The noob's first K5 (pics)

[Randy92782]

I really like that '72 and for $12,000 its a good score. Welcome man!!

EDIT: Gotta ask. Are you gonna sell the 8" springs to get the 6" you desire?? Just wondering.

 

[AJs72K5]

I really like that '72 and for $12,000 its a good score. Welcome man!!

EDIT: Gotta ask. Are you gonna sell the 8" springs to get the 6" you desire?? Just wondering.

Thanks! Yes, I am going to sell the 8" springs. But it won't be for a few months. I'm thinking about getting some Alcans made and figure I need to save up a bit. How soon you needing/wanting them? If you can wait, I'll put you first on the list for them.

Has anyone else had Alcans made? About what did they cost and were they worth it? I'm thinking 4" springs with 6" shackles in the front and DIY4x shackle flip, 4 inch shackle, and 2" springs in the rear. Should put it at right about 5-6 inches of lift.

 

[Randy92782]

Well 8" is a little much for me too. I was just throwing it out there in case someone else was interested. Thanks for the offer though.

 

[Greg72]

As requested. Pics of the floor shifters and engine.

I'm jealous all over again...... I haven't seen a "finished" interior in mine since, well......EVER!

Have you given any thought to changing out the steering wheel for a more traditional wood-rimmed 3-spoke wheel? Something like this...

It's more in keeping with the houndstooth "classic" vibe that the rest of your interior has.....and it will give you MUCH better visibility to the gauges than the one you have in there now. Those late-model wheels always seem wrong in the early trucks (to me anyway) and seem the cheapen the look of the truck by using such a common boring wheel...

The engine looks nice too. Inner fender wells are another item I haven't seen in a long time...

 

[AJs72K5]

Have you given any thought to changing out the steering wheel for a more traditional wood-rimmed 3-spoke wheel? It's more in keeping with the houndstooth "classic" vibe that the rest of your interior has.....and it will give you MUCH better visibility to the gauges than the one you have in there now. Those late-model wheels always seem wrong in the early trucks (to me anyway) and seem the cheapen the look of the truck by using such a common boring wheel...

Couldn't agree more. Even the wife made a comment about how out of place the early 90's wheel looked. I like the retro 3 spoke style, but I'm not sure if I want to go wood or not. We'll see...

 

[Randy92782]

I could never go to wood again. When i hit a car once i wasn't wearing my seatbelt. I hit my face on one of those wood steering wheels. It hurt like hell.

But it WOULD look good in that truck compared to the style you got now. IMO

 

[Greg72]

Couldn't agree more. Even the wife made a comment about how out of place the early 90's wheel looked. I like the retro 3 spoke style, but I'm not sure if I want to go wood or not. We'll see...

That one I posted is a cheap Grant wheel....(like $99). The finish quality was poor...not surprising considering the low price, so I sanded it down a bit to make the wood line up with the metal banding. Then I used a Dremel to open up the finger reliefs on the back side for a more comfortable grip. Finally, I restained it with a nice Dark Walnut stain and put a few coats of good polyurethane over the whole thing. That pic was just about at the end of the whole process.

I loved the look in the truck, and the spoke layout gives almost perfect "sightlines" to the large upper gauges and the lowers are pretty easy to see from the seated position also (depends a bit on how close or far you sit from the dash, obviously)

Worth thinking about.... Unfortunately, mine was ruined when the main hoop of my rollcage fell on it during mock-up. I bought a replacement, but haven't gotten around to refinishing it yet. But I will.

 

[Greg72]

...i wasn't wearing my seatbelt. I hit my face on one of those wood steering wheels. It hurt like hell.

Funny that you blame the steering wheel....sounds like a seatbelt issue to me.

I hope that you at least learned a valueable lesson???

 

[RGV72BLAZER]

those three spokes are nice...mine looks good...too bad the rest of the truck isn't as nice

 

[Randy92782]

Funny that you blame the steering wheel....sounds like a seatbelt issue to me.

I hope that you at least learned a valueable lesson???

Yeah my seatbelt didn't work in my old Blazer. It was stuck. I didn't mean to sound like i was blaming the steering wheel. Just that if i were to get another one i would think of what the last one did to my face hahahaha

 

[AJs72K5]

Well...I've been working under the guise that the body lift on the truck was just to clear the 40s. Mind you, the body lift I speak of is just 2" square tubing on top of the body cab mounts . After YJ kept talking about clearance for the big block, I started thinkin, which is never good. I got behind the block tonight and, let's just say the POs work on the firewall isn't anywhere near as nice as the rest of the truck. The firewall's also REALLY snug with the valve covers. So, in order to take out the cheeseball body lift, I'm gonna have to pull the block and not only clearance the firewall, but clean up the POs mess they made putting the BBC in last time.

 

[vtblazer]

Well...I've been working under the guise that the body lift on the truck was just to clear the 40s. Mind you, the body lift I speak of is just 2" square tubing on top of the body cab mounts . After YJ kept talking about clearance for the big block, I started thinkin, which is never good. I got behind the block tonight and, let's just say the POs work on the firewall isn't anywhere near as nice as the rest of the truck. The firewall's also REALLY snug with the valve covers. So, in order to take out the cheeseball body lift, I'm gonna have to pull the block and not only clearance the firewall, but clean up the POs mess they made putting the BBC in last time.

Very common occurrence with the previous owner thing.

My .02 but I'd leave the 2" body lift as is.
The reason is that it's currently drivable and the work ahead of you is huge.
That being said, once it's off the road for repairs, several month's will go by.
(years in some cases)

 

[Greg72]

Yeah.....what VT said.

There is nothing inherently BAD about a body lift, and in the case of the 1st Gens it makes the BBC swaps a lot easier. Whether it was accidental or intentional, the PO made his life a lot easier by adding a 2" BL.

If you don't like the type of BL.....go with a more conventional spacer. I had a set of 2" aluminum pucks made up for me. Pretty cheap, just some round aluminum stock cut into 2" lengths with a hole drilled in the middle. A lot better than plastic ones, and safer sounding than the squaretube ones that you have now.

A swap like that shouldn't be anywhere near as much work as trying to remove the body lift..... save that project for another time (when you have LOTS of time). You should be spending more time falling in love with your truck at this early stage.....there will be plenty of time to curse at it later!

 

[thealien]

I have to agree with VT and Greg above. I bought my 1972 GMC Jimmy for $9,750 and am quickly aproaching that amount now on repairs and inprovements and have only used the truck for about 100 miles. I should have used the truck for a couple of years first?

Even when I am fifnshed with the most recent work I still need to get the posi fixed, the AC operational, and fix a couple of transfer case leaks. I will also have done nothing with the interior. I will have a pretty nice fairly stock Jimmy for about $20,000. It was a bargain at $10,000, not such a bargain now.

Your truck is sweet for $12,000. Will you still think it is so sweet if you throw another $8-10,000 into it. Drive it and have fun. If you have engine or driveline problems down the road that is when I would pull the engine and do the repairs you are thin king of. Good luck and have fun, that is what it is really all about.