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Newbie advice - buying a '78 Blazer

Y

ymatt

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Newbie advice - buying a \'78 Blazer

Hello. I will be looking at a '78 K5 Blazer that is for sale here in the UK some time this week. Apparently, everything is OK apart from the automatic transmission. What sort of cost am I looking at for a replacement or rebuild? (The engine is a 350 V8, so I assume the tranny is a TH350). I would much prefer a manual transmission; is it possible to swap in a manual box?

I am totally new to Blazers, any purchase advice etc. would be much appreciated.

P.S. Great to see that the board is so active!
 
Re: Newbie advice - buying a \'78 Blazer

ymatt,welcome to ck5,with the k5 you are looking at a rebuild t350 here were im at would cost about $350-450 for a good rebuild,depending on what you have done to it.you can switch it to a manual,its more work,but there are a couple guys here on this site that are selling everything you will need to do it.talk to jim rose,his user name is blazer454,he did a conversion on his 84.he is also selling his 4sp setup.good luck

BIGBLOCK MAN
 
Re: Newbie advice - buying a \'78 Blazer

Thanks for your help, J.R.

I went to look at the K5 yesterday and had it delivered today (I bought it from http://www.chasetruck.co.uk). Wow, what a beast! I love it! And as a bonus, it's a Cheyenne with lots of nice options. Shame about this country's absurd fuel prices though.

The truck needs a fair bit of work, so I'm going to do a full restoration. No doubt I'll be making good use of this forum!
 
Re: Newbie advice - buying a \'78 Blazer

welcome to the to CK5 this place will solve all your porbs

and ymatt fill out your bio it want hurt you it is just nice to know who you are talking. Thanks

cool.gif
Go prepared
</font color=red>90 k5 soon to be big, bad, and mean
 
Re: Newbie advice - buying a \'78 Blazer

I helped a buddy do an auto-to-manual swap a few years ago. It's a real pain-in-the-a$$, but it can be done. He picked up a rusted out parts truck that had the 4-speed and NP205 in it. We took everything from the bell housing back through the transfer case and moved it to the auto truck. We also took the floor plate that bolts over the tranny and t-case since it had the hole for the shifter to come up through.

We did all the underneath work in about 4 hours. That included droping the driveshafts, tranny and transfer case out of both trucks and installing the 4-speed and NP205. Converted it from a Turbo 350 with the NP203 case. He had to have some driveshaft work done as well.

The hardest part was swapping out the pedal assemblies, so the truck would have a clutch pedal. I think it would help to have a tiny, flexible friend to get up under the dash and work on this part!
wink.gif


Note that a transfer case that was originally behind an automatic won't bolt up to the 4-speed manual. The adapter is different, as is the input shaft. You can swap the parts around but it's proably cheaper (and certainly easier) to use the right transfer case to begin with.

I'm sure that being in the UK doesn't make it very easy to just find a parts truck.
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<font color=black>HarryH3 - '75 K5</font color=black>
http://ThunderTruck.ColoradoK5.com
 
Re: Newbie advice - buying a \'78 Blazer

Welcome, fellow 78er!
Sorry, I can't help You with Your tranny problem. Just wanted to say that I'm happy to see another '78 owner here!
Good luck for Your restoration project, thank god I'm done with phase one of mine.
CU
MuleMaster

<font color=blue>K5 Blazer...because size DOES matter
http://projectmule.coloradok5.com</font color=blue>
 
Re: Newbie advice - buying a \'78 Blazer

Many thanks for all the kind words guys.

And thanks for the info Harry; I think I'll rebuild the auto box and make do with that for now.

Yeah, Espen, that's the one. Bit of a dodgy photo though; that brownish color is really red. :)

P.S. James, I will get around to filling it out soon!
 
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