1971 K5 Blazer - down under

[68ls1]

Intro to my Blazer. Purchased last November from California. Due to covid affecting shipping (and everything else) I was only able to take in to my possession last Thursday. She is a little rough, but does not appear to be rusty. Has been bleached by sun. First thing is to get her running and driving nicely, then on to body and interior
I replaced 15" rims and non roadworthy tires with 17" rims, and 285/65 Toyo Open Country AT tires.
We are working on brake system overhaul, new rotors, pads, shoes, flex hoses and master cylinder, make sure it stops. This in part necessitated by the fact that customs remove pads and shoes, and anything they deem may have asbestos.
Of course we then found a couple of grumbling wheel bearings, leaking rear seals and one bent shock absorber, so have ordered new set of shocks and bearings and seals.
Will then do fluid and filter changes to see how sound drive train is.
I will have lots of questions, but this message board is a fantastic resource

[72gmguy]

Looks like a great start. Customs actually takes parts off or they have you do it?

[68ls1]

Originally Posted by 72gmguy

Looks like a great start. Customs actually takes parts off or they have you do it?

Customs remove and charge you for the honour

[Blue GMC]

So they take off pads and shoes because they may have asbestos so you can put on new ones that may contain the same?

[68ls1]

Originally Posted by Blue GMC

So they take off pads and shoes because they may have asbestos so you can put on new ones that may contain the same?

Pretty much , and in the back of Blazer was a full spare set of drum brakes with shoes still intact. Makes you wonder how well it is inspected.

I know a lot of us feel it is revenue raising. The new one here is decontamination for stink bug. There were 11 cars unloaded at same time as Blazer, all were failed by quarantine (2 of these that I saw were show quality) and sent off for cleaning at the quarantine station, cost of around $700 AUD.

[DeadheadNM]

Good that it arrived and best wishes for your build. Eager to follow the progress. Cheers.

[68ls1]

To date we have now updated front brakes, with new rotors and pads. Calipers rebuilt. New wheel bearings and seals. was a good call to go all in. New spark plugs, oil and filters etc. May have an issue with ignition switch. Rear brakes are next on agenda, and replace shocks. Sorry no pics at this stage as it still looks same

Took hatch off as was broken at bottom and we could not close it. Some pics of repair progress attached, will post in main forum with some questions I have after pulling hatch apart.







Thanks to all those who have responded in my other threads, info is scarce down here. So many small differences between a pick up

[68ls1]

So as part of the hatch repair had a new reinforcement plate made to replace old rust/pitted one









Now waiting on some hatch pieces from Motor City K5, to reassemble, and finish repair

[DeadheadNM]

Nice progress. Glad Motor City K5 had some helpful pieces. Keep the updates coming.

[68ls1]

Most of the brakes are done, but is 2 steps forward, 1 step back like all these builds.
Pulled rear axles to do bearings, and found that one bearing had eaten through the hardening. New axle on the way from Rock Auto.

[68ls1]

I have the Blazer back at home, after new brakes, shocks, wheel bearings & seals, new universal joints, 1 rear axle, ball joints, drag link ends, steering box. Not much has changed to look at, but have been able to drive it a couple of times.

Had a wheel alignment done and has 5 degrees positive caster. Still feels lighter than I was hoping. I have a square body anti sway bar set up on the way, hopefully here early January

I also have an operable rear hatch.

Next on list is lower driver's door hinge, driver's side lower rocker panel, steering column, interior rear view mirror. Have ram horn manifolds to install and new exhaust.

The driver's seat tracks, are loose and rock, does anyone have image of what I would most likely need to be replaced/fixed on these.

[1rippen6]

One or possibly all 3 of these pieces missing.

[1rippen6]

I just rebuild 2 sets for people last week, here was the worst set.

[truckster]

Congratulations on getting your Blazer. It took me a while to get mine back on the road (7 years - it's a long story) but I drive it every day now. Does Australia have tough inspection laws like the European countries do?

[68ls1]

Originally Posted by 1rippen6

I just rebuild 2 sets for people last week, here was the worst set.

Thanks, do you have any pics of where those pieces go in slider? I moved seat forward and that removed a lot of the movement

[68ls1]

Originally Posted by truckster

Congratulations on getting your Blazer. It took me a while to get mine back on the road (7 years - it's a long story) but I drive it every day now. Does Australia have tough inspection laws like the European countries do?

Yes we do. It can seem a little over the top, but in the end you have a safe car to drive.

[1rippen6]

Well, they are internal, you have to remove rivets to get to them. I may have a picture with the disassembled but will have to look. I had to buy rivets to put them back together, depending on which end, if any are missing, will determine which length rivet you need.

[68ls1]

Originally Posted by truckster

Congratulations on getting your Blazer. It took me a while to get mine back on the road (7 years - it's a long story) but I drive it every day now. Does Australia have tough inspection laws like the European countries do?

Yes we do. It can seem a little over the top, but in the end you have a safe car to drive.

[68ls1]

So as I continue to peel back the layers of this truck, i got stuck in to the tailgate. It had a rubber matting covering the inner.

From a previous question we had found that there was no original weatherstripping and brackets had been removed

So I pulled off the rubber matting, held by so much glue and so many screws, to find a piece of styrene board attached to tailgate, by again so many screws. I attempted to remove the screws using a rust penetrant, but was mostly unsuccessful. So i did next best thing and started breaking pieces of it off only to find spray foam on tailgate.

I swear a previous owner must have owned a hardware store.

I am planning to take truck to body shop later this week for work on drivers side outer rocker and A pillar for door hinge issue. Will discuss if tailgate is salvageable, as there are so many screw holes to fill

[68ls1]

A follow up on a previous question on bolt sizes to hold rear seat, thanks member richard2717 for the answer. Not sure again why the rear selt is not held down, can only guess previous owner was using as a 2 seater.

So this is how seat belts are attached, which seems to align with assembly manual. Appears an extra set has been added for a middle passenger

Can someone please confirm if this correct or not

[68ls1]

So yesterday I removed a coolant overflow set up which went no where? Started looking for horns as nothing was happening when pressing horn button. It finally rained, so I know wipers now work, and washer seems to be aftermarket, no spray yet, so need to check if it hose or power.

Today we (help from son) removed what I can only assume was not a factory optioned auxiliary battery (non working) . This uncovered the horns, 1 bolted in no wiring connected, 2nd horn found loose in front of wheel well.

Bolted horn to rad support, connected wires and now have horn. Not a great sound, so one may not be working. Have electrician coming this week to hopefully diagnose wiring and remove any surplus.

When removing auxiliary battery, we found a positive terminal, a ground terminal and a yellow terminal with two black wires that ran through firewall, but stop under door sill plate. There are multiple circuit breakers and relays that appear to have no purpose. I think we will have removed a couple of hundred pounds of non functioning upgrades by the time i have finished. I have included pics of what i believe to be a non genuine auxiliary battery bracket

[notsolo]

Super rare left handed spanner.😎 Blazer is looking good, hatch repair looks solid. If the Tailgate is as straight as it looks, definitely worth saving.

[68ls1]

Had auto electrician come over and clean up wiring, removing any redundant pieces. Also checked all of lighting operation, and with a cleaning of a few sockets, a few new globes everything works. Replaced the current faulty aftermarket water temp gauge with new aftermarket gauge, this is a temporary remedy as I wait for new dash I purchased from member anew4961 to make it's way down here.

Engine bay previously



After wiring tidy up





Still not very pretty, will look better with ram horn manifolds and spark plug leads run as factory. The goal right now is to make it a fully equipped and functioning vehicle that I can take out for a drive. The cosmetic restoration will be undertaken further down the track.

[68ls1]

Big moment today, we completed the 140 mile trip to the body shop
Blazer ran pretty well, no issues, temp solid, used around half a tank. Got up to around 70 mph at times.
Body shop to peel back the horrors of driver's rocker and A Pillar. Bit of rust on top of passenger rocker, see how deep this goes. Tailgate to be asessed, repair or replace.
Good news looks like we can use original seat belt arrangement.
Is there a way to confirm build date? VIN KE181S6004xx

[DeadheadNM]

Congrats.

Check w the build date project to see if this can help dial in a build month: https://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/...d.php?t=815033 it appears to be a very early model year sequence number. FWIW I think that should be an "S" not a "5" after the 1.