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Its going to be a slow 72 K5 build thread

Bama72

Bama72

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I have had this K5 for a year now. When I bought it, it had a 307 with a cracked block connected to a th350/np203, stock axles and a 4" suspension lift. The white paint worries me, white is good at hiding damage. I have put a left over 350sbc in it for now, later on that motor will get a complete rebuild. I have purchased a 700r to go with a NP205 I had, that will replace the th350/203. I have replaced the body mounts with new poly mounts, the driver side mounts were completely gone but the passenger side were in good shape. I also put a 2" body lift on it. Below are some pictures as it is now:

Rront Original.JPG

Driver Side O.JPG

Rear O.JPG

P Side O.JPG
 
I wouldn't worry about the white paint, as it looks fairly old. Any damage is likely showing already.

Looks like a good starting point.
 
I got off from work a little early today so I decided to do a little sanding on the K5 in some of the known trouble spots. I hopped in it and the motor cranked right up. Unfortunately it had a tick and a knock, lifter and valve stuck on the passenger side. I took off the passenger side valve cover to make sure a rocker arm wasn't broke. Thankfully they all looked ok, so I put the valve cover back on. I fired the motor up again and poured about 1qt of motor oil down the Holley. I then cut the motor off and began to fix/patch some bad wiring issues under the hood and patch some wires that got burned by the headers. After two hours of tinkering with it in the hot sun I decided that the oil I poured down the Holley had sit long enough. I grabbed another quart of oil, cranked up the motor and Ta Daa, no more tick or knock. I still poured the second quart of oil down the Holley and ran off all the mosquitoes for awhile. Once the motor stopped smoking I took it down the road just to open it up and hopefully clean it out. Once I got back it was too late to start sanding, so I called it a day.

I know what I did is not the right way but I just want the motor to run long enough to pull it in and out of the shop. I had planned on rebuilding it but its a 2 bolt 350 out of a 77 caprice. I think I'm going to try and find a 4 bolt 350 (running or core) or a 400sbc. The only thing for certain with the motor is that I want to stay small block.
 
I got a little sanding started in the normal trouble areas on the passenger side. Overall I don't think it is in to bad of shape. The PO really liked bondo, in some areas it was around 1 inch thick. I need to order a passenger side rear quarter panel patch and a lower passenger side door patch panel. I think the rest will be ok on the passenger side.

Pictures of the passenger side rear quarter panel:

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I have new passenger and driver side floorboard and footwell patch panels ordered from gmcpauls. They should be here monday.

Passenger Side Front Floorboard:

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I couldn't resist from cutting a small hole in the passenger side floorboard to see what was there. I was hoping for happiness, but instead I found heartache.

Passenger side floorboard with small peep hole cut in it.

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Here are a few pictures from inside of the passenger side rocker box. At least this gives me another reason to re read Greg's build thread.

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Bama72 said:
I couldn't resist from cutting a small hole in the passenger side floorboard to see what was there. I was hoping for happiness, but instead I found heartache.

Passenger side floorboard with small peep hole cut in it.
Click to expand...


Not to rub salt in the wounds...but there was a pretty obvious "swiss cheese" pattern in the footwell sheetmetal. I'm not sure why you would expect that the metal underneath (where all that water was going) would look good. :dunno:

On the flip side, you are about to earn some serious "man points" if you dig in and do the rust repair of that cab support box / inner rockers area. You're in a familiar situation.....EVERY 1st Gen owner that dared to cut into their floorboards sees the same exact damage to some degree. The only question is whether people want to acknowledge that the damage is there (by cutting into it and getting the rust repair started), or simply lie to themselves and pretend that they somehow have the ONLY 1st Gen in the world that wasn't pwned by rust in that area.


It's a slippery slope once you start cutting/repairing.....so be careful of the "might as well" syndrome if you really want to keep driving and enjoying your truck.


:usaflag:
 
Does anybody here know what part this is, I want to make sure I get the correct patch.

The part in question is the one that looks like it was cut with a dull blade in a jig saw. This is the inside of the passenger side rocker box, left side of the picture is near the door, the right side is near the transmission.

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If you are talking about the left side of the pic. It looks like the flange, were the floor, and the rocker box meet. The rust has separated them.
 
Bama72,

That photo is showing what most of us call the "inner rocker" panel... it connects the torsion box vertically to the floor area.

The aftermarket part you'll find is pretty lousy, and if your floor is bad along the door sill (which yours appears to be) then you'd be better off with a patch part that is for a truck. I accidentally ordered them when I was doing my rust repair and it turned out to be a fortunate mistake...

DSC00456.jpg


This part is what I'm talking about (image here is the driver side).... see how you get the vertical part you need (inner rocker), but also a good portion of the outer floor/ sill area too?? That little bump around the raised seat mount area gives you a great "index" to lay in the new part and make sure you've got it lined up right.

The part number is buried somewhere in the first 200 posts of my "Might As Well" thread.... you can search for the keywords "fortunate mistake". I think that's how I worded it when I was describing the part and part #. The parts came from Tri-Pro Automotive.

EDIT: Link -> http://coloradok5.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2177285&postcount=52

Hope that helps! :thumb:


:usaflag:
 
Greg, Shane, thanks for the info. I agree that the hump in your picture should make it a little easier to get the alignment right. I tried to look up Tri-Pro but it looks like they are closed. I found a inner rocker for a truck that I like from americanclassic.com. It seems to have several parts combined such as rocker brace, inner rocker, along with a larger portion of floorboard sheetmetal. Has anybody used americanclassic and does this part look right to you guys.

Here is a link to that item.
http://www.americanclassic.com/asp/...Patch+Panels+-+Cab&iyear=1972&ytype=to&exyear=

Part number CFO7L and CFO7R


EDIT--->>> I just cross referenced the part number CFO7L and the part number from Greg's 0849-227 and they are the same part. Both are made by Key Parts.
 
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Bama,

Looks like you found the right thing.... :waytogo:

I think you'll be a lot happier using that part instead of the "correct" one, and the results will be a lot better too. Because it's a truck part, you'll end up cutting off some of the extra structure on the b-pillar side of the replacements to get them to work on the Blazer.... not a big deal, but don't feel bad when you have to cut-up your shiny new patch parts. :)


:usaflag:
 
Greg72 said:
Bama,

Looks like you found the right thing.... :waytogo:

I think you'll be a lot happier using that part instead of the "correct" one, and the results will be a lot better too. Because it's a truck part, you'll end up cutting off some of the extra structure on the b-pillar side of the replacements to get them to work on the Blazer.... not a big deal, but don't feel bad when you have to cut-up your shiny new patch parts. :)


:usaflag:
Click to expand...


Greg, will that truck part work with all the factory torsion box in place? just asking, if I'm not mistaken you removed all of your factory stuff, and up graded right.:dunno:Or are the trucks, and blazer close to the same in that aspect/area?
 
The part should work the same whether you keep the torsion box or not....the only part where you need to get creative is on the new part near the b-pillar area. The shape there needs to be cut to match the Blazer tub profile. The pickup will have a completely different shape back there since it's a closed cab.

Hard to explain, but easier to see once you have the part in hand and can hold it up to the Blazer to compare things.


:usaflag:
 
Greg72 said:
The part should work the same whether you keep the torsion box or not....the only part where you need to get creative is on the new part near the b-pillar area.
Click to expand...

X2. I used the same part on mine without removing the rocker boxes. You just have to cut the spot welds that become visible when you tear the outer rocker off.

Also, don't trust the two holes in the rear of that patch panel. Mine were about 1/2" off. Just drill new ones and weld up the old.
 
Brian,

Good reminder.....my rear holes were off by 7/16"!! :D


:usaflag:
 
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