Project "BLACKOUT"

[JUSBLAZ]

Hey Guys,

Thought I would share my project with you, and finally found some time to post it. I didn’t want to post without pictures, cause I know how much everyone loves pictures around here.

I purchased this 72 in the spring of 04 from a guy in Arizona, and couldn’t start the project till I sold and finished a couple other projects. This truck was in good shape body wise, but had been sitting in a warehouse for a few years and did not run. After getting the truck in my possession I found that it was originally red and they painted it AZ white right before they stored it. So the plan was to give it a new paint job and drop in a new motor, but you know how that goes. That’s where the story begins…

[Jtrux]

Your body is not in good shape......it is in AWESOME shape ! It looks great, why the name black out?? Is there a black paint job in the future or what?

[LUV2XCLR8]

Damn, where can I score a body just in good shape, My 2wd is jelous

[JUSBLAZ]

Thanks, I did want a pretty straight body to start with, and yes the plan is to go all black on this truck.

Well as the original plan started I was going to put another motor in and do a new paint job, but as I thought about it I figured why not take the driveline out to freshen up and clean it. So here we are on the tear down, taking the transfer case out then the engine and trans.

[JUSBLAZ]

The other issue that I did not like about this truck was the gas “tank”. This thing was for sure a tank, large and in the way. I could hardly get to the diff cover, so I decided to change the tank to a stock one. My guess is that whoever owned this truck must have used it to go over some rocky terrain, and wrecked the original tank along with some body panels which you will see.

[1LoC10]

nice.... thats a clean sucker there

[JUSBLAZ]

So with the tank and driveline out of my way, I started to think why not get the frame blasted to remove all that junk before I put it all back. So I talk with my painter and we looked it over and decided to fix a few things before we sent it to the blaster. One thing that needed to be replaced was the rockers on both sides. Looks like they were replaced before they painted it, but did a bad job. The other thing that I could not figure out was the tailgate, everything work on it and it seemed solid, but the bottom part of the L was missing. As if it had been filled in with filler. Other than that everything else seemed fine. So I took the rest of the interior out before I sent it to the painter.

[JUSBLAZ]

Once my painter got it he started to strip a few spots that you could tell had been filled. That’s where we noticed some damage to the body, not from rust, but from dents (possibly using on rocky terrain). So the plan was to replace all the damaged body parts with new. Not what I originally planned, but if I was going to do this right we needed to replace them.

[dilbert]

were did u get the rear quarter panels i need some bad

[JUSBLAZ]

We could only find the rear quarter for a pickup. So we had to cut it shorter and make holes in the rail for the top. Everything else worked out good.

[Yukon Jack]

Sweet K5! You are really going at it. So, who is the headless helper?

[swyfor5]

Can you elaborate on how you modified the truck bedsides? I could use some advice in this area. I like the blackout idea- want mine to be ginger brown and all black. Awesome pic's man!

[JUSBLAZ]

Originally Posted by swyfor5

Can you elaborate on how you modified the truck bedsides?

Since the panel was for a PU and had to cut it shorter, we knew the only way was to butt them together and weld them. Leaving the the original pillar in place, and cut as close as we could to the edge. So the first thing was to carfully cut the old one out. Making sure it was a straight cut. (marked the line and used a plasma) Once that was out then we could use the old one for demensions, and mocking up the new one. We also made a template for the hole locations on the top.


What part of Northern Mi do you live?

[JUSBLAZ]

Originally Posted by Yukon Jack

So, who is the headless helper?

That is the painter...

I still can't figure out how he can do it

[Critter]

Wow! That looks like a nice solid truck. I'm glad to see you are taking it down to metal and fixing everything correctly. Let me know when you get ready to "black out" that shiny grill and bumper. I can give them a good home and you can take the paint gun to some that aren't so pretty.

[vtblazer]

Welcome to the board, very worthy project ya got going on.

I 'feel your pain' with the AZ thing.
I also picked a white one up in AZ and found lots of hidden issue's once I tore into it but it still beats buying a northern truck, hands down.

Looks like all is on track and your heading in the right direction.

[swyfor5]

Welcome aboard! I live in Marion, right on M-66. Cool project ya got there. Can't wait to get started on mine. Here's a Q, how do you prep chromed metal to paint over it? I have a set of headlight bezels that are brand new and I want to paint them black. Anybody have a set of black ones and want to trade? Mine are brand new from GM. When I replace the grill assy, I want to go back to the original black outline for 1970. Later, keep on keepin on.

[JUSBLAZ]

Originally Posted by vtblazer

I also picked a white one up in AZ and found lots of hidden issue's once I tore into it but it still beats buying a northern truck, hands down.

Yes, around here all you would find would be a rusty no floored truck. The one thing that pictures do not show about this truck before I started was the runs in paint, and the bad job on sanding the few spots of filler. It was a twenty footer for sure, not worthy of showing off, but a great platform to work from.

[JUSBLAZ]

Originally Posted by Critter

Let me know when you get ready to "black out" that shiny grill and bumper. I can give them a good home and you can take the paint gun to some that aren't so pretty.

Actually the plan is to keep the chrome stock. The "Blackout" will be black body (no trim) black top, and blacked out windows. So with the top on you would not be able to see in, and with the top off and windows down it would look pretty much stock. I have not figured out what I want to do for the inner grill yet.

[JUSBLAZ]

SWYfor5 you must have plans to take it to the sand dunes once your finished. Your not too far from them are you? Any pictures of your truck on this board?

As for painting chrome I'm not sure, my guess would be to buy good primer.

[vtblazer]

Originally Posted by JUSBLAZ

As for painting chrome I'm not sure, my guess would be to buy good primer.

Definitely scuff the chrome up enough to give the paint a surface to 'bite' into or it will peel off in no time.

[Critter]

Is that your 67 Camaro in the background?

[JUSBLAZ]

Originally Posted by Critter

Is that your 67 Camaro in the background?

Its a 66 GTO project... next on the list to do

[swyfor5]

Definitely plan on some dune runnin, but project has a long way to go. No pic's yet but I'm working on it. Have some friends that go to Silver lake once in a while. Have to do a mapquest to see how far it is from my house. Not a lot of wheelin areas close to me, but a lot of state land-orv trails,etc. Great for camping, two tracking, cruising. Waiting to finish my dad's 66 pontiac project so I can get the k5 in the barn and start the teardown. Plan on starting a rebuild thread as soon as possible. Later.

[JUSBLAZ]

Well after we changed the rockers and test fit the bedside it was off to get blasted.