As a teenager, I spent countless hours on this forum drooling over all the builds and trying to absorb as much of the technical/mechanical knowledge as I could. Fast forward about 20 years and I finally bought the K5 my teenage self always dreamed about.
Thanks to the birthday emails this forum sends out every year, I was even able to dig up my old login.
I’m a woodworker by trade and own/operate a custom cabinet shop. I’ve finally gotten myself to a point where I can start spending money on the finer things in life… like 54-year-old trucks.
Onto the important part ; the truck.
She’s a 1972 K5 Blazer, 350 / TH350. It’s had a few minor modifications over the years but thankfully hasn’t been molested or cut up, and there’s little to no rust anywhere on it. It spent most of the last 25 years sitting in the back of my hometown auto parts store.
The current paint job is about 20 years old, and I also have the original top in good condition. Body is straight, a couple of very small dents but nothing notable.
My current dilemma is deciding what direction to take with it. Part of me wants to do a full frame-off restoration, but I also really enjoy cruising around in it on the weekends as it sits. Realistically, if I go all-in on a restoration, I’m guessing it’ll be about two years before it’s driving again, which would be a bit of a bummer.
So right now I’m debating between tackling smaller repairs and upgrades as I go versus committing to the full teardown.
I recently took it to a local classic car / hot rod shop and had them put it on a lift and give it a full once-over. Nothing major showed up, but pretty much everything that can leak… does.
After doing some research I’ve been leaning toward eventually swapping the drivetrain for an LS3 / 4L80E, but once it’s that far apart I have a feeling I won’t be able to resist the urge to take it down to a bare frame.
Anyway, just wanted to hop back on here and re-introduce myself. Whatever route I end up going, I’ll be sure to post plenty of updates.
Maybe there’s some 16-year-old kid out there reading these threads the same way I was back then.
Thanks to the birthday emails this forum sends out every year, I was even able to dig up my old login.
I’m a woodworker by trade and own/operate a custom cabinet shop. I’ve finally gotten myself to a point where I can start spending money on the finer things in life… like 54-year-old trucks.
Onto the important part ; the truck.
She’s a 1972 K5 Blazer, 350 / TH350. It’s had a few minor modifications over the years but thankfully hasn’t been molested or cut up, and there’s little to no rust anywhere on it. It spent most of the last 25 years sitting in the back of my hometown auto parts store.
The current paint job is about 20 years old, and I also have the original top in good condition. Body is straight, a couple of very small dents but nothing notable.
My current dilemma is deciding what direction to take with it. Part of me wants to do a full frame-off restoration, but I also really enjoy cruising around in it on the weekends as it sits. Realistically, if I go all-in on a restoration, I’m guessing it’ll be about two years before it’s driving again, which would be a bit of a bummer.
So right now I’m debating between tackling smaller repairs and upgrades as I go versus committing to the full teardown.
I recently took it to a local classic car / hot rod shop and had them put it on a lift and give it a full once-over. Nothing major showed up, but pretty much everything that can leak… does.
After doing some research I’ve been leaning toward eventually swapping the drivetrain for an LS3 / 4L80E, but once it’s that far apart I have a feeling I won’t be able to resist the urge to take it down to a bare frame.
Anyway, just wanted to hop back on here and re-introduce myself. Whatever route I end up going, I’ll be sure to post plenty of updates.
Maybe there’s some 16-year-old kid out there reading these threads the same way I was back then.
