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

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.

https://i.imgur.com/adTMcJHh.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/gvud7wbh.jpg

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.
https://i.imgur.com/7rMEzaVh.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/TdWU1ryh.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/2njgmtAh.jpg
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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.
https://i.imgur.com/KI5nwcYh.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/oCr8whAh.jpg

I’ve done a few fly in – drive out’s before, so I had a list of stuff for the trip.
https://i.imgur.com/iXl7yhph.png

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.
https://i.imgur.com/YxSg9IYh.jpg

Entire route:
https://i.imgur.com/TJgCW4Vh.jpg

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.
https://i.imgur.com/lFh5Owmh.jpg

Looking North at one of the Great Lakes, Lake Huron.
https://i.imgur.com/16FdKlXh.jpg

US boarder
https://i.imgur.com/QCi3zz4h.jpg

In the US.
https://i.imgur.com/IYU4CuFh.png
Bye Detroit!
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Day 1 progress, to Kalamazoo, MI.
https://i.imgur.com/a7vXF9Gh.jpg

Day 2 (July 7). – 800 miles from Kalamazoo, MI, to Fargo, ND.
Good Morning Kalamazoo iHop!!! Look at these menu options!
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https://i.imgur.com/kXCDSHzh.jpg

Hi sexy.
https://i.imgur.com/bJmVRQBh.jpg
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https://i.imgur.com/SCU5oHph.jpg

Lunch break. MERICA!
https://i.imgur.com/4naGIVVh.jpg
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Arriving in Fargo, ND. It was a cool town! Chris and I walked around a bit.
https://i.imgur.com/GKpgcoIh.png
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VIP parking
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Day 3 (July 8). – 844 mi, from Fargo, ND to Brooks, Alberta.

Yawn, morning in Fargo.
https://i.imgur.com/XkK25Ash.jpg

Good morning Blazer!
https://i.imgur.com/ITlohiHh.jpg

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

https://i.imgur.com/u5UK7uhh.jpg

Crossing into Canada
https://i.imgur.com/4vdDIWRh.jpg

Pump jacks in Southern Saskatchewan. Bakken oil field.
https://i.imgur.com/njZ7onhh.jpg

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.
https://i.imgur.com/N0gYAyEh.jpg

Long day. Sun was setting so a well earned pee break was deserved before rolling in to Brooks, Alberta for the night.
https://i.imgur.com/NzwpZ65h.jpg
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Day 3 completed.
https://i.imgur.com/eUFIerkh.jpg

Day 4 (July 9). – 120 mi, from Brooks, AB to Calgary, AB (HOME)
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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!
https://i.imgur.com/kmLkQnXh.jpg
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Arriving at my place.
https://i.imgur.com/vSzml50h.jpg
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$30 brand new fuel pump later and the Blazer was running again.
https://i.imgur.com/x5zcqpYh.jpg

That first bath. What a moment, eh?
https://i.imgur.com/mqmdEClh.jpg

Clean
https://i.imgur.com/lx277jEh.jpg

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
https://i.imgur.com/iQv5Pzzh.jpg

Thanks for reading!

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

great story!!!!

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

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
https://i.imgur.com/jiDvaHMh.jpg

Rolling in
https://i.imgur.com/SBoBZt4h.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/Z0gCMVDh.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/wVfUF0Hh.jpg

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

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

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

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

Nice c10 too! Dark olive looks great!

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

Looks nice and a fun trip too.

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

Awesome narrative! Congrats. Thanks for posting.

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

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

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

Looks like a sweet Blazer - what a great story.

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

Cool story, cool trucks!

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

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

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

Very cool indeed.

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

Beautiful rigs there! Congratulations!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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!