1973 K5 with a fuel door??

[63longfleet]

My son just brought home a 1973 K5 he picked up today. It didnt have a title just a bill of sale so cant verify year there. Here is my problem it has a fuel door like the later models and not the exposed cap on the side of the bed. I checked the vin "cky183f163164" and as near as i can tell it showes to be a 1973 Blazer. Did some trim option come with the door instead of the exposed cap or what.

[Keith Seymore]

Originally Posted by 63longfleet

My son just brought home a 1973 K5 he picked up today. It didnt have a title just a bill of sale so cant verify year there. Here is my problem it has a fuel door like the later models and not the exposed cap on the side of the bed. I checked the vin "cky183f163164" and as near as i can tell it showes to be a 1973 Blazer. Did some trim option come with the door instead of the exposed cap or what.

No; in 73 they all would have had a cap (fuel door was not an option).

Sounds like a body swap to me.

K

[63longfleet]

If it is a body swap it is the best i have ever seen. Vin tags are all in the right places and with the correct rivets. I guess someone may have added the fuel door or possibly the entire quarter panel at some point in its life.

[buffydores]

I'd guess the rear panel got grafted. '79 and up on the door, I think.

[Bigred74k20]

Originally Posted by 63longfleet

If it is a body swap it is the best i have ever seen. Vin tags are all in the right places and with the correct rivets. I guess someone may have added the fuel door or possibly the entire quarter panel at some point in its life.

Ive seen reman rivets that exactly match the OEM rivets. Someone could've replaced the whole panel or just cut and welded in the fuel door.

[phillipm]

Agree, if you know where to look the correct VIN rivets can be purchased. However I'd just look up behind the quarter and see if it was grafted in or for evidence of any repairs.

[63longfleet]

Well after some more searching on the truck, it has had the rear quarter replaced (poorly) there is almost a 1/8th inch of bondo along the seam they tried to make. And yes i mean tried. I am new to these trucks and this is more of a help the son project for me. Are replacement quarters avail for this year model Blazer?

[Irish1941]

Yep but aren't very good. I'd look for for a original 1/4 out here in SoCal.
73-77 will work for what you need. '78 was first yr for the fuel door.
From sounds of it, you just need to skin it, not full 1/4 replacement
73-75 are maybe worst yrs. Made from recycled steel from Japan was even the sales pitch if I remember right. Dad traded his '70 CST Blazer in on a "new" '74. Thing was rusting by 77 here in SoCal.
Do a good look underneath and in wheel wells to see whats rotten.
Another member, Frenchy51, just got thru a resto of a '75. Might have some tips for you.

[frenchy51]

Originally Posted by Irish1941

Yep but aren't very good. I'd look for for a original 1/4 out here in SoCal.
73-77 will work for what you need. '78 was first yr for the fuel door.
From sounds of it, you just need to skin it, not full 1/4 replacement
73-75 are maybe worst yrs. Made from recycled steel from Japan was even the sales pitch if I remember right. Dad traded his '70 CST Blazer in on a "new" '74. Thing was rusting by 77 here in SoCal.
Do a good look underneath and in wheel wells to see whats rotten.
Another member, Frenchy51, just got thru a resto of a '75. Might have some tips for you.

Thanks for the pitch Irish. Only advice I have is find the rust and fix it. I was lucky that mine was virtually "rust free" but I still had to take patch panels from a '79 donor I bought. I used it for some small patches of rockers, floors, etc. Not too hard to do if you have a wire welder and patience...If your panel is kind of put on OK I'd consider leaving it and trying to fix the cobby areas?
I'm not a totally original kind of guy. I put a 6.0 motor in mine and a few later model parts that I thought looked better than the stock '74 pieces. (mines a '74-not '75 BTW) I have lots of bits and pieces from Blazers-let me know what you need. Good luck. It will be a great father-son project! I know-I have 3 sons and all three drive vintage trucks that we all worked on.

[63longfleet]

Thanks for the input. My welding skills are fair at best but i have managed a few patch pannels on my 63 LWB that are not to bad, thank god for a grinder, I found a 78 shell locally that i can pick up for 250.00 that has a near perfect pas bed side thinking we might just leave the fuel door as this is NOT a restoration by any means. A "full pop" blazer as he calls it has been his dream truck for as long as i can remember so im just going for solid(no rust) and safe. Really got lucky on this one no rust in the floors or rockers that i have found yet. Still have to find a good front clip and a new hard top for it. So far i have decided that finding a top that the owner does'nt think is made of gold is going to be the hardest part.

[stanski]

Originally Posted by 63longfleet

My son just brought home a 1973 K5 he picked up today. It didnt have a title just a bill of sale so cant verify year there. Here is my problem it has a fuel door like the later models and not the exposed cap on the side of the bed. I checked the vin "cky183f163164" and as near as i can tell it showes to be a 1973 Blazer. Did some trim option come with the door instead of the exposed cap or what.

My 75 had the quarters replaced with newer year style just to get rid of the fuel filler pipe. Looks a lot better with the fuel door. Its a very common modification.