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New Blazer project plan.

AJMBLAZER said:
Most of those bug guards attached to the bottom of the hood underneath where the exterior metal folded up and under the edge and met the inside bracing metal at the edges.
I'd almost say see if someone here wants it...lord knows I don't but it is certainly retro.
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Well, if someone wanted it and I get this blazer, I'd be happy to pass it along.

Check the seat mounts for cracks, the rear tail pan for rust, climb underneath and look for missing bolts/nuts/hardware, etc. Jessie James made a pretty good "used vehicle pre purchase checklist" thread on here. Think it's stickied in the garage.
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Will do!

I *THINK* I have some slider window latches around here somewhere. I was looking for rear window sliders years ago and someone sent me a little baggie of them and it turned out they were for the K5 windows and not pickups. If you need one I can try and figure out what I did with them.
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cool. ;)

'88 would be a NP208. The NP241 was new in '89, not '88.
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Well, '88 was a transition year. More than likely it's a 208, but they did offer the 241 in '88.

3.73 gears and the 465 would be good for a set of 33's...just sayin'.:whistle:

16's are good. I have 16x8's on mine. Means you can run all the D and E rated LT metric sized tires that are much more common now. Then again you're probably going bigger with this thing soon?

How many miles?
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If I remember right, it's got 160K miles or so. I do plan on running my 38s on it at somepoint, but that's a LONG way down the road. ;)

Russell said:
Usually they are bolted on with L brackets that go in under the hood and bolt to the bottom of it.

As far as other things to look at, if it has any external rust, you need to check the internals for rot. Specifically in the tail pan, and down in the corners just behind the lower seat belt mounts for the front seats.
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I'll check inside, but I can totally believe that Nevada dust beats on the paint hard and could allow for a little bit of surface stuff on just the gate and door.
 
colbystephens said:
Well, if someone wanted it and I get this blazer, I'd be happy to pass it along.



Will do!



cool. ;)



Well, '88 was a transition year. More than likely it's a 208, but they did offer the 241 in '88.



If I remember right, it's got 160K miles or so. I do plan on running my 38s on it at somepoint, but that's a LONG way down the road. ;)



I'll check inside, but I can totally believe that Nevada dust beats on the paint hard and could allow for a little bit of surface stuff on just the gate and door.
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The 16" tires are also very expensive compared to similar 15" ers.
 
Fah. Priced them lately? 33x12.5R15's cost within $20 of the similar 16's now. Sadly all around $200 each.
 
What's involved in repairing the a/c?

Looks like I'd need to convert to r134a, which means a new pump. Anything else? I've been reviewing this thread on how to improve the system: http://coloradok5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=193200 Looks like a pretty reasonable cost, but I couldn't charge it myself since I'm not certified and don't have the specialty tools. So, supposing I put in all the parts, how much would I pay to have it charged?
 
Ok,so after some research, here's where I'm at on the air conditioning. Looks like if I'm going to do any work on it at all,I may as well do it once and right the first time. That wtay this truck doesn't turn into a pile of problems like my past experience has been! ;)

so, I'm thinking this compressor at $235: http://www.acsource.com/488-25022tm-15hd2grvbeltvertoringfits.aspx

This condenser at $135: http://www.acsource.com/highefficiencypflowcondenser1833x31.aspx

An orifice tube and accumulator for about $40, and then have some lines built to fit ($70?). I would then take this down to an a/c shop and have it vacuum checked and charged. That should run about $120, according to the a/c shop I checked with.

That adds up to an even $600, so add $100 for shipping and other stuff I don't expect. So if I estimate $700 for this job, is that reasonable? Do I need to add in the cost of oil for the compressor, or...? Am I overlooking anything?
 
My rough math was sounding about similar. I have the name of a place that can make and build stuff that MaxPF recommended to me if you want it.
 
I miss having a manual trans...

But the 700r4 isn't a bad trans.

If the red/white one is as good as it looks then my opinion is that it's condition and manual trans outweighs the red interior.
 
In my mind, for $3500 with 160k, the AC, cruise, and everything else should work. Needed a rebuilt motor at roughly 100k miles? Didn't drive it much? Vehicles that sit typically don't get maintained very well, just be careful...
 
colbystephens said:
What's involved in repairing the a/c?

Looks like I'd need to convert to r134a, which means a new pump. Anything else? I've been reviewing this thread on how to improve the system: http://coloradok5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=193200 Looks like a pretty reasonable cost, but I couldn't charge it myself since I'm not certified and don't have the specialty tools. So, supposing I put in all the parts, how much would I pay to have it charged?
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I don't know about you but I converted mine to R134 on my 89 jetta cost me a total of $55 no parts changed, I did the vacuum and bought the kit to convert including the adapters and R134 cans with oil and additive to recondition the seals for the newer R134.
Now if your compressor is BAD then I would change it but if it's just low on freon I wouldn't bother.
Going on the 3rd year and all is good and cold blowing A/C even in the 118 degree days we got last year and 102 degree a couple of days ago.
 
I did some rethinking on the a/c stuff. If I can find a shop to install r12 in it, then it makes more sense to just replace the a/c lines that are apparently shot, and charge it with r12 at the higher cost per unit.

Smier, good word. I'm figuring the cost of a/c repair into what I'll offer. If the a/c can be repaired for super cheap, then I think I'm willing to pay $3000. If not, then the hassle and whatnot is probably worth $1000 off of asking price.
 
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colbystephens said:
I did some rethinking on the a/c stuff. If I can find a shop to install r12 in it, then it makes more sense to just replace the a/c lines that are apparently shot, and charge it with r12 at the higher cost per unit.

Smier, good word. I'm figuring the cost of a/c repair into what I'll offer. If the a/c can be repaired for super cheap, then I think I'm willing to pay $3000. If not, then the hassle and whatnot is probably worth $1000 off of asking price.
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IF you can find any R12. It doesn't exist anymore except but a few old school hoarders. And if you do find R12 it'll likely be more expensive than switching the truck over.

If the A/C has been out of service for too long the compressor could be junk just from sitting. What happens is moisture enters the system and will build rust on the compressor piston walls and lock it up. Plan on replacing the compressor, the accumulator (aka receiver/dryer), orifice tube/filter, and whatever lines may be leaking. For all you know it may not be a line it could be a leaky condenser or evaporator. You won't know for sure till the system is charged up and dye added to check for leaks.
 
Man that vintage air system is pretty sweet! I would like to see one installed. Seems Luke having the blower in the cab would be noisy though.
 
I'm kind of an ass when I look at a used car. Even if the person is friendly and up front about their vehicle's issues I nit pick it to death. EVERY flaw is an issue that will cost hundreds to fix. EVERY thing gets inspected. I bring a set of overalls and a jack along with my tools. I state plainly that I want to look over it completely before buying so that I know I'm not buying a time bomb or a broken vehicle.

I talked a guy down over $1500 doing that once. He was high on his asking price and the simple repair it needed cost me $200 to fix.

Personally I'd rebuild and recharge with the new stuff. As stated above the old school components kinda sucked, are probably trash since they sat so long, and even after rebuilding with some new parts might not work great or might ruin the new old school stuff.

I heard that Vintage Air setup doesn't let outside air into the cab but the guy was a bit sketchy on details.
 
The one thing I worry about with aftermarket ac units is parts availability down the road. I wondered how hard it would be to swap 83-87 (or 91) internals to an earlier cab as opposed to aftermarket. My all stock minus the valve and the r134a is plenty cold for an 83.
 
My '91 'Burb had the r12 system in it when I bought it. It was empty, the re-charge with r12 was going to put the guys kid thru college. We switched over to 134a, just the fittings and some software I think. It's been working like a champ for the last 6 years.
 
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