I didnt want another project but...

[DetroitDan]

I've been searching for a decent K5 style Blazer/Jimmy for weeks, everything I have found is either not worth fixing, too much money, or sold before I can get there. And there are not many to choose from in New England. In fact I only found two really nice ones, can't blame them for asking a lot of money. Worst part of the search was all the people not returning calls and emails about Blazers they listed for sale.
Actually got frustrated with my search and started looking at Wranglers, bought a lifted TJ, had buyers remorse and sold it 3 days later for what I paid. Sat on Craigslist until another Blazer popped up and I jumped on it. It's a 91, runs and drives great but needs a bunch of work. Has been repainted, it's a nice shiny black, but one rear quarter has a bite taken out of it that will need pretty serious body work, going to farm that out. Exhaust and shocks, little electrical stuff. But I have a question I couldnt find the answer to with a search. Every Blazer I looked at needed repair to the floors and side wall right behind the front seats, it's kind of a floor/dropoff thing. Every one told me LMC has the repair parts, but I cant find or identify them. Looked on a few different websites that sell rust repair panels, couldn't find it. Thought it might help if I knew what it was called. Be nice to find the correct part to install, otherwise I'll be cutting some sheetmetal with tin snips and fitting it in there by hand.
Got to get the exhaust done first, it's got Flowmasters (yuck) with the tailpipes busted off, it's louder than my bigblock with glasspacks. Too loud to drive. And all four shocks are junk for some reason. Saddest thing is the tires-35/12.50/15 BFG Mud Terrains with nearly full tread, sidewalls are all cracked to the point of being unsafe.
So like I said, I really didn't want another project, but driving the 454 was killing me on gas, and I decided that instead of spending all my money on a Blazer, I'd spend some of it on the truck and the rest on re-doing it. I think I've got a pretty nice starting point, but it does have some rot.
I'm going to need a lot of advice from the Blazer experts on here!

[DetroitDan]

couple pics I swiped off the craigslist ad; as mentioned, those are 35/12.50 BFGs. Does that look like a 4 inch lift or 6 inch? It has an all-spring lift with no blocks, the rear spring u-bolt plate has an attachment on top with an adjustable bar that runs forward and bolts to the frame by the shackle. Looks like some kind of a tracking bar or something to control wheel hop. The spring bushings are junk, I think they were yellow (superlift?) but they are so far gone I'm not sure. Anyway, I'll need to know what the lift is to order new shocks. The wheels are nice Centerlines Hellcats, just need polishing.

[str8axle55]

Nice, I just picked up a 91 also, 95% rust free. I know the part you are looking for, almost always rotted out on Blazers, I didn`t think they made it aftermkt, but I could be wrong.

[DetroitDan]

two different people told me LMC has it, but if they do I couldn't find it.

[DetroitDan]

was hoping someone could help me identify the lift, because I need to order shocks right away. idk if 4 and 6 inch lift shocks are supposed to be interchangeable, I did it on my 82 k30. Put in a 4 inch lift with Rancho shocks, but the springs were junk so I put in a new set of 6 inch springs and the shocks fit. Rides lousy but I dont know how good it could ride, given what it is.
If I could find shocks that say they fit 4-6 I'd probably be satisfied.
I dont think I've ever seen a 4 inch lift, all spring. It's always the 6 inch lifts Ive seen with rear springs, so I was leaning toward it being a 6.
Need to find a decent shock that is a good price and will work ok for 95% onroad driving. (BTW, these are New England roads I'm talking about, which are worse than the dirt roads in the south.) I know Bilsteins are the best, but I already know I dont want to spend that much. I would go with a regular on-road truck shock if they made one long enough. I've used Ranchos plenty of times, never had any complaints really. Had some KYB Monomax on a big 3500 diesel and really liked them, but they are pricy and maybe overkill for a little lightweight truck like a K5. I replaced the factory Bilsteins on an Avalanche 1500 Z71 with Pro Comp es 3000s and didn't like them at all. Pretty rough ride after that. But, maybe they'd work better on a leaf spring truck. idk..

Cant really check the truck out yet, bought it but on the way home I dropped it off to have exhaust done. I doubt I'll be able to find numbers on the rusted old shocks on it. Is there something I can measure to give me an idea 4 or 6? I measured to the bottom of the rear bumper its about 27-28. I think the rims are 10 wide. They will rub the fender hitting a bump at full lock, which sounds like 4 inch.

[russgt]

The piece where the seat belt bolts too?

[DetroitDan]

not sure where the seatbelt bolts to, but in that second picture it's where the two ratchets are sitting, and on the outside wall next to that. But I havent pulled the carpet up, for all I know it might look like the first picture. But it does have new rockers, so hopefully they are tied to some floor.

Exhaust shop called and it's done, picking it up tomorrow.

I need to get a mig welder..

[russgt]

Your floor is a little different than mine, but this might help

http://www.classicparts.com/1973-91-...ctinfo/45-845/

[crashedout]

from what i can tell from the pics you have a 4" and the shocks should be the same for the 4 and 6 in lifts.

[DetroitDan]

Originally Posted by crashedout

from what i can tell from the pics you have a 4" and the shocks should be the same for the 4 and 6 in lifts.

brought it home today, and I agree that it's a 4 inch lift. I measured from the center of the hub to the bottom of the fender opening and got 24" front and rear. Read on another forum where 26-28 is normal

[68Timber]

It looks like the front axle is sitting back a little bit but it may be that the tires are so close. For a budget shock, you can't go wrong with the Rancho RS5000's and it sounds like they've been good to you before. Nice score.

[mud slut 350]

looks like a 4. looks the same height and wheel to fender clearance mine was when i had 35s on it

[DetroitDan]

yeah its definitely a 4 inch, I parked it by my 82 and it hasnt got nearly as much arch. I ordered a set of Rough Country nitros and a new dual steering stabilizer today.

I was mistaken about the floor rot, it is in the same spot of the floor as the above picture, and not like I described where the ratchets were. Dont know what I was thinking. Looks different from underneath.

I agree the front axle looks set back. No idea why. Whacked the fender good last night turning left into my driveway. But Im sure thats from having more tire than lift. Even the rear looks a little far forward. I guess it's just the lift.

Spent an hour and 15 minutes today removing the old heater core. Somebody needs a donkey punch for designing that. $22 part and you have to disassemble the entire truck to get it out. Not fun. Tomorrow I have to try to get it all back together.

Thinking about buying a parts truck. Few rotted out yard plows around, I need enough parts it might make it worth my while. If I buy one for under a grand, get a few hundred bucks worth of parts and a plow, I can still probably get at least $300 in scrap value.

[DetroitDan]

cant wait to figure out the gear ratio. Didnt see any tags, ill dump the oil and change it and count the teeth. I noticed the rear is a 12 bolt; according to the articles about Chevy Blazers on Wikipedia, it should have come with a 10 bolt rear. Who knows what may have happened with the drivetrain in a lifted truck. Maybe I'll get lucky and it's gt something good in it. I doubt it though, it feels pretty obvious its got some tall tire under it when you drive.
Aother thing, and maybe I should look for a trans forum, but the tranny, which is a 4l60, apparently- I thought it was a 700 but I read that they changed the name of it to 4l60 in 91- anyway it works ok, but feels a little funny. Just as its about to shift, it feels like theres a little drag for a second, then it shifts. Almost like you lightly touched the brake for a sec. And a couple times going uphill I gave it some gas and it had no throttle response, I thought the motor died for a minute, but it didn't. Give it more and it would start accelerating, but had a little flutter and didnt downshift quite like I expected. But, again, Im blaming that on the big tires. Definitely doesn't slip. Hope theres not a tv cable problem.

[mud slut 350]

Yeah mine rbs really easy when i had 35s on it even jsut turning into the driveway. I have 33s now and i only got them to rub once and i flexed the living s!@t out of it lol. if your not offroading with it id reccomend puttin 34s on it they wont rub on street use. as for the 12 bolt. my 79 k5 had one in it also not sure what options had the 12 but that one did and a dana44 front this seems like a common setup if its not both 10 bolts.

[Hoods69BadBowTie]

I think in '87 or '88 when they starting putting TBIs in the Blazers they got rid of the 12 bolts and went to only 10s I believe. Nice looking K5 don't look to bad that's cool you finally found one you could buy. Good luck with the project hope it is not to much of a headache haha!

[Berg]

hey nice rig. I believe in 91 the K5's should have had the 30 spline 10 bolt rearend instead of the 28 spline 10 bolt. If you got a 12 bolt it is pre-83. Does it use a conversion U-joint to go from a 1310 to a 1344 or 3R style? The difference is one uses inside clips and the other uses outside clips. Handy info to have if you ever need to order U-joints. As far as I know, nobody makes that little metal plate the seatbelt mounts to but they all do rot out up north. I live on Long Island and we have rot issues too. Mine are shot on my K5 and its an 84. They do make front and rear floor pans aftermarket but they come in 2 separate pieces and don't go all the way across the transmission tunnel. I also wouldn't be suprised if your floor is rotted where the cargo bed bolts to the C channel at the drop-off just under the rear seat. The good news is most of it is flat metal and not too bad to fab up.
As far as ordering shocks, you can take off the old ones and measure them at full extension, and then at full compression. Some shocks listed by part number tell you the measurements in the parts books to verify the shocks won't bottom out or over-extend. Overly stiff rear shocks on K5's tend to break off the upper mount on the rear shocks. Looks like a fun truck though. Good luck with it and keep us posted.

[DetroitDan]

Well I did get new shocks but havent gotten around to replacing them yet. I swapped out the heater core but messed something up and now the heat doesnt come out of the defroster vents. Been working on the floors, couldn't find anyone to do it for me, so Idid it myself with some Lowes sheetmetal pices and poprivets. Naturally it was worse than I thought, but I think it came out ok, pretty solid now. I did the floor, the vertical outer wall and the vertical rear seat dropoff. Then I sealed the seams with some goo, after I drill holes for the seatbelts I'm going to drench both sides with rubber undercoating.

Right now I cant drive it because I've got the steering column all apart. It had a little stupid Grant wheel, no horn and no high beams. So I took the wheel from my parts Blazer, but I keep taking more apart and no end in sight, cant seem to get everything swapped over. I would take the whole column but stupid me, I bought a parts truck with a floor shift manual. Hoping to get hold of another column today, but he thinks bushings are worn out in it. It was a in a huge lifted truck and he's kinda short, so from always pulling up into it using the wheel wears them out. Not sure what I'll be able to do with that column. At this point, I'm so frustrated I'd like to just swap complete columns instead of parts. Nothings easy.

[Berg]

well at least you are making progress. My inspection has been up on my K5 since the end of august. It won't pass until I do the new shackles and sway bar bushings. I got everything I need but have been spending too much time on the Chevelle project and yard work. I gotta get it ready before December because I'm gonna need it to push snow.