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Which is the lessor of two evils?

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SurfinCR

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i'm going to apologize in advance for the long post. So in december i bought a fully loaded 86 blazer that i thought was in good condition ( bought from a friend and by the time i got to looking at it i was freezing and did a quick look through) i knew it needed a new transmission as reverse was shot but the engine was a crate motor 305 with 40k on it. it ran fine and everything worked except the power steering was shot. i knew the floor on both sides needed to be replaced. but digging further found the frame was rotted out behind the rear shackle and part way into the shackle mount, the cab mounts were rusted out the tailgate support, the lower quarter panels on each side also needed to be repaired. the good of it was the interior was in good shape and all the wiring was done right.
so i decided it wasnt going to be cost effective so i'd pick up a new one

2 weeks ago i picked up an 84 that i knew had some issues but seemed to be over all good shape and the things wrong i figured i could pull off from the 86. this one had a 350 swapped in with supposidly 70k on it but does appear in good shape, does need a tune up. has a 4" lift with 35" tires. i knew it need floor and rocker panels on the passenger side and needed to have the radio wires fixed as someone stole the radio from it before it was put up for sale. so far i have found the following on top inner and outer rockers need replacing on both sides, floor on passengers side needs to be replaced, as well as both rear corners of the floor. the dash metal has been hacked up quite a bit but not beyond being able to use it, one of the previous owners mangled the air tubes behind it pretty good. i also need to swap in the ac system from the old one.

i have the welder and skills to weld in fresh metal, though i am currently lacking an aircompressor and sand blaster but looking to resolve that soon.

My question is which one is the better one to fix? or should i just sell both for parts and move on to the next one?

Thanks in advance for your thoughts/ comments
 
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good point, i'll try to snap some when i get home from work. :doah:
 
Man, who puts in a crate 305? The TBI on the 350 would be the way to go. Body work will be the biggest time investment, so work on the body that needs less.
 
Actually thinking about it the po of the 86 said it was a 350 now i have to check when i take the pictures.

As for the least amount of body work and the easiest to do that would be the 84 since i can actually get all of the metal needed as the 86 has the window pilar rusted out.
 
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just realized i goofed on the year of the first one. not enough caffine this morning. its an 86 :doah:
 
Yup, neither one should be TBI being an 84 and an 86. On top of that I wouldn't make TBI a deciding factor. Personally, I wouldn't make any mechanical deficiencies a deciding factor. The body needing the least amount of work should be the winner. Body work is the most time consuming, costly and labor intensive part of a project. After that, fixing mechanicals or swapping interiors is cake.

If you have the room, keep both. Make 1 good truck out of the 2. Keep what could be useful to you in the future, sell what you don't need, scrap the rest. Obviously you want the solid frame, build off of that. Whichever truck has better axle gears, keep those (3.73 > 3.08). Keep the better of the 2 engines, the 305 (if it turns out to be) is not a bad engine by any means. If both have the 700R4 trans and they both work, keep them both. Run the one that works and have the other rebuilt and swap it in later.

Or, find a truck with a solid body from out west and have it shipped up here.
 
I would try and grab one out of cali,az. I hate our politics but i love that i usually dont have to deal with rusted out bodies. less rust is the better one. And dont do a have ass repeair on rust. it will bite wou where the sun dont shine.
 
Yeah, sell them both and get a rust-free truck. I love my CA truck, and I can spend my money on toys (soft top, stereo) and time driving it (not fixing it)! :D
 
I personally wouldn't try to fix that white one. Keep it for parts if you have space.
 
thats what i'm thinking, at this point even with the hack jobs one of the previous owners did on the front dash and hvac system it seems like the easier out of the two builds. i'm planning on using what i can on the white blazer and keeping what i may need and parting out the rest before the neighbors complain.

after dealing with the grumblings of the carb i'm leaning toward down the line getting a tbi one or upgrading the current.


as for parting out what parts are recommended on holding onto? as well as what features are good to swap over (ie 86 has power windows and doors vs 84 that doesnt)?
 
Wow, that white one is trash. The black one ... well, without seeing underneath, it's hard to say, but seeing as how hacked up it is inside I'd avoid it based on that alone. Hacked inside usually means hacked wiring elsewhere, which spells trouble. But ... if I absolutely HAD to, I'd keep it assuming there was virtually no rust underneath.
 
i meant to grab more picks of the underneath on the black, as far as rust on the black one the inner and outer rockers need to be replaced on both side along with the passenger side floor and both corners, the frame is surprising solid though with minimal rust.

the dash bothers me quite a bit on the black one which is why i'm leaning toward pulling the dash of the white one out and welding it into the black. the wiring, other than the radio seems to not been too badly molested, but the weather hasnt really cooperated with me enough to really dig through.
 
Have you ever done a restoration like this? If you like to do the work then by all means carry on with what ya got (fix the black one using the white one for parts). But if you can find a clean body - maybe a non-runner - you can skip over those trillion hours of work for a relatively quick body swap. A non-rusted body will stay nice longer than a "fixed" rust body will, too.

If you just want a wheeler, then bang through body work quick to get it solid and start bashing. If you want a nice driver for years to come than make sure you pick the right starting point. If you have your long term vision in place from the start you save a lot of time and money.
 
Blue85 said:
Have you ever done a restoration like this? If you like to do the work then by all means carry on with what ya got (fix the black one using the white one for parts). But if you can find a clean body - maybe a non-runner - you can skip over those trillion hours of work for a relatively quick body swap. A non-rusted body will stay nice longer than a "fixed" rust body will, too.

If you just want a wheeler, then bang through body work quick to get it solid and start bashing. If you want a nice driver for years to come than make sure you pick the right starting point. If you have your long term vision in place from the start you save a lot of time and money.
Click to expand...

i've done a partial body off restoration years ago on a vw bug swapping in floor panels and such but ran out of time, money(went off to college) and had to give up my space.

the vehicle is actually just going to be a toy for me, it'll be used for weekend wheeling, trips with the dogs and vacations in Maine along with being a winter vehicle. with it being a third vehicle its no problem if it takes a long time to do right. With that being said though i tend to be a moderate perfectionist where i'd like to get it near 100% right. which is why this project is driving me nuts with the fact that someone really didnt know what they were doing on the black one.
 
That's the problem with most projects, and is why that truck is where it is. Someone else started it, and never got done. If you are just going to play with it, I'd get it running and call it a day.

A dash swap sounds like a bad idea. Sell those two things and use the cash to buy something that is clean. It's far easier to work on a truck that has not been "started" by someone else. You'll find a lot less "WTH is this!" things to fix, and can spend a lot more time driving it.

I mean, if you actually WANT to drive it. If you just want something to work on, and never drive it, then by all means keep on going ... :haha:

I learned a long time ago to get the best vehicle I could afford, and go from there. It's easier to start from 90% than 50%.
 
i'd like to have a project, but a project that i can still play with while i work on it. which so far seems like i can do with this one.

so far after hearing everyones thoughts on here if i find anymore big issues i think it'll be my walk away point where i'll just make it safe to drive enjoy it and sell it off to find a better starting point. preferably one with tbi.
 
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