Xtremegmc80
1/2 ton status
nice work so far!
He'll use an oil pan and possibly a transmission pan.The rest of the truck is a '73 K5.
CK5
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colbystephens' '73 blazer build!
- Thread starter colbystephens
- Start date
nice work so far!
can't remember if i posted it already, but i decided to keep the '83 frame. should make some things easier for me - including the fact that now i won't need to go to the dmv and register a new truck.
i decided yesterday to build a tool box into the back of the truck - much like mr. artzner has in his. i'll put the batteries and the air tank in there. this should help distribute some weight, as well as protect the tank from getting beat up by stuff flying around in the bed of the truck while wheelin. i think i'll put an air pressure guage on the dash so i can monitor the tank easily.
another couple cool ideas i've come up with is to have a hand-operated, cable-driven trottle cable. not so much for having a hand throttle (tho it could work that way), but something i can use to lock rpm's at a certain range for operating the compressor. that way i don't have to be in the truck if i want to power it higher than a simple "high-idle".
also, i don't have the money for a dana 60, and even if i did, i wouldn' thave the cash for a selectable front locker. SO... i decided to get dual line-lock brakes for the front calipers. this way, if i'm spinning a tire, i can put the line-lock on just that one and it should send the power to the tire with traction. poor man's $120 locker!
(idea admittedly stolen/modified from the new FJ cruisers... 
)oh, and by the way, there's not going to be a tranny pan on this rig... those manual gear boxes don't have 'em!
That's why I said 'possibly'...oh, and by the way, there's not going to be a tranny pan on this rig... those manual gear boxes don't have 'em!
can't remember if i posted it already, but i decided to keep the '83 frame. should make some things easier for me - including the fact that now i won't need to go to the dmv and register a new truck.
i decided yesterday to build a tool box into the back of the truck - much like mr. artzner has in his. i'll put the batteries and the air tank in there. this should help distribute some weight, as well as protect the tank from getting beat up by stuff flying around in the bed of the truck while wheelin. i think i'll put an air pressure guage on the dash so i can monitor the tank easily.
another couple cool ideas i've come up with is to have a hand-operated, cable-driven trottle cable. not so much for having a hand throttle (tho it could work that way), but something i can use to lock rpm's at a certain range for operating the compressor. that way i don't have to be in the truck if i want to power it higher than a simple "high-idle".
also, i don't have the money for a dana 60, and even if i did, i wouldn' thave the cash for a selectable front locker. SO... i decided to get dual line-lock brakes for the front calipers. this way, if i'm spinning a tire, i can put the line-lock on just that one and it should send the power to the tire with traction. poor man's $120 locker!
oh, and by the way, there's not going to be a tranny pan on this rig... those manual gear boxes don't have 'em!
Do what I do, wedge a stick against the gas pedal and the seat. I did that when I had carb problems
Glad to hear you pans, sounds like you've got an awsome build.
is "pans" a verb?
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ah crap, I can't type for ****...
got a bit of progress done on the truck...
went up to camas, wa (about 20 min from north end of portland...) and picked up a core support and front fenders. the ones i had received with the truck were just too rusty to deal with. these are virtually rust free.
got the fenders cut down so that they fit over the sliders. still need a bit more persuasion from the grinder, but they're looking good. on my '83, the fenders are welded to the slider. i don't like this, because obviously it makes it impossible to remove the front clip. since front clips are so easy to remove all in one piece, i'd like to keep that ability for working on the truck in the future. i decided i'll weld a small plate to the slider that sticks up and is flush with the fender and then bolt the fender to that little plate. this also makes the fender easily removable when it needs replacement.
i also decided to see what it would look like with doors. i think i've decided to just go ahead and do half doors with soft-tops. the majority of the weight in these doors is most definitely in the glass and crank mechanism. besides that, i'm cutting 5 inches or so off the bottom, so there really will be very little metal left anyway...
these are the doors from my '83. i've been a dumbass and took them off a few weeks ago and decided it wasn't worth the effort to put them and the top back on even tho it rains all the time here and i have to drive to work in 40* weather/rain at 5:30am.
then i put a couple boards across the door sill and put a seat on it and just sat in the truck for like 30 minutes dreaming about driving it. i didn't make "vroom-vroom" noises... but i should have.
an update on my die: so i called them up to find out why it hadn't arrived a week after i'd ordered it. turns out that they had run out of the material to make a die for me and they were waiting on that. well, the dude on the phone said that he happened to find a die of the proper size when he went into the shop to find out why mine was going out so late. anyway, he said it wasn't reserved for anyone and got it out to UPS that afternoon. JD2 really has great customer service. their website sucks, but apparently they're revamping it to make it easier to use.
went up to camas, wa (about 20 min from north end of portland...) and picked up a core support and front fenders. the ones i had received with the truck were just too rusty to deal with. these are virtually rust free.
got the fenders cut down so that they fit over the sliders. still need a bit more persuasion from the grinder, but they're looking good. on my '83, the fenders are welded to the slider. i don't like this, because obviously it makes it impossible to remove the front clip. since front clips are so easy to remove all in one piece, i'd like to keep that ability for working on the truck in the future. i decided i'll weld a small plate to the slider that sticks up and is flush with the fender and then bolt the fender to that little plate. this also makes the fender easily removable when it needs replacement.
i also decided to see what it would look like with doors. i think i've decided to just go ahead and do half doors with soft-tops. the majority of the weight in these doors is most definitely in the glass and crank mechanism. besides that, i'm cutting 5 inches or so off the bottom, so there really will be very little metal left anyway...
these are the doors from my '83. i've been a dumbass and took them off a few weeks ago and decided it wasn't worth the effort to put them and the top back on even tho it rains all the time here and i have to drive to work in 40* weather/rain at 5:30am.
then i put a couple boards across the door sill and put a seat on it and just sat in the truck for like 30 minutes dreaming about driving it.
i didn't make "vroom-vroom" noises... but i should have.
an update on my die: so i called them up to find out why it hadn't arrived a week after i'd ordered it. turns out that they had run out of the material to make a die for me and they were waiting on that. well, the dude on the phone said that he happened to find a die of the proper size when he went into the shop to find out why mine was going out so late. anyway, he said it wasn't reserved for anyone and got it out to UPS that afternoon. JD2 really has great customer service. their website sucks, but apparently they're revamping it to make it easier to use.
This, is getting good.
Nice work.
Nice work.
smalltowncowboy
1/2 ton status
i would have made vroom vroom noises........ we all have at one point in time lol
with my big block though its vroom rumble rumble rumble vroom lmao
with my big block though its vroom rumble rumble rumble vroom lmao
ok, two new questions:
1: i want to go ahead and primer my truck. can i get away with using rattle can primer? i don't really want to mask off my whole garage just to prime the paint. i am not going to strip it down to bare metal - so should i just get a bunch of brillo pads and start scuffing the surface? i'm not looking for show quality - it's just going to get banged up on the trail anyway. i'll have to touch it up from time to time, i presume. anyway, i will use an actual sprayer for the final paint, but i just hate the multicolored paper weight in my garage.
2: why does no one switch the front and rear spring hangars on the front springs? if you did this, your suspension would move forward when you flex, keeping your tires out of your fire wall. my only guess is that you'd likely have to go to cross-over steering to do it. clearly, i must be missing something or it seems this would be quite popular.
1: i want to go ahead and primer my truck. can i get away with using rattle can primer? i don't really want to mask off my whole garage just to prime the paint. i am not going to strip it down to bare metal - so should i just get a bunch of brillo pads and start scuffing the surface? i'm not looking for show quality - it's just going to get banged up on the trail anyway. i'll have to touch it up from time to time, i presume. anyway, i will use an actual sprayer for the final paint, but i just hate the multicolored paper weight in my garage.
2: why does no one switch the front and rear spring hangars on the front springs? if you did this, your suspension would move forward when you flex, keeping your tires out of your fire wall. my only guess is that you'd likely have to go to cross-over steering to do it. clearly, i must be missing something or it seems this would be quite popular.
Jeeps run front shackles, the drawback is a harsher ride since the axle will want to move forward into the obstacle you are going over.
...and the Jeep community is split between the better ride crowd and the "gain traction by forcing the tires forward against the terrain" crowd.
so it's just an issue of ride quality?? i'm tempted to try it...
supersize75k5
OrganDonorRacing.com
I hate the "fangs" on jeeps, looks like hell ride like hell
you can find used lift springs to get you by untill you can do 52's and crossover.
you can find used lift springs to get you by untill you can do 52's and crossover.
well, i'm not going to go higher than 5" - w/ my 4" lift springs and a zero rate. i just figured the performance might be better if it flexed that way. dunno. i think you're probably right tho. i do drive it a few days a week - so probably not worth it.
let the bending begin!!!.......... (next month when i can afford the tube )no, they didn't print the lettering backward - i took the photo with my computer which operates the camera like a mirror would.
BizeeB65
1/2 ton status
Most heeps I have seen with a large shackle lift on the front usually deal with clearance issues on approach angles.
original balzer
1/2 ton status
Front shackles makes the ride way bad PLUS it amplifies ANY steering issue. If you have death wobble, front shackles would make it even worse.
moneypit_K5
1/2 ton status
Hey Colby, Glad to see my core support and fenders are working out! they look better on your truck than in my pile...went up to camas, wa (about 20 min from north end of portland...) and picked up a core support and front fenders. the ones i had received with the truck were just too rusty to deal with. these are virtually rust free.
