Oh, I'm not knocking you for it. I would have done the same thing (minus paint, as I am too lazy to paint things).
Martin
Martin
CK5
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'91 K5 Four Wheel Camper
This is the build for my 1991 V1500 Blazer, AKA the K5.3. It started out life being sold to the U.S. Government with a 350 TBI/700r4/241 combo. 4 years with a 5.3/700r4 Combo and now moving to an 8.1L Vortec and NV4500 5-speed.
No offense taken. I'm not usually this detail oriented but it would be a shame not to as nice as this is turning out. Larry is upping my game.
I stuck around late at work today to get some work done on the front driveshaft. As Larry found out on the desert trip last year, these late style flanged front shafts are easier to install/remove than the early style but GM left some extra material on the yokes. On a stock height truck it isn't much of a problem, but 4" of lift and some flexing will cause the yokes on the cv end of the shaft to hit each other and want to tear itself up. See Larry's post on the subject in the desert trip from last year.
Following his recipe I got busy with an angle grinder with a cut off wheel.
The lines show where I'm knocking the corners off.
After the cuts.
Both ends done. On the right you can see the appendage about an inch long sticking up on the end of the shaft. That needs removed too.
Cut off the appendage and switched to a grinder wheel from the cut-off wheel. Started shaping the ends of the yokes and smoothed things out.
Midway through the process on the yokes.
Final result. The CV turns tight without anything touching. It will get shipped off to the local driveline shop monday to get balanced and a little length added.
Got home and went right back to work cleaning up the rear shaft and the brake calipers. Still need to install the conversion u-joint for the 1/2ton shaft to the 14b yoke. Back to wire wheeling, cleanup and shooting some primer.
A few light coats of tractor black later...
Gave the Winch a scuff and laid down a final coat on it today too. Looks good.
Following his recipe I got busy with an angle grinder with a cut off wheel.
The lines show where I'm knocking the corners off.
After the cuts.
Both ends done. On the right you can see the appendage about an inch long sticking up on the end of the shaft. That needs removed too.
Cut off the appendage and switched to a grinder wheel from the cut-off wheel. Started shaping the ends of the yokes and smoothed things out.
Midway through the process on the yokes.
Final result. The CV turns tight without anything touching. It will get shipped off to the local driveline shop monday to get balanced and a little length added.
Got home and went right back to work cleaning up the rear shaft and the brake calipers. Still need to install the conversion u-joint for the 1/2ton shaft to the 14b yoke. Back to wire wheeling, cleanup and shooting some primer.
A few light coats of tractor black later...
Gave the Winch a scuff and laid down a final coat on it today too. Looks good.
The paint is turning out really nicely. I would not have thought such a simple thing would have made a noticeable difference in appearance. 
Thanks! It really does make a difference. Plus it gives me something to do to help Larry out with some of the work. Keeps him going on the big stuff. The end result will be that much nicer.The paint is turning out really nicely. I would not have thought such a simple thing would have made a noticeable difference in appearance.
y5mgisi
1 ton status
Good job!
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I’ve been crazy busy with work and life lately and falling behind with posting progress pictures…… Without further ado…..here are a few new pics of Zoo5
Cutting off the old spring hangers and exhaust hanger bracket
Cleaned up and ready for some ORD goodies. I still need to snap some pics of the after shackle swap
We’re still working on giving this ole K5 some class but at least now it’s got glass!
It was nice of our glass installer friend to stop by today
The chassis and suspension is pretty much done outside of some small things like front brake lines and drive shafts. Rob dropped off a set of nice meat for it last night!
Passenger door after fresh paint and new weather stripping & window channels and lot of adjustments
Purdy! That door shuts better than a brand new truck now….hope I have the same luck with the driver’s door.
This door has a long ways to go but at least it has fresh paint and fresh weather stripping. It is also so far out of whack I’ll probably have to pull the front fender off to get to the door hinges for front to back adjustment.
That’s it for now….the goal is to have it started and be able to drive it in and out of the garage by Thanksgiving. We’ll see!
Cutting off the old spring hangers and exhaust hanger bracket
Cleaned up and ready for some ORD goodies. I still need to snap some pics of the after shackle swap
We’re still working on giving this ole K5 some class but at least now it’s got glass!
It was nice of our glass installer friend to stop by today
The chassis and suspension is pretty much done outside of some small things like front brake lines and drive shafts. Rob dropped off a set of nice meat for it last night!
Passenger door after fresh paint and new weather stripping & window channels and lot of adjustments
Purdy! That door shuts better than a brand new truck now….hope I have the same luck with the driver’s door.
This door has a long ways to go but at least it has fresh paint and fresh weather stripping. It is also so far out of whack I’ll probably have to pull the front fender off to get to the door hinges for front to back adjustment.
That’s it for now….the goal is to have it started and be able to drive it in and out of the garage by Thanksgiving. We’ll see!
Yea! Now If I can just get NAPA to find the right U-joint straps. The front shaft should be coming back from Pueblo Brake and Clutch tomorrow. I'm anxious to see how it came out. Saw it in person tonight and pictures don't do justice to how nice the door shuts now. Nice thud without having to slam the crap out of it. Plus he got the giant gap that would have been a huge wind leak where the door meets the a-pillar fixed. Got the best gaps possible for an aftermarket door and front fender too. Larry is a bulldog on panel fitment, but he's patient and all his stuff fits and shuts better than new. This is going to be a switch for me as loosey goosey the 75 fit. Had to slam the crap out of both doors, they rattled and leaked like mad on the old truck. I might be able to hear the tunes!
That looks really good.
Martin
Martin
y5mgisi
1 ton status
Bad ass! All around! What size are the tires? And are the door panels done in sem? What color? Adjusting doors is not a fun thing...
Awesome!
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The door panels are actually original. I just cleaned them with Simple Green and power washed the heck out of them. The door is what got the fresh paint. The K5 got an aftermarket door and RH fender at some point in its life where the installer barely had any paint covering the black ecoat. Looks better now! The door works better too
y5mgisi
1 ton status
Dang! Panels cleaned up real nice!
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The driver’s door turned out really nice! Of course, it needed pins and bushings as with most old square bodies, but it was worth it. Since it was so far apart removing the fender made easy work of removing the hinges to replace the bushings then adjusting the door. I wish the driver’s door operation on my K10 and Polar Bear Suburban turned out this nice.
Sealed the door before installing the door panel. Sure cuts down on dust and gives the door a more solid sound when you shut it.
Rob still needs arm rests for the old girl someday. Its a damn shame the windows are so badly scratched up.
I had some neat 3M material that is used on the back of UPS trucks to protect the bodies from contact with shipping docks that I used on the rockers. It is really durable stuff almost like a bed liner but in stick-on form.
Next up….pull the full floater apart to replace the brake shoes, hardware kit and wheel cylinders.
Sealed the door before installing the door panel. Sure cuts down on dust and gives the door a more solid sound when you shut it.
Rob still needs arm rests for the old girl someday. Its a damn shame the windows are so badly scratched up.
I had some neat 3M material that is used on the back of UPS trucks to protect the bodies from contact with shipping docks that I used on the rockers. It is really durable stuff almost like a bed liner but in stick-on form.
Next up….pull the full floater apart to replace the brake shoes, hardware kit and wheel cylinders.
awesome build so far! cant wait to see it running. im gearing up to start tearing my 89 apart in January and do a 5.3/4l60 swap. decided to just tear it all apart like you are instead of little by little so im collecting suspension/interior parts. threads like this always help out guys like me who are in the prep stages. thanks for posting and keeping it updated!
y5mgisi
1 ton status
Very nice!
315/75 16 Goodyear Wrangler Duratrac
Glad our project can inspire yours. Can't wait to see your project get rolling too!
I had some neat 3M material that is used on the back of UPS trucks to protect the bodies from contact with shipping docks that I used on the rockers. It is really durable stuff almost like a bed liner but in stick-on form.
That stuff looks neat. Do you have a link to where the rest of us could buy some?
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I can’t find it anywhere. It’s called “3M Controltac Marking System” but when you search for it this particular stuff doesn’t come up anywhere. It could be UPS has this made by 3M especially for them. It looks black but it is actually UPS brown with texture. There is other stuff you can buy that would work just as well if not even better like the anti-slip material, which is basically stick on sand paper.
Should be a PUJ 49210
I really like how this is turning out, nice and clean but not over done.
