1974 Chevy K5 Blazer Buildup - Off-Road Tech

1974 Chevy K5 Blazer Buildup Steering Wheel

1974 Chevy K5 Blazer Buildup Chevy K5 Blazer

When I landed at OFF-ROAD a couple years back, I told myself I'd only bring one truck with me from my last gig at a different 4x4 magazine. And it wasn't hard; most of my trucks had been built for different purposes than what OFF-ROAD magazine is geared towards. I figured the one truck I did bring over-my red Dodge, Jinxy- didn't count since it had barely run the entire time I was at the last rag. But sometimes, over these past couple years, I've needed one other truck from the old days that I'd never quite finished-an old K5 Blazer that was intended to be a jack of all trades.

And since we've been receiving a larger percentage of mail asking for older Chevy tech, I figured resurrecting this old Premudder project (its former name) and finally completing it as the K500 would make for some good Chevy tech to start off with.

To give you a quick history on this truck: it was created because I've always had a love for Blazers (a '74 K5 was my first 4x4), and I needed something finished in seven weeks to go on Petersen's 4 Wheel & Off-Road's Ultimate Adventure. With some major help from Fabworx Offroad in Santa Rosa, California, we completed this truck enough to leave Friday night at 10 p.m. before the Ultimate Adventure started in Idaho on Saturday. As for shakedown runs to make sure everything worked right...well, when the engine turned over, the shifter actually engaged the transmission in "reverse," and the truck backed out of the Fabworx shop under its own power at 9:45 at night, we figured that was a sign that no shakedown run was needed (besides, there wasn't time for one anyway).

1. After four years of owning this truck, I almost can't believe its back on the original tires that were on this Blazer. I've tried out a number of tires on this truck, including BFG's similar but newer mud-terrain, the KM2, and none have seemed to work as well as this tire in the dirt or on the highway. Yes, I am stating that this particular truck drives better on 39-inch extreme Krawlers than on 40-inch KM2s. As for wheels, I've ended up using some powdercoated Cepek DC-1s with Staun internal beadlocks. The original Centerline I.C.E. three-piece wheels that were on this truck are stillused for some race tires that go on for prerunning duties.
1. After four years of owning this truck, I almost can't believe its back on the original
2. Note to self: next time I rip off all the original sheetmetal off an old truck without a boxed frame, remember to 'cage the front end first. The bends in the frame were pretty bad. I paid a bro-deal of $500 to a friend at Reid's Auto Body to straighten the frame enough to have another friend at Spanktek cut through the firewall and attach an engine cage to the rest of the rollcage.
2. Note to self: next time I rip off all the original sheetmetal off an old truck without
3. The front end didn't change much from the original way it was built. I ended up using National leaves in place of the cheap springs that were on it, and I converted to externally-adjusted bypass shocks shortly after this picture was taken. A front sway bar was also tried for a time being, but some quick experience with the truck told me that the front sway bar was worthless while a rear one was necessary. Currently the front Dynatrac Pro Rock 60 is still filled with 4.88 gears and an ARB air locker that's controlled by pneumatic switches. And yes that diff is on the opposite side it originally was.
3. The front end didn't change much from the original way it was built. I ended up using N

The Blazer was built with the name "the Premudder"-a truck that was supposed to be used for hardcore trails and good mud while still being able to keep a decent pace through the desert. We adorned it with 39-inch Krawlers, 1-ton running gear, remote reservoir shocks, and a four-linked rear end. The truck did a good 10,000 miles accomplishing various off-road trips and tire tests, and then basically sat for the next few years due to tranny problems and a severely bent frame. It was occasionally taken out for a trip to the dunes or the desert, but otherwise it was just keeping pavement from floating away.

During these last few years, I've been adding little things here and there, and recently spent a good couple months at Xtreme Unlimited in Oceano, California getting this truck ready to go again. The frame has been straightened, the rollcage has been taken through the firewall to strengthen the frame, some more mods have been made, and some problems were addressed.

Currently, the truck is ready to go, save for a still-bad transmission. The fuel-injected 500 hp big block (a K5 with 500 hp-thus the name "K500") seems to still be able to rip apart TH400 torque converters, and it's still spewing some transmission fluid into the cab through the shifter hole. Obviously, the next mod on this truck will need to be a badass tranny build. I've got a few other plans bouncing around in my head as well, but for now, let's just concentrate on what's been done already and we'll go from there.

4. Hydraulic bumpstops were another addition that helped a lot. After a small jump ended with the front driveshaft closing off the exhaust so badly it shut down the truck, I decided that the Bilstein hydraulic bumpstops were necessary.
4. Hydraulic bumpstops were another addition that helped a lot. After a small jump ended w
5. I also managed to get my original Radflo remote reservoir shocks off the front and returned them to Radflo to be modified into bypass shocks. Do they help? Oh yeah. And I saved a lot of money by just having my original shocks updated instead of paying for whole new bypass shocks.
5. I also managed to get my original Radflo remote reservoir shocks off the front and retu
6. The rear has remained the same double-triangulated four-link that it's been. The QA1 rod ends have seemed to last through the beatings as well. But I did have an issue where the jam nuts became loose, letting the rear axle walk sideways and snapping a coilover shaft. I had to replace this driver side coilover shaft, and add a new coil since the old one had caught and bent in a "U" when the shaft broke. I had the old shock rebuilt and it's bolted to the truck's rollcage as a spare in case somehing happens again.
6. The rear has remained the same double-triangulated four-link that it's been. The QA1 ro

7. Again, nothing much has changed in the double-triangulated rear that Fabworx riginally built. I have blown out a few driveshafts, but this last one I got from J.E. Reel with 1350 joints seems to be holding up well so far. Those two crossmembers in front of the four-link crossmember are to hold up the two transfer cases and doubler kit. Using the Offroad Design kit, there is a Chevy NP203 and Ford NP205 in back of the TH400 transmission. Why a Ford NP205? Because of the driver side drop that meets up with the front axle.
7. Again, nothing much has changed in the double-triangulated rear that Fabworx riginally
8. I also ended up replacing the spark plug wires and distributor with ones from Performance Distributors. A few wires had gotten close enough the headers to actually catch on fire, so these new LiveWires with heat shielding were a welcomed addition.
8. I also ended up replacing the spark plug wires and distributor with ones from Performan
9. I switched up to an Odyssey PC1200 battery in front and used a battery box from West Coast Batteries. Jeepers and Creepers sent me some new cables built to the specs I ordered them at, and the front electrical became a lot cleaner looking.
9. I switched up to an Odyssey PC1200 battery in front and used a battery box from West Co

10. The front end actually turned out pretty nicely. When the hood is pulled off, you can see the nice Radflo reservoirs hanging over the 462ci big block that was built with as many Edelbrock parts as possible. The old Edelbrock Pro Flo fuel injection system will probably get updated to the new Pro Flo II software in the near future as well.
10. The front end actually turned out pretty nicely. When the hood is pulled off, you can
11. Fuel delivery isn't just a concern at the engine side: after a whole lot of head-scratching about how the ECU could get so out of tune, I realized that the fuel pump might have gotten toasted, even though it sits a foot away from the nearest exhaust point. After Edelbrock sent me a new electric fuel pump, the truck was good to go again, and I found I needed a heat shield to protect the fuel pump.
11. Fuel delivery isn't just a concern at the engine side: after a whole lot of head-scra
12. The old PSC steering pump's body had torn at the top inlet. Dennis at Xtreme Unlimited showed us the trick of how to get the pump apart and back together again (and it isn't just using a whole lot of ass).
12. The old PSC steering pump's body had torn at the top inlet. Dennis at Xtreme Unlimited

13. With a bunch of little additions made and the truck almost ready to roll again, I dumped the gear oil out of the axles and transfer case, changed the engine oil, and replaced all the fluids with some Amsoil synthetic juice. I can understand not using more-expensive synthetics in your engine since you commonly change that fluid, but I cannot imagine wasting your time with old crude in your axles, steering system and transmission (where the fluids are sometimes never changed).
13. With a bunch of little additions made and the truck almost ready to roll again, I dump
14. After a different aftermarket shaft popped off the steering box while I was off-roading, I decided to try one from Flaming River with a smooth slip shaft. Not only did we replace the steering shaft with this new unit, we also replaced the entire steering column with a tilt column from Flaming River. We even had a fancy Flaming River steering wheel on this until it got "damaged." A quick stop to our local auto parts store got us a nice, well-priced Grant wheel for the meantime, but I miss that fancy Flaming River wheel.
14. After a different aftermarket shaft popped off the steering box while I was off-roadin

15. A little more interior work was needed in the form of some new inner door panels. Knees bouncing around through whoops had broken the plastic of the original panels, but luckily LMC has perfect reproduction panels that we got our hands on.
15. A little more interior work was needed in the form of some new inner door panels. Knee
16. The back of the cabin has been updated, too. Three Tuffy security boxes (and drawer) are bolted down in the back to keep every tool and spare part in a hard, locked, bolted-down, metal container.
16. The back of the cabin has been updated, too. Three Tuffy security boxes (and drawer) a

17. Through some horsetrading, I got my friend Danny to finally paint the Blazer in his home shop. I had rattle canned the entire truck years before, and it really looked terrible. In fact, I'd never even painted the hood. We picked a close color in an industrial paint, and Danny laid it on after a bunch of prep.
17. Through some horsetrading, I got my friend Danny to finally paint the Blazer in his ho

18. I had also lost a headlight that had fallen out during off-roading, and the parking lights had somehow cracked as well. LMC had a selection of different styles that I could bolt into the front of my truck, so I ordered up some clear, plastic lights (the last ones were glass and the weight was probably why one broke out during off-roading) and we got them into a new front end. Since we were painting the truck, I had also taken the opportunity to order a new Chevy grille from LMC to replace the old GMC one I had. That was just a matter of personal taste-I think the Chevy front looks a lot cooler than the GMC grille.
18. I had also lost a headlight that had fallen out during off-roading, and the parking li

Sources
Edelbrock 2700 California St. Torrance CA 90503 310-781-2222 www.edelbrock.com	Dick Cepek Tires & Wheels 4600 Prosper Drive Stow OH 44224 330-928-9092 www.dickcepek.com
AMSOIL 925 Tower Ave. Superior WI 54880 800-777-8491 www.amsoil.com	J.E. Reel Driveline Service 448 S. Reservoir Pomona CA 91766 909-629-9002 www.reeldriveline.com
LMC Truck 15450 W. 108th Street Lenexa KS 66219 800-562-8782 www.lmctruck.com	Performance Steering Components 11468 FM 730 South Azle TX 76020 817-270-0102 www.pscmotorsports.com
Performance Distributors 2699 Barris Drive Memphis TN 38132 901-396-5782 www.performancedistributors.com	Xtreme Unlimited 1210 Pike Lane #2 Oceano CA 93445 805-474-1312 http://www.xtremeunlimited.com/
Bilstein 14102 Stowe Drive Poway CA 92064 858-386-5900 http://www.bilsteinus.com	West Coast Batteries 410 Le Roy Drive Corona CA 92879 888-379-2555 www.westcoastbatteriesinc.com
Offroad Design 484 County Road 113 Carbondale CO 81623 970-945-7777 http://www.offroaddesign.com/	Jeepers And Creepers CA 415-387-2323 www.jeepersandcreepers.com
BFGoodrich P.O. Box 19001 Greenville SC 29602 877-788-8899 www.bfgoodrichtires.com	Fabworx Offroad n/a n/a CA 707-566-7045 www.fabworxoffroad.com
Tuffy 25733 Road H Cortez CO 81321 970-564-1762 www.tuffyproducts.com	Odyssey Batteries 2366 Bernville Road Reading PA 19605 800-538-3627 www.odysseybattery.com
Radflo Shocks 18375 Bandilier Circle Fountain Valley CA 92708 714-965-7828 http://www.radflo.com/	Spanktek n/a CA 805-709-3228