My '72 Blazer project.

[SamMargritz00]

thanks. its been quite the project.

[Snake41_83]

Awesome K5, man. I really like all your custom paneling, and I really like that radio setup. I would love to do something like that with mine some day.

[SamMargritz00]

the radio wasnt all that hard. running the 1/0 wire for the amps in the back took a little effort routing it under and up into the back, and money lol.

[SamMargritz00]

heres an update on the rollbar build. I used the rollbar i had in my 82 i sold a few months ago and cut it down to fit inside the blazer. we cut a few inches off each leg and narrowed it to 60 1/2 inches. in the back legs i decided to do a little "custom" look and welded a plate with a nut on the back side so it can be bolted down from the bottom up. then when it gets back from media blasting then ill prime it and bed liner it.











cut the corners off with the torch and ground the edges smooth all the way around.

[SamMargritz00]

heres what it came from...



and heres what it looks like as of today!




more pics to come once its installed

[SamMargritz00]

and here's what it looks like as of yesterday. I still need to put the remaining bolts in and tighten them up but it looks pretty good in my opinion. It looks a little bit narrower than i'd like but with the panels i made are an inch wider than the cst panels so i had to make it so i can still remove them for the hard top.

[SamMargritz00]

just an update on it. roll bar is finished and buttoned down. just a couple pics after i got it all washed for my pictures with it. found the radio antenna on the bright side! onto the top now.

[SamMargritz00]

A little photoshoot last week

[JJH Jimmy]

Originally Posted by SamMargritz00

got different tires and wheels. went with toyo open country m/ts with an 18 inch wheel. looks pretty good to me. added a cold air intake.

Your Blazer is sweet! I love the stance. I am doing a similar build on a 72 Jimmy with a 5.3 and 4l60e. What brand of 4" lift do you have? I also want to put either 17" or 18" wheels with 33x12.5 tires. What is the width and the backspacing on the wheels. Thanks for the help. Josh

[SamMargritz00]

the lift was already on there when i bought it so I can't help you there. But i will let you know on the other details when I get back to the house.

-Sam

[SamMargritz00]

Originally Posted by JJH Jimmy

Your Blazer is sweet! I love the stance. I am doing a similar build on a 72 Jimmy with a 5.3 and 4l60e. What brand of 4" lift do you have? I also want to put either 17" or 18" wheels with 33x12.5 tires. What is the width and the backspacing on the wheels. Thanks for the help. Josh

Hey, gosh I feel like an idiot. It's been about a year and for some reason I can't remember the backspacing. I went through a guy that I know pretty well to get the tires and wheels and he did all the figuring for me for the backspacing. But I know for a fact that they are 9 1/2 wide wheels and 33x12.50x18 tires. Sorry for the lack of info.

[SamMargritz00]

Well it's time for the top. My original double wall hard top is trashed and it'll cost just as much for a soft top to fix it

http://www.softopper.com/chevy-blaze...p-details.aspx

what do you guys think on a softtopper soft top? I think it would be nice during the summer driving around. It wont be a DD anymore, just a weekend and summer rig.

[fun in dirt]

Very nice ride...I really like your gauge setup!

[Effeckt]

Originally Posted by SamMargritz00

Well it's time for the top. My original double wall hard top is trashed and it'll cost just as much for a soft top to fix it

http://www.softopper.com/chevy-blaze...p-details.aspx

what do you guys think on a softtopper soft top? I think it would be nice during the summer driving around. It wont be a DD anymore, just a weekend and summer rig.

I've been strongly considering the same thing actually. My hard top is junk and the amount of repair needed would be costly. My rig is already a weekend warrior too and I live in AZ so the top is almost always off anyway. My only hesitation is the rivets in the windshield. I've been considering other alternatives like wrapping the softtop over a mold that uses the factory bolts or something of the like.

[SamMargritz00]

I think it would be nice to have the soft top if a sudden rain shower came up or just using it for shade. But I've read that there were problems with the softopper, but those were old threads, and the design changed I think and the quality is better now.

Im not thrilled about having to drill holes, but I think it would be a good investment since the hard top is a pain to get on and off and wont get used much and is going to be a costly repair.

Does anyone have any input on the softtoper tops?

[Effeckt]

Originally Posted by SamMargritz00

I think it would be nice to have the soft top if a sudden rain shower came up or just using it for shade. But I've read that there were problems with the softopper, but those were old threads, and the design changed I think and the quality is better now.

Im not thrilled about having to drill holes, but I think it would be a good investment since the hard top is a pain to get on and off and wont get used much and is going to be a costly repair.

Does anyone have any input on the softtoper tops?

I hear you on all accounts. I'm very strongly considering one and if I get one, I will likely keep it on always but just keep the sides/back rolled up unless it rains or something.

[ekajkrats]

I got one last summer and I love it. I went with the tan color.

Instead of drilling holes I made a bracket similar to these:

http://coloradok5.com/forums/showthr...light=soft+top

It's noisy when I am traveling 70mph, but the truck is pretty noisy at that point anyway.

So now there are no holes in my windshield frame and I can bolt on or off the bracket just like the hardtop. I have seen other guys on here go with the fiberglass version of a bracket, but I have none of those skills or tools or materials.

-Jacob

[SamMargritz00]

Do you have any pictures of your soft top ekajkrats? I've considered the tan color top but when i bought the center console I ordered tan but it was darker tan than my seats so i had to paint it, but I think Ill get the black top which would match the carpet :p

[Effeckt]

Originally Posted by ekajkrats

I got one last summer and I love it. I went with the tan color.

Instead of drilling holes I made a bracket similar to these:

http://coloradok5.com/forums/showthr...light=soft+top

It's noisy when I am traveling 70mph, but the truck is pretty noisy at that point anyway.

So now there are no holes in my windshield frame and I can bolt on or off the bracket just like the hardtop. I have seen other guys on here go with the fiberglass version of a bracket, but I have none of those skills or tools or materials.

-Jacob

Would you mind posting a picture of yours? I tried going to CK5 but they want me to pay $25 just to view the thread pictures.

[Effeckt]

Scratch that.. I dug through the thread a bit and finally found some not blocked. Here you go Sam -

[ekajkrats]

Sorry about the link, let me get some pics in a few minutes of the bracket and it with the sides down. I have one, with the sides up, safari style, but will also get a few of it down for you:



-Jacob

[ekajkrats]

Here are photos of the top (I apologize for the bird droppings on it, it's a losing battle I keep fighting).

Color in sun:


how mine snaps in:


from the front passenger side:


pass side closer:


If you need more pics of my bracket, let me know.

-Jacob

[SamMargritz00]

thanks! that helps a lot. With your personal experience it, do you recommend the softopper? Cause I'm not wanting to spend all that money on the hard top and be less functional compared to the soft top.

[ekajkrats]

Simply, I would buy it again. Once I took the top off and I didn't want to put it back on, this was the perfect answer for me.

I enjoy it most often safari style, especially when my young son is in the back seat. The quality seems to be good. Having owned it for only 6 months.

My only problem with my top is one of the snaps on the back was off too much and won't work. It is towards the middle and holds the top to the back bar, so it is neither detrimental to the function, nor is it visible from the outside. The install instructions are kind of lacking too, but once you get going it's simple enough to figure out and install.

It is really simple to put up and down, which makes it great for the nice days that fall between the not so nice ones.

Another thing to note is that if the sides are down and your windows are up, you will have to lower the windows a little bit to be able to open the doors. It doesn't bother me, but I thought you should at least know.

I have to park outside and if there is enough rain coming down, it finds its way in. But it is about the same for my hardtop.

Hit me up with any questions and I'll try to answer them. Hopefully this info was useful. Also, sorry about sending you to a link earlier that you couldn't get to!
-Jacob

[SamMargritz00]

Thanks for the info!!! I think you pretty much sold me on the softtopper. I really like the safari top look and top down will be fun too.