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Finally picked up another K5.

nad

nad

1/2 ton status
Joined
Dec 29, 2005
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Location
Festus, MO
Well I finally scraped up the money, and bought the '85 K5 I've been looking at.

California truck, totally rust free, solid floor pans, solid top to bottom. First time I've ever seen a truck like this here in MO.

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Anyway, got into it a little bit today. Took the pink seat covers off today, and found out the seats are pretty much trashed.

Carpet is out, so Herculiner is in the upcoming plans. All the trim is taken apart, but that'll all get put back together.

Anyway, the front axle looks like it might be a D44 or something. It looks nothing like the Corporate 10 bolt that was in my 87 Jimmy. The hubs stick out much further

And the blinkers don't work, so before I can get it road worthy, I've gotta figure out why. When you turn it on, if the brakes are on, the brake light just turns off on that side. I checked the fuse, it's good. The P/O says he thinks its the blinker switch which is located inside the steering column.

Any suggestions?
 
Change the turn signal flasher under the dash. It's a little silver canister looking thing, unless it has been swapped for a newer plastic electronic one (junk). There is one for the emergency flashers too.

The 10bolt hubs and d44 hubs stickout the same.

Was your old K5 black and gray?
 
Yes, my old one was an 87 Jimmy, 2 tone black on top and bottom, with the gray stripe through the middle. Why?

Haven't got to mess with this one yet, but the temp gauge scares me. On the way home it was sitting at 100* a majority of the time, then all of a sudden, shot all the way over past 275*. Not sure if it's just a junk gauge or if it's overheating.

Checked the oil last night, the dipstick is rusty, and there wasn't any oil on it at all. So first thing when I get off work today I'm changing the oil, and trying to figure out the gauges. Speedometer bounces around a lot too.
 
nad said:
Yes, my old one was an 87 Jimmy, 2 tone black on top and bottom, with the gray stripe through the middle. Why?

Haven't got to mess with this one yet, but the temp gauge scares me. On the way home it was sitting at 100* a majority of the time, then all of a sudden, shot all the way over past 275*. Not sure if it's just a junk gauge or if it's overheating.

Checked the oil last night, the dipstick is rusty, and there wasn't any oil on it at all. So first thing when I get off work today I'm changing the oil, and trying to figure out the gauges. Speedometer bounces around a lot too.
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If it didn't have any oil in it, then there's a good chance that there isn't any coolant either. I blew a radiator hose and my temp gauge did the same thing. So the level and condition should definately be checked. ;)
 
stumpbuster said:
great rig man! what ya pay? i love it..

..shoulda kept the pink seat covers brah:smokin2:
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Thanks man. Paid 2200 for it. Mostly just needs interior work. And I kinda wish I kept the seat covers cuz they looked better than the seats.

And the overflow bottle has coolant in it but I haven't had any time to look at the radiator or much of the engine bay yet.
 
What are your smog laws there where you live? Is all the original CA smog equip. there? Is that gonna cause issues?
 
From what it looks like all the smog stuff is there. I'm not real familiar with smog stuff on a carb but there's lots
of junk on there that I'm not used to seeing. Wanting to get rid of it but I'm not sure what does what.

As far as emissions goes in MO, anything older than 96 is exempt from smog and emissions. Just have to do safety.

And what do you mean by "cause issues"?
 
If you live in an area that has smog checks and does any visual inspection, the lack of smog equipment will throw the inspector into a frenzy. They generally won't even let you test the vehicle no matter how clean it might run unless it has all of the functioning smog equipment in place.

You need to be careful what you throw out or take off the engine just in case you might need it down the road.
 
nad said:
From what it looks like all the smog stuff is there. I'm not real familiar with smog stuff on a carb but there's lots
of junk on there that I'm not used to seeing. Wanting to get rid of it but I'm not sure what does what.

As far as emissions goes in MO, anything older than 96 is exempt from smog and emissions. Just have to do safety.

And what do you mean by "cause issues"?
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snuffy74 said:
If you live in an area that has smog checks and does any visual inspection, the lack of smog equipment will throw the inspector into a frenzy. They generally won't even let you test the vehicle no matter how clean it might run unless it has all of the functioning smog equipment in place.

You need to be careful what you throw out or take off the engine just in case you might need it down the road.
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Exactly what he said. If the smog stuff is not there it might cause inspection issues. So older then 96' is exempt? Thats insane!. It's 75' and older here in Ca. :mad: WTF
 
Yeah, it's a new thing the implemented like 2 years ago. So the only thing I have to inspect is my DD which is an '05.

Pretty sure this motor has all the smog crap on it though. And while doing an oil change today, I noticed a lot of rust on the dipstick and oil cap. But it didnt look like there was any water in the oil.

And the radiator is full of antifreeze, no oil in there, so I guess that's good. Temp gauge buries the needle past 275 now when you first start it up even, so I'll be investing in a reliable temp gauge soon.

Also just found out the passenger side window doesn't work.
 
rdn2blazer said:
Exactly what he said. If the smog stuff is not there it might cause inspection issues. So older then 96' is exempt? Thats insane!. It's 75' and older here in Ca. :mad: WTF
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Here in Southern Illinois we i dont have ANY vehicle testing or checkups. I have all my emissions junk off my 85 with headers/True duals/no cats/glass packs havent even got pulled over for noise yet:haha:
 
Mine has true dual dumps no cats off of Hedman headers. But I think they did that when they moved here.
 
Oh and how can I determine if this motor is a 305 or a 350? Any definite give aways?
 
Seafoamed this bad boy today. Smoked like crazy, but the odd thing is, it never stopped smoking. Now it blows white smoke like crazy. Also discovered a bad exhaust leak where the header and pipe come together, not sure if tightening the clamp will fix it or I will have to weld it up.

Also, I'm having a problem with being on a hill, it won't hold itself in D or R. If I put it in any gear, and let off the brake, it starts to roll. Normally in any other car, the gear would hold itself, if not start to creep the vehicle forward/backwards. I had to floor it to get up my driveway, roasting the tires in the process.

Hoping to go to the junkyard Sunday to get some parts if it's not pouring. I definitely don't have time for this project. Way too much other stuff to do.
 
Man, don't say that! Was really hoping that's not the case, but it's likely. I still don't believe the temp gauge, it's buried at all times now, even when I first start the truck.

My 05 Silverado DD has issues with the T-Case now, so I have to put this on the back-burner until I can get my other truck back on the road.
 
Found my exhaust leak earlier this afternoon. Found out the rear shackle on the front spring has rubbed a 1" hole into the Hedman Headers.

I dunno how I'm gonna fix this, because the shackle actually appears to be bent toward the headers. Not sure if it's supposed to be like that. I checked the other side and it looks to be the same way.

I guess I'll have to take the headers off and weld that hole shut, then get new shackles for the front springs.

On a side note, does anyone know of any newer truck seats that are bolt ins for these Blazers? I don't want to have to fabricate brackets and what-not, I just wanna find a nice set of seats that will bolt right in.

And also, anyone have any suggestions on what to do about stinky exhaust fumes? This thing freaking stinks up the neighborhood. And with the exhaust leak at the header, it fumigates the driver and passengers as well.
 
nad said:
. I still don't believe the temp gauge, it's buried at all times now, even when I first start the truck.
quote]

If the wire going to the sensor grounds out it will peg all the way up. Might wanna check and make sure it didnt melt somewhere.
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