Cancer plan of attack?

[Ochre]

Ok, so like just about everyone else here, my blazer has cancer in the usual spots.

Right now, I'm looking at replacing/repairing the rocker boxes, inner rockers, outer rockers, lower door skins, front lower bedside panels, kick panels, rear bed floor, and a portion of the floor to the back and left of the drivers seat. Beyond that, the rear wheel radius's have some small holes, but those aren't as high of a priority to fix. Sometime mid-next summer I'm hoping to have the time and funds to completely spray the rust-repaired tub, so I'm currently developing a long-term plan of attack to repair this truck.

What I was thinking was this, let me know if you guys see any faults with this plan:

Start by removing rusty material from the rear bed floor, and patch that whole area. Move to the front lower bedside area, and install a patch panel there. Remove the DS inner/outer rocker (whats left anyway) and patch the floor there, then move forward to the kick panel area and fix the bottom of the kick panel and where the floor meets the kick panel, then move outwards to the inner/outer rocker.

Repeat the same on the passenger side, except for the rear floor repair (which isn't rusty on the PS). Move to the rear wheel wells and radius's, install patch panels as necessary. Replace the windshield frame while the tub is still on the frame.

Pull body mounts, and weld in new front and rear cab supports. With the body off the frame (or at least a few feet above it on some wooden blocks) repair/replace the rocker box assemblies, and replace the bowed tailgate.

Clean up the whole underside of the K5 tub, Por-15 everything down below, and spray in a semi-gloss black. sand, prime, finish, spray color (leaning towards a dark blue) and spray clear.

Let me know what you guys think of this plan of attack. Since this is longer-term, plan on everything being blasted in primer once finished, before the next job gets started, and everything being sanded to bare metal before the final primer coat gets sprayed and finished out.

Now, a couple questions -
1) what is a good seam sealer to use?
2) can I get by with a good mig welder doing plug welds, or should I invest in one of those spot/resistance welders?
3) any links/pics of where and how I should remove the rocker boxes? I have some idea of what *should* be there but want to be sure before I bust out the plasma cutter & rotozip...
4) LMC lists 2 types of cab supports, a slip over & OEM replacement..which is better?

[raggedjim]

Ochre, sounds like a good plan.

I'd take a look at the bottoms of the a pillar (where the door hinges mount) and the b pillar (where the door latch is ) I had to replace mine. The order I did this in was floor plans, rear b pillar, front kick panel, front a pillar, rocker panel, rocker box. There were a few things I had to make myself...
The front support on mine was good on the passengers side but I have to replace the one on the drivers side. The rocker boxes on mine had at least 5 pounds of rust and nuts in them, no kidding...

I know LMC shows a rear cab support but on a blazer the rear of the cab is supported by a cross member that runs all the way across. DON'T buy the rear supports!

I'm going to take pics of the drivers side, I'll post them as it progresses.

Good luck, Rg

[Ochre]

Originally Posted by raggedjim

Ochre, sounds like a good plan.

I'd take a look at the bottoms of the a pillar (where the door hinges mount) and the b pillar (where the door latch is ) I had to replace mine. The order I did this in was floor plans, rear b pillar, front kick panel, front a pillar, rocker panel, rocker box. There were a few things I had to make myself...
The front support on mine was good on the passengers side but I have to replace the one on the drivers side. The rocker boxes on mine had at least 5 pounds of rust and nuts in them, no kidding...

Come to think of it, my A/B pillars will need some work...didn't think to add that in there, but yeah, it also needs to be done. Where would you suggest adding it in my list?

I know LMC shows a rear cab support but on a blazer the rear of the cab is supported by a cross member that runs all the way across. DON'T buy the rear supports!

Anybody have pics of this? I read the same on CK5's "cancer support group" thread after posting this...

I'm going to take pics of the drivers side, I'll post them as it progresses.

Good luck, Rg

[pound41]

Depending on what you find in the front floor pan kick panel area if its rusted bad at the edge where most. I am currently doing this and the more you open it up the more you find. This is what I have done so far:
Removed inner/outer rocker.
Cut rusted floor pan out.
Cut rusted rear door pillar out
Cut rusted section of kick panel out
Removed front floor support.
Removed door and fender.
Sized up and cut new kick panel
Have new floor support in place.
What you find is the kick panel sits right on top of the floor support
The outer pillar post with fender support all tie together and can be welded and tied together for strenght. also with the floor open and the fender off removing rockerbox was a snap.
Where the rear pillar is and the section of the outer pan and knee wall are there is a welded brace that goes from the underneath of the kneewall and ties in to the inner rocker support.
So if have started at the front and working to the rear with the rocker box being the last thing.

[krue]

Someone needs to post some pics so I have a clue what ya'll are talking about. I have to do all this and would like to follow along, but I can't picture it in my head.

[LUV2XCLR8]

Originally Posted by krue

Someone needs to post some pics so I have a clue what ya'll are talking about.

[red71cheyenne]

Until the last hard drive crashed, I had photos of all this stuff you are talking about. Now, someone else, maybe OrangeUAvol will have some to post. Your plan sounds good. Don't go the route I went. Leave the tub as together structurally as you can, as I am having alignment issues after tearing mine down to parade rest. Best thing I can tell you is follow what the rest of these guys have said. The windshield frame, A pillar and B pillar are going to be the most important/difficult, then the rocker boxes next. The floor supports, floor and rear support bar are easy and you should be fine with the mig. Thats all I have used to do mine. Best I can tell at this point, its very strong, just not aligned right. I'll have to go to a roll bar to help pull the windshield frame into alignment. Any other questions, keep asking, someone has done it. Jeff.

[raggedjim]

This shows the piece that goes from side to side at the rear and is where the rear cab mounts rest. Alot of the pics I have I can't load because they are on a jump drive and my usb ports quit working

I'll add more when I can (and as I progress, slowly...)

Rg

[Ochre]

wasn't it Gee Emm or someone who completely redid a trashed canadian jimmy, posting a crapload of pics along the way? I searched for threads started by Gee_emm ad didn't find anything...anybody?

[71RestoRod]

If you’ve been to the CK5 cancer support thread then you will have seen a lot of pics of the work I did on my tub.

A couple of suggestions…. a little advice… just my 2 cents…

Like Pound41 stated, the more you get into it, the more you will find that needs attention. This is the “might as well” syndrome. For example, if you are replacing the cab supports, inner rockers and part of your floor, you may find that it’s easier in the long run to just go ahead and replace both floors. Take your time and enjoy the journey. If you don’t enjoy doing the work it will show in the end. Make sure that you have long-term garage space to do the repairs.

Before you get started tearing things apart, take the time to first line up your doors and gaps as well as you can. This means taking off the front clip, aligning the doors, re-hanging the fenders, perhaps even replacing the hinges at this point to know where the doors will ultimately hang. You may need to shim the body also… it actually wouldn’t be a bad idea to purchase your body mounts up front and bolt the new ones in loosely if they’re in bad shape.

Once you are satisfied with the alignment of all of your door gaps and such, then go ahead and remove the doors. Fabricate some bracing to stiffen the firewall / A-pillars. Take a bunch of close measurements all over the place and record them. If you have the top you can keep it bolted up during the process, but don’t trust it to keep the windshield frame and tub in alignment while you tear all of this stuff out. With the rocker boxes, floors, inner and outer rockers removed… even one side at a time, the alignment can move all over the place, particularly if you want to jack up one end to get to the rocker boxes or cab supports.

You might want to consider having the whole tub media blasted and then epoxy primed before you get started. You’ll be able to see exactly what you are up against sooner rather than later and it makes it a lot easier to cut and weld without crap falling in your eyes or setting on fire.

As you add the rocker boxes and various supports check those measurements often. When you install the inner and outer rockers, first just tack them in place. Take the time to re-hang the doors and fenders before you commit the final welds.

Most of the pieces you will need to do the job are remanufactured now. Very few of them will fit without a good deal of massaging.

1 – 3M makes a great seam sealer. You’ll have lots of time to research before its needed!
2 - A mig welder is all you need to attach the panels… there are a lot of places that you would never be able to get to with one of those spot/resistance welders anyway.
3 - You can probably get the rocker boxes out with a plasma torch, but I found a 4” grinder to work pretty well.
4 – For the extent of repairs that you are talking about, the OEM style cab replacements are the only way to go.

Most important of all... go at your own speed and enjoy!

[raggedjim]

Good advice from 71Restorod.

GeeEmm has taken a break from the board and all the pics in his threads have disappeared. Also the GREAT link on his jimmy progress, I'll miss that one. I hope they didn't get removed due to a disagreement, there was good info in that thread and we'll all suffer from it not being available...

Anyway, here's a link to his old posts, but most of the good pics are history...

http://www.67-72chevytrucks.com/vboa...searchid=96717

[raggedjim]

Ochre, here's a pic of the rear mounting area of the blazers, this is the drivers side just to the outside of the rocker box.

Rg