87 K5 Build...Hmmm, whats that Ryoken up to? stay tuned...

[BKinzey]

Really nice job on the flooring!

As for lights (a couple of pages back) Go HID. Nice & bright with added $$$. I'd suggest something in the 5000k to 5600k range. 5600k is considered a true daylight. Yes, at night they will look bluish, certainly around regular headlights which are tungsten and are around 3200k.

A 100w HID will put out a lot , like 4x, more light than a 100w tungsten. The drawback is heat. They can get toasty. Some have warnings only to run them while moving. If you do place them out on a tube bumper as mentioned you should be fine though. I can't recommend a brand though just go with a name or do some research

 

[ryoken]

Really nice job on the flooring!

As for lights (a couple of pages back) Go HID. Nice & bright with added $$$. I'd suggest something in the 5000k to 5600k range. 5600k is considered a true daylight. Yes, at night they will look bluish, certainly around regular headlights which are tungsten and are around 3200k.

A 100w HID will put out a lot , like 4x, more light than a 100w tungsten. The drawback is heat. They can get toasty. Some have warnings only to run them while moving. If you do place them out on a tube bumper as mentioned you should be fine though. I can't recommend a brand though just go with a name or do some research

Thanks for the light info!

On a somewhat related note, I actually started to think about where I want to run my interior lighting..... I think I'm gonna break it down into "floor" and "overhead"..


As for the floor... Thankfully I just finished up the mig work, as the mig just took a dump! New one for me, the wirefeed isn't being triggered.. And it's not in the gun, it's in the machine... Think I may just send it out to Lincoln and have em go over it..

The floor is working out well... As you can see, I pre-prepped the framing and underside of the floor first with zinc, epoxy and black imron.. I then put seam sealer down in strategic spots on the 1" x 1" framing, and across the tailpan before laying the floor in and welding... To help alleviate any rattles and seal against underside water getting in the seams... I then plug-welded the floor to the frame and continuous across the tailpan..

Today I have to zinc it, seam seal the edges, epoxy and black Imron the bed area.. And I still need to paint the qrters copper... It's looking like I MAY not paint the qrters/doors till the weekend...


Takes awhile, but I'll GIT R' DONE!!!!!

 

[NEK5]

Thanks for the light info!

On a somewhat related note, I actually started to think about where I want to run my interior lighting..... I think I'm gonna break it down into "floor" and "overhead"..


As for the floor... Thankfully I just finished up the mig work, as the mig just took a dump! New one for me, the wirefeed isn't being triggered.. And it's not in the gun, it's in the machine... Think I may just send it out to Lincoln and have em go over it..

The floor is working out well... As you can see, I pre-prepped the framing and underside of the floor first with zinc, epoxy and black imron.. I then put seam sealer down in strategic spots on the 1" x 1" framing, and across the tailpan before laying the floor in and welding... To help alleviate any rattles and seal against underside water getting in the seams... I then plug-welded the floor to the frame and continuous across the tailpan..

Today I have to zinc it, seam seal the edges, epoxy and black Imron the bed area.. And I still need paint the qrters copper... It's looking like I MAY not paint the qrters/doors till the weekend...


Takes awhile, but I'll GIT R' DONE!!!!!

You know Paul, I believe you told me on 8-30-07 That your rig would be off the road for 10 days?

 

[ryoken]

Hey, cut me some slack, I'm old....

Mornin Ben... I'm actually headed down there now, coffee in hand...

 

[NEK5]

Hey, cut me some slack, I'm old....

Mornin Ben... I'm actually headed down there now, coffee in hand...

Hahaha, can`t forget the coffee. I`ll be dropping you a line when I get out of work to see how they day went.

 

[lectric80]

Paul if at all possible how about some close ups of the plug welds and the full weld to the tail pan. Since this section of the floor is the most expensive part that I need to replace, and I like the design here, since it would allow me to sleep in my Blazer when the wife is mad at me. Just curious as to where and how you plug welded it, as it seems that your design would be a lot more solid versus using the sectioned floor panels that LMC et al offer. Plus cost wise it is probably a little more cost effective.

 

[ryoken]

Paul if at all possible how about some close ups of the plug welds and the full weld to the tail pan. Since this section of the floor is the most expensive part that I need to replace, and I like the design here, since it would allow me to sleep in my Blazer when the wife is mad at me. Just curious as to where and how you plug welded it, as it seems that your design would be a lot more solid versus using the sectioned floor panels that LMC et al offer. Plus cost wise it is probably a little more cost effective.

It's as beefy as you wanna build it... A much better solution than the Taiwan stuff... a 4' x 8' sheet side ways, gets you a foot away from the forward ledge.. about 4" shy of getting all the way to the front of the wheelwell....

The only point I'll bring out is you'd need to run all that way to the front edge of the cargo area... since my front is being customized too, I just temporarily welded the flat piece to the factory corrogated stuff, using seam sealer to fill the raised voids...

My apologies for not having more step by step pics for this one... It's alot of work, I'm pressed for time, so I take pics when I can remember... The plug weld areas are what you would think.. In this pic you can see the holes I pre-drilled,

than once in position, I just clean the underlieing angle with a carbide burr, start a hot weld puddle in the center and work my way out to catch the top piece...

Unfortunately I didn't catch that process, as you can see, they have been ground smooth here

As for the tailpan, I just ran a bead of seam sealer at the forward edge of the tailpan, layed the piece in, clamped it, and welded the back edge... left the floor about 3/16"s short of the edge of the tailpan, layed bead then ground it over....

I'll try to remember to get more pics as I go...

 

[ryoken]

zinced, seamsealed, ready for epoxy and paint...

 

[Avery4jc]

looks great!

 

[Chevy305]

holy god man!

you are king!

 

[mini_mull]

Looks smoooooth & silky!! I like it. Can't wait to see what you do with the front. You probably already said, but I don't remember, are you doing the interior black or copper?

 

[ryoken]

black... I't's black Imroned right now... eventually when the whole floor is done, I'll do Herc up to under the bedrails... And eventually after that I'll do my rear sidepanels from the composite, and do them black...

The only copper on the interior will be whats there... dash and gauge trim...

 

[PGW]

I've been following this thread for a while so I think I'll finally chime in.
You got a great setup going there Ryoken, you've given me a lot of ideas for my future build up. Keep up the good work!

 

[NEK5]

holy god man!

you are king!

That is an understatement my friend!

 

[ryoken]

Where's that blushing smilie when I need it...

Start driving it again in the morn... should have the qrters painted and softtop back on by sunday...

 

[Avery4jc]

So I always see these sweet threads from ya ryoken but what are your "big" future plans? You've put so many man hours into this sweet blazer and you haven't even touched the suspension, axles, tires, etc...

Any ideas floating around?

 

[nad]

I was wondering the exact same thing as Avery. Although, it is nice to see that someone is focusing on more than just axles, tires, suspension, etc. I like what you're doing with your Blazer, and I wish I would've gone that route when doing my floor instead of cutting tedious patches to patch every rust spot.

Great work, and every time I show one of my friends your gauge setup pictures, their jaws drop. Amazing setup, and it's great to see someone focusing on the little details that matter

 

[lectric80]

Not a problem, as long as I know to leave it a little short on the tailpan, and now I understand the holes that you had punched in. So even with a stock layout it is going to come up short of the front ledge where the seat rests? Well that is ok since it doesn't really support any weight, but I will have to do some figuring for the seat mounts. Thanks for the information Paul, keep up the great work.

 

[ryoken]

So I always see these sweet threads from ya ryoken but what are your "big" future plans? You've put so many man hours into this sweet blazer and you haven't even touched the suspension, axles, tires, etc...

Any ideas floating around?

Well, from a previous post....

The 5 year plan....

I hope to be able to dump a ton of cash in the truck over the next 2, 3 yrs... The last 3 or so spending years, have been family or financially orientated...

These are the next purchases on the tentative priority list....

1 - seats.... PRP or Corbeau

2 - more Herculiner

3 - pickup tailgate

*floor/slider project*

*grill*

4 - DIY 4" flip

5 - Crosstied Shackles 6"

6 - 56" stock rear leafs

7 - 4" front TC EZ Rides

8 - HD front shackles

9 - zero rates

10 - extended brake lines

11 - 37" SSR's

12 - Bilstein 5150's... inboarded

13 - 1 tons

14 - 8 lug steelies

15 - crossover

16 - rear discs

17 - tranny... stage 2 BTO 700r4, deep al pan

18 - 205... have.... need adapter

19 - driveshafts... Jesse

20 - driveline E-brake... Jesse

21 - tube for front and rear bumpers, spare tire holder and cage

22 - winch.... Warn 8274

23 - offroad lights

24 - cb

25 - composite for rear panels, doors and overhead console

26 - interior lighting

27 - speakers

28 - OBA.. York 210

29 - Welder

30 - 383

31 - cowlhood

32 - vacuum gauge, air/fuel gauge

33 - new fenders, wheelwells

My plans for the truck are to keep it street legal in this state and be as capable as possible... Trust me, running around on stock suspension has taken alot of patience.. I will have the lift and tires on next summer, if only on the 1/2 tons, if I can't come up with 1 tons at that point...

We laugh about it at work, that I'm doing the truck in reverse order... I've done all the crazy labor, less $$$$ projects first, and finishing up with what everyone always does first...

 

[ryoken]

Not a problem, as long as I know to leave it a little short on the tailpan, and now I understand the holes that you had punched in. So even with a stock layout it is going to come up short of the front ledge where the seat rests? Well that is ok since it doesn't really support any weight, but I will have to do some figuring for the seat mounts. Thanks for the information Paul, keep up the great work.

Just to clarify... Yes, the stock, replacement panels will come up even shorter than that 48" piece... Not to mention, they are split into a left and right.. Thats 3 major seams to deal with..

Btw, I have both those panels if anyone is interested in them.. Tho shipping would suck prolly...

The nice thing about my design is that I can add structural support to the floor anywhere I feel like easily with the angle iron... When I add the front cargo area, that seam will be continuous welded, ground, and noone will ever know it was there...

The other nice aspect of the angle iron supports is they give you great mounting points for under the truck... whereas square tubing would be more difficult to drill thru and mount things to, dif vents, exhaust, wiring, etc....

As for the rear seat mounts... They could EASILY be put into my floor... I'm not gonna run em, but they are just "buckets". cut a rectangle and weld them to the underside...