1978 Russet Metallic 4x4

[Fishermen0105]

Love the seats, where did you come up with the material? I'm restoring a '79 and would like to come up with a way to do the blue plaid. Great restoration, hope mine looks half as good when I'm done.

[buffydores]

SMS out of Oregon has the materials stock piled.

[68Timber]

Is the PS pump new?

[buffydores]

Originally Posted by 68Timber

Is the PS pump new?

Newish.

These trucks make everything else look blah. Here it is today at a charity skeet shoot. There's something so right about driving around with a couple of shotguns and boxes of shells in this thing. 'Murica!!!



I've spent the past two days replacing the clock, instrument backing plate, speedometer, circuit board, clear plastic bezel, dash bulbs, speedometer cable and speedo gears to get the speedo running true. I had my little GPS app measuring the difference between actual speed and speedo speed. It was fun.

[tommys72]

Beautiful! Very nice work

[buffydores]

Both blinkers stopped working. Any ideas?

[bhc41051]

could be your flasher.

[buffydores]

Left one is fine. Right one is not. The actual blinkers with fine. It's just the dash bulb that's not blinking. I just replaced the bulb, so that wouldn't be the first guess.

[buffydores]

I think it's a ground. It was dimmer than the right one before and after I replaced the bulb. Where did this thing ground out. I just replaced the circuit board, so the problem isn't there. Where did it ground?

[buffydores]

I'm thinking it's the bulb holder. Everything else grounds to the same place, so it's either the bulb or holder. I'll look at it in a couple of days.

[Willowrun]

Do you mind sharing part number(s) for the replacement speedo cable you used?

[buffydores]

Originally Posted by Willowrun

Do you mind sharing part number(s) for the replacement speedo cable you used?

Just hollered down to O'Reillys for a delivery to our shop. We buy a lot from them.

Figured out the light. The bulb was a dud and the bulb plug had some corrosion or something that was dimming the bulb. I cleaned the bulb plug with soap and water, then vinegar, then soap and water, then water, then dry. Then I replaced the bulb. Now the light is just as bright as the left one.

The driver side mirror won't stay put at highway speeds. Gonna fix that next. I think the rubber grommet does more holding than it first appears.

Adding dielectric grease to the serpentine belt has addressed most of the whining sounds up front. Needed new header bolts and nuts. Got those on. Pretty much there.

I like driving things for awhile to work out the bugs. I took my two boys to a local car show yesterday and showed the Blazer. That was super cool.

[buffydores]

Dad commented on the slop in the steering column, so I ordered the Borgeson steering shaft with u-joints on each end.

http://www.borgeson.com/xcart/produc...&cat=34&page=1

The steering box is new, the ball joints are new and I have a frame brace installed, so there's no reason I shouldn't upgrade the shaft to something new.

It will probably be the first part of next week when I get a chance to install it.

[phillipm]

Originally Posted by buffydores

The driver side mirror won't stay put at highway speeds. Gonna fix that next. I think the rubber grommet does more holding than it first appears.

Did you get the mirror to stay? Mine do the same thing at highway speed. I was thinking of taking it apart and wrapping a motorcycle rim strip around the post and putting the locking plate back on. But wasn't sure.

[buffydores]

Originally Posted by phillipm

Did you get the mirror to stay? Mine do the same thing at highway speed. I was thinking of taking it apart and wrapping a motorcycle rim strip around the post and putting the locking plate back on. But wasn't sure.

I installed a new one. The answer is no. Once you hit 70, they start to creep. I tried adding rubber to the post. Didn't work. I'm sure something would work, but I didn't figure it out.

[aggie91]

Outstanding work on the Blazer! Hopefully since I'm in the same part of Texas, I can see it some day in the future.

Where did you get the rubber you cut for the floor mats?

[buffydores]

Originally Posted by aggie91

Outstanding work on the Blazer! Hopefully since I'm in the same part of Texas, I can see it some day in the future.

Where did you get the rubber you cut for the floor mats?

American Floor Mats. It was stupid expensive, but I couldn't find anything else that looked good and matched the interior.

http://www.americanfloormats.com/pyramid-rubber-mats/

[SKT]

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Awesome job w/ this one - looks really sharp!

Think your Dad will drive it a lot again, or will it see limited use?

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[buffydores]

Not sure, but if he doesn't, this guy will.

[SKT]

Originally Posted by buffydores

Not sure, but if he doesn't, this guy will.

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That interior and front end accessories look great!

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[buffydores]

Originally Posted by SKT

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That interior and front end accessories look great!

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Thanks. It hits the right notes.

[buffydores]

Dad had only one complaint. The sloppy steering from the original rag joint. So Tuesday I installed a Borgeson unit with u-joints at both ends. Nice upgrade. Ended up sawing the original in half to get it out. I had to cut 8" off the Borgeson unit to get it to fit right. And it was damn hot outside.

Here are me and the boys heading to a car show a couple weeks back. We're not very cool.

[Jonboy]

Originally Posted by buffydores

Dad had only one complaint. The sloppy steering from the original rag joint. So Tuesday I installed a Borgeson unit with u-joints at both ends. Nice upgrade. Ended up sawing the original in half to get it out. I had to cut 8" off the Borgeson unit to get it to fit right. And it was damn hot outside.

Here are me and the boys heading to a car show a couple weeks back. We're not very cool.

If you are driving a Blazer that nice, you are definitely cool. Truck is outstanding!

[phillipm]

That's a great picture!

[buffydores]

John: I know, that's what we're talking about. There just doesn't seem to be enough friction at those surfaces to matter, even tightened. I added several layers of rubber and it would still rotate.