'77 Blazer Project

[cbgrant74]

I'm finally finding a little time to work on the Blazer.  (I'll post a few pictures later.)  I pulled the old, rusted-out, broken-in-half tailpan, and discovered that the the frame rails are rusted through at the rear body mounts.  (Generally, the frame is in excellent shape, but water must have gotten trapped between the mounts and the top of the frame rails.)  I can fabricate a new section from plate and weld it in, but I need to find some steel that's the right thickness.

The frame rails seem to be 0.150" thick, which puts them half way between 1/8" and 3/16".  Does anyone know if I can buy steel in that thickness, or is the only option to find a junk frame and cut out a patch piece?  I could just use 3/16, it would just be a little thicker than the rest of the frame.

Thanks.

- Charlie

[cbgrant74]

Here are the photos.

The old tailpan:



Out she comes:



This is a problem:



Cut out for patch:

[bake74]

     It's looking good, keep up the good work.  At least you should be proud when you get it done.

[Corkey723]

Keep the pics coming, I have a bunch of this to do on my 87 in the coming weeks.

[cbgrant74]

Well, I decided to go the junkyard route on the frame patches.  I picked up a piece of a rusty but mostly intact truck frame and cut out the sections I needed.  I cut the body mount holes with a hole saw.  Here is one welded in place:



With a bit of rattle can paint to keep the rust at bay:



In hindsight, it probably would have been better to bend some flat stock to the right profile, but it's done.

The bottoms of the tailgate posts were rusted through, so I cut them out and fabbed up patches:



So the tailpan area is coming together, and it's time to start thinking about the next item on the list.  I think I need to tackle the rockers, cab mounts, and cab corners to fix the obvious body sag.  To start the process, I pulled the rocker panel "slipcovers" that got the Blazer to pass inspection during its final few years on the road (20 years ago):



And what was underneath:





The good news is that the rot doesn't extend too far back towards the frame.  The cab floor is mostly shot, but really only the outer ends of the cab mounts are rusted away:



What pieces should I be ordering to work on this area?  There's a five-piece kit for the trucks; does that work for the Blazers too?

[bake74]

     I believe the 5 piece kit is for trucks too, someone will confirm or correct that assumption.  You got a lot of work in front of you, but you did a great job on the frame.

[Captkaos]

The 5 piece cab kit will work for the Blazer, but you need the rear pans to fix the area behind the seat, and the front pans for the truck will have to be trimmed to fit correctly...

[johnhood]

love the blazer man keep up the good work my buddy has a 74 thats been in his family for almost 26 years he is restoring now i cant wait to hear your next improvement


heres a picture

[colton hicks]

Its awesome to see someone restoring an old family truck, mine doesn't have that kinda story behind it but i'm hoping someday it will. Keep up the good work i'd like to see the finished product.

[cbgrant74]

I have a "what is this part?" question.  In the first photo below, I have outlined a piece of sheetmetal that sits inboard of the front of the rear fender and the rear of the outer rocker panel.  It is behind the fender, door jamb, and B-pillar in the photo, so you can't see it.  It holds up the end of one of the bed cross-members (yellow U shape), and there is a nut for the seat belt anchor (single yellow line).  The second photo is taken from underneath the Blazer, looking up and towards the front of the vehicle.  You can see most of the piece in this photo, including the nut for the seat belt anchor and the two bolts that pass through a flange on the B-pillar, through the rear of the cab floor, and into the piece in question.





I think this piece is specific to the Blazer (as opposed to the trucks).  It doesn't seem to match any of the photos or line drawings of the available cab support or sheetmetal parts.  What is it called, and does anyone know if there are replacements available?

Thanks.

[Captkaos]

This is specific to the 1973-1977 Blazers, and I haven't found anyone that makes this part at this time.

[cbgrant74]

It's been a while, and progress has been slow, but at least there's been progress.  I'm working on a plan to fabricate that cab support piece (compound curves in 12 gauge sheetmetal, so we'll see how that goes).  In the meantime, I got the tailpan installed.  Everything fit together pretty well, and when I hung the tailgate (after I took this photo) the gaps lined up nicely.  I'm waiting to weld the uprights until I decide whether to keep the original tailgate (badly rusted on the inside) or get another one in better shape.



I have a question about a set of brackets that go inside the frame rails below the rear-most body mounts.  The outer bumper brackets bolt through the frame rails into nuts welded to these brackets.  Here is a photo of the one I removed from the right side:



I know the ones I removed are too rusted to salvage, but fabricating new ones seems fairly straightforward.  (I haven't found new/reproduction brackets for sale anywhere.)  The issue is that I think the top sections of the brackets have completely rusted away, so I don't know what they should look like.  Below, I've tried to sketch what I think I need to make:





My assumption is that the top (missing) part of the brackets goes over the lower rubber piece of the body mount and under the upper flange of the frame rail.  Am I on the right track?  Does anyone have a picture of one of these brackets intact?

Thanks.

[bake74]

     If I get home before dark tonight, I will look at my son's 79 blazer out back and see if I can snap a pic of the bracket for you, will have to see if it is the same thing or not.

[Captkaos]

Did you get the picture you needed, that is basically what the part looks like.  I had the same problem with my Blazer.  I got the part from a donor.
Here is it on my Jimmy installed:

[cbgrant74]

Here is what I came up with:





I made them from 12-gauge sheet metal.  I'm not sure that's exactly what they looked like from the factory, but they're pretty close and will serve their purpose.

Now on to fabricating that body support under the driver's seat.  Same thick sheet metal, but fun compound curves...