Project Corkie

[72blaz]

So it begins.. Corkie..don't know why..but that's the first thing I thought of when I saw it.. It has the front Clip of a 70'ish C10..and the original color was Ochre....I plan on turning this into a Florida Permanent Topless Blazer. I got it from Grand Island, Nebraska from a pretty solid dude and it's already gotten the axles removed.. This is gonna be a frame off restoration keeping the Engine and Tranny.. I will move as fast as the money will take me and hopefully some good pictures and better advice as it goes..

[72blaz]

Apparently my buddy has already pulled both axles apart and looks like other than the Dana 44 both front and rear needs complete rebuilds....Any Suggestions on Rear/Front Lockers? and I plan on putting 32 1/2 BFG K2's on it and the current springs are garbage..to high..bent..etc...I think I'm gonna have Tampa Spring company make some for me and I guess I should just tell them I want it 2 inches higher than stock??? Cheaper Freight and I really want just a slight suspension lift instead of the 4 inch that I see alot..any help would be greatly appreciated...

[Wasted Income]

Cool. Following along.

[72blaz]

Breakdown is almost Complete.. Body will be heading to Body shop for some Panel repairs and Frame and Axles should be in Powder Coating by Saturday.

[72blaz]

Body is taken off and on Vacation at the Body Shop.... Not gonna start working on that until Middle of March... Frame is all the way down..Getting a few spots welded and then off to Powdercoating to meet the axles..hopefully will have back by next week.

[72blaz]

My Mechanic and buddy is pumped that the frame/axles are finished total rework and ready for 1st mock up at the body shop....still along way to go.

[72blaz]

Blazer getting rocker area completely redone!... inching closer..

[72blaz]

Replacing the bed panels.

[muffintop]

awesome start, what size lift is that?

[72blaz]

2.5 skyjacker.. it's riding really high right now with no engine..etc...

[72blaz]

Lots of Metal work going on...but coming along pretty smoothly...hoping for some color on it within 45 days...tranlated into blazer restoration speak...that really means 3 months....

[tjsblazer]

Suscribed. Nice work so far.

[72blaz]

Inching Closer..bad pics..I'll go and get pics of my own soon...but it's starting to resemble a truck again.. color should still be middle of July..

[72blaz]

side view..

[72blaz]

No Change.... just better pics....still looking at end of july..well.. if all goes well.. at least it will be nice and cool by the time I drive it......just don't want it to be hot...the next hot...

[72blaz]

My project has hit a major snag.... apparently my body shop guy didn't brace the body when he replaced the rocker boxes...(not sure how he would know less than I)...even though I asked him about doing this before hand.....now the body is canted...and although he said that it can be "Tweeked".. I didn't believe him...since it's been in body shop prison for almost 18 months...I grabbed it out of pure frustration..now..I have taken it to 3 different reputable restoration shops...all of which has said that either the hull needs to be replaced....or that it's gonna have to be completely torn apart and resquared/welded/rockerboxed....etc.....However.. this is not gonna stop me.. I'm determined to get this beast going again....so hopefully I'll have some better news to report soon.....I guess the best lesson is a bought one...and I damn sure paid for this lesson....

[stick72]

Glad you are sticking with it, I'm sure its frustrating but there are a lot of guys on this site who know these trucks pretty well. Your body seams around the doors and tailgate look pretty good in the pictures. I didn't know if canted means the body bolts don't line up with the frame or not. Did the body shop do the work with the body off the frame?

[hemi43]

Pictures might give us a better understanding of what's wrong.
Even if the body has a bad twist to it, it's amazing what a bit of heat and pressure will do.

[72blaz]

I don't have any pictures because it is at my mechanics place right now.. essentially what happened is that when he didn't brace door frame and when he cut out the rocker boxes on both sides..there was no support...he then welded everything in...so now everything is still off... I'm waiting on the last guy to get back to me.. He's apparently a past Detroit Ridler award winner...so I think he may be the best person to fix this.. He should be getting back to me today..

[jaros44sr]

wouldn't the shop be responsible for their blunder

[72blaz]

Well that's where it gets really interesting... I've been paying this guy for quite a while with no work being done...about 2 months ago he tells me he has sold his part of the business..so now he would be free to work on it faster...."front of the line" he said. Then 3 weeks later I show up..and it's sitting outside in the rain..surface rust everywhere..(items that I have bought brand new just laying in the back). I am furious and talk to the body guy...he says that he's moving to a new shop..later that day...2 weeks later I show up..it's still outside... I find out who owns the building..call the owner and basically told that this guy didn't even have a business license and he removed him as a tenant....etc..etc...so that's when I grab it..... I could look into suing him..but from what I can tell..there would really be nothing to gain...the bodyshop guy was a friends recommendation...who did a pretty decent job on his car..and he seemed legit for about a year....so..I'm just gonna suck it up...and find someone with credentials .

[mtully79]

That's a raw deal, it is worth looking into if you paid him a decent amount of money and he ruined parts through neglect? I hear you on wanting to just be done and move on but I would want to know my legal options.

[coggonobrien]

Where did you get your replacement bedsides and how did they fit?