1973 4wd to 2wd K5 Blazer Build

[pbeguy]

I have always wanted to build a Square Body Blazer. I have built a number of trucks, but never built one I could not part with. This will be my journey in the world of Square Bodies. I am old school and tend to believe I can do it all myself. My last build was a bagged 59 Apache. I have found the best way to start is just jump in head first and figure it out. So here goes...

[pbeguy]

For this build I found a 1973 K5 4wd to start. It is in pretty good shape considering it was sitting in a field outside of Houston. I made a deal ($1200) and dragged it home. It has a 350/350 and is lifted 6 inches. First I had to figure out how to convert it to 2wd. I have seen others swap components and fight a good fight, but my option was to to find a 2wd donor and swap parts till I get it how I need it.

[dragonball98312]

Hell yeah

[pbeguy]

Next, I had to find a donor with what I needed. I searched and found a 75 locally and dragged it home.

The good: It had a top, and decent interior, a lot of parts I needed and it was 2 wheel drive.

The bad: The body was mostly junk.

[pbeguy]

First things first, teardown.

[pbeguy]

Over a weekend, I got the body lifted up and dragged the frame out and off the trailer. I have limited room so that is the only way I could do it.
It was a real pain in the but I got it done. It is not the easiest or safest way but I took my time and worked as safe as I could.

[pbeguy]

The next day I went online and ordered everything to fix the front.
2.5 Spindles and 2" drop springs
Upper and lower ball joints
Upper and Lower Urethane Control Arm Bushings
Rotors, Calipers, Bearings, Seals, Brake lines, Inner and Outer Tie Rods

I cut the humps off the LCA's, pressed the new bushings in and put it all back on.

I found a set of 7" and 8" rally's for 75 bucks locally, cleaned them up, painted them and put some tires on them.

[pbeguy]

I sorted all the 2wd parts and labeled them for reference. I set the top on the 4wd and dragged the 2wd frame home.

On the 2wd body, I saved the rear floor in one piece. It is in fantastic shape and I plan to swap it also.
The factory low back buckets and rear bench can be recovered, and will be nice.
I saved the low rise tranny hump, the roll bar ( might use ), steering column, wiring and all the A/C stuff.
All that is left is the rough doors and the windshield frame which I am going to trade or sell for stuff I need.

I also found a 81 glass top about an hour north of me with nice sliding side glasses for 50 bucks. I removed the glass and
traded the shell to a guy for a 2wd transmission cross member for the frame

[pbeguy]

Today is back brakes day. New everything except parking brake cables. Been awhile since the brakes had been serviced last.

I also put the new idler arm on. That can in front of the frame is a molasses soak for rusty parts. It works great at 1 part Molasses to 5 parts water.

I am putting big tires (30x9.5x15 and 31x10.50x15) on since they are the ones I used on my 59 and I could swap them with the 22's that were on it sometimes.

[Crcrft78]

I'm curious which way are you going with this. Will it be a 73 4x4 on a 2wd frame? Or a 73 body used to save a 75 2wd?

[pbeguy]

Originally Posted by Crcrft78

I'm curious which way are you going with this. Will it be a 73 4x4 on a 2wd frame? Or a 73 body used to save a 75 2wd?

I have a title to the 73 so I will go that way. It will be a 73 4wd with modifications. I may keep the motor to put back in it.

[pbeguy]

Got the rear brakes buttoned up. Sanding and smoothing the frame for paint. Not the kind of build that requires powder-coating. Ordered some brackets to flip the rear axle. I am going to cut off the old perches and weld some on the bottom because I think it looks better. Figured out I have a 2.73 gear in the rear-end which would allow me to run a TH/400. ( I have a good one in my storage) Since it is gonna be a cruiser the 700r4 overdrive might be useless.
Boring stuff that does not warrant pics.

[pbeguy]

Going to try something different. I am swapping the rear leaf springs on the Blazer. I have a pair of leafs that came off an extended cab S-10. They are within 1/4" eye to eye but are so much nicer. I hope they will smooth out the ride also. They have anti squeak pads and newer bushings than the old crusty ones. I am cutting off the old perches as soon as I get the pinion angle set.

[pbeguy]

I opened up the tank to take a look and was surprised at how great it looked. I went ahead and scuffed the bottom down and put some paint and undercoating on it. I will flip it and do the top tomorrow. I started laying out the pattern for a bolt-on notch that I will fab up this weekend. My brother has a steel fab shop so I will weld it up there.

[pbeguy]

Spent the morning pulling the 4WD frame out from under the body. Couple of tense moments but it all worked out. Any body need a lifted K5 frame for 300??

[pbeguy]

Got my notch plates cut and ready to fab. I am going to bolt and weld them on.

[nobox351y]

Your gumption is admirable. 2wd k5 is on my list of vehicles to own. This is headed toward being really nice.

[pbeguy]

This is my first real Square Body build. I have been mainly an Apache guy. This one is going to more for comfort and fun. I may or may not bag it in the future. Here are some before and afters of my last few builds.

[808_67C10]

Love that Apache Fleetside!!! Damn!

[pbeguy]

Put a little time in today painting parts of the front suspension. I am using spray cans, but I also bake the small parts in a toaster oven for 20 minutes to cure them.
My favorite tool from Harbor Freight is the needle scaler. It will take off years of crud with ease. It is less than 20 bucks. The cross-member had 1/2" of heavy dirt on it.

[Dads79GMC]

Man, it's looking outstanding! Great work. Mike

[pbeguy]

Got the front suspension wrapped up. I checked every nut and bolt before installing new cotter pins. It is very hard to work on suspension without the weight of the motor to help cycle the control arms. While I had everything off, I mocked up a front bag set up for later. May or may not install it at some point.
Over the next week I am going to clean up and re-install the hard lines for brake and fuel. The next big project will be the motor before I put the body on.

[pbeguy]

Getting a little bit done on the donor frame. It is ready to sell.
Got the 350 out. It will get a XE268 cam and Vortec heads soon.
Trying to decide on a transmission. I have a good 700r4, a NV3500, a TH400 and a TH350 laying around. I am leaning towards the NV3500 just because I have not had a standard in quite some time.

[pbeguy]

I know it is more work than it is worth but I cleaned up all the hard lines that run down the frame. I used a surface conditioning disc and patiently did each one. They cleaned up nice considering how cruddy they were. I would rather use the factory lines than bend or buy new ones. Once cleaned, I sprayed them with clear to seal them.

I did finally get rid of the 4WD frame, and moved the rebuilt 2WD frame to the shop to work on mating them up.

[notsolo]

Looking good, big time savings having a 2wd frame to work with, that will save you a month of fab ing frame perches etc. I did the same, reused brake lines, they polished up nice. I did a 5.7 Tbi 4L60 with 273 gears it's a nice cruzer.