Project: Blue Devil 89 K5 Blazer

[MrBeast]

So it is about damn time I get started on this. I have only had this rig since 2005, it is a 89 K5 Blazer, Actually though it only has about 115,000 miles on it.



There is a bit of a story attached to this rig, I bought it in California, loaded it up on my semi trailer, and hauled it back to Montana with me. I drove it there though 2005 and 2006, then in 2006 I hauled it to Texas and parked it at a friends house in Arlington. Then in the beginning of 2007 when I moved to Corpus Christi, my friends here were nice enough to bring it down for me.

I had not been using the truck very much, in fact hardly at all. The motor was developing a slight knock, so I opted not to drive it and it sat quite a bit. Then when my friends renters wound up losing the engine in their S-10, I sold them the blazer for way less than I paid for it so they would have a way to get to and from work, and it would get them to keep paying the rent to my friend who has been really really good to me.

Well unfortunately they didn't keep paying the rent, or the power, or anything else, they did however trash the house they were renting never taking out the garbage, and having 22 cats, 3 dogs, and a rabbit living inside the house.

I at the time was renting the detached garage next to the house from my friend and doing mechanic/welding work there. Well so it happens, the people didn't take care of the blazer either. They ran it out of oil a few times. They never really did any maintainence to it. (or clean it for that matter) and eventually the engine blew.

Well the guy, who is in really bad physical shape was in no kind of shape to fix the engine himself. So I called a friend of mine, who is a damn good machinist, and called in a personal favor. He actually volunteered to give us a crankshaft he had there for free, and he would turn it and chamfer all the holes, as well as give it a full shot peen, magnaflux and balance and he would build the motor, all we would have to do is pay for a set of pistons, rings, and a gasket set! Sweet deal right?

Well this wasn't good enough for the guy, he had the nerve to question the ability of my friend the machinist, and decided to let himself in to my shop, tear the truck apart himself, and when he was unable to reach the bolts on the back of the engine (because he weighs like 350+ lbs) he took a 3/8" drill bit and proceeded to drill a couple of hundred holes in the floor around the front of the tranny hump, and make what he called a "race car style access panel" I called it one of the biggest hack jobs I have ever seen.

By the time he had finished this great magnificent act of twittery, he had put himself into diabetic shock. Walked out of my shop leaving all the doors wide open for who ever wanted to come by and help themselves to any of the tools I have in there, went in the house and went to bed.

This is how I found my old truck and shop the next morning. You can imagine my level of anger at this point. But I choked it down, tried to do the right thing and make somthing good out of the situation. I helped get the engine out of the bay, and they hauled it down to a machine shop here in town, dropped it off, only to find out that the bores were scored bad, and I mean really really bad.



Well the guy then insisted that his mother was really sick, and that we needed to fix it for him. So he jumps on an airplane, flies to Oregon, never to be seen or heard from again.

The good thing was, he left his wife behind, so I was able to get my hands on the title before she skedaddled. So After all of that, I got my blazer back.

Currently in the Garage I have a 350 out of an 89 Suburban that I am going to install after I clean it up, throw a set of gaskets in it and paint it.

First though I will have to fix the giganormous hole in the floor, and get that right, as well as rip out all of the carpet because it is totally ruined. Luckily I think that the door panels, and side panels are going to be savable. But it will need a new head liner, and a dash pad.

Other goodies it will need are new wheels and tires, and I am going to redo all the brakes as well. I am considering stuffing a 8 lug 10 bolt and 14FF in it that I have, but I am a long ways out from there yet.

First things first, I am going to get it cleaned up and running right, then I will worry about the details like that.

My goal is to get it cleaned up and running good enough to use as my daily driver.

And to wrap it up, here are a few pics of it buried in the snow!





And the hole it came out of





I think I am going to wind up painting it all Royal Blue, Thus the name "Blue Devil"

[tvblazer78]

Wow what a story and a A hole for doing that.. Good luck...

[MrBeast]

Originally Posted by tvblazer78

Wow what a story and a A hole for doing that.. Good luck...

Thanks!

[MrBeast]

Well I made a little progress today, got the blazer moved up on the slab, and got the tranny most of the way out of it, did a ton of cleaning around the shop, have a bunch more to do tomorrow. I should have more pics to post then.

I also got the engine up on the engine stand, and played with my new welder some helping a friend weld in an exhaust system in his truck. That actually ate up most of the afternoon, and then tomorrow morning we will be back at it again. going to be a busy day.

[tvblazer78]

Yep we need pics....

[MrBeast]

Well here come the pictures.

As I mentioned the guy really did a number on the floor.







He tried telling me that this is a "race car style access panel." I think it is one of the worst hack jobs I have ever seen, and wonder what would possess anyone to do such a thing.

Luckily, anyone remember this truck?



I was smart when I parted it out, and saved the front part of the cab so id have the floor to weld in.



And to do just that I got this puppy right here...



A Millermatic 212 MIG, I love this thing BTW!



I also finally got my old Saylor Beal Air compressor going. Man this puppy can pump some air. The pressure switch pumps up to 195 PSI then cuts off. It runs the die grinder like a champ!

Siting next to it you can see my Miller Syncrowave 200 TIG

And last but not least, here is the engine I picked up for the blazer, going to get it all cleaned up and stuffed in the Blazer once the floor is all fixed. Luckily I now have everything on hand I need save for a couple of gaskets and some engine paint. I think it is going to turn back into a good little rig for me. Just going to take some serious cleaning up.

[Stitch]

looks like you're on your way...too bad you got reamed for doing nice for someone...at least I know your friend appreciates it even though it didn't turn out well...and you got the blazer back so all is not lost...but yeah good luck with the resto and an opinion on the dash...I wouldn't get a new dash pad if it's going to be a driver...I would just get a Coverlay for it...you can get them from Capt Kaos...

Chuck.

[tvblazer78]

What the crap!! Man you are right he did a number on that one. What was he thinking?? Happy that you got it back and can fix it right.. Thanks for the pics..

Trav

[MrBeast]

Well I went and got busy. Got the tranny tore out, and started on the interior.



Just what was in the front seat alone was enough to fill up my entire garbage can, all nasty crap too, old papers, pill bottles, cigarette butts, and fast food sacks/wrappers & cups. It was a mess. I got it all cleaned out though.





Then on to the next bit of fun. Some brain child at GM up in the late 80's decided it would be a grand idea to install the transmission humps by spot welding them in instead of bolting them. The new transmission hump that I have is a 77 model, and it is the bolt in style.



The other thing you will notice is that it is quite a bit shorter, I am going to fix this as well using pieces of the old hump that I preserved, as well I am going to have to retain the plate where the NP208 Shifter bolts in. In the end I will make it all bolt up again.



Hopefully by the end of the day tomorrow I will have made some serious head way on it. I am going to work on it some more tonight as well.

[tvblazer78]

Looks good man.. And a lot of trash too..

[MrBeast]

Floors in most of the way, need to make a pie cut on the one side to make it match up, and then put a couple of filler pieces in where I screwed up the cut, but looks like it is all going to fit well.

And for the record, that stuff they make the fire wall insulation out of is very flammable, it doesn't burn fast, but it is hard to put out...

[MrBeast]

Also thought I would share, this is the engine that I picked up for it, going to be working on getting it cleaned up later this week. Hopefully have it in by new years.

[MrBeast]

Well I got a lot more done today, got all of the small gaps in the patch panel welded up, and welded the piece on the back of the tunnel that I accidentally cut out put back in too.



I am pretty happy with how it all turned out. Now for the bad.



What I have discovered is that pickups and blazers had different floor humps. Mine wont work, and I could stretch it, but man would it be a PITA, so I am looking for a tranny hump.

Other than that though, I have a small ammount of grinding to do on the back side of it, and hopefully we can get a nice day here so I can get some primer and paint thrown on it.. Next up on my list.. THE ENGINE!

[4x4s4allie]

good deal! looks SO much better than the trashed condition we both saw it in in june ... *cringes*

also, fantastic to see you got the air compressor going!!! you get that little crinkled piece all straightened out alright and everything to get it working???

[MrBeast]

Originally Posted by 4x4s4allie

good deal! looks SO much better than the trashed condition we both saw it in in june ... *cringes*

also, fantastic to see you got the air compressor going!!! you get that little crinkled piece all straightened out alright and everything to get it working???

Nah, I took that piece of copper tubing and tossed it, then I went and got a piece of high temp stainless steel braided teflon hose. It works way way better. New belts, and a new pressure switch and we were off to the races!

Friday I am going to start working on the engine, and hopefully about the first the motor will be going in the truck.

When you going to get your build thread going?

[4x4s4allie]

SO on top of things, already did!!! lol

[screwballl]

so sad to see someone tear it up like that but at least you get a project and a beast out of the deal... wish I had even a fraction of the know how to do this stuff.

[MrBeast]

Originally Posted by screwballl

so sad to see someone tear it up like that but at least you get a project and a beast out of the deal... wish I had even a fraction of the know how to do this stuff.

Thanks, and really all it takes is common sense. I have been a welder for a long time, but I have never really done body work to this extent before. I messed a lot of things up and learned plenty of lessons doing it, had I to do it all over again, it would be that much better. Its how you learn ya know?

[Boog]

Nick, I have to tell ya. Looking at the pic in the first post I thought man, that's a great looking 89 Blazer and in my favorite colors too. I had 2 older Blazers but always wanted one like that. After you mentioned it needing an engine I got to thinking bout it and pulled up directions down there with intentions to see if I could buy it from ya. Over 700 miles and nearly a 12 hour drive. Judging from the outside pic I couldn't have dreamed it was trashed so bad. That guy was some LOSER! Racecar access my arse! He shouldn't be allowed to have a license to drive. Whew!
Well I can see you have the talent and tools to repair it right and you will have your daily driver. Meanwhile I'll still keep my eye out for an 89-91 model in 2 tone blue with blue interior with a 350 or diesel.

[MrBeast]

Originally Posted by Boog

Nick, I have to tell ya. Looking at the pic in the first post I thought man, that's a great looking 89 Blazer and in my favorite colors too. I had 2 older Blazers but always wanted one like that. After you mentioned it needing an engine I got to thinking bout it and pulled up directions down there with intentions to see if I could buy it from ya. Over 700 miles and nearly a 12 hour drive. Judging from the outside pic I couldn't have dreamed it was trashed so bad. That guy was some LOSER! Racecar access my arse! He shouldn't be allowed to have a license to drive. Whew!
Well I can see you have the talent and tools to repair it right and you will have your daily driver. Meanwhile I'll still keep my eye out for an 89-91 model in 2 tone blue with blue interior with a 350 or diesel.

Boog, thank you for your kind words, and just a thought to keep in mind, I will be swinging through your way on a road trip end of april, Might be able to show it off to you then.

[MrBeast]

Well I started on the motor today...





I got the accessory drive kit off, and the only casualty was the alternator/power steering bracket.



Luckily I have a spare, so no big deal, I just now have to find out what ever in the heck it was that I did with my balancer puller, and then I can get the pan off and have a look at the internals.

[MrBeast]

Well it is confirmed, the engine is a....

4 BOLT MAIN!!!





I took the wire wheel to it before I cracked it open, cleaned most of the junk off of it. It is looking way better already. I am just slightly worried that the rod bearings might be going, #1 is getting a little loose.

I have the crank out of the other engine and it is a new crank, but damn thing already has some rust on it So, after lunch, im going to start breaking some rods loose and see how they look.

[MrBeast]

One more thing I did find, the water pump was seized, I am wondering if this engine had an abrupt end, or if it was just from sitting a couple of months...

[MrBeast]

So I skipped lunch, I pulled the caps. And Houston, we have a problem.



Luckily, I have that other crank. So going to get to tear it down the rest of the way, Oh well, at least it will get new rings too this way.

Oh, and I showed a new bearing for reference.

I am going to wait a few hours before tearing into it all the way. I am seriously considering torqing them back down, closing this thing up, slapping some paint on it and stuffing it in the hole, but we will see. I know it will run as is, but it wont be "right"

[tvblazer78]

That sucks.. So are you just going to have the crank cleand up? Looks like you are getting it done..