Xado89's K5 Blazer Project

Hey guys,

As some of you may know, I recently acquired a 1981 K5 Blazer for a new project to mildly restore for a DD/Weekend Warrior truck. Sad to say but for terms of obtaining this, my Xterra is currently for sale. I needed something a little bigger and with a little more uhmph behind it in order to tow lawn and dump trailers for work. I felt like I should share this build here for you guys instead of just moving onto another forum. I may have not met many of y'all in person but that doesn't mean crap to me in terms of how awesome everyone is here. Soo, without further adieu..

My 1981 K5 Blazer, Silverado Edition. Currently has a 6" Rough Country Suspension Lift on 35x12.50x15 Falken Rocky Mountain AT's. Everything else is pretty much stock. It has some rust I have to take care of but overall is solid and the drivetrain is stout.

Alright, a buddy and me checked it out before I bought it, obviously however I couldn't exactly tear the flooring up in front of the previous owner so once I had a title in my hand that is the first thing I'm starting to do. I removed the back seat for now and tore up the flooring in the rear to see what condition the bed is in. It's actually in very good shape with only some spots on the edge by the tailgate and then a spot on the back left corner, once again by the tailgate.

Tailgate edge w/carpet:


Tailgate Corner:


Tailgate w/o Carpet & only dampener/insulation:


Bare Bed:


I also pulled the side panels running along the inside to see how it looked behind those. The body was in great shape there. I'm honestly thinking of just ditching those panels as they are ratty and dry-rotted and parts of them kind of crumbled apart as I took them off. I have a different idea in mind I'm going to go with.



UPDATE: June 17th, 2014.
Some of you know, some don't. The X sold the other night. I waved goodbye to it. It will be staying local and the owner and his son have plans to beef it up some skid plates and bumpers. So it's legacy will live on and finally get to go out in the woods and have fun. Meanwhile, I have started up on again on the K5. I started ripping the carpet & insulation out of the front, as it's all dry rotted or damp. Needs to go ASAP to stop stuff from rusting. I sadly broke two bolts off while taking the drivers seat out. Now I have to drill them out, which should be fun. After I'll be doing the passenger seat and center console. Going to go ballistic with a orbital sander and get it all clean so I can prime it with rust stop and bedline everything. Then I'll be adding in rubber mats so I can pull it out and wash it easily if I need to. Lot of work ahead but I'm excited for it. Especially being able to tell people I did all this myself. There is one small spot about the size of a half dollar behind the driver's seat I'll have to get cut out and patched. otherwise, it all seems pretty solid so far everywhere else I've torn up.
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Behind Driver's Seat:


Floor:


Floor with some insulation left to scrape off:


UPDATE: June 18th, 2014
Officially the entire floor of the truck has been gutted. Both seats are out. The center console is out, everything in the rear is out. Insulation and carpet up front has been pulled, scraped and vacuumed. Still have to spray some degreaser in there to pull up some of the stubborn insulation then it's time to start sanding again! All in all for a 33 year old truck, there's only 3 spots I feel need to be cut out and patched, with the biggest of them being half the size of a dollar bill. Not too shabby!

Whole View Before I Vacuumed:


Driver's Side:


Passenger Side


Passenger Back Corner Behind Seat:


Passenger Floorboard:


Along Back Behind Seats:

Reserved.

Reserved..

Reserved Again

I guess one more reserve is okay?

Looks good Austin. I know you've been wanting one of these for a while!

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nice blazer! Excited to see what u do with it. I agree about staying on XN even if you're X-less. I sold my X a few months ago but still hang around here.

Bedline the whole thing! Lol

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I hope you turn this thing into a total beast!!!

Put new wheels on. Changed the look, totally. I love it.



I.ve also decided to keep the paint scheme the same when I go to repaint it. Ive decided to name "The Great White".

However. Due to other circumstances work on it is being put on hold until the Xterra sells.

Sent through an exorcism and salt flavored shotgun shells.

Updated 2nd Post with more Interior clean up photo's.

I see bedliner in your future... and POR lol

GPD605X said:

I see bedliner in your future... and POR lol

Click to expand...

I'm gonna try to order up a set of rocker panels here within the next few weeks and find some good sheet metal to patch the few spots I have to cut out. Otherwise, the majority of that SHOULD come up with a heavy sanding. Gonna just get a bunch of paper from like 36-150 grit to bring it to a smooth surface. My buddy will then come in and cut the bad crap out and weld in the new pieces for me as well as the new rocker panels. After all that's done, I'll be treating the whole interior flooring and bed with Rust stop primer and then bedlining everything. After that I'm gonna get some thick rubber mats to put up front to keep cleaning it up easy. I have a Pad sander and a good orbital sander at my disposal so hopefully this shouldn't be tooooooo hard, haha.

Pulled the yellowed trim pieces and plasti dipped them.

Also pulled the dash and headliner. Going to just do a navy blue up top or a light grey.



Sent through an exorcism and salt flavored shotgun shells.

Also another quick update. I order all 4 rocker panels tonight. The inner and outers for both sides. Driver isn't too bad but I figured if I'm replacing them just do both and be done with it. Now to pick up some sheet metal to cut and patch the few holes I have. Hopefully ill have it done within the next week so I can corroseal it all and bedline it and get the interior back together and drive it! Very excited!

Sent through an exorcism and salt flavored shotgun shells.