colbystephens' build and wheelin' thread! Post 289: my NEW truck body!!!

[AJMBLAZER]

The way it was explained to me was that the poly mounts, since they absorb the vibrations less, will sort of transfer the vibes on to the rubber mounts which will wear at a faster rate. Makes sense when you think about it.

I heard this after a friend put a new set of bushings in his S10 Blazer when he swapped in a 4.3L and 5 speed. The parts store had poly engine mounts but only a rubber trans mount. One year later he was replacing a torn up trans mount.

 

[Chevy305]

The way it was explained to me was that the poly mounts, since they absorb the vibrations less, will sort of transfer the vibes on to the rubber mounts which will wear at a faster rate. Makes sense when you think about it.

Possibly, but i think its because poly flexes a lot less than rubber. So when you have poly motor mounts and rubber trans mounts, the poly stays ridgid while the rubber wants to flex thus creating a twisiting effect that often times breaks t-case adapters under strain.

 

[AJMBLAZER]

I think that's what I was meaning to say...in a more round about and half ass sorta way...

 

[colbystephens]

ok, so i was messing around with my rig to figure out what the dealio is with it. turns out the fan shroud is so jacked up it doesn't stay in place and it was mis-positioned... so i just need a new one. i pulled it out - gonna get another from kennyw; hopefully.

i checked the belt tension on my powersteering this evening too - pump started squeeking today. so i went to loosen the bolts on the pump to tighten it up and found that 2 of the 3 fingers on the pump bracket had broken off!! scary sh!t right there... if that sucker were to give up on me i'd be out of brakes AND steering! so, needless to say the blazer is out of commission for the nite.

i have this beautiful blue $1500 garage ornament... says millermatic on the side - but i don't have an extension cord so i can't power it. buddy across the street said we could use his 110 welder tomorrow evening to fix it.

 

[newlyblzed]

nice you caught it at home...had a chance to weld it up yet? hows the moving going...get settled in yet?

 

[colbystephens]

no kidding... it could have been really bad, considering that the PS pump runs my brakes! we welded it up this morning, truck was out of commission for only a day. it must have been really going down hill since i got the truck, because now that i have fixed the breaks and other cracks, the steering is SO much better.

we did get moved and settled, still need to upload pics of my garage. i built a kick ass work bench.

 

[colbystephens]

so i'm going to go look at this truck tonite! if the floors really aren't too bad, i'm going to buy it... just the body, for $150. the other deal with the blazer body fell thru... kind of a bummer, but at least this way i won't have to deal with doing a full convertible chop. besides, i like the front clip on the early 70's models most!

http://portland.craigslist.org/clc/pts/488121699.html

 

[AJMBLAZER]

Good luck!

Bummer on the other body though.

 

[colbystephens]

well, i'm the proud new owner of a '73 blazer! i'll be picking it up this weekend. PICS:

so, it's got significant rust in the rockers and on the front fender-fangs, but conveniently almost all of the significant rust is in places that i will cut off.

regarding the rust hole that you see in the last picture, is that something i can simply cut out of the same section of my current ('83) rig, and patch it up?

it seems like the floor boards in the front of the '73 are set up different than in a body like my '83. in my '83, there's only one panel of metal between me and the ground. in this one, it appears that the floor board is two panels, separated by a few inches of space - is this correct? it was dark out and raining, so i didn't get too good of a look. if it is separated by a few inches of space, i wonder what that will do to my plan to install rock sliders into this body like i currently have in my '83.

it definitely will require some work - rust repair, but its much easier looking rust repair than what i've currently got to work with. the floor felt much more solid than my current floor - i think the rust you see in the above pics is almost entirely surface rust that could mostly be ground off. i was thinking if it truly isn't structural rust, i'd coat it with POR-15 and then some body filler to smooth it out, and then herc. it up.

 

[Xtremegmc80]

congs on the 73!

 

[1978Blazerk5]

so is the drivetrain out of your current rig gonna be swaped into this one?

a diesel power 73' blazer sounds cool

 

[colbystephens]

the body will be swapped onto my current frame - so it's more of a body swap than a drivetrain swap. i haven't seen any rigs on here that are of that age and have the diesel in 'em yet... kinda original!

 

[1978Blazerk5]

the body will be swapped onto my current frame - so it's more of a body swap than a drivetrain swap. i haven't seen any rigs on here that are of that age and have the diesel in 'em yet... kinda original!

hows that gonna work i Thought GM redesined the floor designs and the frames and stuff in 78'

 

[colbystephens]

they did - tho i'm not sure if your date is correct. in anycase, it's easy to swap an older body onto a newer frame, but not the reverse. the rear floor in the older rigs comes all the way forward to the back of the front seats - no foot well for the back passengers. in the later model trucks, they had the footwell for the rear passengers, and since the frame is sort of contoured to the vehicle body, you can kind of see why it would be easy to put an older body onto a newer frame and not the opposite.

 

[1978Blazerk5]

I am pretty sure I am right on the date, cause i rode in a 75' once and my 78's floor pans are different.

OK I think I understand now

 

[muddermilitia]

they did - tho i'm not sure if your date is correct. in anycase, it's easy to swap an older body onto a newer frame, but not the reverse. the rear floor in the older rigs comes all the way forward to the back of the front seats - no foot well for the back passengers. in the later model trucks, they had the footwell for the rear passengers, and since the frame is sort of contoured to the vehicle body, you can kind of see why it would be easy to put an older body onto a newer frame and not the opposite.

I beleive the body mounts are different between the two styles. The body mount thats behind the front seats is inboard the frame on the early style and outboard later style. How do I know this? Well if ya wanted to build a trazer, the cab is a direct swap on the early frames, but on the later frames you would have to build a new crossmember

 

[colbystephens]

I beleive the body mounts are different between the two styles. The body mount thats behind the front seats is inboard the frame on the early style and outboard later style. How do I know this? Well if ya wanted to build a trazer, the cab is a direct swap on the early frames, but on the later frames you would have to build a new crossmember

you are correct. still, that is much less work than doing a new body on an old frame.

 

[muddermilitia]

you are correct. still, that is much less work than doing a new body on an old frame.

true that

 

[colbystephens]

ok, so here's a couple pics of the new shop/garage.

the way it was when i moved in:

and the way the shop is now:

built the thing for free out of supplies i found at the house!

tomorrow i get the new truck body so i'm going to build a rolling cage for it to sit on... picked these casters up at harbor freight for $6 ea.

i'm slowly converting all my tools over to that blue, so i thought it was cool to get the blue wheels. got blue vices, blue welder... gonna get a blue wheel barrow and i think i'm going to re-powdercoat my tool box! anyway, pics of the truck tomorrow!!

 

[Xtremegmc80]

ur first garage? its looking good! i still dont have a garage to work in. most of my build is outside in the rocky driveway. and now its winter, truck is at my dads shop. makes it alot more comfy but its 10 miles away.. good luck on ur new place!