70 Blazer Frame Off

[richeilers]

Subscribed. I'll have to do this/have it all done someday.......not soon though.

[IronCanine]

Originally Posted by mtully79

She's coming along beautifully, subscribed!

What are you thinking for color scheme/radio and speakers?

Thanks. I'm thinking about Cortez Silver. Not a factory option for trucks in 1970, but it was a GM color on Corvettes and Camaros (among others). I got an AM/FM reproduction radio from Antique Automobile Radio and I found a Blazer under dash speaker in Canada. I'll obviously have to replace the speaker to handle the new radio, but it'll look stock. I might put some of those flat under-seat deals in there too....but definitely no holes in doors, kick panels, or rear trim panels.

Originally Posted by jaros44sr

Very nice work, thanks for the pics.....i ll watch

Originally Posted by richeilers

Subscribed. I'll have to do this/have it all done someday.......not soon though.

Thanks.

[orange72blazer]

Do you know which patch panel was used for the floor in this pic? This is about how much of the floor I need to replace on the floor of mine but the only thing I can find for the Blazer is the rear 15" or the complete floor.

[IronCanine]

Originally Posted by orange72blazer

Do you know which patch panel was used for the floor in this pic? This is about how much of the floor I need to replace on the floor of mine but the only thing I can find for the Blazer is the rear 15" or the complete floor.

It's not a Blazer specific piece, so it requires appropriate modifications...but the whole floor wasn't available (that I'm aware of) when we got to that point. A lot of Blazer specific stuff has popped up all of a sudden now that we're through sheet metal. I tried really hard to get a patch panel off another Blazer before I caved and bought that piece.

Here's a link:

http://www.lmctruck.com/icatalog/cb/full.aspx?Page=24

[IronCanine]

Here's where we stopped on our pre-fit with the weatherstrip in. It seals and looks right on the passenger side, though it sometimes catches and rolls in the back lip when closing the door with the window all the way up. The driver's side is decent, not as good as the passenger. We had to tweak the plastic rail positioning that holds the WS on both sides. The driver's side is going to need a little massaging of the top finish lines (drip rail and edge in front of WS) as well... which we've decided to do on the final fitment with the new glass and regulators.

Please feel free to make comments or suggestions on this one guys. I tried to dig deep in the site on this topic, but it wasn't as helpful as I'd have hoped and I could definitely be missing something.

[IronCanine]

Front seat belts mocked in. Cupholder console, so no floppys. My wife's opinion about the safety of this vehicle was unmoved by this pic.

[IronCanine]

The little eyebrow drain on the driver's side drip rail was ground away(along with about an eighth of an inch of the top of the drip in that section) at some point in the past...no doubt when the hideous repair to that seam was previously done. Thanks Dwayne for this section...now we can graft this part of the drip back in.

[IronCanine]

Had every intention of finishing buttoning up the front axle today, but it fought me at every turn. I have been a little disappointed in the ball joints. Everything is new Moog. None of the grease fittings threaded easily and the upper ball joint on the passenger's side has botched threads...I think I'm going to have to locate a die to clean it up.

I'll also get your guys opinion on the spindle nuts. I've seen so many different attitudes toward how to torque them in...anywhere from 50-75 ft lbs to set the preload on the bearing, 1/4 back then re-torque, all while spinning the hub. Then the outer nut to anywhere from 90-200 ft lbs.

When I initially torqued the inner nut, the hub got super tight at 50 and was pretty much locked down after that. I backed it off a 1/4 turn and then basically torqued it by feel based on the force required to rotate the hub. Then hammered down on the outer nut...am I goofing up?

I like the later model dust shield too. It's powder coated, and it matched the pieces we painted cast gray pretty well...that's another thing...it gets harder not to scratch paint the more aggravated you get.

Hopefully I'll have a complete axle by mid morning tomorrow.

[IronCanine]

Ok, basically buttoned up save for torquing upper ball joints and sleeve insert. Gotta get an insert tool (not one of the parts box stores in town had one yesterday)...and I am within a gnat's a$$ of getting the outer snap ring on the axle on the driver's side. The passenger's side was a struggle, but the driver's side is tougher. I don't know if it's just the new seals or the dust shield, but the axle end play just seems to have evaporated. When I tore it down it didn't have inner spindle seals on either side, and was missing an outer axle shaft thrust washer and associated seal on one side (can't remember which, may have been this one).

[72K5CSTDarkOlive]

I'll also get your guys opinion on the spindle nuts. I've seen so many different attitudes toward how to torque them in...anywhere from 50-75 ft lbs to set the preload on the bearing, 1/4 back then re-torque, all while spinning the hub. Then the outer nut to anywhere from 90-200 ft lbs.

When I initially torqued the inner nut, the hub got super tight at 50 and was pretty much locked down after that. I backed it off a 1/4 turn and then basically torqued it by feel based on the force required to rotate the hub. Then hammered down on the outer nut...am I goofing up?


I think I did the pre-load at 50, then 1/4 back and then torqued it to 35-40 lbs..I can't remember for sure, though. For the outer nut, I want to say I torqued it somewhere between maybe 75-90.. Definitely, no more than that.

[IronCanine]

Originally Posted by 72K5CSTDarkOlive

I think I did the pre-load at 50, then 1/4 back and then torqued it to 35-40 lbs..I can't remember for sure, though. For the outer nut, I want to say I torqued it somewhere between maybe 75-90.. Definitely, no more than that.

That makes sense to me. I was having a little bit of trouble resolving the manual, experienced posts and my actual experience. Hopefully neither of us will throw a wheel at 55mph.

[Chulisohombre]

Great job either way and good luck on resale. Hate to see anyone sell their awesome trucks. Hopefully a good new project pops up for you. Or just a good truck in good shape you can drive and enjoy.

[IronCanine]

Thanks Guys...I'm not going anywhere, I've enjoyed this part of it too much. And there'll be another project sooner or later. That definitely was too much fun. I really appreciate all your kind words and comments...you guys are the best.