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'90 K5 - The Nevada Blazer [Post 1437: School me on alternators)

Today I built some 2x6 platforms for holding the Blazer body up and put the '73 Blazer up in the air.


Photo0284 by colbyjstephens, on Flickr

I feel like I got a good deal on the 2x6s. They were 16.98 for an 8 footer. Conveniently, those 2x6s hold the body up high enough that the suspension goes to full droop and the floor jack can just still be removed. Real glad to not even have to put jack stands on top of my 2x6s.

I might have time to pull the 14 bolt out tomorrow. I need to get it pulled and some parts ordered so that I can regear it in San Jose in early January with "onetonbb74," who also sold me the Dana 60.

I also took a few minutes to install a third reverse light. I like bright reverse lights, and these have worked well for me in the past. I just spliced it into the existing reverse light circuit.

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Photo0278 by colbyjstephens, on Flickr[/IMG]

:D
 
nice job with the lumber.

Ive got a stupid question, if you've still got that beautiful '73, why tear it apart to put everything into a new K5? I'm sure its been covered but I'm lazy today.
 
He said it's a bit...tweaked...and basically he got tired of having to deal with all the stuff that "wasn't right" due to decades old fixes, hacks, and in general age and fatigue.

Think I got that right...
 
The only thing you missed, AJ, is that most of all that stuff is essentially my fault for not doing it right the first time. ;) Now I intend to get it done right the first time around.

I'm going to put the 10 bolts from the '90 under the '73 and sell it as a running truck that needs work.

One thing that is going to suck a bit at first is that I'm going to have to run my current shocks with the new lift, but I really need something longer with more travel. So, these are going to be my limiting straps for a time, and it's going to be a bit worse since I intend to have 5" of lift instead of 4. :doah: But, it'll be just for a time. :D
 
Today I got the 14 bolt pulled out of the '73, along with the lift springs. Apparently my u-bolts had loosened up a bit, as one of my center pins was sheared in 2, and the other one is loose and all jacked. :doah: I won't be reusing U-bolts this time around... :doah: Good thing Kert's EZ-Inch blocks come with new center pins! :D

Also ordered replacement e-brake cables for my axle because I was a dumb ass and cut them off way back in the day. At $12 each, no big deal really. I went to pull my old cable nubs out, but didn't have my axle nut socket with me. Have to do it tomorrow.

So you remember how I said that my shocks are essentially my bump stops and limiting straps? Well, in removing the rear axle I of course had to remove the shocks from the axle. Suckers didn't even retract. I pushed them in and they didn't come back out. :haha: They still have some pressure, but they're totally shot, as I expected.
 
scottishdave said:
Man, thats kind of sad to see.
Click to expand...

I know it. But, every time I drive my '90 Blazer, I remember how the truck is supposed to drive, and it makes me glad to see this decision happen. :D The new one will be cooler, IMO, and it'll be done right. :D The thing I'm going to miss most about the '73 is the color. I really want to paint the '90, but I don't think that half-cab Blazers look very good in green, and the blue interior wouldn't go with green anyway. I've got some ideas rolling around in my head for a sweet color combo that will work with my current interior. ;)
 
Just take your time with everything to make sure you do it the "right way" and you will end up with a sick ride. It is pretty cool that the church there is letting you work on the truck in their parking lot. If you can't find new u-bolts in town, John's Spring Service will make you a set while you wait for about the same price as buying new ones. Also, there is a Napa close to your house that is 1,000,000x better then o'reilly's:whistle:
 
Thanks for the recommendation on John's Spring Service. I was hoping it wouldn't be too hard to find someone local for U-Bolts. The in-laws asked what I wanted for Christmas, so I linked them to DIY4x's U-Bolts, but figured it'd be cheaper to get them locally. :D

I've often thought about going to the Napa, but the dang O'Reilly's is just so dang close! :D

It is pretty great that the church is letting me use the space - it's SO dang close to my house and the parts store. I think they kind of like having me up there, anyway, because during the day it is a preschool that is run by women and it's a pretty bad place for crime. Because it's up on that hill, secluded and VERY dark at night, lots of drug deals and prostitution happen in the parking lot. In fact, about 10 years ago, my friend's daughter found a dead body up there. :( So, I think having me up there during the day working on stuff can be a bit calming for them. The cops asked them to put up a gate that they close at night, and that's helped significantly with the crime. Prostitutes will sometimes just go up there during the day and the pastor looks out the window and sees a car shakin and has to call the cops! Crazy.

Today's update is that I drained the 14bolt and pulled the drums off so I could get to the e-brake cable so as to replace it. Turns out they sold me the wrong style of cable. I ordered another set from Rock Auto and it's already shipped! :bow: I love that company. I tried to order through Summit since they're located here in town, but it was going to be at least 3 weeks before they get the part. :doah: I should have the e-brake cables next week. :D
 
Ok, I've got all my parts ordered for the gear install in the axles. Should be here Thursday and I'll be headed over to San Jose the following week to do the gear swap. :woot:

Unfortunately, it looks like I'm going to run out of money to do the actual swap in January. :doah: I thought I'd taken into account all the stuff that was going to nickel and dime me, but I was wrong. :( Oh well.

One thing I was going to do for the sake of time and saving cash for now was to put a raised steering block on the Dana 60 rather than going to crossover. But it will cost about $145 to do that. Since I'll be waiting, I'm now thinking that I should just save up the extra $200 and do crossover and be done with it.

Not sure how much a 2wd steering box goes for though. :dunno: ORD has the crossover complete kit for $440. The ORD website says, however, that the 88 up trucks don't need to change their steering box. Is this true even though I have the squarebody, straight axle truck? I could see a different box being used for the independent front suspensions which would make it unnecessary to change out on those trucks, but I think my '90 still has a regular old push/pull steering box, right?

So here's my list of what I still need to buy:
  • 2wd Steering box ($???)
  • Crossover Kit ($440... :yikes:) If I keep the Push/Pull, ($145)
  • EZ Inch blocks ($66)
  • Conversion U-Joints ($30, or maybe steal them from my '73 Blazer. :dunno:)
  • Gear Oil and RTV Sealer ($15ish)
  • Speedometer Calibration ($1)
  • Shocks, though hopefully not necessary at the time of the lift. ($$$)
  • U-bolts ($95ish) between DIY4x and a kit for the front.
  • Front Spring Plates, DIY4x: ($45)

So I need about $690 or $400 depending on the steering set up. I'm inclined to find another $300 to just do it right the first time, but that slows me down. Uggh.

Do it right. Do it right. No cut corners. Ok.... :D

I was hoping to do the swap next month so I could start trying to sell the remains of my '73. If I could sell it now I'd have the funds for steering, but I need to be able to put my 10 bolts from my '90 under it so I can sell it as a running truck, so I need the money first. Tempting to put it on the credit card and sell the truck to pay it back, but I'm damn reluctant to do that and then have the pressure of selling a not-so-desirable truck with no top, no interior, etc. etc. etc.
 
Been thinking about that recently. Toying with putting an asking price of $800 on it. Not convinced it's worth that much, but that's what I want it to be worth. :D I have a ton of money into the engine, which you'd probably never know. :haha:
 
You can swap sector shafts from 2wd box. If you pull one from a junk yard most of the time they dont know what they are and say 10 bucks. Its a pretty easy swap. I pulled a pitman arm off a jeep for 15ish. If you have decent yard you can do crossover pretty cheap. Making a drag link from ruff stuff parts could help the price too
 
crossover...

2wd sector shaft. 10 bucks or so at junkyard.
4wheelsupply steering arm. 50 bucks +8.95 shipping. http://pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=947915
Draglink from Wfo concepts. 85 bucks
http://www.wfoconcepts.com/pr/1.25x.219-Wall-DOM-Tie-Rod-7-8x18-Threads/3163/3217/3707
Pitman arm 89 bucks
http://www.wfoconcepts.com/pr/Superlift-1104-Machined-for-Chevy-Draglink-Taper/3163/3360/3361
Draglink ends are 29 a peice so 60 bucks there.


So that is only 280 bucks then the 10 for the sector shaft.
 
Dang! That's a lot cheaper! THANKS!!! :bow: Any info about how to get at a sector shaft so that I'm not spending all day at a junk yard trying to figure it out?

On that steering arm, can I just drill out a hole for a TRE, or does that need to be a tapered hole of some kind? Looks like you can order it with the hole for not much more.
 
Don't load up your credit card with the hopes of selling your old truck in the future. It may take more time but if you save up you'll be much better off. :waytogo:
 
Yep. That's the plan. ;) We fought hard to get debt free a bit over a year ago, and we're going to stay that way. :D
 
The sector shaft unbolts from the top 4 bolts. Pop the pitman arm off and the shaft will come out the top. Find a similar year 2wd and it will take 10min to pull. There are a few junkyard pitman arms that work with crossover, a chevy van of some sort and jeep arms from the 90s. The jeep arms arnt all that beefy and need to be remed to fit a 1 ton tre. It might take you a little to find and pull a pitman arm but it will be cheper then 90. Bring a bfh
 
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