1972 Medium Blue Highlander Blazer Resto

[OLDYELLOW]

Can't wait to see it go together, looking good!

[85toyrunner]

Looking great!! Love the color!

[Ol Blue K20]

I cant believe I missed this build Pete. I enjoyed your K20 build. So I just read through this one and love the attention to detail. Signing on for the rest of the build

[dirish]

Wow, I read it all. What a awesome build.
Watching impatiently! Great work.

[DeadheadNM]

Thanks guys for the encouragement! I've got more detail pics I'll post up soon. Just a quick update - we've got a rolling chassis. Axles were rebuilt with 3.73 gears and rear limited slip. The dust shields were replated with fresh cadmium. I had the original steering box rebuilt by Red Head in WA with a quick ratio to be joined with a replated pitman arm and a repro rag joint.

[DeadheadNM]

Chassis

[DeadheadNM]

The OEM has tank couldn't be plated so I went with a metal aftermarket piece. The aftermarket fuel neck wasn't soldered on so couldn't be sweated off. The old neck was cut near the tank and spliced onto the new tank. I did have the OEM straps replated and these turned out great. The anti squeak pads cleaned up nice so I'll reuse them. Found a NOS sending unit to use.

[DeadheadNM]

Tracked down a NOS set of accessory shocks and steering damper - Pleasurizer Delco. Will be attached with replated OEM hardware.

[DeadheadNM]

I'll have the tub and doors hung before hauling the chassis back home. I'm using NOS latches, strikers, and actuators with replated hardware. The latches and strikers were replated secondary to shelf wear.

[DeadheadNM]

NOS door handles

[DeadheadNM]

Send unit.

[Already Gone]

Pete your attention to detail and commitment to NOS parts is inspiring. For sure another "Truck of the Month" in the making and possibly another Truck of the Year " and it couldn't happen to a nicer guy !!!

[IronCanine]

L-L-L-Love it. Definite leader in the clubhouse for TOTY. So psyched for this Sunday treat.

[gringoloco]

Astounding!

[DeadheadNM]

I really appreciate you all following along. I'd narrate more but my time for this build has been constrained and I'm trying to hustle: we have a now 9 month old daughter and she gets priority. Never enough time in life for everything is there?

Since she is napping and I happen to have a spare moment I thought I'd add some more documentation pics that I've not yet been able to post both to jog my memory and to help others on future builds. It'll be a motley assortment but hopefully useful for folks down the road.

Parking brake cables and components. Take a look at the stamped date on the parking brake: 1-25-72, a non invasive way of narrowing the date(s) of the build month for a truck (this k5 was assembled in February 1972). That little clip is same for the brake line along the booster bracket.

[DeadheadNM]

Brake cables...

[DeadheadNM]

More...BTW - my K1500 GMC has two springs that secure the rear drum cables near the rear leaf springs to the under surface of the tub. I'll try to add pics of these springs at a later date as I believe them to be OEM but were missing from the blazer.

[DeadheadNM]

more cable pics.

One pic shows the rear fender supports that are located at the anterior wheel opening: note the inferior (exposed) bolts are carriage bolts and these were painted with the body so in my case the heads were blue. Bolts are same carriage bolts used to assemble the bed.

Another pic shows the components of the rear fender splash shield. NOT shown is the two-piece clamp used to secure the gas filler hose and the vent hose both coming from the fuel neck to the gas tank on the LH side. The upper, inner bolt of the bracket for the splash shield holds the hose clamp pieces in place.

[DeadheadNM]

Misc interior pics...the washer fluid hoses were secured with a factory zip tie as shown. Last pic is of the steering column and shows the stainless Philips head screws that secure the column "plate" to the fire wall.

[DeadheadNM]

Here's the ebrake cable attachment inside the cab....note location of the clip for the sending unit wire

[DeadheadNM]

Brake booster mounts and brake line routing...

[DeadheadNM]

more brake...pics taken AFTER the frame clips had been removed

[DeadheadNM]

Misc steering column related...

[DeadheadNM]

Here's a couple more chassis pics. The gold color of the GM Pleasurizer shocks looks cool and matches the cadmium of the front axle dust shields nicely.

Steve and the guys at South Coors Truck Salvage did a great job rebuilding the axles, transmission, and transfer case. They rebuilt the axles and t-case for my K20 also. Steve has been a 67-72 Chevy truck fan forever and still has the 69 Chevy his dad purchased brand new from Ed Black's Chevrolet.

The frame was sprayed in chassis black as were the skid plates. Eric and the guys at Mild to Wild sprayed black bed liner as the undercoating to the floor pan and inside of the inner fenders and rear wheel wells.

[Andrew S]

You mention a "sending unit wire clip" a few posts back, did the Blazers have a parking brake sensor, or is that clip for the hydraulic brake light switch wiring? Great build, thanks for documenting so thoroughly!

Andrew