someguys 72 jimmy rebuild

[smokinjimmy72]

ill start off explaining. at first my truck was gonna be a street/mud truck, i currently have a 8" spring lift, (which flex like crazy lol). i had a 396 BB but blew it up and now have a nasty 350. sm465/205 14bolt with disk brakes, corp 10 with crossover, no front drivline, 38" superswamps with a 16.5x i think 12 or 15 wide.
now being on this site for alittle, im now gonna shift my project to be a fairly hard core wheeler, but still drive on street alittle. one day maybe full on crawler with rockwells, linked and body doved and bobbed, my buddy has a 83 blazer with rocks and hes tryin to talk me into it.
so my plans for right now are just to change my suspention using diys shackle flip, maybe teraflex shackles, i dont know if i want 63s or stick with 52s or what ever size fits in stock location. i kinda dont like how far back the 63s stick out to get hung up on things. any expieranced opinions with either or would be appriciated. im ordering parts next week.
52s up front with a D60. lookin for one right now, i would like to get 40"s on her, i dont mind cutting, i have spare truck doors to make half doors and i would like a soft top some day. then with time duel cases.
im pretty new to crawling, so any input is welcomed. thanks, heres some pics

 

[max 02]

Pineapple Express!One of my favorite movie`s

Your jimmy looks real nice the way it is.
I`ll watch your build.

 

[bp71k5]

Nice Jimmy. If you really are serious about the 40's, check out some of builds where people cut the fenders somewhat nicely so they still look like a first gen blazer. And take the top off!

 

[smokinjimmy72]

one of my favs also.
thanks, the truck looks good from far but its far from good. im ordering a diy list tomarrow. im selling my springs and tires/wheels and hoping to find a D60, once i get some more flexy springs, then ill post more pics.
what suspention are you running?

 

[smokinjimmy72]

Nice Jimmy. If you really are serious about the 40's, check out some of builds where people cut the fenders somewhat nicely so they still look like a first gen blazer. And take the top off!

top is definatly coming off, wanting a soft top. cut or dove front, i keep telling myself to keep it road worthy,....but im sure a year from now or so it'll become a trail only truck. if ur gonna build a crawler... build a fu#%ing crawler. you know?

 

[bp71k5]

top is definatly coming off, wanting a soft top. cut or dove front, i keep telling myself to keep it road worthy,....but im sure a year from now or so it'll become a trail only truck. if ur gonna build a crawler... build a fu#%ing crawler. you know?

Ive seen a few crawlers that were pretty good on the street too. I wouldn't mind having a more serious crawler, but I also know how things can snowball downhill quickly by needing a trailer, tow rig, lots of extra gas, and space to keep all the stuff in addition to the car you need to drive during the day. If you have the time and money for all that then go for it. If not, then 38's aren't all that small.

I personally don't like the tapered thing just because it looks funny. I also never planned on cutting anything, but I may go up to 37's someday and so I'm considering it a little.

 

[smokinjimmy72]

wat springs are you running bp71k5?

 

[bp71k5]

wat springs are you running bp71k5?

4" tuff country springs in front and 2" in back with a shackle flip. Stock length.

 

[Greg72]

if ur gonna build a crawler... build a fu#%ing crawler. you know?

This. ^^^^^

Why take a clean looking 1st Gen and chop and dovetail it into something it's not? Build a buggy from the start and you'll end up with something with less compromises, and better performance.

Your going to end up throwing away MOST of that truck by the time your done cutting it up anyway. Sell it now and put the money toward a real buggy chassis....

 

[smokinjimmy72]

This. ^^^^^

Why take a clean looking 1st Gen and chop and dovetail it into something it's not? Build a buggy from the start and you'll end up with something with less compromises, and better performance.

Your going to end up throwing away MOST of that truck by the time your done cutting it up anyway. Sell it now and put the money toward a real buggy chassis....

well im certainly not gonna sell it. but thanks for ur input. i dont want to start over #1, #2 i have alot of money that i wouldnt get back if i sell it.
its gonna stay wheeler/street for ahile, but more wheeler. im thinkin "one day" to have rockwells. i think u would change ur mind if u see one.
check out my buddies blazer in the 73-87 section. blazin on rockwells,, think is his name.

 

[max 02]

If you want awesome checkout Greg72`s build.
That is the sh#t!!

 

[smokinjimmy72]

greg does have a bad ass project, cant wait to see it in action.
Geg if ur reading this one, late congrates on new addition, hardest project ull ever have. i just had my 2nd two months ago(a girl). i also have a 2 anda 1/2 year boy that is starting to hang out with daddy in the shop. his first words were 9/16. jk.

 

[Greg72]

well im certainly not gonna sell it. but thanks for ur input. i dont want to start over #1, #2 i have alot of money that i wouldnt get back if i sell it.
its gonna stay wheeler/street for ahile, but more wheeler. im thinkin "one day" to have rockwells. i think u would change ur mind if u see one.
check out my buddies blazer in the 73-87 section. blazin on rockwells,, think is his name.

I understand what you are saying, but if the 1st Gen ends up as nothing more than a firewall/windshield/front floor donor for a hardcore Rockwell-axled buggy, the value of what you had goes to basically zero anyway.

Rockwells make sense if you want to run massive tires and don't care how wide your truck is... if you start trying to narrow them, or put on disc brake conversions the cost-effectiveness of the swap goes out the window. (Kind of like where I am with the Mog-9 axle swap)...

So, assuming you want BIG tires and big flex (which it sounds like you do) then theres almost no way to run any kind of normal fenders without interference and lots of cutting. The taper job might work, but you're probably going to end up with a truck that's narrowed to the width of the frame anyway... so it's not like you're going to have a lot of useable floor space or even a back seat.

Ultimately, you can do what you think makes sense but for as much cutting as you'll need to do it seems smarter to start with a cheaper donor truck (later model K5) and you won't feel so guilty about chopping it all apart to make the tires and axle fit.

 

[smokinjimmy72]

ya i know wat ur saying with cuttin body up, ive been debating it for awhile, my original plan was to use a 1st gen pick up as crawler, a pick up i dont mind hacking and cutting. get a cheap long bed, take off bed, shortin frame, flat bed, and so on. then tow it with the jimmy.

 

[70jimmy]

Nice rig! I fight the urge to morph mine into a full out buggy. No money to do it helps.

I am just concentrating on getting a doubler when I can, new exhaust, play with the cold air intake and TBI mods, then maybe the 60 and bigger tires.

For now I wheel it how it is and try to save the body when I can.

 

[smokinjimmy72]

please, to ever who was offended by my avatar, my apologies, i thought this site was were dudes can be dudes. i didnt think some people who frequent this! site would be so uptight. so ill leave my avatar alone, but next time you see somthing that "offends you", maybe you should take a secound, and think, this is somebody elses page, that he paid for, and its not my thread. and dont go back and look at the OFFENSIVE pic. oh no. was it the beautiful breast that made u uncomfortable or the glass pipe. just stop. have some self responsibility and move on with ur life.. **** man. and then to complain to ck5, sad man. watever. does the avatar thay has two chicks mushing ther chest together offend you? not to thro him under the bus, but im just saying. you can be so selective of what to be "offended" at in life. dont make other people live by your standards, because guess what, im almost positive that more people liked it more than was "offended" by it. DUECHEBAG. sorry to ck5 no disrespect. i do love this site.

 

[smokinjimmy72]

Nice rig! I fight the urge to morph mine into a full out buggy. No money to do it helps.

I am just concentrating on getting a doubler when I can, new exhaust, play with the cold air intake and TBI mods, then maybe the 60 and bigger tires.

For now I wheel it how it is and try to save the body when I can.

i dont really want a buggy but a full on crawler. with much love for the 1st. gen chevy, always have, this is my third one in my life, i would try to keep as much of body as possible. so maybe 40s are alittle big but id atleast want to stay with 38s.

 

[smokinjimmy72]

yesterday i was trying to put my exhaust back on and ran into the classic header collector and shackle problem, i was hoping that because i moved the motor mounts forward, i wouldnt run into this problem but i did. i didnt feel like buying another pair since these were brand new headers, so my solution, extend the header. so the collector is further back, beyond the shackle instead of an 1/8 of an inch aside it. looks goofy but affective.

 

[Greg72]

If you're plan is to stay in the 38 to 40" tire range, why even bother with Rockwells?

You could support a "small" tire like that easily with a much more conventional 1 ton axle setup and the final product will be a LOT more street able and will probably have better ground clearance too...

 

[smokinjimmy72]

well, 3k into some 60s or half that in rocks, and come on man, ther rockwells. and i could as big of a tire that i want. and pinion brakes are alot cheaper than disk brakes, so even with some brakes and it cheaper than building 60s. and final reason, since u wont let it go, my buddy has a rear( free bee). only have to buy front. aaannnndddd.... i said maybe one day. so..... thanks. diy order onway.
anybody use 56 springs all around.