New Blazer Body - Ebay

[lks dcvn]

Just saw this on Ebay - started at 12k with a reserve - curious to see what this goes for.

Not mine - no connection to the auction or seller.

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From the Ebay listing:

Brand new 1969-1972 Chevrolet / GMC K5 Blazer / Jimmy shell / body assembly. Don't waste precious years and money on your rusted out Blazer or Jimmy Tub at your local body shop. For anyone who knows how time consuming and expensive it is these days to restore one of these beautiful pieces of history... Please save yourself the stress and shock of the initial task of planning out how to go about restoring or building your dream K5. Here we have a brand new tub assembly that has been meticulously built using all modern and state-of-the-art equipment. Assembled in the U.S.A. The overall quality of your entire restoration for one of these historical vehicles; revolves around how well the shell has been constructed. Don't let your neighborhood body shop MIG weld your blazer back together using patches and donor panels from countless hours of searching and scavenging. And doing so only after sandblasting the entire truck, and putting it on a rotisserie, only to find swiss cheese and rot afterwards. Old school "plug" welding /MIG welding only speeds up the corrosion process and compromises the 50+ year old metal by overhardening it. You will be left with a body that is very prone to cracking and rusting. This brand new k5 blazer tub has been squeeze-type resistance welded together (just like factory) using state of the art 3 phase smart welders and 3D Laser measuring to ensure proper alignment. Smart welders leave almost no heat signature while leaving computerized penetration. Unlike the original 50year old technology … all the seams have also been coated with a modern electricized coating before assembly, eliminating bare steel between layers before the welding process. No matter how much you sandblast an original tub, you can never clean in-between the seams. Factory bodies would be mostly bare steel before this process, which is why most of the rust would start at the seams even after a meticulous restoration.
This Body has also been built on an original frame assembly just to ensure fitment. All panels are modern alloys and are just as thick or thicker than original … all while containing a much better carbon content than was even available 50 years ago. The passion for building this body came from these very desires. As time goes on, I see too many people spending money on restorations that ultimately just wont last, and on vehicles that just shouldn't be restored as they are just too far gone. Technology has come so far over the last 20 years in the restoration world. Give your project a fighting shot at lasting longer and build it better than it was originally designed. Skip the sandblasting, patching and gallons of filler, years of stress and money, and head straight to the paint-booth with this brand new tub. Includes doors, hinges, tailgate and hardware. This tub has a non-AC firewall, a large hump floor panel, and a Cheyanne or GMC tailgate. Stamped Chevrolet tailgate can be swapped out if needed. This tub is 100 % new from bed to firewall. Not a single original piece was used in it's construction. All panels/gaps have been adjusted to better than original standards . Like any aftermarket panel, some bodywork/ finishing is needed for show quality finish. feel free to ask any questions. At this time... this is the ONLY body assembly available for sale ANYWHERE that I have found. I have only built one for the pure desire to see if it could be done, and it is a masterpiece! happy bidding. Buyer is to arrange shipping. body will be placed on a wooded skid with casters for moving. A $1500 deposit will be required immediately at actions close VIA PayPal or credit card over the phone, with the remainder do within 7 days. Will ask that shipment take no longer that 14 days. 1969 1970 1971 1972

[lks dcvn]

more pix

[lks dcvn]

and 2 more

[Thealien]

Interesting?

[AJs72K5]

Interesting, indeed. I’m curious why though. Were they building it for a customer and it fell thru? Or are they looking to reproduce?

[hemi43]

Worst thing that could happen to our hobby. Last thing I want to see is a bunch of fake Chinese Blazers going down the road. Will end up like the Bronco. I went to SEMA back in 2018, and there was no less than 50 first gen Broncos on display.

[ngnaz]

The thing that resto-modders dream of.

[SeventyOne]

Originally Posted by hemi43

Worst thing that could happen to our hobby. Last thing I want to see is a bunch of fake Chinese Blazers going down the road. Will end up like the Bronco. I went to SEMA back in 2018, and there was no less than 50 first gen Broncos on display.

So? In my opinion it can give access to the hobby to those otherwise priced out. And guess what - Broncos are insanely valuable regardless of all the reproduction bodies. Same will happen for the Blazers. To say this is the worst thing to happen to our hobby is just patently wrong. I'd LOVE to see more Blazers on the road - who cares if some of the metal was stamped in China

[k-nuts]

Originally Posted by SeventyOne

So? In my opinion it can give access to the hobby to those otherwise priced out. And guess what - Broncos are insanely valuable regardless of all the reproduction bodies. Same will happen for the Blazers. To say this is the worst thing to happen to our hobby is just patently wrong. I'd LOVE to see more Blazers on the road - who cares if some of the metal was stamped in China

Didn’t seem to change the high value of 1st gen Camaros. Just need to watch out for VIN plates from valuable rare optioned cars put on repop bodies and rebuilt. I got no problems with “clones” as long as all parties know what they getting.

[hemi43]

Originally Posted by SeventyOne

So? In my opinion it can give access to the hobby to those otherwise priced out. And guess what - Broncos are insanely valuable regardless of all the reproduction bodies. Same will happen for the Blazers. To say this is the worst thing to happen to our hobby is just patently wrong. I'd LOVE to see more Blazers on the road - who cares if some of the metal was stamped in China

Well, it's not so much the value I'm concerned about, it's about seeing tons of them. Remember how cool it was to see an old restored pedal car? It was cool because there were so few of them still around. Today however, you can get a POS Chinese copy for a couple hundred bucks so the market is flooded with them.
K-nuts mentioned Camaros, and it's a perfect example. I hate those cars because they are like belly buttons, everyone has one.
I attend SEMA for my business, so I can see where the hobby is heading. All you see there are Camaros, Mustangs and Broncos. Gets boring after a while. This goes for major shows also. Syracuse Nats a couple years ago had 8500 cars, and of those, only 3 Blazers. I don't want to see 100 of them!!
Oh, and I absolutely hate anything related to China which doesn't help.
I always thought Americans were so patriotic? What happened?

[DeadheadNM]

Originally Posted by hemi43

Well, it's not so much the value I'm concerned about, it's about seeing tons of them.

Oh, and I absolutely hate anything related to China which doesn't help.
I always thought Americans were so patriotic? What happened?

Because of a top end engine problem my Blazer spent much of the summer at Muscle Car Restorations here in the area, arguably one of the best restoration shops in the US (check their website sometime). As you'd expect, there's no shortage of Camaros, Mustangs, Cuda's, GTOs, etc. They remarked that no other vehicle attracted more attention than my Blazer.

I can't speak for others but I go way out of my way and do whatever I can to keep my money away from the CCP. Taiwan at least is a democracy and I feel for their plight.

[JJH Jimmy]

Good luck to the seller! I am curios to what the reserve might be set at? There are still plenty of good first gen blazers and Jimmy projects out there that don't need major metal work repair for a heck of a lot less than 12K and you get the whole rig. Maybe in the future when originals cant be found there might be a market for it.

[hemi43]

Originally Posted by DeadheadNM

I can't speak for others but I go way out of my way and do whatever I can to keep my money away from the CCP. Taiwan at least is a democracy and I feel for their plight.

Good point!
Now that you mention it, you’re probably right that those bodies are most likely Taiwanese. I’m like you and try not to buy stuff from the PRC, but sometimes it’s very difficult to do.
Taiwan has really come a long way, and produce some real high end stuff, especially their CNC machines.
I still find it amazing that it makes financial sense to tool up to actually make these bodies. The sheer amount of dies alone would cost millions to produce for such a low production product. I have a gut feeling that they acquired the original dies to stamp all these parts, and that’s why they can afford to do so.
I spent almost 30 years building and maintaining these large panel dies, so I know what they are worth and how many are needed even for just one panel. Just stamping one complete door and all its components requires around 15 to 20 dies, and most of these are the size of a small room and weigh as much as a tank. In the 80’s I recall having to drag some of these old dies in from the field they were stored in for the past 15 years just so we could make service parts. Today however, the dies are sold overseas as soon as that model run ends so that they can make the service parts in Asia. Sad, but I’m glad I don’t have to do that heavy work anymore. Lol

[doo142]

Originally Posted by DeadheadNM

Because of a top end engine problem my Blazer spent much of the summer at Muscle Car Restorations here in the area, arguably one of the best restoration shops in the US (check their website sometime). As you'd expect, there's no shortage of Camaros, Mustangs, Cuda's, GTOs, etc. They remarked that no other vehicle attracts more attention than my Blazer.

I can't speak for others but I go way out of my way and do whatever I can to keep my money away from the CCP. Taiwan at least is a democracy and I feel for their plight.

ABSOLUTELY!!!! Cut out any China products possible. Amen my brothers!!!!

[DeadheadNM]

I’d love to see how the dies that stamp these products are made and operate. Not too long ago a member posted a link to an old documentary on the forging process - I was awestruck. Lately, I’ve been watching old Mr Rogers episodes with my four year old and was impressed to learn about how graham crackers and crayons are made so maybe I’m easily impressed

Agree that we should be somewhat thankful for the parts that are available. Take single wall tops for example. How many were made and still in use? Maybe 10k? I’m shocked that side glass and other top specific seals are available.

[truckster]

Originally Posted by DeadheadNM

I’d love to see how the dies that stamp these products are made and operate. Not too long ago a member posted a link to an old documentary on the forging process - I was awestruck. Lately, I’ve been watching old Mr Rogers episodes with my four year old and was impressed to learn about how graham crackers and crayons are made so maybe I’m easily impressed

Agree that we should be somewhat thankful for the parts that are available. Take single wall tops for example. How many were made and still in use? Maybe 10k? I’m shocked that side glass and other top specific seals are available.

Someday I'd like to start producing single wall tops out of carbon fiber. I think there would be a small but viable market. And a lightweight single wall top would be awesome.

[DeadheadNM]

That would be great. I’d like something akin to a half top that would keep the sun off my head and the would seal the door glass to keep arms out when parked.

[Thealien]

Originally Posted by DeadheadNM

That would be great. I’d like something akin to a half top that would keep the sun off my head and the would seal the door glass to keep arms out when parked.

Me too

[CG]

Funny how it says its Assembled in the USA. Guess that makes up for any flaws in the actual panels that are made overseas.

[scf100]

interesting.......yep they stamp parts overseas and bring here and assembly them shipping cheaper that way and better welding with the new spot wielding machines

[hemi43]

Off subject, but how about a billet aluminum Camaro?

[72ironmike]

Anybody know what happened here ? Did it sell or know who to contact ?

[1rippen6]

Originally Posted by 72ironmike

Anybody know what happened here ? Did it sell or know who to contact ?

Facebook has blown up about a complete blazer body 17,000 and a new single wall top 8,000 at the Las Vegas Sema show

[Tuff Gong]

8k seems steep for a top

[zammer]

This is interesting, I guess it’s been rumoured here for a year or two now that someone was building a reproduction full top ,does anyone have more info on this as to who’s building these etc or a link to the Facebook post?
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