Trazer Cap?

[Mutiny]

Has anyone else seen any pictures of blazers/jimmys with a half cap? Its a hard top - but it only covers the front two seats. When its on it makes it look like a short bed pickup? They're pretty interesting looking, and I kind of like the idea. I just saw a picture of one the other day and I didn't know if there was a company awhile back that made one? Or if they were custom hacked up hardtops?

Edit: Guess I just answered my own question:
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=363025

[vtblazer]

Still considered a blazer, just a blazer with a half top...not a trazer yet.

The half tops were a factory option too.

[Mutiny]

haha I knew it wasn't technically a trazer.. but thats the best I could use to describe it. I didn't realize they were a factory option either? Is there a company that makes just the bulkhead? Apparently sexyhalftop is going to start producing them too

[vtblazer]

Not sure on the bulkhead but that's the company who's making them now.

Was a thread not to long ago with a link to their e-bay sale listing one, not sure what it ended up selling for though.

[old man jimmy]

Sorry, but they never were a factory option. Aftermarket only.

[old man jimmy]

Originally Posted by Mutiny

haha I knew it wasn't technically a trazer.. but thats the best I could use to describe it. I didn't realize they were a factory option either? Is there a company that makes just the bulkhead? Apparently sexyhalftop is going to start producing them too

Poor guy probably didn't know what a can of worms he opened up with that one little sentence about factory option.

[jaros44sr]

Originally Posted by old man jimmy

Poor guy probably didn't know what a can of worms he opened up with that one little sentence about factory option.

So then, my 1/2 top is a dealer installed option or a period correct aftermarket part? It does have a MTC serial number. Could it be listed on the SPID

[old man jimmy]

The way I read this whole discussion is, the half top was an aftermarket part, that could be ordered with the truck, which would qualify for a dealer install. But as far as who installed it, I think only the guy who did it knows. It could have been put on years after the truck was built, by anybody. If your spid don't list any top at all, I would guess it was ordered without the top and put on at the dealer. Do you know if your radio antenna is original? That's one way you could tell if it was a special ordered truck or off the lot. They used to ship them to the dealers without a radio, and when someone bought it and wanted a radio, they put it in at the dealer, and used a telescoping antenna. If it was ordered with the radio, it was intalled at the factory with a one piece stainless antenna. Sorry 44 but I think it all boils down to just a guess.

[special-K]

They were offered in the Silver Book,so a factory authorized accessory offered through the dealership at time of factory order.It`s a fine line.The full top was an option on all but CSTs.

[vtblazer]

Originally Posted by old man jimmy

Sorry, but they never were a factory option. Aftermarket only.

Originally Posted by special-K

They were offered in the Silver Book,so a factory authorized accessory offered through the dealership at time of factory order.It`s a fine line.The full top was an option on all but CSTs.

Good info, thanks guys.

[old man jimmy]

my mistake K. Not fermillar with the silver book. Only Kelly blue book. But you could get the cst with or without the hardtop. cost $50.00 extra w/top for the carpets over rubber mats. This is a little crop from the blue book back in 71.

[special-K]

No need to apologize to me,my friend.Just spoutin`info...spreadin`the good word.

Like I said,it`s a fine line.Either one could be sorta right and sorta wrong.An example with pickups is:The sliding rear window was a factory option.all trucks can through with solid glass and an outside contractor installed the sliders on the factory lot before they were shipped.The stainless trimmed factory installed window gasket got tossed and a plain rubber one went in with the slider.That`s factory,yet no different than a dealer ordered/installed accessory from the Silver Book,IMO.I`d never argue over it,it`s just gettin`technical.this site is the place for that,right?If anyone wants to know way too much about these trucks,this is the place.We`re all learning here.
Here`s a picture:

[special-K]

Did ya like the picture?

[jaros44sr]

Does this half top now turn it into a El Camino? Or is this a seperate catagory unto itself

I would like to get ahold of those quik latch mechanisms

[special-K]

They`d be nice for the factory top,eh?

To anser your question,I think it would make it an El Blazero.

[old man jimmy]

yep, neat picture K. Back in the 70's I looked hi & low for one of those tops. In Nevada Blazers & Jimmy's were titled as "station wagons" And when they started smog testing in clark co. My engine is built and cammed so heavy, it was a pain in the A.. to get it through smog. But if it had a half top, it could be registered as a truck. Which was exempt from smog.

[jaros44sr]

Originally Posted by special-K

They`d be nice for the factory top,eh?

To anser your question,I think it would make it an El Blazero.

No, I want them for my 1/2 top...funny on the blazer name

[Arizonak5]

These are neat but what bugs me is when people weld in half tops??? Its a blazer for a reason, if you want a steel roof buy a shortbed pickup!!!!!!!!!!!! Grrrrr

[special-K]

I agree!

[Critter]

This is TOTALLY just my opinion, but when it comes to this whole "dealer option vs factory option" thing, I feel like if it wasn't installed on the assembly line then it isn't a factory option. Mainly because of quality reasons. I don't care what dealership it was or what certified mechanic installed something, I doubt any of them installed or altered with the precision of the assembly line. When was the last time you saw a mechanic run a repair through a "Quality Control Department"? Granted, things were a little more lax back in the late 60's - early 70's, but still. I have worked for a (name shall remain unsaid) OEM as an engineer and it's like a freaking laboratory in there, everything is spotless!

[old man jimmy]

I kinda go along with critter. When it come to "dealer installed" I was a mechanic at a dealership back in those days, and when somebody came in with a bunch of aftermarket parts. Lights, roll bars etc. They were told to take it to a specialty shop. If we didn't sell it in the parts dept. It didn't get installed by us. And as far as I know, thier was no such thing as a gm made roll bar. Of course that may have just been our shops policy, I don't know. But I can't see any shop doing it because of fit problems, and liability.

[special-K]

I agree with most of it.Only factory installed is factory installed.But,a factory installed sliding window was installed on the lot by a vendor.The reason the factory has quality control department is because it`s so huge and so many hands went into the assembly of one vehicle.That`s alot of links in the chain.When someone does the same thing and only that thing they can lose sight of the total picture,too.Not to mention the monotiny factor.Truck equipment businesses can be very high quality.They specialize in what they do and the equiptment they install is for serious commercial use.They have liability for the winches,plows,dump bodies,wrecker bodies,etc. that they install.The stuff is installed to make the owner money and take years of hard use.And,they have competition for doing business with area,and beyond,dealerships.If stuff comes back to the dealership too much,the dealer moves on to another shop.These are small businesses compared to auto manufacturers and know they need to maintain a high standard.There are many many truck equipment companies and only one GM.

[old man jimmy]

ok K, I believe ya. I don't know how we got into wreckers, dump trucks, and plows. LOL. That's kinda a new can of worms. It's just that I have a pet peeve with the ads I see all the time "dealer installed" this and that. I know it looks good on "for sale" ads. But is their even one person out their who can trully say, they know 100% that their roll bar (for instance) was dealer installed? And I don't mean po said this or that. I can't be the only person on this forum who still has the one they ordered new. By the way. My roll bar, tire rack etc. was Tom installed. (me)
By the way K. I'm just pulling your chain. No hard feelings what so ever.

[special-K]

Hey,this is all just healthy discussion here.Nothing I could get bent on.And I agree with what you`re saying anyway.The equipment I was referring to is the type of stuff found in the Silver Book,which is where that half top picture came from.I just used some non-blazer related items to give a clearer picture.A guy would sit down with their salesman at the dealer and could select non-factory special equipment that would be installed prior to delivery to the buyer and be included in the cost of the vehicle from day one.I agree with your "dealer installed" comment.I see threads all the time in the p/u forum where people are asking about their side tanks.Even our more knowledgable members will come on saying,"Those are the dealer installed tanks".I correct like a broken record and am prolly seen as some grump.Hey,info gained should be correct,right?Gotta keep history straight for the future.Blazers had versions of these,as well as behind the wheelhouse designs.Accessories are either factory or aftermarket,black & white.Aftermarket could be dealer installed,installed by any other shop,or the owner could do it himself.Those gas tanks were offered by many companies and could be ordered through catalogs or bought locally.
There were accessories available through the GM accessory program that you 'could' have the dealer install.But,I figure most are like us and bought them at the parts counter and installed themselves.Many of these accessories were exclusively offered through GM and some were the same item you could buy anywhere,like VentShades,that were just packaged in a GM box with a GM part number.
I stopped ordering up on N.O.S. when the GM Restoration Parts program began because I couldn`t know if the parts were repop packaged by GM or an authentic part.But,that`s another can`o`worms.The point is,"It is what it is and it ain`t what it ain`t",and people tend to muttle all this stuff up.

[raggedjim]

Well, it's not Blazer related, but when I worked at a Jeep dealership in the early 80's, part of my job was installing soft-tops on Jeeps. They were delivered to us with no top unless it came with a hardtop. We installed soft-tops on all that didn't have hardtops...

Most people will swear the soft top was factory installed, but I drilled too many holes in jeeps to agree...

Rg