Well let me begin by saying sorry for a long post! I bought this 1986 k5 blazer a month and a half ago thinking I would throw a small lift on it, a set of new tires, and some new exhaust on it and I would be on my way. Well it has turned out to be completely more involved than I thought (not in a bad way though. lol). So any way, I buy the blazer for $1800 bucks which is a steal, for as good of shape as its in. I would bet money that it has never been offroad, plus it has no rust at all anywhere. The only bad thing that has happened to it, was that a teenage kid got a hold of it and sprayed it rattle can flat black:cookoo:! So I took it to my cousins shop to do a few small things to it, and ended up buying a parts blazer for $500 bucks. The parts blazer came with a 4.10 gear gm 10 bolt 8 lug front axle, 4.10 gear 14 bsf rear axle, drive shafts, good body, heavy duty front bumper with winch mount, good rear bumper, 8 lug wheels, extended brake lines, long tube headers, 700r4 tranny, np208 trans case, and other goodies minus the motor.
Since I decided to go 8 lug axles, I had to sell my XD wheels and Nitto tires off of my blazer. I got $900 for them though.
I found out a few weeks ago that the front ring gear is toast (it has two chipped teeth), and the rear spider gears are worn. So I just ordered a new set of 4.10 gears for the front along with an install kit, and a lock right locker for the rear.
Anyway, the 2 weeks ago I ordered a pro comp intake manifold, a new hei vacuum advance dizzy, a rebuilt q-jet from a 70's model truck, and a lunati voodoo cam and lifter kit. I went to pull the engine apart, and everything went pretty smooth. Then I started to pull the cam while the motor was still in the blazer(big mistake). Not only did I ruin the one piece oil pan gasket(while removing the timing cover), but I nicked the front cam bearing. So rather than try to fix it in the truck, my cousin and I pulled the motor(my cousin in the picture by the way).
Well since I had to pull the engine, I decided to just rebuild it and spray it chevy orange.
I plan on using the 6" front leafs that I got from the parts blazer (since they are brand new), going with a 2" leaf in the rear with a 4" shackle flip, running 37x12.50x16.5 tires, keeping the weld 16.5" wheels that came with my parts blazer, running the long tube headers into a set of super 44's that I just picked up for free, and maybee a few more things that I might stumble upon in the near future. I got the engine on a stand last week and disassembled it. Went pretty smooth for the most part.
Found out that this is not the original engine that came with the K5. It's not a one piece rear main seal. But on the up side, it's a 4 bolt main that was not made in Mexico! After measuring the crank, I found out that I have a ten ten crank (.010 under on the entire crank).
The pistons are still standered, but won't be for long. I found a pretty decent gouge in one of the cylinders.
Got the engine sent off, and machine shop is going to bore all of the cylinders 30 over. They are also going to deck the block so that I have flat surfaces to work with. They are then going to send the block and piston rods back, with a new crank and with new pistons allready pressed on the rods for me. They will also send the rest of the master rebuild kit with the engine. I can't wait!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I made a little more progress on the blazer this last week. I got the gears in and the pinion depth and backlash and pinion nut preload set. As you can tell in the pictures, I need to decrease the backlash just a tad to make it perfect, but the install kit I got didn't come with any shims smaller than ten thousandths. When I would try to decrease the back lash with a ten thousandth shim, the back lash would not be within the acceptable range. This was a close as I could get it. Since its the front axle I'm not to worried about it though.
After I got the gears as close as I could, I installed the axle housing under the blazer.
I spent the last few days putting the front axle back together. I got it almost all the way back together. I replaced every bearing and seal in the front axle, new u-joints in the axle shafts, all new ball joints for everything up front, and I even turned the rotors. The front end will be all new and look all new when I get the rest done and paint everything chasy black. All that I lack is putting the brake callipers and pads on, installing the fron tie rod (still waiting on the ball joints), installing the steering stablalizer (have it, but can't put it on until the tie rod is installed, and the front drive shaft.
So I am slowly working away at this project and hope to have it done soon. Here is a pic of how she sits now.
Since I decided to go 8 lug axles, I had to sell my XD wheels and Nitto tires off of my blazer. I got $900 for them though.
I found out a few weeks ago that the front ring gear is toast (it has two chipped teeth), and the rear spider gears are worn. So I just ordered a new set of 4.10 gears for the front along with an install kit, and a lock right locker for the rear.
Anyway, the 2 weeks ago I ordered a pro comp intake manifold, a new hei vacuum advance dizzy, a rebuilt q-jet from a 70's model truck, and a lunati voodoo cam and lifter kit. I went to pull the engine apart, and everything went pretty smooth. Then I started to pull the cam while the motor was still in the blazer(big mistake). Not only did I ruin the one piece oil pan gasket(while removing the timing cover), but I nicked the front cam bearing. So rather than try to fix it in the truck, my cousin and I pulled the motor(my cousin in the picture by the way).
Well since I had to pull the engine, I decided to just rebuild it and spray it chevy orange.
I plan on using the 6" front leafs that I got from the parts blazer (since they are brand new), going with a 2" leaf in the rear with a 4" shackle flip, running 37x12.50x16.5 tires, keeping the weld 16.5" wheels that came with my parts blazer, running the long tube headers into a set of super 44's that I just picked up for free, and maybee a few more things that I might stumble upon in the near future. I got the engine on a stand last week and disassembled it. Went pretty smooth for the most part.
Found out that this is not the original engine that came with the K5. It's not a one piece rear main seal. But on the up side, it's a 4 bolt main that was not made in Mexico! After measuring the crank, I found out that I have a ten ten crank (.010 under on the entire crank).
The pistons are still standered, but won't be for long. I found a pretty decent gouge in one of the cylinders.
Got the engine sent off, and machine shop is going to bore all of the cylinders 30 over. They are also going to deck the block so that I have flat surfaces to work with. They are then going to send the block and piston rods back, with a new crank and with new pistons allready pressed on the rods for me. They will also send the rest of the master rebuild kit with the engine. I can't wait!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I made a little more progress on the blazer this last week. I got the gears in and the pinion depth and backlash and pinion nut preload set. As you can tell in the pictures, I need to decrease the backlash just a tad to make it perfect, but the install kit I got didn't come with any shims smaller than ten thousandths. When I would try to decrease the back lash with a ten thousandth shim, the back lash would not be within the acceptable range. This was a close as I could get it. Since its the front axle I'm not to worried about it though.
After I got the gears as close as I could, I installed the axle housing under the blazer.
I spent the last few days putting the front axle back together. I got it almost all the way back together. I replaced every bearing and seal in the front axle, new u-joints in the axle shafts, all new ball joints for everything up front, and I even turned the rotors. The front end will be all new and look all new when I get the rest done and paint everything chasy black. All that I lack is putting the brake callipers and pads on, installing the fron tie rod (still waiting on the ball joints), installing the steering stablalizer (have it, but can't put it on until the tie rod is installed, and the front drive shaft.
So I am slowly working away at this project and hope to have it done soon. Here is a pic of how she sits now.
! I moved it 6" at a time until I got it under my blazer 
. 
I am getting so close to finishing, I'm starting to get excited.
