Newbie 73 owner here.

[sundevil64]

I have 73 Jimmy that I want to start restoring. I will
Mainly use it for fun drives with the family around town and maybe for an occasional trip to the coast.
Currently, it has a GoodWrench crate motor that is pretty gutless, dual exhaust, remnants of a/c, the 4wd works, the th350 transmission leaks, but other wise it drive okay. The brakes need a lot leg to brake hard.

I am not sure where to start. There is some rust in the lower door sills and lower fenders. I have replacement fenders and door sills. I do most of my own work and have a lift.

I would like to pull the front clip off and then the body to do the frame and drivetrain components.

I would do my own paint and body as well as mechanical where it makes sense. For example I may have someone do the exhaust as I don’t have a hydraulic bender amd may have someone blast the frame for paint prep.

I will most likely paint instead of powder coat parts. I have a large blasting cabinet to do many parts. I have had good luck with certain paints on past projects.

Look forward to the responses and thank you in advance.

 

[Bent77]

Hey n00b

Start with the brakes. Do an inspection on each of the brakes, then see if you can get that hard pedal to bleed out. It may need a new master cylinder

 

[sundevil64]

Thanks Bent77. I did put a new MC and booster as the previous one leaked along with new calipers. I don’t recall my Dad’s 76 3/4 ton being this difficult to stop.

I will go back in and look at everything. Do the brake lines corrode on the inside? I was thinking of doing SS lines.

 

[Big10]

welcome! yes, if they are rubber and old, go ahead and upgrade the lines.

 

[6872xtc]

Good looking project truck!

You may have to verify that you got the proper brake booster. I know that there are options in the later years for the different brake system RPO codes and parts stores don't always get things correct. You may not have an RPO sticker anymore, so you would mainly need to verify that the booster is a dual diaphragm. The diameter should be easy to tell of course.
Engine vacuum and the line to the booster could influence it some too.

 

[mechted]

For your rust repairs: start reading here

Roll Cage vs Rocker Box on '74 Blazer

Will a Roll Cage be sufficient enough to support the cab on a full vert blazer? or will the rocker boxes need to still be there. My new to me '74 Blazer is fairly rust free. But I just noticed the cab supports that ran above the rocker box and contain the body mount nut are pretty much rusted...

ck5.com

Very extensive thread on Bigb55's recent work to repair similar issues.

 

[sundevil64]

Thanks Bent77. I did put a new MC and booster as the previous one leaked along with new calipers. I don’t recall my Dad’s 76 3/4 ton being this difficult to stop.

I will go back in and look at everything. Do the brake lines corrode on the inside? I was thinking of doing SS lines.

I had not considered that. I will check that.

 

[sundevil64]

For your rust repairs: start reading here

Roll Cage vs Rocker Box on '74 Blazer

Will a Roll Cage be sufficient enough to support the cab on a full vert blazer? or will the rocker boxes need to still be there. My new to me '74 Blazer is fairly rust free. But I just noticed the cab supports that ran above the rocker box and contain the body mount nut are pretty much rusted...

ck5.com

Very extensive thread on Bigb55's recent work to repair similar issues.

Thanks I will search that.

 

[BoondocK5]

Good to see more of the 73 iron getting restored
Chloe is my '73 K10
She's going full on rock crawler.