Pics of my K5 and a few questions! *Exhaust anyone??*

[jonathon]

I recently joined the K-5 club on Monday with my purchase of a 1984 K-5

For all of $600 I got a running Blazer with a 305 in it.. had to learn to drive a stick but it worked out well. Hopeing to use this as a project to learn on and have fun with It is quite a change from my little '88 Ranger. Strangely enough I was more interested in finding a Bronco but I kept reading more and more I liked about the K-5 and just had to jump in. Couldn't be happier so far!

And I tried to do a little flex on a 6" ramp.. no dice! My ranger would be rubbing at this point

I do need some help with a few things..

For starters, it came with Headers, and there is an exhaust leak at the block. Headers seem to be decent, not rotted out at all, just seems to leak at the gaskets. What is the best approach to fixing this? I've heard a lot of advice and still havn't got it all sorted out yet, and would love the input of others here!

It is running a little on the rich side. The carb is not stock, it is an Edelbrock, but beyond that I couldn't tell what model it was(didn't have time to take a better look at it). How do I adjust that?

The other big thing I'd like to do for now is put new seals on the front and rear axles. The previous owner wheeled it a bit in some deep mud with the stock breathers, and I want to take the covers off and make sure there's no water or debris in there, reseal them, and put fresh oil in there. The only thing I can't find in the manual I have is whether or not I need to do anything specific when it comes to resintalling the cover(like torqueing the screws to a certain weight or in a certain order). The front and rear are both 10 bolts(which will be changed later ).

Have to do some work on the brakes but I can handle that just fine!

Thanks all for the help, and I do plan on buying a membership in the very near future(next paycheck!). Hopefully I can learn a thing or two from ya'll! Thanks again

 

[Pvt. Maggot]

Nice looking blazer, Welcome, you will be here for more hours then you will even realize, The gaskets for the headers might be leaking, or the flange might be warped. change the gaskets and crank the bolts down and see if it helps, try tuning the carb, 10/1 its a preformer, and they prob put a 600 on it, I have one on my 305, but it runs fine, might just need some tweaks. as for the axle covers, some good sealer and cranking the cover bolts down and you'll be fine, just don't go too tight and break them hah.

 

[1978Blazerk5]

Welcome, nice looking blazer, great start for a project espcially for $600. by me you cant find something that nice for that little money.

 

[jonathon]

Thanks!

I am having an absolute blast driving her around, very fun. Much funner than my Ranger, but a lot harder on the wallet!

 

[colbystephens]

jonathon -

i've got a good friend up in washougal. drives a mid 80's one ton ford diesel on 39's. cool rig. anyway, if you wanna wheel with me or need help turning wrenches, drop me a line. you can email me thru ck5. just click on my name and search my profile to send me an email.

 

[Chevy305]

I recomend you get yourself some either aluminum or copper header gaskets because they won't blow out and are re-useable.

Summit Racing or Jegs can hook you up.

 

[01maroonz71]

im running copper ones and love them. i even swapped them off my old motor onto my old on(reusable). don't crank the bolts like maggot says...they have a torque spec. cranking them to hell will warp the flange, if it isn't already.

looks like you spent 600bucks on that truck and it looks to be worth every penny. good find man
good luck
~Dave

 

[broncoman6524]

Yours has a 4speed!?! LUCKY (napoleon voice)

And as previously said...once hte "new truck" feeling wears off you will be here alot...probaly too much.

That is a nice lookin k5. Super sweet flex too!

 

[Pvt. Maggot]

don't crank the bolts like maggot says...

I don't mean crank them to hell, within reason. Do you really take the time to torque your header bolts? I cranked mine down to where I knew they wouldn't come loose, and have had no problems.

 

[jonathon]

Yup, 4 speed! Granny Low, 1, 2, and 3! Sure is fun to drive, still mastering the clutch a bit. Already got plans for the weekend!

I take it I need to find out what I got for headers to find out what gaskets I need exactly? Having a hard time, and the pics show different things...

Any reason to use something like Valvoline Durablend over standard 80w90 gear oil in the front and rear diffs?

 

[jonathon]

Okay I've got a few other "issues"..

First is what size are the lugs nuts? Trying to find replacements and I'm not sure what size I need. The ones on my rig are kinda ghetto to say the least(about 4 different types on there, and some are pink!).

And then none of my gauges work.. not too worried about anything else though knowing my speed would be very handy. What should I be checking for?

Then the strangest of them all.. I couldn't figure this one out till I showed a friend. Apparently somewhere along the line someone bored out part of the body at the top of the filler neck to make it so they could use leaded gasoline in it(since the cats have probably been out of it since early on), and in the process they damaged the little flapper thingy(excuse my lack of terminology here, havn't found that info in the book). This wouldn't be a problem except for the fact I'm having a hell of the time filling the damn thing up, getting some splash back causing the pump to shut off. Even with the flapper thing out of the way I still get terrible splash back causing the pump to shut off. Thoughts? I've probably got half a tank filled at intervals... $10 or $15 at a time the way it has been(gas gauge doesn't work..).

This is going to be pretty interesting/fun.. going through it more I've found out that it pretty much has zero electrical save for the lights and the high beam light on the dash!

 

[Chevy305]

I'd look under the dash real quick and see how messed up the wiring is... and if it resembles spagetti

 

[Col_Sanders]

Pump slower with the nozzle barely in. Mine does it a certain stations, but not all. Can't see the pics (at work hosting sites are blocked) but welcome to the site!

 

[gmc4cw]

exhaust header gaskets are all the same. it does not matter what brand or type of header you have.

as for the speedo, I would check that it is hooked up to the guage and the sender on the t-case. you would be surprised how many vehicles have there speedos unhooked in my state, so the mileage stays down, so they don't have to pass emissions.

 

[jonathon]

Thanks! I'll look into getting a copper gasket for it then(Mr gasket a good brand?).

Anyone know how to pop the tail gate lock? Mine is locked and won't unlock

I plan on getting to a u pull it and snagging a whole new tail gate to canablize the window and other parts out of it(no rear window in this rig either..).

 

[colbystephens]

Thanks! I'll look into getting a copper gasket for it then(Mr gasket a good brand?).

Anyone know how to pop the tail gate lock? Mine is locked and won't unlock

I plan on getting to a u pull it and snagging a whole new tail gate to canablize the window and other parts out of it(no rear window in this rig either..).

i bet if you pull the access panel, with the window up, you can trip the levers to allow the tailgate to come down, but you'll need a second person to catch the tailgate when you put the window down after you release the gate. i bet you could get it apart then and fix it. just take the window out and install a new lock - it's not hard, it'll take you less than an hour, i'd suspect. i've done it.

 

[jonathon]

there is no window or access panel on the tailgate... it had a sheet of plexiglass! I pulled it out to get the top off

 

[blowedupmotor87]

$600?! Great buy, sweet K5! Gotta love the fourspeed!

 

[fryed_1]

I don't mean crank them to hell, within reason. Do you really take the time to torque your header bolts? I cranked mine down to where I knew they wouldn't come loose, and have had no problems.

header/manifold bolts? Yes, torque them, definately. Borrow/rent/buy a decent torque wrench. As said before, you can get lucky (header bolts aren't as non-forgiving as say, head gasket bolts) but you can damage stuff pretty good if you don't.

Chiltons or Haynes manuals will tell you what they should be torqued to.

 

[Bent77]

Another suggestion for the headers. Since the flanges are probably already warped, cut the flanges between pipes. Works even better if you have them off, so you can make it look good.

Doing this relieves all of the pressure off of the bolts by trying to square up the pipe with the head.

Find yourself a good junkyard, I wouldn't mess with the carb long, I would start scrounging Fuel Injection Parts and get it over with. Best mod ever for me...


There are several vent lines to your tank, should be one to the carb, maybe one to the filler neck. Make sure they breathe right, might help.