too many questions, too few answers

[newBlood]

OK, for years I have dreamed about the day I am would be the owner of a 1971 K5 Blazer. It finally came true! Although she is not in the best of shape, she is runner and just needs some TLC to shake off some of the rust. I have been saving for quite a while now so I am ready to spend some $...and get a little dirty.

But first, I have many questions. And since I'm not a mechanic or autobody person they will probaby sound trivial at best.
Since I am going to start my renovation process by replacing rusted panels/fenders, etc here is my 1st question:
1.) Instead of buying several different pieces to replace the entire CAB FLOOR, can I purchase a CAB FLOOR: Full Assembly that in a catalog is listed fro a Chevy/GMC Pickup: 67-72 ??

The catalog does not list a cab floor full assembly for the Blazer. But to me the picture in the catalog makes the pickup cab floor look like it would fit.

[Bentblazer]

That will work but it will take some work behind the seats at the step up/header location

[lks dcvn]

get us some pix of the rust you are facing and we can provide some more insight into what way might be easier/cheaper.

Several of us have taken different approaches to get the job done...

[newBlood]

Hey fellas,
Thanks for the reply. I got some pix today. The rust is in the normal spots I suppose (rockers, fenders, etc). It looks like the previous owners did some spot fixing on the cab floor assembly. Then it looks like the put some type of latex material all throughout. I'm sure this was to get through inspection and give a short term solution. I'm looking at getting into cleaning up all the rust in the entire cab area over this fall/winter season. So i'm not going to put any bandaids over anything. Going to do it as right as i can. At this point i've purchased: rocker panels, rocker boxes, rocker end caps. As mentioned, I would also like to replace the floor assembly. But just not sure if I should by all the pieces/parts separately or the entire cab floor.

Looking forward to your thoughts.
thx

[newBlood]

I haven't anything in a couple days so maybe I'm posting my question(s) wrong. So I will leave it more open ended..

Does anyone have any suggestions on how to replace most (if not all) of the crew cab floor?
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[71jimmy]

From that one pic it doesn't look too bad. Most of us try to cut the least amount possible leaving as much original metal as possible. Once you take the rockers off etc you will see how deep you need to go.

Keep in mind that the less you cut out, you will retain more of the body stucture making it easier to put back together and align.

Also, I recommend doing one side at a time. Again your keeping as much body structure AND you will have the other side to compare as you put it back together. This type of work always takes longer than you think.

Good Luck

[newBlood]

thx for the info 71jimmy. I like the idea of starting with one side and using the other side as a template to put things back together correctly. Good stuff.
Anyone else have any suggestions?

At the moment I have the rocker panel, rocker box, rocker end cap.

I am probably going to purchase:
GM Cab Floor 29"w x 25"h ($28.75)

Is there any other pieces you would recommend? The frieght is rather expensive so I like to order as many pieces/parts that I need at the same time.

thx

[coyote72]

As stated earlier, the less that is cut the more body structure is maintained. When I did my Blazer the floors and rockers were worse looking than yours, I cut it all out and put in new. After it was all said and done I had one hell of a time getting the top to go on.... almost like the body sagged in the middle and the windshield came back. It took some finessing. I would recommend leaving the top bolted up if you have one, or supporting the windshield to the rear wheel well or something. I would do something like that in hind sight.

[lks dcvn]

Keep the top bolted on for everything.

I did all the rust repair on mine and I have yet to loosen the top on it.

Here is what I did:

**get very familiar with your digital camera and take a LOT of pix**

1. Keep the hard top bolted on to maintain the rig's integrity/gaps/etc.
2. Replaced all the body mounts and bolts and shimmed it so the doors opened well and there was no sticking etc.
3. Did one side at a time
4. Found rusty spots and worked from the outside in to get rid of it
5. Worked from the inside out to rebuild the rust
6. Fit and refit everything before welding more than spot welds
7. Become a very patient person - this stuff takes time and more than you would think to do it correctly
8. Ask questions along the way - some of us have done this numerous times - me just once, but I learned quite a bit
9. If you love your truck - start now - because when all is said and done - you will either really love it more - or you will hate it

Here is my build thread - there is plenty of information in there...and there is WAY more in the build threads others have created. Spend time researching/reading/asking...

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=341224