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Blazer's 85 Suburban "Twinkie"

So dilemma time

Grill still will attach however it sits a lot lower then it did originally. So I am more then likely going to have a big gap between my hood and grill. Which will not work. I do have tons of space between the grill in its current location and the radiator. I can cut the mount and move it up ti lesson the space from the grill to the hood.

However if I leave it the same length as it is now the lights will fit without and issue.

But the fender stops at the down bar so ???? Not sure how that will look.

20130704_193353.jpg
 
So I still need to run the wires for the horns and lights and rest of the stuff that was in the front.

And just remembered today that I have to build a new transfer case and trans mount and skid plate. So got some more work to do. :waytogo:

And one of my shifter hold down brackets has a crack so need to fix that.

Need to figure out how to really mount the front air line also.
 
Yeah will more then likely go that route. Going to get the other fender on then cut the hood and fit it.

Want to skin the hood then reinforce it with some square tube. Would like to see if the hinges could work some how maybe the secondary ones and use a prop rod.
 
Got the other fender on

Going to get some cardboard from work, we have 4x4 sheets of it. Make a template for the hood then see how much I have to cut.

nose.jpg
 
The other burb is a GMC and the grill is pretty beat up so mine is the only one for now. Maybe I will do expanded metal :rolleyes:

So set the hood on it is just about a long as the front of the top of the radiator support.

So I have dilemma.

It is going to look dumb to have the hood be longer then the fenders.

So do I lengthen the fenders ?
or
Shorten the hood ?

I have a set of uncut stock fenders that I can use to lengthen the ones I have. I was basically thinking cut the fang turn signal area off of them then weld it to the ones that are on the truck now.

My other issue is, the hood. How in the world can I keep the ridge and the edge of the hood as well as narrow it. The black line is basically where it needs to go to. All the way back to the back of the hood.

UGG so what do I do

I have no idea how to keep the ridge line. The edge is not all that bad but the ridge line is not computing

hiid line drivers.jpg

hood side.jpg
 
Van grills are the same as truck grills if you see one at the junk yard

This grill is unmodified, only the side piece was cut down

 
That grill is still to wide to fit my truck

So six hours of working on the hood about half done maybe.

First my welder sucks.

Second never doing it again this way.

Not sure how would be better but this is not much fun. I am thinking that a frame build out of square tube or angle would be so much simpler. Skin the hood build the frame to fit you opening the cut the skin to fit the frame.

I still have the passenger side to do as well as figuring out how to use the hinges or something.

Going to cut the front end off of the other fenders then weld them to the front of the ones on the truck. That way they can be about three inches longer. Then I wont have to do some more cutting and welding to the hood. Plus I will have space to put my headlights in. Or at least that is the plan for now.

I figure I have the rest of July to get this front end done. Then I will have all of August to do the back. The the first couple of weeks of September to do the trans mount.

Oh and I killed my windshield.

hood 2.jpg
 
So I have found a better way to do this hood.

Well the better way to do it if you are doing it this way.

Cut the end of the hood off. Then split the two layers apart and slide the top over the top layer of the hood. Seems to work really well on the passenger side so far. Now of course my passenger side is going to look better then my drivers side. Still going to be a 20 foot paint job though.

I am still thinking the best way is to build a frame then skin the hood and attach the skin to the frame.
 
So fenders are done

Hood is welded have about three hours of grinding to do on it still. :doah:

Raised the piece that the grill attaches to so it fits right where the hood stops

Have to put in the hood latch and the release cable and the spring back on and see how well the hood works

Need to weld the hood hinge bolt framework on the bottom of the hood. Then figure out a way to mount the hinges to the body.

pass fender.jpg

pass fender 2.jpg

nose 2.jpg
 
Pics of the weld mess on the hood

More then likely I am going to make another one, I have two more to pick from.

Going to make a frame then put the hood skin on the top. Going to be easier and much more simple.

Oh and did I mention that my welder sucks for sheet metal.

hood weld.jpg

hood weldpas.jpg
 
So just went out and did some looking at it, passenger side fender shrunk and so now I have to cut it and move it about 1/2 of an inch. Should not be a big deal cut and weld, not like I haven't welded a ton on it already. :doah:
 
I don't have anything useful to add, but I'm following your thread so I'm not as surprised by the changes when you show up for Blazer Bash this year as I was last year. :D
 
Fixed the fender

Did some looking at the hood and learned a new thing today.

The hinges that have springs on them on my hood are really just springs. The back ones do the hood lining up part the others are just springs.

So I got looking at it some more going to build my own hinges. Use the front hood latch and little spring that is on the hood. Then make or find a prop rod and not do the factory springs they look like to much work for no real benefit.
 
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