My K5 Blazer Story.

[Zoomad75]

I've been lax in updating this thread. Been busy, but got a lot done so far in the last couple of months. Without further delay, here's the pics..

Starting the mockup to fab the mount for the Tuffy console.


Installed the Trail gear covers on the seats to be more color coordinated and comfort.


Other side:


I got tired of dealing with the stupid power glass in the gate. My tech I traded my old gate to (with the manual window) let me have it back to get the guts out of it. When I brought it back I ripped it apart and got it ready to swap.


Power stuff out. Put away so if I want to go back later.


Back to the console mount. Since I didn't get the brackets with the Tuffy it was up to me to sort it out. I enlisted the help of one of my techs at work as he's a crafty guy and likes fabricating stuff. He used an interesting composite material that is basically plastic with aluminum sheet on each side. Here is the second design. He's added a cupholder from a 2005 silverado jump seat I picked up. It's upside down in the pic.


Side view of the base:


With the box on top:


Mounting this combination is done by using riv-nuts. Awesome way to do things. Here's an example in my hand and a couple installed in the floor:


The tool to put the riv-nuts in with:


Base installed for further mock up:


Box set into place:


Going inside the console is some added goodies. Power is run into the box with a 6 circuit fuse panel. This panel has 2 USB ports, 1 12v outlet and a digital volt gauge.


Starting the wiring of the panel:


Added switches. Left switch operates a LED light to shine in the box so you can see in there at night. Right switch turns on power to a 300 watt AC inverter.:


The 6x9's are mounted.


I used a riv-nut to mount the body to secure the boxes to the inside panels. Very secure:


Oh, I switched out the stereo too. Found this gem at the Street Rod National swap meet for $15. Couldn't get the money out of my wallet fast enough. Full bluetooth capability for phone and music. This thing kicks ass.


After getting the electronics set up I had a Date over at Larry's place to have him shim the rear end. To prepare I had to fix the weeping seal at the governor cover. I drove it over without the rear shaft in and Larry called me back when he had it saying the trans was leaking again. Needless to say I was pissed thinking the governor was leaking again. Turns out it was worse. Puking right out from in between the trans and the t-case adapter.


Larry at work on the shims. He's got the process down to a science.



Shims in, rechecking angles. Still way too far off to run without a CV shaft. But the new pinion angle is perfect for running a CV shaft.


Guess I better find a place to build a shaft...

Back to the inside and the console. In my rush to get it ready to drive to Larry's I discovered a couple of issues. The console light didn't work and one of the 6x9's was not playing sound. What's not shown is a small Alpine amp mounted to the bottom side of the console. It's a only a 80 watt unit, but it works great with the speakers I am using. Here's the light fixed and you can see the fuse panel in there too:


Gotta get the CB setup too. In order to do so the Antenna mount I used on the 75 was going to be put back into service. But after mocking up, it won't fit without hitting the gate as it closes. So I enlisted my brother in law who is a sheet metal fabricator to make one up with the right equipment in his shop. You can see the difference in my blacksmithing and his handy work.


Tight fit:


Since the CB is inside the console, an external speaker is needed to hear it. Bro made a quick bracket to mount it under the ash tray.


With the truck back from Larry's I figured I'd pull the t-case to fix the leak. Got a new o-ring for the trans. Got help from by Buddy John to pull the t-case without killing myself. I thought it was odd the bolts into the trans were finger tight to remove. Once sealed up we stuffed it back in and found that the friggen threads in the trans were shredded. Bolts would get snug and then loosen again. Pulled the t-case to Find chewed threads. So another weekend later John and I installed GM time-sert thread repair inserts to the trans and installed the t-case again and the bolts got tight..


Freshly tapped hole ready for an insert.


I did get around to installing a external PA speaker for the CB too. It's under the aux battery tray.


ACC Vinyl flooring warming up in the sun:


Partially installed.


Rear in. Not happy with how the wheel tub covers fit.


Seats back in..


Got a fresh crank handle for the back window. It had been used as a tray in our parts department for who knows how long. Nobody knew what it was. LOL...


Then this came in. Expensive, but very worth it. New built rear shaft with a slip yoke and CV joint up front. All 1350 one ton spicer joints. 3" thick wall tube and built very well.


Installed. This is actually mid travel. It sticks in almost 4 more inches and pulls out the same amount. Should be perfect..


That's bringing it up to date on the pics. I've driven it once to try it out to make sure the driveline does not want to destroy itself. It is smooth now, but one nagging noise is still happening. It does not match a driveline or engine speed problem. I think it's the engine grounding out on the firewall. The drivers side cylinder head is very close to the firewall to start with, but the 1/4" shim between the t-case crossmember and frame closed the gap up.

It's been raining here nearly every night since I drove it so I haven't been able to isolate the noise. Got to move the #1 son up to Denver tomorrow for his first semester at Metro, so I may not get anything done until Sunday.

[MTCK]

You have been busy!!! All good looking work. Any trail rides in the near future?

[Zoomad75]

Originally Posted by MTCK

You have been busy!!! All good looking work. Any trail rides in the near future?

I want to take it right now. Actually got invited to run up to Hancock lake with my buddy John for this weekend. But I need to put some miles on it to shake it down before I go off pavement. Plus we are moving my son into his college apartment in Denver today. Dad duty calls.


I hope to get one run in before the snow flies.

[Zoomad75]

Im on my third day driving to work with the Blazer. Runs great buy it's sucking fuel like a frat boy doing a keg stand. It is more fuel than I expect for a 5.3 with my combo. It's all in the tune. If I can back it down from the 8.1 fuel map down to stock 5.3 or 6.0 I'll have a better baseline. Just struggling to find the file.

[MTCK]

What software are you using? HP tuners or EFI live? What PCM do you have? I can't recall... Also do you have an OBD2 scanner hooked in? Setting SES lights?

My L29 was setting trouble codes for rich condition bank 1 and bank 2 before I had it tuned. On my little bluetooth scanner, I was consistently at 25% fuel being pulled out in the long term trim, but I still got decent gas mileage (11 mpg on a long trip), the adjustment from O2 sensors was just fighting the tune.

[Zoomad75]

I'm using a MEFI4 controller. Software is Tunerpro. It can set codes but are read with the tunerpro software.

I have changed the calibrations with one for a stock LS1, as it's what I had on the laptop. That change alone has it up to 12.12 mpg over 10 and change. Just a matter of tweaking it now.

[Zoomad75]

Spent the weekend over at our local lake with family and friends. Good times. One of those friends is building a 70 K10 with his 15 year old son. We talked quite a bit and had a couple of other guys come by to check out the K5.3. Thier project is interesting because they are taking the long box and cutting it down to the short box sizing. It's got your nomal 350 small block and he told me he was going to find some Vortec heads for it to bump it up a little.

This is where I had an idea. I told him, stop looking. I've got a pair sitting in my garage you can have for the project. This was an extra set I picked off of a blown 350 from a customer at the shop. I've got nothing into them. I LOVE the fact that the son is excited about the project (he checked out the K5.3 too) and this truck is going to be his ride through high school and beyond. I said I've had some stuff given to me throughout my project and it's my way of paying it forward. The heads are not doing anything but taking up space and they could use them.

Special callout to GARY here.. I know you've been lurking on this site. If you read this, share your build here with us. I'm dying to see pics of the long to shortbed conversion. Since we have some miles between us I can watch (heckle, just a little) and throw any help I can your way. Starting a build thread is a good way to track the build, look back at where you started and provide insperation to others on thier builds.

Lakeside pic.. Got some lake mud on the tires. Truck is dirty, but it's built for getting dirty. I'm ok with that.

[Zoomad75]

Prior to the long weekend at the lake I did a "tuning" run out to Buelah about 30 minutes west of my place. Got to get a little dirty in the park up there..





I got a little mini project completed too. I've got the tach I used on the 75, but the face is getting faded and I'm just not feeling the look. I wanted a factory tach, but the electric speedo makes it a expensive prospect. Even the aftermarket "factory" tach with small fuel gauge in the bottom would require some surgery to the housing and creative wiring. So a thought came in my mind, why not put a new face on my old Sun tach and make it look like what could have been a GM accessory back in the day?

So with the help of a Member on CK5 that does all kinds of graphics/decals/signs, ect we made a gauge overlay in the same style as the stock gauges. Here's the look:



Finished product reassembled.


I had to measure everything out and figure out the layout of the numbers. The look came out good.


Heading out for a day trip tomorrow to catch some fall color in the moutains. Going over Medano pass and dropping into the backside of the Great Sand Dunes national park. Probably be the only chebby amongst a Cummins Dodge, Heep and vintage land cruiser. Should be an eclectic group for sure. Can't wait..

[ryanroo]

Everything is looking good! that tack overlay is sweet and an awesome idea.

[DirtyLarry]

That tach is way cool!

[Zoomad75]

Thanks on the tach. Looks way better than the faded face it did have. Worked good on the trip today too.

[Zoomad75]

Here's a mini trip report. Went up and over Medano Pass and dropped into the Great Sand Dunes National park and preserve. 239 total miles driven, 20 of which were on the trail. 18 total gallons of fuel used for 13 MPG on the trip. (gps mileage data) The trail itself is a mild one. Proof of that a bone stock Toyota Sequoia was in our group and it never had a problem. Still, the trail is a rough SOB in spots and then gets carpet like smooth when you get into the sand. It's a good proving out run for the K5.3. Onto some pics...

Riding in on highway 69 looking into the Sangre De Cristo range.


The trail sign:


First of many Toyotas we passed. Besides the Sequoia you see here that was with us, we passed a ton of tacomas and 4runners going the other way from us.


Starting to get into some color. My buddy Bill is leading the way in the Dodge.



Now we got color.


I'm spoiled to live so close to this. WOW.


One of many creek crossings on the west side of the pass.


Stopping to let the dogs out to have a pit stop.


Poser shot, of course.


Then we came around a corner to find this mess. Now this crap pisses me off. This idiot was hauling ass on a tight trail that you really don't have any view of the turn until you on it due to the thick brush trailside. The nitwit was going fast enough to mow down a dead/burned tree that was 15 inches across at the trunk where it broke. That momentum managed to flip what was left of the tree up and over the top of the Jeep on it's side. Had those three trees not been there it would have been upside down in the creek below. This was a newer 4dr Jeep Wrangler. Georgia plates. Flatlanders..



Consider this a PSA, then I'll get off my soap box. I like going fast just as much as the next guy. But there is a time and a place. Where this goon pulled this off was too tight to see anything until you were right on top of it. If it was dark it would be even worse. Waiting until they were 20 minutes further down the trail where it opens up and is nice and sandy you can carry a little more speed because you can see the turns well ahead of getting into them. Moutain trails are not for fast moving. It's not King of the Hammers. Some turns we couldn't see another vehicle coming at us until they were right on top of us. Take it easy, enjoy the view.


Getting into the dunes. Driving on them is strictly prohibited. Closest you can do is this trail I'm on.


View at our lunch stop.


Just getting ready to leave our lunch stop, the area was swarmed by a gaggle of Jeeps. All JK's with one TJ in the bunch. Nothing older.


From here, the group decided to take the highway back over La Veta pass, to Walsenburg and back up I-25 to home. My kidneys thanked me for that.

Overall, the K5.3 did awesome. Double the fuel mileage of the 75 for sure. Never stalled or stumbled at elevation (topped out at 10,700ish). Off road with the slush box over my beloved granny gear muncie was a different animal. Going up to the top, I made it pretty far on 2wd alone. Locked in the hubs and got up to the top without any fuss. Stuck it in drive and point-n-shoot. Very easy. Downhill I really missed granny gear. So I used the 2.72:1 in the 241 to my advantage. Shoved the t-case in 4lo and low gear on the trans and it was pretty close to creeping in granny. The only negative I have from the run is the ride quality. Despite the fact the shocks I reused were not leaking, they have little to no compression in the rear. Anybody that was behind me saw the rear tires catching air many times. Hell I even caught air in my seat a couple of times it was so bad. Bilstein shocks from ORD are on my list to get sooner than later.

Still I'm super pleased on how the K5.3 did today. It eats up road miles like pac-man, comfy as long as the road is smooth. Off road the tires and tru-trac up front kicked ass. Never really lacked traction, at all. It's getting there for sure.

[LT7A]

Glad that your rig is running so well. Cool to see pictures from the trip. I hope Mr. JK Rollover learned a lesson. Question on your tach. First of all, that overlay looks very cool. Question is, where are you going to mount it? I like the idea of a good-sized non factory tach. But our infamous steering columns that twist with the automatic gear selector are making it difficult. Where do you mount that dial?

[Zoomad75]

Originally Posted by LT7A

Glad that your rig is running so well. Cool to see pictures from the trip. I hope Mr. JK Rollover learned a lesson. Question on your tach. First of all, that overlay looks very cool. Question is, where are you going to mount it? I like the idea of a good-sized non factory tach. But our infamous steering columns that twist with the automatic gear selector are making it difficult. Where do you mount that dial?

The tach right now is bolted to the top of the dash. Currently, I don't have the dash pad bolted in though. Mine is hideous. Thinking of options to address the cracks. The permenant location is TBD, but I like it up top. In the old K5, it was on top, but over by the A-piller. Right now, it is just to the left of the corner of the hole where the center speaker would normally be.

I thought about the column, but if I mount it up high enough to be above the shift collar, it's blocking the view of the shift position. I don't like that. I won't mount it to the shift collar and have it rotate every time I move the shifter. It's probably going to stay on top, but where may depend on what I do to the pad. I've thought of a couple of ideas to possibly mount the tach directly to the a-pillar. That might happen once I figure out a bracket for it.

[MTCK]

Awesome pics! Glad you have been getting out and putting the miles on.

[Zoomad75]

Originally Posted by MTCK

Awesome pics! Glad you have been getting out and putting the miles on.

Thanks! I know I'm not done, but being able to put this thing on the road is so nice. Got a plan to go take another run tomorrow. It's an easy trail, but great scenery. The wife wanted to go so she could see some fall color. It's late for that, but any excuse to get some dirt on the tires.

[Zoomad75]

Another day trip completed. The wife wanted to go up to the mountains and see some color. It's late for it, but any excuse for a trail ride right?

This time we went for a new trail we had not done before. Along for the run was my buddy John in his well equipped TJ and my buddy Bill with his sister and bro-in-law in his new to him Tundra (bone stock). The trail was Hayden Pass in Northwest Fremont County. It's one of only two trails that traverse the Sangre De Cristo range to the San Luis Valley. The other trail was the last one we did going over Medano pass. This area we were going to had a major forest fire early this summer. I made a call last week to see if the trail was open as the fire came right up to the trail itself. The USFS said it was open, so onward and upward!

Making a pit stop in nearby Cotopaxi along hwy 50 and the Arkansas river.


Looking down river.


Not as much color, but still a nice day to be on dirt.


County road 6 leading up to the trail.


Start of the trail.


Looking across to the next ridge you can see where the fire came over it.


Another ridge.


Driving through the burn scar. Amazing how the white aspen trees escaped burning.


More burned area.


Looking through the burn area back towords the Arkansas river valley below.


Above the burn area, but below the summit we came across this mess. John, big Bill and I made short work of this with a tow strap.


Made it to the top.


Stopping for snacks at the summit.


Poser shot.


Better color on the west side.


Almost back down.


Looking out over the San Luis valley.

[Zane M]

Great pics. Thank you for sharing your trip.

[Zoomad75]

Here's some video of the trail ride *turn up the sound or put headphones on for the exhaust tone:
https://youtu.be/ign3CDs5Ra0

Major burn section:
https://youtu.be/p8pk_m-vkNk

Trail Maintenance. Caution, my wife is a bit salty with the language...LOL.
https://youtu.be/n1YKMtg53Dc

West side coming down.
https://youtu.be/-jJyUuxeMsw

[MTCK]

Sounds gooooooood. That 241 has a nice low range.

[Zoomad75]

Originally Posted by MTCK

Sounds gooooooood. That 241 has a nice low range.

Thanks I like it too. The low range is awesome in the 241. It's not granny gear with low range like the old 75 had, but I'm getting used to it. It helps having 4.10's in the axles vs the old one having 3.73's, but the 700r4 does seem to hold it back decently when I'm creeping downhill.

I only stomped my left foot on the floor where the clutch pedal was a couple of times on this ride. It's more point and shoot in this form. Crawls better with the tru-trac up front. Very pleased.

I didn't do much on it this weekend but sort out the CB that don't want to send or recieve. After much testing it seems like the antenna system is good, grounded correctly but the radio didn't want to talk. Tested with my Grandpa's 40 year old radio and it works. So a new CB is in the works.

[DirtyLarry]

Cool! Sounds great with headphones. One almost needs a second pair of phones up their nose to smell the mountain air mixed with burnt fossil fuels. The bad thing about GoPro where we mount it on our trucks is the fact it doesn’t really show how steep the trail is. It takes a trained ear to decipher the exhaust when she is laboring up or compressing down an incline.

Wish I could have gone this day. Too much stuff going on lately it seems….

The trail maintenance video is funny. You leave your rig idling like some diesel puke leaves their stuff running all the time…..WTH? You're not a Chumpins, Powermax or Durajoke owner.... Didn’t I teach you anything? Okay, maybe I only turn my off because it is a manual trans and I don’t trust the park brake

The beast sure sounds nice! Glad you’ve been able to get it out to enjoy it a few times yet this season but dude, you need to get those rear brakes working before you get too crazy on these mountain jaunts

[Zoomad75]

Watching the video playback, I agree. That trail was a steep pull up and down. You can hear it for sure. Despite the tunes I put in the truck, sometimes just hearing the exhaust note is all I need. Good choice on the mufflers. The sound just as good on mine as they do on yours. Even with the almost 3 liters less of displacement!

We missed you out on the trail too. I've missed trail rides for the same reasons. It's all good. Pretty soon we'll have that budding gearhead little girl riding along for the fun.

Yeah I caught myself one time leaving the engine running. Other times I stopped I shut it off. Besides, Park works pretty good for holding the truck!

Speaking of getting after the rear brakes, you are right. Let me know when you got some free time coming up. We need to get that problem sorted out. I need help putting the top gaskets on before we start getting snow again. If we got time we can fit up the winch bumper too. My next two weekends have plans made for me, but beyond that I'm wide open.

[Zoomad75]

There I go not keeping up on this again. Let's see where were we at? Having completed the last trail ride over Hayden pass with the wife a couple of things became clear that needed attention. First, the CB radio I've used for years stopped working. I had to borrow my buddy's handheld CB to keep in contact on the trail. So out it had to come.

That means, the Console and all it's gadgetry has to come out as the CB was a very tight fit.


I had tried many things to avoid this, but even with my old cable it didn't work. I even broke out my Grandpa's old GE radio and it worked with my current cable and antenna.


I had been having a discussion over on CK5 about the problem and he offered a Radio he was going to list on craigs since he didn't need an extra. I jumped on it. Uniden Bearcat 980SSB (sideband too!). It's a bad-ass radio for sure and I got it at a great price.


It needed some massaging to fit too. But it works great. Side band is fun for listening to anti-gov't whackadoodles late at night. Not sure how much I'll use that, but the normal CB bands has great range.


Next thing noticed from the last trail ride was the need for some secure grab handles. My wife is short and besides needing the step seen in the pics, didn't have much to grab to aid in getting in. Plus on the trail, she found herself reaching to grab something to steady herself on the rough stuff. After some mental brainstorming and surfing Amazon I came up with an idea. Jeeps having a huge aftermarket parts following leads to multiple options for handles. I found these on Amazon.


These things are for the current JK Wranglers and bolt in place of the stock plastic parts on them. I have none so I figured a way to use them. The passenger side already has threaded holes on the roof for a stock handle so one of these just bolts in place.


I've put my wieght on this one and it holds steady. Did I mention I'm a big boy? I think it will hold. I'll make it a point not to swing from it, but as an entry point it will work.


I wanted some up on the a-pillars too. Similar to what the 2015 and up GM HD trucks have and Dodge has been doing for a long time. I punched a couple of holes from the outside to the inside. I added a support plate of 1/8th inch steel on the backside to avoid stressing the sheetmetal. The slick part is the weatherstrip hides this completely.


Hidden from view..


A shot of the holes on the drivers side pillar. Note that the two sections of sheetmetal are not on the same plane. They angle away from each other, which was another reason for the backing plate.


My steering wheel and column thanked me for adding one on this side. I use it whenever I get in.


Moving forward a couple of weeks, Larry and I finally hooked up to sort out the rear brakes. Nothing really ground breaking here as it turned out the prop valve must have centered itself and the rears were working good. Still we pressure bled them just to be sure. Having knocked that out really quick and we both had open time on our garage passes from the wives we moved on to another needed item. The front bumper. Here's the gem out of Larry's stockpile.


We wern't sure on the ID of this despite the obvious sticker on the front, but after further sufing on the web I've confirmed it is indeed a Warn Classic bumper. It's beefy unit built out of 1/4" plate all the way through.


Now this is where it gets comedic. As well setup shop as the Bigassgas Garage is, we are lacking on the fab tools. So cutting the 1/4" plate for the brackets is relegated to a die grinder with a cutoff wheel. We did end up frying a $9.00 harbor freight angle grinder and wearing down a hacksaw blade in the process. Still we got stuff done.


We had called in some reinforcements to grab the steel we needed and one drives this killer GMC burb. Full tube exo with rack and rock sliders. 6.2 oil burner with a Banks sidewinder turbo, 3/4 ton axles and 37's. Fun rig.


With our help bailing out on us after some tacos from the local Mexican take out joint Larry and I finished up on the install.


Moving forward to Last weekend I pulled the Warn XD9000i winch from the garage and after punching a couple of added holes to the bumper mounted it up.


I did hook it up the winch to the main battery to test it out and it's working like it should. I free spooled out most of the 100ft of cable to line it up on the drum better. I can say this, the cable is darn near like new. No issues at all.


Fits pretty good in there. Plus there is room behind the winch for some type of an air tank for an onboard air system I'm planning to put in.


That pretty much brings this up current. I've borrowed a couple of tools from Larry to build the cables for the aux battery setup. Then I'll wire in the winch to the aux battery and be ready for our annual new years day snow run. That might be just a trail ride if we don't start getting some snow up there. It's been unseasonably warm around here this winter so far. I'm not complaining, as I've got more done outside this time of year than usual. But we need snow!!

[Zoomad75]

Another beautiful day in Southern Colorado for sure. Got some chores done outside, put up more Christmas decorations and finished out the dual battery project. I went simple in this case. I'm just running a 150 amp continuous duty solenoid and have it tied to a keyed on source to turn it on. If the key is on, batteries are joined, key off the second battery is isolated. Winch is hooked up to the second battery. This way I can winch key off and not kill the main starting battery. So on to the pics..

I had bought some 2ga welding cable off of Amazon a few weeks ago for this project. Larry loaned me his hydraulic crimper and cable cutter. I picked up some 2ga copper lugs to install on the cables at the local 'zone.


Further proof that there is a right tool for every job, Larry's hydraulic crimper works slick and locks the lugs on the ends of the cables.


A little shrink wrap on the ends to seal it off and the short cable from the 2nd battery to the solenoid is complete.


The Negative cable and main positive cables went together the same way. The negative was run to the serp bracket on the engine to an existing threaded hole. The main positive cable is secured to the core support all the way across.


Pardon the dust. Need to rinse it off. I verified the operation with my DVOM and it's switching on as planned and goes off with the key. Winch is powered up and works as it should. Ready for a snow run!!

I did check out another issue I've noticed when I drive it. I have to cycle the key at minimum 3 times before starting or it won't have fuel to start. Using Larry's fuel pressure gauge I can tell it's bleeding pressure off almost immediately after shutting the key off. Running pressure is right on spec, but it drops like a rock with the key switched off. Not sure if the fuel pressure regulator is causing this or if the check valve in the pump is stuck open. Based on another thing I noticed today the tank might have to come down eventually. The fuel gauge has never been right from the get go. Full reading comes in a 1/4 past full. I've filled almost 30 gallons before and the gauge indicated just under 1/2. Today heading out to take my battery charger off of my in-law's Caddy I noticed the fuel gauge going bonkers. Like the needle pointing past 3 o'clock on the face and wiggling up and down from there. I'm betting there's a dead spot on the resistor card. It's going to need some attention at some point.