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Black Beauty '79 Daily Driver

Build a reliable daily driver out of this clean 1979 K5 Cheyenne
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RCNMRN

RCNMRN

Registered Member
Joined
Oct 25, 2018
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Location
Midland, VA
RCNMRN submitted a new Build:

Black Beauty '79 Daily Driver

Picked up a cosmetically clean west coast 1979 K5. It's my second. A new family prompted my first blazer's departure. Now that my little one is older (and my ex took the family truckster, a '15 Dodge Durango, the only new vehicle I've ever purchased), I am back to my unreasonable ways. After fate drove me back to the K5, I went looking for a "new" ride. I found a clean, west coast Blazer and brought her (Black Beauty) back home to VA. Although functioning, at least when I got her, she's as old as I am, and things start to break. I have a farm truck, and a trail rig to beat on, so the Blazer is meant to be a classic, head turning, daily driver. Originally, I expected to show her some love, upgrading and improving things over time, but now she sits motionless in my driveway, a hunk of beautiful metal. The NP205 is non-functioning, delivering power in LO-Loc only, and exclusively to the front, the rear shaft gets nothing. The rear brakes have gone, all fluid going... I don't know where. AND apparently a previous owner had drilled out the drain plug in the rear diff, and did so off center. So my daily driver has quickly become a project, a project that needs to be completed sooner rather than later. I intend to do a lot of this work myself, unfortunately I am not a mechanic, have never really done much more than general service type work to my vehicles, and usually find my self confident enough in my mechanical abilities to get myself into trouble. I want to turn this Blazer into (as much as can be reasonably expected of a 40 year old) a safe, reliable, powerful, head turning, Blazer capable of anything and everything it was expected to handle, and perhaps a fraction more.[/quote]

Read more about this build here...

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I could be wrong but if it’s got “low loc” wouldn’t it be a 203? And if it’s only getting power to the front then it sounds like it might be stuck in low, not low loc. If that’s the case it may be working properly since the 203 has a differential in it similar to an axle differential
 
Forgive me, I have never done any work to a vehicle besides some general maintenance stuff, so this is all new to me. I'm winging it and hoping to have the pleasure and pride of doing most of this myself.
It has manual locking hubs, so I assumed it had the 205. Is there a way to tell? I'll get pictures of the underside on here today or over the weekend.
I've reached out to ORD as well, but essentially, aside from documenting this build on here and becoming part of this community, I have little idea what I am doing. Any guidance is appreciated.
Where she sits currently, from what I know or can tell:
Engine seems to be in good order, post ‘87 model 350 TBI 43k mi, dual exhaust
Gauges all function correctly except the speedo, sounds like Jimminy Cricket having an orgasm in there as the needle indicates my speed somewhere between 0-100.
Steering box seems fine and currently no damage or warping to frame where mounted. Steering column is loose and belt needs replaced. Truck is lifted 6” and likely steering components were not upgraded to handle the change in angles.
Transmission is stock TH-350 or 400 3-speed auto (not sure how to tell which one), was told with a shift kit (don’t know what that means or if there is really anything on it at all).
Transfer case is stock NP-205 with manual locking hubs in front (guessing now, after your comment UpnAdam). T-case is currently non-functioning, shifter will only engage in LO-loc, and is only sending power to the front differential.
10 bolt - front axle
10 bolt - rear axle, someone had drilled out drain plug on differential, off center, leaks, no power to the rear anyway.
Brakes seem stock, only functioning in the front, non-functioning in the rear, brake fluid leaks to somewhere, don’t know where its going.
Suspension seems stock, utilizing blocks for the lift.

Here is where I need help. Seems everything under this truck, aside from the engine and transmission perhaps (though the transmission may need an upgrade), needs to be replaced or rebuilt. I am not on a budget necessarily, but funds are not endless either. I would rather spend the money to do this right, sacrificing on the luxury components, not the functional components, than do just enough to get her road worthy and end up spending half the time on continued maintenance. Although I don’t need to build an over the top rig capable of climbing Everest, I would rather overbuild for what I need than do just enough. Again, she will be a daily driver that sees mostly pavement and gravel roads, and would love for her to give another 40 yrs of service.
 
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Take a couple pictures of transfer and transmission. You will get a response right away telling you what they are. Good group of guys around here will tell you everything you ever need to know about your truck. And these trucks in general.
 
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An NP205 will have a little round cover in the middle on the back side of it with 3 bolts in it. Like this one.
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Can't remember the difference in pan shape between a TH350 and a TH400 but the 400 will have a vacuum line going to the pass side of the trans right above the pan and a 350 will have a kickdown cable.
It could have an NP203 with a manual hub conversion on the front axle or just a different axle with manual hubs.
 
Uploaded more photos to the gallery. From what you've said, seems I have the NP203 with the conversion, and not 100% on what I'm looking at, but assuming it's the TH350. Anything else? Other pictures?
Why would the 203 explain my lack of drive to the rear? Any position on the T shifter besides LO-loc gives me nothing. Also, my telling you that no power is going to the rear is relayed from the mechanic I took it to to give me a once over so I knew what my baseline was. Not that I believe anything he's said, because he also told me he had no idea where to get or who could rebuild the T-case. I told him he didn't need him to do anything, I just wanted to know what else or what specifically was wrong other than what I could figure out on my own, since I'm not a mechanic.
 
The 203’s have a somewhat complicated shifting mechanism that could be out of adjustment, which might explain why it won’t go into other positions. There’s some great info on this site describing the differences with photos.
 
In moving forward and trying to plan this out, what would be the recommendation on the T-case, rebuild the 203 with a twin stick from ORD (they said the shifter is prone to failure and might be part of the problem, that the shifter is not actually shifting anything), move to a 205, 208 or 241 (if I stick with Blazer related parts) or go with something else I don't know about? Assuming the transmission is good, stick with the 350 or, if its ready to go too, move to the 700 to match the era of engine? Maybe just get a whole setup from the same era as the engine so it all matches up, like a 700R4 and NP-241?
 
If the transmission is good I would lean toward fixing the 203 and enjoy the truck for awhile. Keep in mind that any transmission and or t-case swaps will likely also require the driveshafts to be lengthened/shortened.
 
Right on. Thanks guys. I have some work to do over the weekend/week. I'll get back with an update soon. Maybe this won't be as extensive a job as I was imagining it would be.
 
skunked said:
If the transmission is good I would lean toward fixing the 203 and enjoy the truck for awhile. Keep in mind that any transmission and or t-case swaps will likely also require the driveshafts to be lengthened/shortened.
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I like this advice, especially if you can get it working without a rebuild right now.
I assume that you were able to drive it some? If so, did it make any unhappy noises from the transfer case area?

Maybe down the road you can find a 700R4 and 241, but with the lift, it would probably need a slip yoke eliminator on the t-case. The 203 already has a bolt on yoke.
 
Just wanted to check back in. I’ve had complications from my accident and unable to work on my blazer or even drive at all. Surgery is next week, so hope to be back under the hood soon. It has given me time to research and locate necessary and potential replacement parts to have on hand when I’m able to work on her again. Thanks for all of your advice and look forward to getting back to work on this.
 
Best wishes for all to go well, and a speedy recovery!

Oh, and good luck sleeping with all of the project thoughts stuck in your head!

:D
 
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