Never crossed my mind, how would that work? I plan on keeping the AC in it working.
CK5
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'88 K5 - Running Down A Dream
- Thread starter jimmyleetn
- Start date
Ground up restoration of my '88 K5. The plan is to go through every inch of the truck and fix or replace pretty much everything that needs it. This will also be a full vert conversion and I plan to make the vehicle look more like a 73-75 than 88.
Ever been in a non AC version? The passenger side has AC ducting there on your rig.
I have always thought they should have put the non AC vent on the driver side of AC rigs.
Martin
I have always thought they should have put the non AC vent on the driver side of AC rigs.
Martin
I don't guess I've ever really paid that much attention to it. They do have the embossment there to cut it out. The only thing about that I'm not sure that I would like is that I don't know that they make an interior panel for the driver side to accommodate the vent. Also, I guess the air for the venting comes from the top part of the cowl and goes down into the footwell? I'm not sure that I'll do it but it is an interesting idea.
Just need the kickpanel/vent from a non AC truck. Now would be the time to do it.
Martin
Martin
I'm so over this patch panel. The worst fitting one to date. I have no clue how people make these fit. I can't hammer into place because the kick panel and firewall will bend. I have cut it into 4 pieces and will need to make 3 more pieces to get it to fit. Not many pictures to show but I've wasted 2 days on this thing. Most of it just staring at it with disgust.
That sucks. Are you putting carpet in this rig?
Martin
Martin
Yes thank goodness. Soundmat and carpet. As much as I hate how it looks, I've been keeping up with the measurement on the kick panel where it bolts to the inner fender and that's still within a 16th or less of the original location which means it'll definitely fit so the fenders should line up nice.
That'll cover a lot of sins!
Martin
Martin
I made a hard push these past 3 days and the toe board is done. It took seven individual pieces welded together to get it to fit and a lot of crawling around with the light in the dark looking for pinholes. What a mess. I moved on to the rocker at the end of the day today. Looks like I'll be doing the inner rock too unfortunately. I was kind of disappointed, I was expecting to find a tool or something fun when I cut it loose but it was just dirt, rust, and rocks. Headed to Bowling Green for the NHRA Hot Rod Reunion for the rest of the week. Hopefully next week I can move at this same pace and get this rocker and inner rocker knocked out.
This is not K5 Blazer related but I thought those of you following along would appreciate this. This is Big Daddy Don Garlits closing out the Cacklefest Saturday night at Beech Bend. It's not everyday you get to see a 91-year-old sit in the seat of a front engine rail and let that nitro burn. Actual progress from the build to come later. I am putting the work in today.
I'm further along. I'm not thrilled with my progress but here we are. Inner rocker is "finished". You'll notice a smile line on the floor pan in that last picture. Pretty annoyed at that. I may go back and redo it, going to wait for now. I'm getting tired of making these kind of mistakes because I really took my time on that piece. Where the outer rocker will sit is level at least. I also think my approach to the outer rocker may not work. I'm not convinced that the that ledge where the bottom door edge sits has the same curvature on the new rocker, which means my door gaps will look like poo. I'll find out tomorrow. I'll have to drill several of my own spot welds if I do the whole panel which I am dreading as well as part of the rear quarter.
I can't work as long as day as I would like but I did get the answers I needed about that outer rocker. I went ahead and cut it up and tried to get it to fit and it's actually going to work. I was very pleased with the fitment overall just from the initial mock up. It was a Holley/Brother's outer rocker. It will take a little bit of work to get it perfect but I won't have to remove the whole thing like I thought I was going to have to do. Also, I couldn't stand it and so I leveled out the floor pan. I got it most of the way welded before I ran out of time today. It's nice to feel back on track again.
Good work. looks better than any of these trucks I've owned in that area for sure.
Thanks, I'm starting to think the factory undercoating and humidity was harder on the trucks in this part of the world then uncoated. My dad's 79 is so rusted. It is literally rusting out in the garage. I think it's the humidity coupled with that undercoating holding moisture underneath it. I crawled around under it the other day for reference, wasn't much left to reference haha.
I've got the outer mostly tacked in. I feel like I've done a really good job with it so far. It got a little technical on the back part of the panel but I got it in there flush with a little cutting and hammering.
The saga of the outer rocker is over. Overall it's very straight. I'm proud of the work I did. There is a little bit of bow maybe a 1/16in on the outer part but the only way I could find that was with the straight edge. For all I know that could be normal too. I couldn't feel it or see it. It's very flat where the door closes so that should be fine which was what I was most worried about. Probably close to the way the factory one was. My only regret is that I did the spot welds from underneath the truck from the inner rocker side. What a pain. I didn't catch fire this time though. I really wish I had a lift.
Wash, rinse, repeat. Floor support for the driver side I've been working on these past few days. Not many pictures because I logged plenty last summer on the passenger side. Boy is this tedious. Learned a little about welding thick stuff, it likes bigger gaps.
Well, it's in there. I didn't weld it all the way in some spots and just did several tacks because gosh I just hate laying on my back and welding up under that thing. It's welded enough I don't think it'll go anywhere when I separate the body from the frame. I should probably clarify too, it's got over 30 plug welds holding it from inside the cab to the floor. The spots where I didn't get too crazy with my welding was where the cab mounts attached to the square tubing. My thoughts are when it's on the rotisserie I can either stand or sit on a stool and weld it and not hate my life. Also I should be able to make nicer looking welds in case anybody ever looks under there. I'm working on the plate between the toe board and floorboard today. That's really all that's left on the floor. Just a couple of pictures, it's just nothing no one hasn't seen if they've been following along. It's amazing how much stiffer this makes the floor.
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Alright the floor is done, so here's a couple pictures of the final plate. I had to cut it into a few pieces cause the floor on the driver side has a lot more contours. It's probably overkill anyways but should help to reduce flex.
The real story the past couple of times I've worked on it has been the striker. While I was letting welds cool I started to take the strikers loose to see what I was getting into since I knew they were all cracked out. Once again, whoever worked on this needs a swift kick in the shin. Both sides have been worked on, but the driver side is an absolute joke. I think I'm close to the factory mark, but I had absolutely no reference. I used the striker I cut off an '86 truck as a reference. The cage nut I've made has enough play that I can probably hog the hole out a little more if I don't get good fitment when I put the door on, but what a freaking nightmare. I bet I stared at that striker for over an hour today trying to figure out the trigonometry required to get the hole close to factory position with no reference. I'm using what I saw on YouTube for the fix here. Here's a ton of pictures.
The real story the past couple of times I've worked on it has been the striker. While I was letting welds cool I started to take the strikers loose to see what I was getting into since I knew they were all cracked out. Once again, whoever worked on this needs a swift kick in the shin. Both sides have been worked on, but the driver side is an absolute joke. I think I'm close to the factory mark, but I had absolutely no reference. I used the striker I cut off an '86 truck as a reference. The cage nut I've made has enough play that I can probably hog the hole out a little more if I don't get good fitment when I put the door on, but what a freaking nightmare. I bet I stared at that striker for over an hour today trying to figure out the trigonometry required to get the hole close to factory position with no reference. I'm using what I saw on YouTube for the fix here. Here's a ton of pictures.
You'd probably get sick to your stomach if you saw some of the hatchet jobs I've done fixing them things!
Martin
Martin
