Sarge's rattle-can rebuild
 

This is my '85 M1009 CUCV, bought it sight-unseen online and haven't really done much with it except drive it and enjoy it. I've usually got some little something going on with it, but it's usually just cleaning something up and painting it while it's off the truck. It's starting to look somewhat decent so I decided to start a build thread to post progress.

Here's what I drug home. It was advertised as non-running, but it started right up and drove on the trailer.
http://pic90.picturetrail.com/VOL219.../407042544.jpg

Here's a pic a few weeks later after a good bath.
http://pic90.picturetrail.com/VOL219.../407042546.jpg

This picture is after spending a day under it with a pressure washer and then painting the underside and suspension with semi-gloss black.
http://pic90.picturetrail.com/VOL219.../407042547.jpg

Re: Sarge's rattle-can rebuild
 

The CUCV grill guard is obviously gone, DBLSPRT68 and I did some horse-tradin - his 80's vintage bull bar for the CUCV grill guard. I haven't done anything with it yet, but I want to sand it/paint it and hang some off road lights on it. Before I do all that, I decided to take the grill off and clean it up.

Stripped down:
http://pic90.picturetrail.com/VOL219.../407042530.jpg

After a bunch of primer and sanding:
http://pic90.picturetrail.com/VOL219.../407042533.jpg

Final paint:
http://pic90.picturetrail.com/VOL219.../407042534.jpg

Here it's mostly back together. My parking lamp lenses were shot, I got a really nice set from Tx Firefighter - thanks Kevin. I upgraded the head lamps to Sylvania Silverstars while it was apart. And to make sure its as obnoxiously rednecked as possible, I added the Caddy horns. They're loud and all, but somehow not right. It's like Larry the Cable Guy (Mater?) talking with a Barry White voice. I'm sure I'll get over it.
http://pic90.picturetrail.com/VOL219.../407042535.jpg

Re: Sarge's rattle-can rebuild
 

Interested to see what you've got planned. Did they fork it on both sides?
Posted via Mobile Device

Re: Sarge's rattle-can rebuild
 

My headlight bezels were broken on both sides, so I bought a new pair from Classic Parts. I also bought a media tumbler from Harbor Freight, the $50 model. I had two fist-fulls of nuts and bolts and screws that needed help so it seemed like a good time to try one. I let it run three days with play sand, it cleaned everything up good. I stuck them all in cardboard and gave them a coat of satin black. Larger items needed a visit to the blast cabinet.

Here are the head light buckets after one has been through the cabinet:
http://pic90.picturetrail.com/VOL219.../407042538.jpg

Here is the grille "before":
http://pic90.picturetrail.com/VOL219.../407042540.jpg

And after. I painted the trim that surrounds grille with satin black. I'm not sold on it after the fact. If it doesn't grow on me I'll paint it green to match the grille.
http://pic90.picturetrail.com/VOL219.../407042539.jpg

Next up will be getting the bull bar on and some lights front and rear.

Re: Sarge's rattle-can rebuild
 

Hard to tell for sure but I don't think so. Both doors are dented but the drive shafts are good. I don't have anything wild planned, it's my weekend driver. I've spent a bunch on my other truck so this one will be my budget ride.

Re: Sarge's rattle-can rebuild
 

I like the way the grille trim turned out. It would look good with all of it painted dark argent (charcoal) too.

Re: Sarge's rattle-can rebuild
 

John, I'm glad I finally saw pics of yours with the grill guard installed. I see that it is angled back some..... It looks great on my Burb. I was only going to test fit it, and try and pull it out. Looks good to me, but now I have to pull it back off and paint it black..... I did look at this truck while at your house, really nice truck. I've got to do the same things to mine, front end and underside. Mine is kinda rusty underneath. Hope we can meet up one day. David

Re: Sarge's rattle-can rebuild
 

Thanks - it probably would look better in charcoal. I'm going to give it a few weeks before I decide whether or not to change it.

David, I saw the pics of it installed on your truck and it seemed much more vertical than it was on mine. Thanks for the compliments! Satin black is a miracle cure for the chassis. I'm sure we'll get to meet up in LA before too long.

Re: Sarge's rattle-can rebuild
 

The junkyard gods smiled on me last summer, I found a K5 at the pick-n-pull that hadn't been gone over yet and it had a Rancho 2.5" suspension on it. I recognized it because I put one on a K5 I had back in the 90's. A little work and $75 made it mine, and I got some other goodies off that truck as well. But I've had some other stuff going on that have kept me from wrenching much at all in 2013, so it sat, but I've rounded that corner and can play with trucks again.

Today I put the wire wheel on the grinder to freshen up the front springs and shackles. I obviously didn't blow apart the spring packs, but hey, they'll look better. I should be able to install this shortly.

Re: Sarge's rattle-can rebuild
 

Beautiful day today, and I was working from home, so I painted parts. And I got most everything done but I need to get a few more coats on the leaf springs. I am using Rust-oleum camo paint from Walmart to give the shocks and hardware some detail that fits the truck. I bought new shocks, just some budget Pro-Comp ES1000's. They were white, but I've fixed that. They came with black boots, so they should look good on the truck. I also bought new poly bushings, but went with black, and also have new spring and shackle bolts ready to go. The bad news is a cold front is coming through tonight and I'll have to wait for it to warm up to finish painting the springs.

Re: Sarge's rattle-can rebuild
 

Look'n sharp.

Re: Sarge's rattle-can rebuild
 

Thank you sir! New shoes are waiting on me.

Re: Sarge's rattle-can rebuild
 

What size tires did you go with? Are you lifting the rear also? Edit...just noticed the rear lift.....

Re: Sarge's rattle-can rebuild
 

The wheels are Pro Comp rock crawler 15x10's. The tires are 33x12.50's. The wheels are one of the few new parts I've bought, this will be as budget friendly as I can do it.

Re: Sarge's rattle-can rebuild
 

LOOKIN GOOD JOHN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :metal:

Re: Sarge's rattle-can rebuild
 

Looking good.

Re: Sarge's rattle-can rebuild
 

Thanks guys. The weather is killing me right now. I work out of town a lot during the week, between that and the cold weather this is dragging out longer than it should. Maybe I can get this installed this weekend. We'll see.

Re: Sarge's rattle-can rebuild
 

looks good,
I know the bumper outline detail changes ,
I had my 78s guard on the 88 and it leaned out funny,check the guard shape to the bumper shape

Re: Sarge's rattle-can rebuild
 

Thanks John.

This is the best I can do for now, crazy weather down in Alabama but it is supposed to be in the 60's Saturday, so maybe I'll get all this bolted on.

Re: Sarge's rattle-can rebuild
 

Well, crap. The spring bushings I ordered do not fit the Rancho springs, they're too wide. So I decided to at least install the rear blocks, no dice there either - the u-bolts I ordered weren't long enough. Sooo, I've ordered longer u-bolts and Rancho bushings.

Re: Sarge's rattle-can rebuild
 

Some joy today, but short of Shangri-La... The correct bushings arrived and I got the front springs and shocks installed but ran out of time to do the rear. There's always next weekend, right? In the rear shot you can see how much difference a 2.5" lift w/33" tires on 10" wide wheels makes. Also, the bull bar I got in trade from DBLSPRT68 is almost ready to install. It had a little minor rust but the wire wheel cleaned it all up.

Re: Sarge's rattle-can rebuild
 

Looks good! The lift and tires will really change the personality of the truck.


BTW - love the concrete test cylinder wall!

Re: Sarge's rattle-can rebuild
 

Great work!

Your labor is bringing back some ambition in working on mine again but we've got nearly a foot of snow on the ground in Central Illinois and temps have been in the teens.

Can wait for Spring here and keep up the good work!!!

Re: Sarge's rattle-can rebuild
 

Thanks, and yeah, cars aren't the only thing that come with weird PO mods.

Thanks man. I'm looking forward to "top gone" weather myself.

I'd previously got busy with the pressure washer under the truck and followed up with a bunch of cans of satin black rattle can. It was a big improvement at the time, but I'm trying to detail it a little better while I'm working under the truck. Today was a little too cold to paint anything so I went to work with the grinder and wire wheel. I also smoked my old grinder and finished the day with a new one. Tomorrow will be warm enough to paint some more. I'll get some pics then.

Re: Sarge's rattle-can rebuild
 

Small update. Got everything installed. My front hubs didn't look so good so I scuffed them up and repainted them. I'll let the paint harden a week before I put the tires back on, so no shot with the new shoes on. It's coming along though.

Re: Sarge's rattle-can rebuild
 

I'm going to work on it some this afternoon, but I had to take it for a drive this morning. Rides good but needs an alignment.

Re: Sarge's rattle-can rebuild
 

Looks good!!

Re: Sarge's rattle-can rebuild
 

That looks great!

Re: Sarge's rattle-can rebuild
 

Thanks guys. I'm diggin it. I'm doing a little detail work on the rear now. I'm trying to get all the bumper bolts off - what a pain... But I have to so I can install the rear filler panel I have for it, and I'm freshening up the tail lights as well. I don't have much time to work on it tomorrow but maybe I can get the rest of the bolts off.

Re: Sarge's rattle-can rebuild
 

Good early morning John.
Man ol Sarge is starting to look like something now. The lift, wheel and tire change make it look like a totally different vehicle. Sort of fresh and ready instead of tired and worn out. What sort of tail panel do you have in mind? Have you sourced a new rubber floor mat for the interior?

Re: Sarge's rattle-can rebuild
 

Hey, Jim. I have a rear bumper filler panel that I got at the pick-n-pull and new bolts for it from LMC. I know this kind of goes against the grain for an old truck like this, but I want carpet with some kind of sound deadener underneath. Maybe some Lizard Skin if I can get enough to do both trucks at a decent price. No bed-liner interior for me, I like my creature comforts.;)

Re: Sarge's rattle-can rebuild
 

Oh yeah. I remember that little strip of filler on my 85 Blazer. Gives a finished look to it and helps keep trail splash from coming up in there.
I mentioned the factory rubber floor mat as that is what my 85 had. It sure made cleaning it easy enough. I work in a dirt, sand, muddy yard so the rubber mat worked out real good for me. Yeah, I miss that truck. At the time I sold it I thought I needed a pickup instead. Still like the Blazers though.
I've forgotten the particulars of your truck. 6.2 Diesel, manual, no air or pwr steering?

Re: Sarge's rattle-can rebuild
 

I've had a couple of trucks with the rubber floor mat and it is pretty convenient and easy to maintain. I'm not sure if they're reproduced though. Some of the Husky liner type floor mats will be fine though for what I'll do with it. My mudding and wheeling days are over. This is a 6.2/TH400 PS/PB (hydroboost) truck. I have an SM465 to swap in but I'm going to make it more livable first.

Re: Sarge's rattle-can rebuild
 

Ah, ok. You got a nicer one. And I remember you finding the clutch pedal and bellhousing parts a while back.
My 85 didn't have a fancy interior. With the rubber mat and vinyl seats it had no interior quarter panels. No spare tire cover, etc. Just a basic K5 Blazer. It was just an allweather means of transportation for the original owners. When I got it the tailgate hinges were rusted tight. The rear rubber mat looked like brand new so they didn't carry anything in the back. The truck had a power rear window, no console, rallys with trim rings, 305/auto od, ps, pb, no tilt, no wheel well trim, no side moldings, no rear side window vents. It was doeskin tan allover. It was 10 yrs old with 69,000 miles when I bought it. No dents, no rust and no previous body damage. It was a rare K5 find. So yeah, I wish I still had it. ;)

Re: Sarge's rattle-can rebuild
 

I haven't got to the instrument cluster yet, but decided to try the gloss white paint trick here. This works GREAT!

Re: Sarge's rattle-can rebuild
 

That ought to brighten them up. I have wondered how well the chrome spray paint would work on these.
Have you polished up the lenses or plan to replace them?

Re: Sarge's rattle-can rebuild
 

I bought new lenses. I got the idea from all the gauge cluster refurb threads I've read here. A few guys have tried silver or "chrome" paint, but most report that gloss white works best for brightening the gauge cluster illumination up so that's what I went with.

Re: Sarge's rattle-can rebuild
 

gloss white worked greatin the cluster,I even added red LEDs as well
I'd say it the best lighting improvement I've done, at the cheapest cost
here post 200
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...=421767&page=3

Re: Sarge's rattle-can rebuild
 

I finally finished what I wanted to do to the back of the truck. The receiver hitch was added months ago but I just now found a trailer light harness that is plug and play and got that on. I also got the filler panel straight and mounted with new hardware from LMC and got some new bumper bolts while I was at it - all of it painted of course, shiny bolts wouldn't work here. The tail light housings were painted gloss white and I put some new reproduction lenses on as well. I left the division markings painted on the left side of the tailgate but repainted over the unit number on the right side with the project name. I also added the tractor-style flood light although it's not wired in yet. There is reflective tape glue residue on the tailgate, I need to hit that with some Goo Gone and a toothbrush and see if I can get any of it off, but I'm otherwise pretty much done on the back end. The doors are next.

Re: Sarge's rattle-can rebuild
 

Looks great! I spliced in to the original tail light wiring when I added a hitch but I would rather have plug and play. Could you provide more info on what you used?