My First Blazer (70' 2wd) - 2,200mi drive home - Photos

[Ekliptix]

May 16, 2017 – I was in China for 1 week on work. In my hotel room, I was browsing Ebay and came across a 1970 2wd in red. I contacted the seller, got some info, and had a deposit to him within 12 hours.

We agreed to finish the payment when I returned home to Canada in a week, and he’d hold the Blazer until I was ready to fly out to Toronto, ON and drive it back home to Calgary, AB.




Upon returning home, I booked two tickets to fly to Toronto in July. One for me. And one for my Kasia’s Dad, Chris. The father of my 8 month girlfriend, to be my co-driver on a 3 day + trip. Needless to say Chris and I were going to get to know each other. Chris is Polish, and I considered him old school which I thought would be to my advantage for some reason.

Between May and July, I had time to burn. So, I found these Blazers online to drool over.





I also planned my Brother’s bachelor party for 18 Canadians, in Austin, TX. It as a gong show (Canadian term). That’s my Dad and I on the right.



I’ve done a few fly in – drive out’s before, so I had a list of stuff for the trip.


Finally July 6th came and Chris and I left Calgary on a flight at 1:30AM. We landed in Toronto about 7:00AM July 6th where Lee, the seller, picked us up and drove us 45 min to his place where the Blazer was.

It’s always exciting/nervous seeing a car for the first time you’ve bought sight unseen. Chris and I hung out at Lee’s for a few hours checking out his shop, getting some info on the Blazer. We finally hit the road at noon.


Entire route:


The blazer drove great. About 1 mile away from Lee’s I realized there was no rearview mirror, and later realized the horn didn’t work. Oh well.

On Day 1 (July 6), we made it 414 miles into the US to Kalamazoo, MI. We were expecting to be dead tired considering we’d been up for nearly 24 hours, but I think the windows down and excitement of the whole day kept us wide awake.

Chris driving, on a bridge as we leave Canada into the US at Sarnia.


Looking North at one of the Great Lakes, Lake Huron.


US boarder


In the US.

Bye Detroit!





Day 1 progress, to Kalamazoo, MI.


Day 2 (July 7). – 800 miles from Kalamazoo, MI, to Fargo, ND.
Good Morning Kalamazoo iHop!!! Look at these menu options!



Hi sexy.




Lunch break. MERICA!




Arriving in Fargo, ND. It was a cool town! Chris and I walked around a bit.



VIP parking




Day 3 (July 8). – 844 mi, from Fargo, ND to Brooks, Alberta.

Yawn, morning in Fargo.


Good morning Blazer!


Here’s a video if us driving through ND. Looks a lot like the same. 
https://youtu.be/vRz36_sb-w4



Crossing into Canada


Pump jacks in Southern Saskatchewan. Bakken oil field.


There was a screaming sound from under the hood, south of Regina, SK. We found the nut on the alternator was coming off and the alternator pulley was free spinning. Get ‘er tightened up. Had to borrow an allen key from the gas station.


Long day. Sun was setting so a well earned pee break was deserved before rolling in to Brooks, Alberta for the night.



Day 3 completed.


Day 4 (July 9). – 120 mi, from Brooks, AB to Calgary, AB (HOME)



We started smelling gas about 30km from Calgary. We didn’t think much of it and kept driving to Chris’ house. When we got there we popped the hood and saw fuel squirting from the fuel pump!! We killed the engine and decided to use the AMA membership I got for the trip to tow the Blazer the remaining 20km home to my house.

Not bad for a 2,200 mile trip driving 70-80mph most of the way. One mechanical fuel pump diaphragm and a loose alternator nut.

At Chris’ waiting for the tow truck. We didn’t kill each other!



Arriving at my place.



$30 brand new fuel pump later and the Blazer was running again.


That first bath. What a moment, eh?


Clean


Tucked away the C10. I have a similar record of my 2,100 mi C10 road trip but you'll need to use Chrome as your internet browser and search for the "Chrome Photobucket fix" since the photos are hosted with photobucket and you need Chrome to view the photos now. http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=595586


Thanks for reading!

[twp1]

great story!!!!

[Ekliptix]

Since having the Blazer since July 2017, I've driven it a bunch, gone to 1 car show with Kasia, and ordered some parts.

The parts are new black carpet as the current one is dull and browning. Sound deadening for the floor. A rear view mirror. New weather seals to try and keep it water tight. We had rain on the drive to Calgary and found this hard top does not seal perfectly against the roll up door windows.

I also discovered that with the disk brake upgrade the Blazer came with (front), the front is a 5 lug setup while the rear is the factory 6 lug setup. This makes throwing some other wheels on a bit tough, so a 5 lug swap for the rear is in the plans and some 20" torque thrusts or something similar.

The prev owner(s) did some personalizing touches that are not my style, so I intent to remove some add-ons, improve the stereo a little, swap the wheels since I'm not a super fan of the white walls (sometimes they catch my heart though), and maybe bag it.

Driving to a car show


Rolling in

[Gillnetter]

Great story! Two very nice trucks you have there!!

[Tomo]

Man great blazer and great story! Sounds like it was a awesome trip!

Nice c10 too! Dark olive looks great!

[flashed]

Looks nice and a fun trip too.

[DeadheadNM]

Awesome narrative! Congrats. Thanks for posting.

[Tuff Gong]

Thanks for posting. Great trip. I remember that blazer on eBay. Looked like a really rare and nice blazer for the price.

[Yukon Jack]

Looks like a sweet Blazer - what a great story.

[Turnip Truck]

Cool story, cool trucks!

[C/10 King]

Awesome story!!!!! Looks like the Blazer needs a C/10 Club sticker to match the truck!!!

[lks dcvn]

Very cool indeed.

[Ekliptix]

Originally Posted by C/10 King

Awesome story!!!!! Looks like the Blazer needs a C/10 Club sticker to match the truck!!!

I'll pay the shipping if you have a bunch. I know some C10 guys up here who'd use 'em too.

[YoungPup1977]

Tach was screaming at 3600 rpm's....must be a good motor....nice ride, good luck!!!!

[RustyBucket]

Enjoyed your post, THANKS!. Nice pair of trucks.
Added bonus, you posted an old pic of my Blazer(ochre/white) when it belonged to the prev. owner. I've enjoyed it for 5yrs. or so.

[Ptjsk]

Beautiful rigs there! Congratulations!

[BIG ORANGE]

just saw this, wow that was freaking awesome there my friend.....

[Terrysch]

Congratulations!!!
Nice Blazer.
Last September I drove Jimmy, my 72 Jimmy to his new home here in Ozark/Springfield area from St. George, Utah. He was used for hunting there.
Only 1750 miles in three days. It was a great adventure and saved quite a bit of money versus shipping him. But did not document well like you did.
Have gotten a lot done since then, but still a long way to go to finish Jimmy.
Terry

[Mike C]

Blazer is awesome. That’s quite a few epic trips under your belt now!

[cebra]

Where did you get the sweet 71-72 C10 shirt?

[mister.freeze]

Awesome. 22 years ago, in the fledgling days of email, I arranged to fly from Houston to Sacramento to buy my Blazer. Took an Army buddy and drove it back. Great thing to road trip in your new truck!