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A little progress

I also had to do some fast talking when I bought my 72 Blazer. I was selling an 87 chevy 2wd pickup with 130k miles, and getting a 72 with 67k original miles. I kept telling her, "if you look at the miles it is newer." She didn't buy that line either, but she new I wanted it bad and gave in. Only problem is she likes to travel and everytime I spend a few $ on the Blaze she wants to take a trip.
 
gaspass said:
I also had to do some fast talking when I bought my 72 Blazer. I was selling an 87 chevy 2wd pickup with 130k miles, and getting a 72 with 67k original miles. I kept telling her, "if you look at the miles it is newer." She didn't buy that line either, but she new I wanted it bad and gave in. Only problem is she likes to travel and everytime I spend a few $ on the Blaze she wants to take a trip.
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I hear you, man :D !!
 
Yukon Jack said:
My complete plan...

Hope that takes care of some of the confusion.
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:bow: yep, good description/expected use.

Hows the body overall? Pretty much good to go?
 
Both rockers need to be replaced and the driver floor needs a roughly 10" x 8" area replaced. Passenger door below the door hand is dented a bit. Both doors are cut for speakers. A few minor dings on the rest of the body. But overall, in great shape as far as I can see. Both rocker boxes are intact and the rest of the floor is all solid.

I will get a few body areas protected from rust but don't expect to worry about paint - I just want to get this K5 roadworthy and start enjoying it! If I paint it, I'll just end up scratching it and being mad.
 
Yukon Jack said:
Both rockers need to be replaced and the driver floor needs a roughly 10" x 8" area replaced. Passenger door below the door hand is dented a bit. Both doors are cut for speakers. A few minor dings on the rest of the body. But overall, in great shape as far as I can see. Both rocker boxes are intact and the rest of the floor is all solid.

I will get a few body areas protected from rust but don't expect to worry about paint - I just want to get this K5 roadworthy and start enjoying it! If I paint it, I'll just end up scratching it and being mad.
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My doors were cut for speaker too, i just filled the holes with speakers ;)
Cheap and ez.
 
Got the rear brake lines all the way done a couple days ago. Got the front brake lines about half done Saturday night. Also went ahead and pulled out the spare motor that I put in the Blazer to have the correct weight while setting the rear pinion angle.

Probably should take a few minutes to clean the engine bay and maybe spray it black before I put the rebuilt motor in. The engine bay looks pretty nasty!

k5withoutmotor.jpg


Since my front axle was just sitting in place rather than bolted in place, I went ahead and pulled it back out Saturday so I could lower the front end more to make it easier to pull he motor.

Sure don't like that lowrider look :D

k5withoutmotor1.jpg
 
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Played hookie from work a couple days ago in the late afternoon and got the power washer out. A little Castrol Super Clean and some scrubbing got the bay pretty clean. Then hit a few areas with the sander.

Saturday was the last day that was supposed to be over 50 degrees for a while so I made time to get to the barn and got everything masked off and hit the metal with some black paint. I must say, it looks a lot better but looks better in the pictures. Up close you can see a number of areas that could have used more sanding. I just wanted to get the loose paint off and get it one color and protected, so works for me.

enginebaypainted2.jpg


Also pulled the gas tank skid plate from the back of the barn where it has been sitting. I cleaned it up for paint about 2 years ago and, well, just never got it painted. Used the 3M undercoating/rubberized stuff and the finished product looks great. To bad I moved it before it was dry, ended up putting the smudge you see in the side shot. May sand it a bit and touch it up, maybe not :rolleyes:

gastankskidplate1.jpg


gastankskidplate2.jpg


Hmm, looks like next is getting the flywheel and clutch installed and it's time to put the rebuilt motor back in! :woot: :saweet:
 
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Dang man, you have done more in two months to yours than I have done in the last year to mine.
 
Thanks for the compliments. I swore I wouldn't do any painting but I just couldn't bare to put that good looking orange motor in that ugly engine bay :eek1:

This project started by taking delivery of the K5 on January 31, 2004 - so this by no means has been a quick project but at least I'm finally getting some where!
 
a new motor has to go in a clean home. when I sold my buddy my spare 350 he wanted to drop it in. I told him that motor won't come off the picker til it has a clean home. he spent 2 days cleaning and painting and i tell you what that was the easier motor swap I'v done, dropped right in and fired right up. although the oil presure sending unit leaked for 3 days as we tried ever fitting, other then that not a prob and it looks good.
 
Today was a great day! A friend came over today around 1:30 pm and we set out to install the 400 sbc.

preinstall.jpg


We first yanked the front axle that was only sitting in place. That allowed us to drop the front end down. Then got to fight the motor into place. Took a bit of urging to finally get the motor lined up and the input splines to mate with the clutch - but we got it done!

installed1.jpg


installed2.jpg


Hopefully will get some free evenings this week so I can get the motor install complete and fire it up.

After my friend left I got the front axle reinstalled and then went and unloaded a load of wood from my 69 K20.

Now I need to make a list of what I need to do to get it done - can see the light at the end of the tunnel for sure! :waytogo:
 
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I'm gonna keep this post going as I finish my K5 project as it gives a good overview of what the project has entailed. A short recap, got the motor fired up a few weeks ago and took my first short test drive last Sunday.

I have a short in my wiring and as my engine bay harnesses are in pretty poor shape, I thought I would replace them and see if the short goes away. Got the harnesses two days ago and got them installed. In the process I broke the post off the starter that the purple wire goes too :mad:

Sure is nice to get the new wiring harness installed. The prior owners had done some creative wiring and some wires were just loose and I couldn't figure out for the life of me what some were supposed to be for. Now everything is wired up correctly but unfortunately I still have the short. If you pull the headlight switch the tail/stop fuse blows immediately. Headlights and turns signals still work but I loose the parking lights and I think the dash lights. Will work on that problem soon.

Got out again last night and got my throttle linkage straightened out - it was not getting full movement due to interference but it is working properly now. Also got the transfer case shifter installed and the transmission hump back in place after a little metal trimming. The original case was the Dana 20 and the shifter for the NP205 must be positioned a little different. Was out there until 11:30 last night, a bit tired today, but I'm so eager to get this project on the road that it is worth it.

Started to install the starter I picked up yesterday but turned out to be the wrong one - picked up the correct one today.

Should be able to put the driver's seat back in tonight if I get out to the shop and get the carpet back in place - will be nice to have that done.

After that I need to install the power steering belt and see if the pump works. Then I need to adjust the clutch rod a bit. Right now I have to push the pedal way down before the clutch disengages - I assume I just need to shorten the rod a bit.

Also need to install the front driveshaft and start searching for the short. Also need to install the new heater core - figure I will do that while the hood is off. Gonna throw a new heater blower motor in while I have the heater box off.

Almost roadworthy! :laugh:
 
funny how you worded the previous owner and his wiring. When i got mine i had wires go into a loom one color and come out another. I was tracing the tach one time and it changed colors 3 times between the distrutor and the gage.

Anyway your motor looks awesome. keep them pics coming. I love reading about it, but remember a pic is worth a thousand words :D
 
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