servo.
Now for the engine. It currently has a 350 in that was a good motor until a month ago. I put a holley fuel injection kit on it in 08 that worked great until it started to give me problems. Hence why I parked it. So i was going to switch it back to carb for the time being. That way I could drive it around again. Well one night I ctanked it up to let the battery charge back up and went in side for a few minutes. Came out to a dead truck. Got to looking amd come to find out the heater hose had busted and the engine got hot. Motor will ctank up amd run but its hard to odle and misses really bad. So im guessing a stuck valve or lifter. So on went the search for a new motor.
I tried looking for a good set of vortec head to put on my 350 but they are hard to come by for a fair price, specially a set thats not cracked. So then i went looking for maybe a ls swap but then ran into the problem of how to hook it up to a 700r4 cause all the 4l60e 4x4 trans i can find are 200k miles or more on them. Not really budgeted for a trans rebuild at the moment when the 700r4 only has 16k miles on its rebuild. So i started looking at other option. I came a cross what i think was a good deal on a 98 vortec 454 with all its accessories and wiring harness. So i went and picked it up. But I can't use the fuel injection on it as I run into the same problem with the ls swap
Trying to figure out how to hook up my trans cable. So it looks like I will be switching it back to carburetor for the time being, then hopefully installing a holley sniper kit later on down the road. Since i disnt get to see the motor run but dis confirm it turned over easily. I will be tearing it down to install a new cam, timing chain, oil pump and probably piston rings, crank bearing and main seals. The motor had 110k miles on it but id like the extra piece of mind.
Now my question that maybe someone can help me with. Is there a way i can keep the factory serpentine belt set up? My question is how do I use the power steering since it is also hydraulic boost for the brakes. Or is there a replacement steering pump that that will bolt in and work with my current steering box and with no hydro for the brake booster?
Also how about the a/c compressor as it uses a different style hookup. Do they make conversion hoses or will they just need to be custom made?
Thanks
Trying to figure out how to hook up my trans cable. So it looks like I will be switching it back to carburetor for the time being, then hopefully installing a holley sniper kit later on down the road. Since i disnt get to see the motor run but dis confirm it turned over easily. I will be tearing it down to install a new cam, timing chain, oil pump and probably piston rings, crank bearing and main seals. The motor had 110k miles on it but id like the extra piece of mind.
Now my question that maybe someone can help me with. Is there a way i can keep the factory serpentine belt set up? My question is how do I use the power steering since it is also hydraulic boost for the brakes. Or is there a replacement steering pump that that will bolt in and work with my current steering box and with no hydro for the brake booster?
Also how about the a/c compressor as it uses a different style hookup. Do they make conversion hoses or will they just need to be custom made?
Thanks
Body looks good! I'm no help with the motor questions, but keep up the good work!
Jack Schmitt
Registered Member
Yeah, sorry, I'm also not sure about your belt solution, but I'm interested in your project. I'm starting on almost the same thing. 85 K5 but mine is already red but I'll probably change it LOL. After reading what you're going through, I just hope I can breathe life back into the GM Goodwrench 350 crate thats seems to have been in it for a long time. But my biggest concern is the body work. I've never done any, so this is gonna be an adventure. I wish I had the room that you do to work. I'm in my garage an a dog gone HOA neighborhood, so I'm restricted.
Thanks for following and glad to see you doing a similar project as well. Im no body man either but the biggest tip is to take your time and double check doible check and double measure. Take your time and if you have to cut anything out then take small cuts. Its alot easier to recut and make the hole bigher, then to fill in a larger hole. So just don't rush it.
Motor updated. Finallt tore the motor apart and found a few bad little grimlins. The cam and main bearing are shot but not completely horrible. Some very light scratches on the crank but the worst was a scratch from a broken piston ring. With everything on back order its hard to find parts for a rebuild. I was able to find almpst everything I needed but now just waiting on some .030 over pistons that should be in at the beginning of the year. Once they are in the off to the machince shop it will go
Jack Schmitt
Registered Member
That's advice I will definitely be taking.
Body update. Got the grill and headlights installed. I went with some LED lights I found and really like them along with a upgraded headlight harness. Started to wprk on the interior some. The most the dash and a/c is in. Got my seat brackets made up for the front seats. Im using seats out of a jeep compass and a middle seat from a 2019 chevy truck. The floor will eventually get bedlined and then carpet over it, as long with converting everything from grey to black. So dont mind the mess, still have a long ways to go
Jack Schmitt
Registered Member
Those seats are nice!
Thanks. They are a bit dirty right now but 10 time more comfortable. Found them on face book for 200 including the back seat but still need to make the bracket for the back seat. Sold the originals for 200. So only cost me material to make the brackets.
Jack Schmitt
Registered Member
Dang, I missed my shot to buy your originals then. LOL. I'm gonna need some fronts. My rear bench is good but I'm not sure what my fronts came out of but the passenger side us busted anyway.
You can use the serpentine brackets.
You can use the EFI. '
Martin
You can use the EFI. '
Martin
Yes im going to use the original serpentine brackets. I found a power steering pump that will work. The only thing now is to figure out the a/c compressor hook up.
The original efi system was junk so im switching over to a FiTech throttle body fuel injection system.
Thanks to the holiday break I was able to get a few more things done. Put bedliner down on the floor and painted the trim pieces and dash. I ended up making some new door inserts since the old carpet ones were trash. Still need a new trim insert for the door handle and to get some carpet dye for the lower part of the door. Got the seats finally hard mounted in and the speakers put back in. Still need to figure out how to mount and do my new radio in the old hole that was cut out. When I get more money saved up, I will pit in carpet and a headliner.
