Insufficient Funds - '70 4x4

[kodyb87]

Since this is my first post I guess I should give a short intro. I'm 24 years old, wifed up, the proud owner of twin 1 year old girls, I scrape a living as a Assistant Project Manager for a commercial construction company, and we live just outside of Panama City, FL. I've been lurking around the board for a while just reading and soaking up what all you guys have to say. The wife and I decided that I needed to find a bigger truck for hauling the crib midgets around. After owning my '88 Jimmy I naturally went back to the Blazers.

I looked around for a month or two before I remembered the one that sat out back at the body shop where I used to sweep floors and run a sanding block. I had an 80's model in mind but the '72 the guy had sitting in the yard was even better. After a few phone calls to hunt down the owner, I went to take a look. The '72 turned out to be a '70 and now I had to have it.

I talked to my buddy that owns the body shop and he told me that he had just done over $2,000 worth of metal work on the truck and that the owner wanted $3,500 and not a penny less. He had replaced or patched all of the floor and most of the rust on the exterior. He told me the motor is out of a 1980 Corvette and that everything works and runs. I took my income tax return to the guys house and now I'm the proud owner of a 1970 Chevy Blazer.













Now for the problem spots that still need to be addressed and the fixes that need to be finished. A lot of this rust is just flash over from the replacement metal that wasn't sprayed. The floors and rockers are rock solid. The rest is in the pics. If you guys spot anything that I don't, please speak up. I am pretty new at this body style, especially a project this in depth, so I'll need plenty of eyes and wisdom.






















Plans for this one are pretty simple. Nothing super flashy, just a nice old truck. This will be my daily driver and the family beach Blazer. I drive about 25 miles one way to work every day so I've got some decisions to make about the gas mileage. I had planned on just getting it on the road and working on it while I drove it, but now that I've gone through it a little more, I think it might be better to pull as much apart as I can without removing the tub. I just don't have the tools or cash to do a frame off restoration, so I'll do as much as I can in the backyard.

Exterior:
Going back with the stock blue, but I'll probably do a light tan above the body line and on the top. 4" lift and 35x12.50's on the current wheels. I'll probably go black with the wheels. Going to shave the side markers and a lot of the trim and badges. I was thinking of going with a cowl induction hood but the stock one is in perfect condition so I'll probably stick with it. The front bumper is pretty banged up so that will be replaced. I would like to add a hidden winch behind the stock bumper eventually.

Interior:
I doubt I'll keep the stock seats just because I don't know how practical they will be trying to get my girls in and out of the back seat. Hopefully somebody can chime in and let me know how well the original setup works with car seats and little ones. Eventually I'll have to add A/C since we live in Florida. Going to do the interior black, blue and tan, just haven't decided exactly how to mix and match yet. Carpet in the front passenger area and bedliner in the back. I have some ideas for adding a mild sound system and some cargo lights into the rear panels.

Any input or ideas is more than welcome. This is probably going to be a slow one, but I'll keep it updated as much as possible.

[71swb4x4]

That windshield rust and cowl rust are not good. My guess is the guy that owned it got tired of throwing money at the body shop and finally pulled the plug. You have some work to do. I would buy a welder and start practicing. Some of the previous metal work is OK but some of it is pretty bad. All-in-all I think you can turn it into a good truck, it is fairly solid, but you should do the metal work right or you will find yourself pulling it apart again later.

Edit: check this thread out, this guy has some great photos later on in the thread that will show you how to deal with some of the remaining rust that you have: http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=242701

[kodyb87]

Thanks for the link. I was really disappointed in the exterior metal work. I have a different guy that is extremely good that is going to help me fix all of the "fixes." The windshield and cowl scared me the most, but hopefully we can get it all straightened out. I appreciate the honesty!

[71swb4x4]

People have started with much worse rust than that, you will get it put back together.

PS - Normally when a person posts about a new Blazer we have to use the but not in this case!! Nice pictures

[low'n slow]

Welcome. Yes, there are projects with more rust than you have, but the windshield rust scares me. Good luck with it. Hopefully you can find someone with a replacement frame.

[kodyb87]

We started on the metal work this weekend and got a few of the spots cleaned up and in epoxy primer. Right now I'm just trying to get it torn apart and play damage control as I go. The original plan was to just fix it as I drove it but the more I get into it, the more I think it's coming off the frame.

[blue70k5]

What a coincidence! I am also 24, and have a 1970 Blazer with the exact same color scheme (and unfortunately my windshield frame is also trash...). I've been using it as a daily driver for about 3 months since my Ford Escape went out of commission but I've owned it for about 3 1/2 years now. Driving it while you fix it can be very frustrating but I think everyone here can agree that it's well worth the hassle! Good luck man!

[kodyb87]

I have a feeling I'll have mine for about that long before I can use it as a daily driver! Luckily I still have my Tacoma to get me around, but I'm ready to put some time into the Blazer. I'm going back to EMT/Paramedic school in the fall, so it may be a while before I can really dive into it. Thanks for the luck, and hopefully I'll have some tear down updates this weekend!

[threeonthetree]

Keeping my eye on this one.