First Project Car: Young Man Looking For Old Man Knowledge

[Liamking01]

Hello Everyone,

After graduating from college, I just bought my first project car: a 1986 K5 Blazer with a 305 engine. This has been my dream car since I was a kid, and I’m determined to restore it to its former glory. It’s a solid truck with minimal rust. It originally came from Oregon and has spent the past two years in North Carolina.

I’ve got quite a long list of projects lined up and would love some advice from those of you who have done this before. I’m doing all the work on this truck out of the parking garage at my small apartment complex. If you have any tips for working in a communal parking garage, I’m all ears! So far, I’ve replaced the shocks as my first project, and now I’m ready to tackle the rest of this extensive to-do list.

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Critical To-Do:

• Tie rods, pitman arm, power steering box, rag joint
• Wheel bearings, brake calipers, brake hoses
• Replace pretty much all the gaskets
• Driveshaft/U-joints

Less Critical:

• Door hinge replacement
• Tailgate hinge/latch repair
• A/C repair

There are also many smaller projects, but I’ll focus on the big ones first.

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Questions for the Community:

1. Order of Operations:
   What’s the best order to tackle these repairs? I feel like it’s important to start with the major jobs. My current plan is to address the power steering system first and replace the rag joint, tie rods, and pitman arm at the same time. While I’m working on that area, I’ll also handle the front brakes and wheel bearings. Am I taking on too much for just my second project? Realistically, I only have about 8 hours a week to dedicate to this. I want to drive this truck, not have it sitting in the garage rusting away.
2. Dealing with Leaks:
   The truck seems to have leaks everywhere. Should I set aside a weekend to address them all at once, or should I tackle them gradually as I work on different sections of the vehicle?
3. U-Joint Replacement:
   The U-joints clearly need to be replaced, and they seem to have never been serviced. A local 4x4 shop recommended replacing the entire driveshaft rather than rebuilding the U-joints. Can anyone explain the reasoning behind this? It seems a bit excessive to me.

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Thank you all! This forum has already been an invaluable resource, and I appreciate any advice you can offer.

Best regards,
Liam

 

[Chickntrk]

1. Are all these parts actually bad? Keep in mind some newer parts are not necessarily better than OEM if they are working fine.

2. I would do one at a time so the truck isn't down to long and becomes an endless non driving project.

3. No reason that I can think of unless they are bent or damaged.

 

[Polymath]

The longer it remains un-driveable, the harder it is to get it back on the road. It's a mental game. Cars are a big damn project that take a lot of time and teach you lessons in patience, persistence, budgeting, and anger management. The more you are able to drive it in between periods of fixing pieces of it, the more you will enjoy it.

 

[Barrman]

You seem to be on the right track with your list. My experience is anything rubber will need replacing as you go about using the truck again. Coolant, heater hoses and fuel hoses along with the brake hoses you already mentioned are the ones that can leave you on the side of the road. Vacuum lines to the transmission if you have the TH350, the brake booster and the HVAC flapper doors will just leave you inconvenienced.

Don’t forget the tires too! The older they are the more you need to check for cracking on the sidewalls and be prepared for tread flying off on hot summer days.

 

[Barrman]

As far as working location suggestions. Get a little red kids wagon or something similar. It will make moving tools and parts between your apartment and the garage much easier and faster. Buy a box of nitrile gloves so you can move about the building without leaving oily traces everywhere.

The further the truck is from where you live, the less you will work on it so even renting a storage room big enough for the truck will not only cost more money, it will also slow you down for the simple stuff you are looking at doing to get it baselined.

Pick a company. Milwaukee, Dewalt, etc…. Start with a 1/2” cordless impact and a set of harbor freight 1/2” impact sockets. (I went Milwaukee Fuel on all my cordless because they have an automotive focus, you do as you wish.). Harbor freight also has a 3 ton floor jack that will work on the K5. You will need jack stands as well. At least 2, but 4 is better. The wagon will help moving this between the apartment and garage.

 

[Bent77]

One thing I would advise on is look at repairs in stages, rather than jack stand the thing and have it become a monolith monument in the garage

Get it driving if it isn’t
Do weekend projects that you can handle while you gather parts and knowledge for the others

Being able to use it and enjoy it will help keep you motivated and not overwhelmed

 

[swettysblazer]

Like everyone has said- focus on the stuff to make it driveable, safe, and reliable first.

After that, bite it off in small chunks. There's more stories out there than not of someone buying a project and immediately blowing it apart and never actually getting to enjoy it and use it.

Drive it, see what needs attention, come up with a punch list, and drive it some more.

 

[Liamking01]

1. Are all these parts actually bad? Keep in mind some newer parts are not necessarily better than OEM if they are working fine.

2. I would do one at a time so the truck isn't down to long and becomes an endless non driving project.

3. No reason that I can think of unless they are bent or damaged.

I know the power steering needs the seals to be rebuilt as it likes to throw fluid on everything. The tie rods and pitman arms have a lot of excessive play, and the boots are torn. I figured that replacing the whole part would be best, but you make a fair point on the quality of the parts. How can I test to see if just the boot / bushing just needs to be replaced and not the whole part? - is that even how these parts function?

 

[Blue85]

1. U-Joint Replacement:
   The U-joints clearly need to be replaced, and they seem to have never been serviced. A local 4x4 shop recommended replacing the entire driveshaft rather than rebuilding the U-joints. Can anyone explain the reasoning behind this? It seems a bit excessive to me.

It depends on what all it needs and whether you will do the work or a shop. Usually with a rear slip-yoke driveshaft, swapping out the 2 single U-joints is easy and affordable. If it also needs a new slip yoke or has other damage, that's another story. On a front C/V shaft, if it needs new joints, a new ball and a slip, it's actually more labor to rebuild it than to make a new one. Price it out both ways, but in some ways the front driveshafts are a wear item.

 

[Liamking01]

It depends on what all it needs and whether you will do the work or a shop. Usually with a rear slip-yoke driveshaft, swapping out the 2 single U-joints is easy and affordable. If it also needs a new slip yoke or has other damage, that's another story. On a front C/V shaft, if it needs new joints, a new ball and a slip, it's actually more labor to rebuild it than to make a new one. Price it out both ways, but in some ways the front driveshafts are a wear item.

Thank you! That makes a lot of sense. I will pull the rear shaft and inspect the yolks for damage, if clean, I will just swap the U joints. I have heard that C/V will be much harder to work on. Maybe I have a new one built as I am still learning? Any recommendations for a company to build me a new front shaft?

 

[Chickntrk]

Have someone sit on the seat and rock the wheel back and forth with it not running, see what all has play, if they have play they likely need replaced. You can jack the front end up and rock the wheel/tire at 12 and 6 to check wheel bearings, you can use a prybar under the tore to check ball joints, a pry bar between the axle shaft and knuckle works too. If you end up replacing ends get good brand name ones and try to get greaseable ( a lot of cheap ones are non greaseable).

As to the front driveshaft IMO they are not to terrible to rebuild and its a heck of a lot cheaper than a new shaft. Watch some videos and look at some service manuals and I think you'll be able to figure it out but first verify that the joints are bad. I'm running the factory front shaft in a 78 and there is nothing wrong with it.

 

[Wes Harden]

Tom Woods for the driveshaft. There could be a local drive shaft builder to you, this can beneficial to bring your sample and have a quick turn around. Price should comparable.
If lifting this truck is downbthe road option, wait on having drive shaft made.

Start with your brakes, and front wheel bearings, and ball joints While you do these inspect all the ball shockets for drag link and tie rod. Use a large pair of slip joint pleirs sqeeze the ball shocket if it moves up and down it's bad.

Before doingbthe rag joint search xj upgrade you may want to go this route.

When you do the gear box, the frame needs cleaning and inspection for cracks. There reinforcements to stop frame crack in the aftermarket. Most of us run the brace and many have both. Repairing cracks requires welding.

Welcome to CK5 @Liamking01

 

[Blue85]

As to the front driveshaft IMO they are not to terrible to rebuild and its a heck of a lot cheaper than a new shaft.

To rebuild the C/V is about $100 in parts and replacement slip-spline/yoke is like $140. Throw in $25 for the front joint, then find a local shop to weld the new slip in and balance and you're at $350+. If it just needs new joints, which is probably what you're talking about, you should be able to get it done for $50 and a couple hours of bashing on it.

The whole new assembly I linked yesterday is <$300 shipped, including the axle-end U-joint: https://ck5.com/forums/threads/no-power-driving-up-hill.350499/post-4397542

Most of these 80's flange-mount C/V shafts end up getting junked after the inevitable loss of spline plastic and vibration that comes with a loose slip joint.

 

[Big Ray]

I recommend doing the jeep xj steering arm swap, but if $$ an issue then a new rag joint is fine.
As mentioned, make the engine work. Then make it safe to drive.

Fwiw, my folks bought a new 86 with the 305 and 3.08 gears.
It wasn't great, but that's they way it was back then.

 

[HankScorpio]

Plan your projects a couple weeks ahead and buy your parts from Rock Auto. It will save you tons of money. Stuff like steering and brakes are where they really beat the parts stores.
Start a build thread here and post up the next project. Guys here will help with part numbers and tips to get it done easier. We have all broken bolts and broken knuckles working on these trucks, learn from our mistakes.

 

[1985 K5 Blazer]

The longer it remains un-driveable, the harder it is to get it back on the road. It's a mental game. Cars are a big damn project that take a lot of time and teach you lessons in patience, persistence, budgeting, and anger management. The more you are able to drive it in between periods of fixing pieces of it, the more you will enjoy it.

The further the truck is from where you live, the less you will work on it so even renting a storage room big enough for the truck will not only cost more money, it will also slow you down for the simple stuff you are looking at doing to get it baselined

These thing are both major project killers. I'm currently guilty of both on different projects. So I'll add just focus on one project at a time.