Project Swagger

[matthew79]

Well, I'm not sure if I'm "qualified" to do a build thread, because I'm not actually the one working on my Blazer. I don't really have the time available to work on my Blazer and if I tried it would take years before it was done. Between work and three kids that doesn't leave much left as I'm sure a lot of you know. So instead I took my rig to someone who does this work for a living. He sends me pics and I take pics also when I go and check up on how the work is coming along so I can at least post those because I know we all love pics!

Ok, with that out of the way onto my project! I posted a pic of a Jimmy for sale awhile back and I absolutely loved it. So when I dropped off my Blazer I showed the guy a pic of that Jimmy and told him that was what I was wanting done to mine. Here is a couple pics of that Jimmy:





I know it isn't everyone's style, but I love it! I'm going with a different color though. I chose HOK tangelo. I was at a car show and there was a chevy truck painted tangelo and it looked amazing. It really stood out amongst the other classics. I also think I'll have the top painted body color. I'm not 100% sure on that though. Here is a pic of that tangelo chevy:



Ok, here are pics of my Blazer right after it was media blasted.






There are some rusty areas in the floorboard that seem to be focused in just the rear wheel well area. Somebody covered up the rust with fiberglass..





The blasting also opened up a 3x3 hole of rust in the tailgate right below the handle. I decided just to replace the tailgate with a new one. I also replaced the rear wheel wells and the fronts also. The doors on it were 72 truck doors that were cut to fit. I didn't like that so I got some new Blazer doors also. All the body parts are Goodmark so we'll see how they fit. The guy doing the work says he's never had a problem with Goodmarks..

That's pretty much how the Blazer is sitting at the moment. I think the motor is out now but I don't have pics of that yet. I have been busy getting new parts so here are some of those:

I picked up a 383 stroker.


Here is the motor when I received it. Along with the motor on the pallet is an aluminum radiator, hei distributor, breather, and a red Holley 770 street avenger.

The motor is spec'd at 475 hp and 490 tq. First thing I'm doing when this is done is getting it on the dyno and tuned. Here is a copy of the cam card.



Got some ceramic Hedman headers and flowmaster exhaust kit


Here is the Holley

Electric fans, electric water pump, and a Summit fuel system kit


Found a nice restored tach dash and center console


Here are the wheels that were on the Jimmy from the first pics. They are 22x11 ATX forged TRAX from American Racing. They don't make them anymore, but lucky for me I found a set. They need a good polishing though. My kids have been rolling them around. The tires are 37x13.50x22 Nitto Mudgrapplers and at the price of $500 a piece I'm leaving those for last.

Got a steering wheel from Billet Specialties. It's a 15.5" Chicayne model.
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Loosely positioned the wheel on the chrome column. Looks pretty good.

I don't have pics of my seats but they are exactly the same things that are in that Jimmy. They are a black and white houndstooth pattern. Heres a couple pics from the Jimmy

I think that's about it for now. I'm lucky enough to live in the same area near Tom (t korinek) so he's been helping me save a few bucks on parts. I'm headed out to the Goodguys show tomorrow to get a few interior parts from him.

[matthew79]

4300k hid kit with Hella e-code h4 housings. Bulbs have glare shields on them so I'm crossing my fingers I don't have any issues.

[hick]

Originally Posted by matthew79

4300k hid kit with Hella e-code h4 housings. Bulbs have glare shields on them so I'm crossing my fingers I don't have any issues.

Matthew,

Could you give me a little more info on these lights?

I have tried googling Hella and WME but I have not been able to find what you posted...

Do they make kits specially designed for these blazers (I'm acctually looking into them for a truck style but I think they are all the same)

Or is this a kit you have managed to build your self by knowing what you need?

Thank you,

Scott

[matthew79]

Originally Posted by hick

Matthew,

Could you give me a little more info on these lights?

I have tried googling Hella and WME but I have not been able to find what you posted...

Do they make kits specially designed for these blazers (I'm acctually looking into them for a truck style but I think they are all the same)

Or is this a kit you have managed to build your self by knowing what you need?

Thank you,

Scott

Here are the housings I got and here is the HID kit. There's an issue I've run into with the Hella housing because there are these three "tabs" that come out from the back of the bulb and they prevent the housings from fitting flush with the inner mounting ring. This thing:
So we're going to either have to cut those tabs off but that might break the housing or cut small slits in the rings so the tabs will fit through. I think that's the most logical solution. I guess these headlight housings weren't made with 40 year old trucks in mind!

If you want to run hids the "right" way you're supposed to put them in a projector housing but if you've ever seen what those look like for our era of trucks... If I'm blinding other drivers I'll just go back to stock because those projectors are hideous!

[matthew79]

I'm considering a color change so anybody who would like to give their .02 please do! I really like certain shades of green and found some nice ones. The first two are the Viper Snakeskin Green:



This other one I really like is a couple shades lighter and it's the House Of Kolor Limetime.

[drunkbus]

Originally Posted by matthew79

I'm considering a color change so anybody who would like to give their .02 please do! I really like certain shades of green and found some nice ones. The first two are the Viper Snakeskin Green:



This other one I really like is a couple shades lighter and it's the House Of Kolor Limetime.

I thought about painting mine this color of green from a Boyd Coddington build. It's called antifreeze green.

[Tw1nky72K5]

Originally Posted by matthew79

I'm considering a color change so anybody who would like to give their .02 please do! I really like certain shades of green and found some nice ones. The first two are the Viper Snakeskin Green:



This other one I really like is a couple shades lighter and it's the House Of Kolor Limetime.

heres something to give you an idea on lime green met

[matthew79]

I also want a personalized license plate. How about this one?

[swyfor5]

Wow, nice collection of new parts! Good luck with your build!

[Effeckt]

Looking forward to seeing this progress. Who cares if you aren't doing the work, still a valid build thread in my book. Who are you having do the work out of curiosity?

[my90k5]

DUDE!!!

Yeah right "for your girls" you can't fool us......Very nice. Looking for any updates on this one.

Good luck.

[FRENCHBLUE72]

Very nice collection of goodies you have... Blazer should look damn good when your done with it..

[Bentblazer]

I like the Tanglo also, was going to do it with a pearl white two tone on my chevelle build,good luck

[matthew79]

Originally Posted by swyfor5

Wow, nice collection of new parts! Good luck with your build!

Thanks, I appreciate it!

Originally Posted by Effeckt

Looking forward to seeing this progress. Who cares if you aren't doing the work, still a valid build thread in my book. Who are you having do the work out of curiosity?

Thanks! I'm not sure if anybody is going to "learn" anything from my thread. I'm just doing it for fun and it's neat to see the different steps of progress all the way to the end. I see you're in AZ like me. The guy's shop is near 18th st. and Washington. If you're interested in contacting him PM and I'll give you his #.

Originally Posted by my90k5

DUDE!!!

Yeah right "for your girls" you can't fool us......Very nice. Looking for any updates on this one.

Good luck.

Thanks, I plan to follow up on this until it's finished. Very annoying when someone bails on their thread right in the middle of a build!

Originally Posted by FRENCHBLUE72

Very nice collection of goodies you have... Blazer should look damn good when your done with it..

I hope so! If it comes out looking the way I see it in my head it should be pretty sharp. I don't want it to come out looking tacky or gaudy but more like a restomod.

Originally Posted by Bentblazer

I like the Tanglo also, was going to do it with a pearl white two tone on my chevelle build,good luck

Just saw some amazing camaros and chevelle's at the Goodguy's show yesterday. I'm already thinking ahead for another project...

While I was at the show yesterday I picked up a bunch of misc. parts. Nothing too exciting or worth mentioning just a lot of little trim pieces and weatherstripping type stuff. I did get a new a/c control assembly and some LED taillights. I also picked up some sound deadener. It's from secondskin and supposed to be some pretty good stuff.

[matthew79]

Got a few new pics...

[thor]

Did you recently purchase this Jimmy from By Design Auto Group in Burlington, WA? It looks exactly like a Jimmy they redid ~ 6 months ago. It also looks like the rear license plate is a WA one. Just curious! Beautiful Jimmy to begin with! Too bad they cut corners on body work though. Nice houndstooth interior! Should look awesome!

[matthew79]

Originally Posted by thor

Did you recently purchase this Jimmy from By Design Auto Group in Burlington, WA? It looks exactly like a Jimmy they redid ~ 6 months ago. It also looks like the rear license plate is a WA one. Just curious! Beautiful Jimmy to begin with! Too bad they cut corners on body work though. Nice houndstooth interior! Should look awesome!

No, I did not buy that Jimmy. That Jimmy from by design auto group is just my goal for what I want my Blazer to resemble. Oh and that crappy body work is what was found on my Blazer after the blasting. Those interior pics are from the Jimmy but I have the same houndstooth seats that will be in mine. I hope that makes sense! Thanks for the post!

[thor]

OIC. Cool. You picked a beauty to work towards. This makes more sense. I was originally confused as to why someone would buy a Jimmy like that and blast it. Ha, ha.

Good luck to ya!!!

[newspring]

spam

[thor]

Interesting side note. This weekend I saw the Jimmy from By Design Auto Group at a mexican restaurant near my house. Almost stopped but didn't want to bother anyone eating dinner. Later, my wife and I are going for a walk in our neighborhood when I hear a familiar rumble. It is the same Jimmy. I talked to the guy. He loves it, except for the huge wheels. Anywho, just a fun side story.

Good luck with the build!

[matthew79]

Originally Posted by thor

Interesting side note. This weekend I saw the Jimmy from By Design Auto Group at a mexican restaurant near my house. Almost stopped but didn't want to bother anyone eating dinner. Later, my wife and I are going for a walk in our neighborhood when I hear a familiar rumble. It is the same Jimmy. I talked to the guy. He loves it, except for the huge wheels. Anywho, just a fun side story.

Good luck with the build!

Ha, that's great how you met the owner! I've wondered who they were and how they liked the jimmy. That really concerns me though about what they said about the wheels. I thought they looked great with the 37" mud grapplers but maybe not so much in person. Oh well. I also have a set of rally wheels just in case..
Thanks for that neat story!!

[thor]

IIRC, the wheels they have are 22's. Prolly too big to get a decent ride. I think 17's would be great, maybe even 18's, but only with a larger tire. I heard a good rule of thumb - Never get wheels larger than half of the tire height. So, run some 35-37's with a 17 in. wheel, or 40's with those 20 in. wheels. Or 44's with the 22's, or....

[matthew79]

Originally Posted by thor

IIRC, the wheels they have are 22's. Prolly too big to get a decent ride. I think 17's would be great, maybe even 18's, but only with a larger tire. I heard a good rule of thumb - Never get wheels larger than half of the tire height. So, run some 35-37's with a 17 in. wheel, or 40's with those 20 in. wheels. Or 44's with the 22's, or....

Well how did the wheels look to you in person? I really like them in the pics. I'm not too concerned with ride harshness I just don't want to look ghetto..
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[matthew79]

Got some more stuff in:

For the audio we're going to have some interior rear side panels made and have the speakers installed in the panels like a lot of you guys have done. For the head unit I went with the retrosound model one. I found an uncut dash to put in and this seemed like the best choice for what I'm looking for in a radio.


I have a set of the kickpanels you can get from LMC for up front with some pioneer 6.5". For the rear panels we are doing a set of components by the passenger area and a shallow sub for the rear. The amp is an infinity 5 channel that looks great visually but its going to be hidden behind the panels. I like my audio stuff clean and discreet!
Here's the components. They're pioneer ts-d1720c.

Now for the sub I was going to go with the jl audio 13tw5 until I came across this pioneer that had very similar specs for 1/3 the price. User reviews on it were just about perfect to boot. Besides I doubt I personally would be able to hear much difference to justify the extra $$. This sub is solid and heavy! I'd give it a 10 on build quality so I hope it performs just as well. It's the pioneer ts-sw3001s4 12". Goes down to 20hz just like the jl audio.


Here is the amp.

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Got an Edge converter set up with a 2400 stall. Came with a shirt too!

And lastly a March serpentine kit.

I need to get the axles regeared for the 37" tires. The guy working on the blazer is adamant I go with 4.56 but I'm leaning towards 5.13. I have OD but he says the 5.13 gears will make the rpm's way too high on the highways. If anybody has advice or a suggestion about what gears to go with please tell me!! This thing is most definitely a street queen/mall crawler but I want the 383 to run like a raped ape off the line! I need to make the right decision on this from the beginning as I'm not paying twice to change gears.

[thor]

Nice parts! That stereo should be rockin. As for gears, you could compromise with your gear guy and run 4.88's.

Tranny gear x Diff gear x MPH x 336 / Tire diameter = RPM's.

Example: 0.70 overdrive in tranny x 4.88's in diffs x 70 MPH x 336 (it's a constant in the formula) / 37" tires = 2171 RPM's.

So, now you can enter your variables and have fun calculating and dialing in the numbers till you are happy.