Blazer blues

[packer]

I have a 72 Blazer full of rust, that I want to restore I have all the patch panels at hand but do not know where to start. The floor has rust along with the rocker panels, boxes,kick panels,cowl bottoms and rear floor around the rear wheelwells and tailgate anybody in my area willing to give advice? I have a mig welder with no experience, but do not want to get rid of my Blazer. Help!

 

[Greg72]

Have you seen the "CANCER SUPPORT" thread at the top of this forum???

You are at the start of a pretty scary time in your life......but you are not alone. EVERYONE with a 1st Gen has rust, it's only a question of degrees.


The secret will be to completely support the truck before cutting off the rusty parts. Those rockers are structural, so if you remove them without supporting the door openings and windshield frame, the cab is going to fold in half....or the gaps will never be right.

Grab some popcorn, read the CANCER SUPPORT thread and come back to us with questions....we'll be here for you.

 

[Burt4x4]

and then and then

hehehee
Good Luck

 

[vtblazer]

and then and then

hehehee
Good Luck

crack me up...

Greg's correct (mostly) I'm sure he meant 'torsion' boxes though.

It's going to be a journey you never expected for sure but the pay off is well worth it.
Be prepared, you'll find more rust the deeper you dig. (unfortunately)

Finding the board and asking/reading puts you one step ahead already.
Have fun and post pics of the progress.

 

[jaros44]

Those guys are right lots of work, take measurements as well. It can be done, i just finished my drivers side. The patch panels are close to what you need, but still have to be trimmed, luckily they are not that expensive if you screw one up.
Rusty Parts finished his up and sent me pics. along the way, so it was a good guide as to what i was going to run into and what it should look like when finished.

These forums will give you all the help and answer questions as well, lots of support in here.

One tool that i bought that i thought was invaluable was a shear that cut up pcs. and left a pigs tail curled, left both sides of the sheet metal nice and flat!! I only had to use a torch once as the PO used 2 pcs. of sheet metal to sandwich in the original rust.

Get your tetnis shot, have fun, and take pics.

 

[LVJimmy]

Greg72,
Will it fold in half even if the hard top is on?

 

[Greg72]

Probably not, but you need to be aware that what is being cut IS structural....treat it as such, and do everything you can to reinforce the body BEFORE you start removing rocker boxes and cab supports to perform the repairs.