78 K5 2WD Blazer Laid Out

[SSK]

hello all! I am new to being a member on this forum but have browsed it for many years. I have always loved the 87 and old GM trucks and SUV's. the lower the better has always been my way and that is exactly where this project will be headed! recently picked up this 78 K5 blazer 2WD for a very good price and I plan to bag and body drop it, put a nice, fresh 350 in with a healthy cam and good sounding exhaust, and drag this thing till the cows come home! lol. hope u all enjoy this build as much as I do. ill be posting progress pics once a week. first goal is running, driving, and laid in time to go to Midwest Drag Fest!

Bringing it to the shop to start the build. I had already removed the fragile parts so they would not get damaged. lol




Removing the body








Shot from upstairs grabbing more beers lol


Getting my freshly built frame jig all lined up under the frame




Close friend, Dan, finishing up the rear end securing jig


And she's set on the frame jig!


Body on the temporary body dolly I built


Topper and other random parts


my custom made plumb drop for making sure the front crossmember is centered on the frame jig lol

[PAPABEAR]

Sweet build! Looks like a good solid start. Subscribed

[DrppdBlazr]

Sweet another blazer build

[motornut]

Cool looks nice ,good start

[SSK]

well I ended up skipping a weekend of working on this due to other things going on lol. but this last weekend I got quite a bit done. my bags and four link came in and my metal for the new frame. here's some new pics. she's looking more and more like a frame again lol. enjoy!























a lot of learning process here. more than I imagined at first. this is my first body drop ive ever done. before this I bagged an 86 caprice and that was my first bagged project ever lol. lovin this stuff though! cant wait to see finished product. hopefully my next update will include the rear four link, rear bags, and starting on the front bag setup.

[Guilty By Design]

Man your gonna have to hustle, dragfest is creeping up fast.

[SSK]

alright folks just a small update. been busy helping other friends with their projects lately. have had time to get a little bit of work done, but hopefully this week I can make some major progress. I don't think ill be able to drive it to drag fest as things look right now, but I may be able to trailer my finished rolling chassis just for fun lol. here's some pics!

got the rear bag plates mounted and support bars in




got the front inside gussets secured. I know the angles don't match but I wanted to save a little time by using the same one as the rear.


did some cosmetic work on the front stub.


overall pic so far. sorry its blurry. ill get a cleaner pic by weeks end lol


also made this bag jig from a junk dominator a friend had. this will come in handy for the front bag mounts so I know I have plenty of clearance.




also got my fender emblems in! these will be a nice touch once I restore them and color match the insides of the letters to my final exterior paint

[SSK]

hey all! finally have time for another update. things are moving along well now. the rear suspension setup is very time consuming lol. but im down to just the rear shocks, then finish welding everything up. hopefully gonna be setting the body back on in the next week or so. really looking forward to that! lol. here's some pics!

got the passenger side parallel bars secured. for the record these digital angle finders are awesome! would recommend using them in any build like this.


during the driver side suspension setup


drivers side all secured!


built the panhard bar from scratch. turned out pretty well!


look at those sexy bends


figuring out where to mount the shocks. hopefully have that done in the next couple evenings


picked these horns up at a local auction over the weekend. just messin around here with them mounted on the front of my frame :P

[rip2174]

Looks really awesome. I'd never take on this type of fab work till I upgraded my welder and bought a plasma cutter. But had a few questions.

What is that front bracket for the 4 link going to do to your rear interior seats?
Not real familiar with blazers.

How does inboard bagged trucks differ from outboard?

Just doing my 1st bagged truck and curious how it effects handling.

[SSK]

Thanks man! Outboard bags would give a bit better cornering and less body roll but the main reasons I mounted mine over axle and inboard is because of space. They just work the simplest where they are.

As for the four link mounts, I did some measuring and it's really not going to effect my final plans with the floor.

[rip2174]

Awesome. Looking forward to your progress.

[SSK]

picked up some much needed parts the other night. since the start of this build I have had many ideas run through my head on how I want the final appearance to be. got very lucky and one guy had all the parts I needed and was very reasonable on prices.

got a good hood that not folded like the mine is lol. both wing vent assemblies since mine are broken. 2 full sets of body trim for the two-tone paint. the trim sets are from regular cab long bed trucks so I will have to make them fit. good chrome front bumper with the bumper guards. idk why I just think those guards look sick on a laid out square body.


also picked up this period correct billet style grill. the guy said if I took it off I could just have it lol. I know they aren't anything special but I like seeing custom built vehicles with period correct custom parts. its just a lot kewler to me than buy new off ebay lol.


and finally I snagged these door lock topers. I thought the wood was a nice touch and with a little sanding and staining, these will look really nice. my father has a custom wood steering wheel from when he was younger that he is passing on to me and will be in this when its completed


picked all this stuff up for $225. I thought that was a very fair price, especially since it was like a one stop shop for everything I needed lol.

[maxxxy]

Looks like a great start!

[motornut]

some nice pickens there

[SSK]

Thanks for the positive comments guys! This weekend was quite the exciting weekend for me! Got the rear suspension all fabbed up and bags in and tested! So pumped lol. Here's some updated pics. Enjoy

Drilling lower shock mounts


cutting out lower shock mounts


grinding them all to match


welding them suckers on!


Finally a full mach-up of the rear suspension


At long last the frame is cut from the table to begin finish welding and final assembly




the mounts for everything look pretty wicked on the rear end lol


And now final fit and test of the rear suspension setup. All works great!




now just gotta do the front, which should be much easier, them plumb it and start fitting the engine and trans. Here's a pic of what the shop looked like this weekend. My buddy is welding up his front bumper for his demo car, S10 is bagged and v8 swapped, civic SI is bagged lol

[maxxxy]

Im sure you've thought it all through and have calculated everything needed to feel safe, but I thought I might voice my slight concern, which hopefully you already have an answer to. haha The front mount of the 4 link appears that it will see a lot of rotational force on the top, about the welded point at the bottom. what is your plan for tying the top of that member into the rest of the frame? Otherwise awesome build so far!

[SSK]

Oh yes I know lol. Just haven't added the brace yet. I'll run a bar from the top/inside of the mounts straight back to the frame. Also still need to bend the tops of the mounts down and weld them up so they look nicer.

[maxxxy]

Oh nice I figured as much. Keep up the good work!

[made2drag]

Updates????

[PAPABEAR]

Doubt it, it's been over a year since he has been online here....