The Great Basin Blazer - 72 K5 CST Highlander

[bambbrose]

I'm not much of a talker, but I do like to document things, so I'm just putting this down to show progress and share the process of restoring my grandfathers K5.

Long story short, this particular K5 was purchased by my grandfather new in Caliente NV at a small Chevy dealer that has long since closed shop. It was driven from Caliente up to Baker NV, a tiny town of ~100 people, where it spent the next 52 years up until this past weekend. It was always just an around town, around the desert, up the mountain trail rig, and it shows. Many bumps, bruises, and a lot of cosmetic wear and tear. Because it never left Snake Valley, it has a documented original ~34K miles on it.

I'm confident its never been in a garage at any point in its life, so the sun has taken its toll as well.

Plans are simple, but plans always change:
-Go through and get it into top shape mechanically. It runs and drives great already, but I want to do all fluids, get the AC functional again, and knock out any quirks mechanically.
-Enjoy for a bit while I collect parts for the restoration
-Tackle paint and bodywork. I'll weld in the patch panels and then off to a local shop for finish work.
-After paint, restore the interior
-Finish with a top restoration

Enjoy the next few post of pictures of the "as-found" condition. She had pounds and pounds of desert sand, tumbleweeds, and sagebrush in every spot imaginable.

I've got a large family and I'm just shy of 40 years old as of the time of this posting, so this may in fact be my mid-life crisis. I can't think of much better than this.

Thanks for reading

[bambbrose]

More as-found photos, from when we got it back to the house in Southern Utah

[bambbrose]

And some more

[bambbrose]

And on to some of rust condition/surprises/modifications

I was surprised to see an auxiliary fuel tank was installed in the place of drivers rocker box reinforcement. Its actually properly installed as if it were the rocker box, fully welded to the original brackets. It was clearly installed way back when new. I'll have to decide if I want to remove/replace. I somewhat like that it went with the original theme of the truck. The passenger rocker box reinforcement is very solid.

Otherwise, rust isn't crazy. It will need the exterior lower rocker boxes on both sides, I suspect some patchwork on door bottoms, and then drivers side rear wheel well has a bit of rust through.

I haven't pulled carpet but the bed floor doesn't look too be in bad shape.

The windshield frame is very solid, which I'm happy to see.

The top has some minor waviness to it on the top where pooling could occur, concerning.

I'm sure there will be surprises along the way.

The passenger fender has a dent that's probably easier to replace than repair.

Collecting quality original parts is going to be half the fun here.

[bambbrose]

And then the motor compartment and a few other misc pics. Interesting placement of the coolant overflow, is this OEM?

I have a lot more as-found pictures but we will leave it at that.

Next up is a proper undercarriage wash, heavy de-greasing, and the first hand wash it's received in years.

[1970cstblazer]

Most guys would give their left you know what for a body that solid. Nice beginning!

[DeadheadNM]

Got to feel great to have that back in the family.

Is the blue driver door decal still present? Curious about the assembly month. Any photos of the plaid seats?

[bambbrose]

Originally Posted by 1970cstblazer

Most guys would give their left you know what for a body that solid. Nice beginning!

I tried my hand at another K5 a few years back and definitely appreciate a better starting point!

Originally Posted by DeadheadNM

Got to feel great to have that back in the family.

Is the blue driver door decal still present? Curious about the assembly month. Any photos of the plaid seats?

The rear seat isn't too bad in the center sections, but the vinyl corners are worn through where sun took its toll and there is a rip on the back.

I haven't taken the front covers off just yet but based on how the foam feels, I assume they are pretty rough.

I'll check on the door sticker, I didn't look yet.

I'm going to have a lot of questions so I figured I'd start now.

There is no factory roll bar. Was that an option and if yes, does anybody make a reproduction?

Gun racks, I assume, were never a dealer installed option, but this one sure was installed in such a way that it is permanent (rivets). It'll stay post restoration.

[7D2N]

Looks really good. Have fun with the restoration. I remember side window gun racks in all of these type of trucks growing up. Maybe a Utah thing.

[1970cstblazer]

Roll bar was not a factory option in this gen.

[DeadheadNM]

Thanks for posting the photos. What a gem.

[bambbrose]

Production date 3/72 in the door.
Love the little logos on these door edge guards too.

How can you tell which factory?

[DeadheadNM]

March is late for St Louis. I'm not sure they were still assembling Blazers by April of that year but am keeping an eye out.

The Adell Corp. is still in the business of making door edge guards: https://adellcorporation.com/

[bambbrose]

Small update 9/21/24

Changed the oil and inspected underneath carefully. I have some atf leaking and I need to find the source. Steering box is seeping just a little bit of gear oil. I’ve driven it around town for half a tank of gas and it’s been great so far!

Today I decided to take off the sill plates and vacuum up and pull the carpet on the floorboard areas that rot. As expected some patchwork needed but nothing out of the ordinary so far.

I pulled off the front seat covers and the old Highlander vinyl had been recovered in a tweed at some point. No remnants to inspect there.



My wife and I took it down to the drive thru for a burger and shake and got a lot of thumbs up. She was disgusted by the old stiff seatbelts so I took them out and really scrubbed them up with oxyclean, hydrogen peroxide, and a lot of elbow grease. They were basically brown and stiff like an old pair of muddy socks before and I’m impressed with how well they cleaned up.



Question of the week: I can’t seem to find repop rear seatbelts. Does anyone make the appropriate ones, and in parchment? For some reason all three rear belts were removed at some point and I want to source them in parchment. I have a feeling I’ll be paying out the nose for a set.

[jaros44sr]

Nice find….if you get a minute could you share a pic of the bumper hitch

[DeadheadNM]

Those belts really cleaned up nicely and the plastic sleeve is still present. Nice.

I don’t know of a source for new correct belts but pickup belts could be harvested for the needed ends if you wanted to have a set restored.

[notsolo]

Nice score, also incredible those seat belts look new. Don't cut or destroy the rubber in the top, or windshield. Soap and water then Winter green oil and Xylene will make them like new if their not cracked.

[1970cstblazer]

Originally Posted by bambbrose

Small update 9/21/24


Question of the week: I can’t seem to find repop rear seatbelts. Does anyone make the appropriate ones, and in parchment? For some reason all three rear belts were removed at some point and I want to source them in parchment. I have a feeling I’ll be paying out the nose for a set.

Absolutely AMAZING transformation on the seat belts. They look brand new. As for reproduction belt sets. Counterpart (Truck Shop of Orange Co. California) DOES offer front and rear reproduction Blazer seat belt sets. HOWEVER, they only offer them in black... For a reproduction part, they are very good to excellent. All parts will interchange with the original belts. The retractors work smooth. I bought their front set, and reused my passenger front female belt because of the special opaque sleeve.

[yote1234]

awesome start, great story