'72 K5 - Greg's "Might As Well™..." Build Thread - !!! PICS & VIDEO !!!

[Greg72]

This is a dangerous expression for 1st Gen owners, and I know some of you are shaking your heads and saying "Oh no, Greg!!" as you read this.

I had pulled the engine out of the K5, and the front clip was already off so it seemed like a good time for some cleanup of the firewall area and front framerails.... (might as well, right? )

Well, things got a little out of hand....since I saw a little bit of rot in the cowl corners and figured I "might as well" deal with it now, while it's so easy to get to....then I thought I "might as well" clean up some of the electrical wiring that's been bugging me, and maybe pull out that broken windshield and see how much rust is REALLY hiding in that windshield frame area....

As of midnight last night.....my truck now sits with no windshield, the dash is 100% cleared of all wiring (including the main harness and fuseblock), no steering wheel, no pedal assembly, no brake booster and no parking brake.

It's just a bare firewall on both sides, and nothing but babypoop yellow paint (the original color) everywhere now! It's a cool feeling to have the K5 down to it's simplest form and at a point where I can truly address ALL of the rust, and get fresh paint in places that have never seen paint....even from the factory. But, it also reminds me that this had probably tripled both the timeframe to complete as well as the budget.


EDIT: Since this thead has become larger and more comprehensive than I'd ever imagined at the outset, I've decided to add some extra details and photos to this opening post... Enjoy!


TIME FOR A BRIEF HISTORY WITH PHOTOS....!!!

Here is how the truck looked on Feb 4th, 2001. This is the day I bought the truck up in Oregon... 4" suspension lift, 2" body lift....half-tons and 35's.


Over the next few years, like most people do I managed to wreck it...."improve" it, upgrade it, etc. Here it sits on maybe 1" of extra lift, 1-Tons and 38's with a LOT more front fender clearance than it used to have... It was about this time that I discovered just how rusty the front floors and cab supports were, and I refused to fasten a rollcage to all that weak metal...



In 2003, I headed out to Moab for BlazerBash...this was my second time in attendance, but without a rollcage I was not thrilled about doing much "hardcore" wheeling. This is a shot at the top of Potato Salad Hill offering a strap to a fellow 1st Gen...



In 2005, I moved from CA to NH and had a chance to run in a local mudbog event. Since I didn't have a rollcage I was required to run with the hardtop in place... the floors were STILL not repaired and I was getting frustrated as the truck began to fall into disrepair. It really needed some of my attention...



The last straw: The truck sputtered and died right in the driveway (turned out to be a bad coil)....but I'd had enough. The truck needed a lot of TLC to get it where I wanted it to be. At this point, I'd owned the truck for more than 7 years and it was time to really transform it into the truck I'd always wanted it to be.... This is the last photo I have of the truck before it drove into the shop and went onto the jackstands.







SO... IT WAS TIME TO BEGIN THE TEARDOWN:


It didn't take long to get things removed and get the vehicle down to it's most basic components. Here are some pics of how it all went down...










Windshield removed...Upper windshield area. Looks dirty but maybe not too rusty??



Lower windshield area. Goopy stuff in crevice has factory color paint on it. Was this a factory seam sealer between frame and cowl?



The tedious process of removing every scrap of wire and every bracket & fastner...



A few hours later.....all clean and ready for the paint stripping, rust repair.



Exterior shot around midnight.... no more brake booster, wiring, or heating system.

[vtblazer]

now you've gone and done it.

I'll wait for the pics but if you need something, I've got parts,
...maybe even another windshield frame.

I agree though, just something attractive about a naked K5.
(for lack of other superlatives)

[Greg72]

I'm going through the Eastwood catalog now looking at spotweld cutters and 3M discs for paint stripping, etc.

Any recommendations for things you've used and liked? I was thinking about some 4-1/2" cup-style silicon carbide (looks like scotchbrite texture) discs to start cleaning the paint off the metal to see what's really underneath. Looking for something that won't be overly aggressive on the metal....just the paint and bondo.

[Yukon Jack]

I've used a scotchbrite type pad on my frame before and it works incredibly well. I'm sure it will take paint of body panels effectively but of course start with a pretty fine pad and work your way to a courser pad as needed.

I'm very familar with the "might as well . . ." afflection. The 69 K20 was getting the sbc to bbc swap and the "might as well" afflection ended up having the truck body yanked from the frame and stripped down completely - needless to say, the illness got me good!

[Greg72]

Originally Posted by Yukon Jack

I've used a scotchbrite type pad on my frame before and it works incredibly well. I'm sure it will take paint of body panels effectively but of course start with a pretty fine pad and work your way to a courser pad as needed.

I'm very familar with the "might as well . . ." afflection. The 69 K20 was getting the sbc to bbc swap and the "might as well" afflection ended up having the truck body yanked from the frame and stripped down completely - needless to say, the illness got me good!

YJ,

Yeah, these photos show a lot more "hammering" of the firewall than I'd previously realized had been done. This is even WITH a 2" body lift, so I can imagine how much extra room is needed for the valvecovers without one...

[ChefBear]

Summer before the last one! I said might as well, I was watching my daughter and figured I'd do a tune-up while Mom was at Yoga. I was ansewering questions about the sky and roses and the dog and why is it called "Hugger Orange" when I cranked a plug the wrong way and snapped it off in the head.

Might as well do that crate motor now, and new acessories, and that B&M shifter, Electric Fan, MSD, I hated that Carter Carb, "Hey Honey, I miight as well order that SW rollcage now." "Yep, might as well..."

[BUDDY]

"Might as well" - subscribe to this thread!!

YEEEEE HAAAAAWWWWW!!!!!

Might I recommend - american autowire for all you're wiring needs & heatercraft for a replacement heater.

I used a highway series kit from AAW on my K-5 & a 200 series from heatercraft on my TJ, but I'd probably recommend a 300 series for a blazer or 2 of the mohave's from summit.

Good Luck!!

Later,
Buddy

[Yukon Jack]

In relation to the "Lower windshield area. Goopy stuff in crevice has factory color paint on it. Was this a factory seam sealer between frame and cowl?" I think my K20 als had some heavy areas of sealer in that location. I had a bit of rust on both sides of my cowl, just below the windshield area.

[Randy92782]

Looks Purty What color you going with when you repaint??

[Greg72]

Originally Posted by Randy92782

Looks Purty What color you going with when you repaint??

I was thinking about a light blue similar to some of the Corvette colors from that time period (Marina Blue, Elkhart Blue, Nassau Blue).... but the missus really likes the look of the factory Medium Olive. Must be something to do with a previous BOTM winner and the truck he showed up in once.





Just got back from the local HomeDepot with a few 3M abrasive disc samples....I'm going to sneak outside and see if any of them are going to work well and still be respectful to the underlying sheetmetal.