72 2wd Blazer....Out of the grave.

[Thelast 72k5]

Hello all, im new to the board but ive been lurking for months and tryin to learn a bit and see if ole rusty is even fixable.. I have decided he is! Thanks to you guys for having a site with this much info and tech in one place....

Here is a bit of history on the old Blazer, dad bought this thing somewhere around Paris TN in 1981 for $1500 and drove it daily till 1985ish. then it was parked as he bought a new s-10 that year "you can see he still owns it also in the pics" and then started the sitting phase....... It sat from 85 till 93 in one spot and i decided i would drag it out and do a little to it. Then it got a freshened up motor, a new set of rockers and just some cleanup in the form of rattlecan primer. Well, i never drove it any after that so it went back to sittin as i got into hotrods and other stuff. I later robbed the factory 4bolt 350 out of it for my s-10 and it still sat..... waiting..... rusting..... till last weekend when we pulled it out so i could get into the pass side and take a look. Good news is its not any worse than it was 18 years ago when i did the rockers and spraybomb on it. Long story short This " Ole Junky Blazer" has been in the family for 31 YEARS........ I think its time. The plans are still a bit sketchy but its going to be a frame off with all the sheetmetal to make it rite with a 6.0 4l60 transplant. It will be a driver that i trust to haul the wife and kids to anywhere we wish to go. Here is what im starting with. I think there is enough here to work with......

[Thelast 72k5]

Some rust pics.....

[Thelast 72k5]

And more rust....

[Thelast 72k5]

Ever seen a dirtdauber condo?

[jamie72]

looks like a good start to me.. good luck!

[Thelast 72k5]

Thanks jamie72, I have found some of the sheet metal it needs such as both rocker boxes, rockers and some other panels. Does anyone make a blazer specific front floor pan in one peice? The center is fairly solid so is the floor from the cowl seam up. The rear 4-5 inches of the bed floor is soft but all the rest seems to be workable. The rocker boxes and the fron floor braces are trash it just has a piece of sheet metal welded in behind the drivers rocker. I think there is alot of work to do on this old thing but it will be worth it.

[Thelast 72k5]

Have a couple ???'s guys. I there anything you cant buy on one of these that i need to check out before i get into this thing? The windshield frame is solid and the bed floor is also less a couple inches on the rear. Those are really the only parts that i cant find between most of the vendors on here and LMC. Who has the best quality sheet metal as i know there are differnt grades of repop parts and i prefer to get good stuff the first time around. The gm parts are scarce around here in TN as the rust has got to most of them. Any direction from you guys is a plus for me...thanks.

[flashed]

Great project you have there ,I want it badly or one like it someday. If you are willing to travel to Ga you can get your sheetmetal from AMD (Auto Metal Direct ) and I know a guy that can get you a good price there as he is one of their dealers .PM me if you want his number .

[Thelast 72k5]

Thanks flashed, Ill be sure to check with them. Anyone in TN deal in parts for our blazers? Also i read about a complete blazerfront floor and have yet to find the part # for it, anyone know? I will be going to get it from dads tomorrow and will start the cleanup and cleanout on it..... Im kinda exited.

[Thelast 72k5]

Well made it down to dads today and got all the parts and all the junk cleaned out of it so i could get loaded up.... Its home with me now, think i have my hands full???

[VA72C10]

Looks fairly solid overall. Love the plans for it!

And on the parts, you can find most anything aftermarket....and if there's a small section you can't find... you can sign up as a subscriber and you can place a wtb ad and find some rust free patches from out west...

[hgs_notes]

I don't think there is a blazer specific floor pan available. I think people have been using the truck floor pan and modifying the rear part to work on a blazer. You could do yours with just the normal patches though based on what I see in the pics.

I'm pretty sure there is a parts vendor in TN, I can picture his truck in my head but can't remember the name right now. On the front fenders, I haven't seen a good reproduction fender yet. If you need fenders you are better off fixing what you have.

Good luck on the project. It's definitely fixable.

[Thelast 72k5]

I have been looking at the pans for the reason that there is a soft spot under the rear of the pass seat but your right i may get away with some patches only instead of the complete pan, ill just have to weigh the cost and time of several patches v/s a complete pan. Both fenders are solid less the front of the pas. fender right behind the bumper is crushed but i did find a repair piece for it. I was looking at the aftermarket doors and cant decide to "A" buy a complete repo door. or "B" put a lower inner door bottom patch and a new skin on my gm doors as they are solid all but the corners.

My next area is the rocker boxes, the pass side is there but rough and the deivers side is gone! I know they make these in repos but has anyone here done something else in that area such as braces or tubing to tie it all together " the rockers, floor, cowl, and bed floor" and delete the box as all it is is a rust trap"

Just alot of options to look at on these things as far as parts go and any imput will be of great help..... thanks.

[PHAT TONY]

Look up 56Cameo's Blazer thread(projects/builds), he's stitched more together on his than most anyone else I'm sure. Lot's of stuff for you to see there!

[Thelast 72k5]

Originally Posted by PHAT TONY

Look up 56Cameo's Blazer thread(projects/builds), he's stitched more together on his than most anyone else I'm sure. Lot's of stuff for you to see there!

I will for sure check his build out, Ive been on here about 2-3 hrs a nite just looking thru all the projects and tech info there is lots to learn. Ive been pretty busy on other things so i havent got to tinker with the blazer alot, really more than anything ive been getting a plan together. Going to try to remove the top this afternoon as the bolts for it have been soaked in wd-40 so maybe they will come out, then get the seats and console out of it. maybe ill get some of that done today if i can get some top removal help.

As far as the plan goes i have found a set of 454 SS wheels that i may pick up to run on it for a while but for the most part it is going back to a stockish blazer, list of mods i want as far as the body goes are no side moldings but i do want the tailgate molding between the tailight bezels, shave the filler neck and replace it with a door, factory 72 grille and bumper, original cst sport mirrors, and that is about it for the body less the new sheet metal it has to have. As far as the chassis goes it will just have a total rebuild pretty much everything front to rear with a disk swap on the rear, swaybar front and rear with drop spindels/springs for a good stance on the 275-60-15's.

I havent even made up my mind on the int. but it will be updated in some form. The biggest change will be in the drivetrain as i will be dooing some type of LS in a 5.3 or a 6.0 but it will depend on funds at the time i get to the motor i really think im going to hold out for the 6.0/4l80 swap.

My end goal is a super dependable nice daily driver that has some show quality to it but not just over the top, just a working man with kids truck.

Here is the last family blazer/hotrod that the 72 is going to replace, this one was a 5.3/4l60 swapped truck that i built. REALLY thinking about this color on the 72, its called space blue met. I think it will look good with the few chrome parts i plan to put on the blazer and the int. will be a tan/doeskin color of some type... Think it will all work together?

[Thelast 72k5]

Very small update. I had a couple hours to do some rust hunting and it was easy to find! I removed the seats, console and the rest of the mats that were there. The rear pan is fairly solid except above the two rear crossmembers where the body mounts are, for the most part the rust is in the wheel tubs and not the floor around them.

I do have one concern in my find that has me a bit nervous and its that i think the bed area has "relaxed" from the cowl due to the rocker boxes beeing rotted out. Are there any measurements from the cowl to the tub/bedside area to go by? Here are some pics of my findings the first shows the 1/2 gap in the door bedside. I think im just going to seperate the bed from the cowl and front floor to aid in the rust removal and i think the spotwelds in the floor pan add the rockers are the only thing holding it together as i said the boxes are gone.

[Thelast 72k5]

Also found this bit of ugly...

[1956cameo]

What a great looking project! I wish mine was half that nice when I started on it. Good luck with the build.

[Thelast 72k5]

Originally Posted by 1956cameo

What a great looking project! I wish mine was half that nice when I started on it. Good luck with the build.

Man, I just finished reading thru all of your build thread and all i can say is WOW........ Thats alot of rust! Mine is as bad as far as the rocker/ front floor area go and i did find some rot in the pass side cowl but it looks to be a better start than some ive seen. I do plan on deleting the vents in the kick panel as someone stated in your thread, i will have this blazer for a while so im just going to get rid of that problem area and make a larger drain in the cowl for insurance.

Im thinking the best plan of atack is to seperate the bed from the front floor area to aid in the rust removal, as i said the spotwelds on the floor and the outer rockers are all that are holding it together now! I think it has moved as the door gaps are wide at the top and close at the bottom. Are there any measurments to check such as a hingebolt on the cowl to somewhere on the rear. Any help in this area would be great. thanks.........

[1956cameo]

Thelast 72k5, The funny part is I got rid of another blazer because I wanted one that would be an "easy" fix up. I am not sure what you would need to do to properly measure the door jamb area, hopefully someone with more knowledge than me can answer this.

[Thelast 72k5]

I kinda want to find something to go on before i just cut it in half,but then again if its aready moved it may not matter as much. I think im just going to line the top up and bolt it then use a jack at the rear with the body mounts loose and see if i can get it back true and take some good measurments.

[PHAT TONY]

Try pushing the firewall/cowl back with the doors on to make sure alignment is possible; straight gap down the door and along the rocker; if not enough rocker left then run a straight edge along the lower bodyline for reference. If you're chopping it in half how it fits now is of no real worry. Have you read through "I've decided on a build "theme"" yet? They chopped it in half there...

[Kurt L]

theres a shop on lantana road in crossville that has any parts that you need. can't recall then name rite now but when i lived in crossville i shopped there all the time for parts for my 70 truck i had.if you ever get over there be prepared to pick your chin up off the floor for his shop is loaded with restored trucks and a great parts store. i use to go there some times just to hang out and drool over some of his restored vechiles.

[1972trucks]

its the truck shop in crossville his name is Jerry Brown and number is 931-484-7539. Hes a very good guy and has tons of nos parts and can get you anything you want. I drive up there from Alabama everytime we need something

[Bentblazer]

I do have one concern in my find that has me a bit nervous and its that i think the bed area has "relaxed" from the cowl due to the rocker boxes beeing rotted out. Are there any measurements from the cowl to the tub/bedside area to go by? Here are some pics of my findings the first shows the 1/2 gap in the door bedside. I think im just going to seperate the bed from the cowl and front floor to aid in the rust removal and i think the spotwelds in the floor pan add the rockers are the only thing holding it together as i said the boxes are gone.

This may help a little, the bottom measurement was incorrect so I erased it. Member BigJ had the correct one but I was unable to find it, you may try to contact him, good luck