My name is Derek and I'm from Southern California, currently living in Salt Lake City, Utah. My K5 journey started with a yellow/white 78 Blazer that one of my customers gave to me, a wealthy Plastic Surgeon; I sell steel buildings. Well, it was in pretty rough shape as you might imagine, lots of rust, lots, but I got the bug. The 78 was enough to get me dreaming. So, I started thinking of all the fun my lady and I could have exploring the well developed trail system here in Northern and Southern Utah.
My next stop was the FourWheelParts Store where I was thrown out of the place for my violent, convulsing, sick reaction to the prices for new stuff. After picking myself up and dusting off, I started searching online classifieds for the parts I wanted -convinced that this could be done on the cheap. That search turned up an 87 Blazer with 6" front, 8" rear lift, D44 front and GM14 Rear, 4:56's all around, shocks, drive lines, et al; this would nicely compliment the 60K mile 454 that I had just pulled from a "part out" motor home for this project. That parts/donor truck was had for $400. The previous owner managed to blow up the TBI 350 and 700R4 simultaneously...wow.
The 78 was too rough, fifty hours of cutting and welding patch panels was not in my plan. I still didn't have a truck. The next step, with plenty of experience shopping and negotiating, I got picky, looking for the cleanest truck for the least money. The hunt for the deal is a big part of the fun for me and the deal I get will determine how I feel about what I end up with for a long time to come. After looking at a ton of beaters, mercilessly ravaged by weather, time, kids, dogs, cigarettes, slobs and rust -funny how much better things can look in a picture, and wasting a lot of my time, I found it; an "old guy truck".
Backing up a bit, a clean truck is a discount. Not always in money, but in your time. It's all of the stuff you won't have to do to end up with a clean truck. I learned this by rebuilding a lot of junk that people had torn up and abused, bought cheap. I learned it the hard way: thinking cheap is a deal...Nah -not always so. Look for clean, negotiate hard, be fair, and come out feeling good.
Ok, I like old guys. Most of the time, they know a lot and take care of things if for no other reason, then for the preservation of value. My 1991 Jimmy is one owner, except for a few years stint with the Grandson, a good guy -that the truck survived. Stock ride height, in fact all stock with aluminum running boards. No rust, super clean interior, everything works, and it was stored under a carport most of its life -nice paint. A high miler at 196K, but highway miles and everything always kept fixed and serviced, no big "to do" list with this one. The truck was advertised for $1500 on my local Classifieds Site and I ended up with it for $1200 with its original factory sticker. My late father was a true GM guy who drove a 72 blue 3/4 ton GMC long bed ever since I can remember. I love GMC's and Chevy's; this Jimmy is blue. Now the real fun can begin.
Thanks for reading my intro. Good to be here!
