Bloverlanding in a Blazer

[SuperBuickGuy]

I thought I'd be continuing on with exhaust, however, the bits I need didn't arrive yesterday... not complaining, I have tons to do - but one of those changes from moving is going from that-day or next-day delivery to in-a-week-or-so delivery... so I let my ADD reign and
started working on fixing the core support

amazing it can take 2 hours to do this but I'm still setting up the shop - so to cut these two pieces, I had to: clear the shear, find an extension cord, get the dies in the brake, find an extension cord for that, set the brake, get the metal out, clear a table to put the metal on, fix my wife's dog kennel, go to the store to get my wife a jump box, finish the brakes on the motorhome, then complete these pieces..


I did 'waste' a bit of time staring at these trying to determine how I was going to mount an idler pulley under the alternator..

and then ADD again with the front bumper

so how does one 'level' the front bumper? by checking the angle of the door sills, of course. Of course, they're also a 1/3rd of a degree different from side to side...


anyway, now's that for a got-nothing-done?

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

not a lot to photograph - basically just tightening bolts... but I got new part

and bought hoses to connect the upper radiator hose

brand new fluid... I was right, it was a placeholder

and time to start routing the brake cables

soon, remove these and remount them

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

More parts arrived today... rear shocks


also the dies for putting pipe beads


directions were non-existent but figured it out

and a bead

then paint the cross over coolant tube

figured I'd use the later NP205 (one is a 77, the other is a 78 - the 78 has 30 spline outputs

the onto taking the NP205 apart so I can get the bearing bored



for reasons below, I didn't have the patience to knock this roll pin out

then an unintended visitor... quails are cute but utterly stupid. Of course, Luigi was in heaven

fun fact, the quail will sit on the fan until it gets flinged off...

and the other visitor - waiting for its tow to get fixed... again. lord I hate Jeeps

 

[bobs77vet]

nice work , so its the small diameter dies that are the trick, did you have a bigger die for the bottom in your collection that would have worked?

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

nice work , so its the small diameter dies that are the trick, did you have a bigger die for the bottom in your collection that would have worked?

no - the other problem is one of the dies needs to spin slower then the other - so, rather then both being driven, the large one is on ball bearings.... these aren't expensive... like $26 from Eastwood


OMG FIRE!!!!!! quick, get the explosives out of the shop


in other news, welded the brackets for the shocks on the rear axle and the tabs for the brake lines


and mounted the T for the brakes


the other news was I spent quality time cleaning and rearranging....

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

I haven't hit it yet, but it was just a matter of time - the problem - you can't reach the bolt heads on the frame without removing the tank or the bumper. You can't remove the bumper without removing the hitch... and the tank is mostly full... so I used fire*

sadly the fire system I don't have nor the safe space for flammables was used in this wonton demonstration of irritating fire officials

I also think several lithium batteries were in their chargers too....

also painted the transfer case... that was out too when I torched off the hitch....


I know this is silly, but I'm going give one last shot at getting the hitch out...the right thing to do would be to stuff a m80 inside then heat the outside with a torch....


also ran the lines for the rear brakes then hamfisted a fitting so now waiting for parts

looks good, though


*note, on another forum someone told me I was very unsafe because I didn't have a fire shed (for flammables) and a sprinkler system in my all steel shop.... then proclaimed he got a fire badge out of a cracker jack box.... (okay, the last 6 words were ad-lib)..... as such, and since I'm a complete respector of authority and their stupid rules.... I mock. I know, seems so unlike me... lol

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

time to get a bit of paint on the bare metal



and finish the brake lines... but to fix means taking more apart...

remove the lines, rebend the lines, move the connection to behind the spring, drill a new hole and connect


and done


of course, had to hamfist and now I'm waiting for a new adapter (leaks)

front axle had a 1310 u-joint, now 1350


the old one, good thing I changed because it had a worn spot (would have leaked)

and done

went with flange type u-joint plates - gives me a longer driveshaft

then bled the clutch

only way to bleed

good spot for this

 

[bobs77vet]

i have found i use the ez bleed mostly as an air pressure vessel, it makes such a mess with fluid in it and its a pain to clean, do you ever put fluid in it?

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

i have found i use the ez bleed mostly as an air pressure vessel, it makes such a mess with fluid in it and its a pain to clean, do you ever put fluid in it?

fluid is in.... only leaking in a few spots.... winningish

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

what's wrong with this picture? everything.... first the bracket attached to the caliper is attached to the wrong caliper, second the caliper is on the wrong side, and finally, the bracket on the axle is in the wrong spot... pictures



now correct


had to extend a cable


and I got the last parts to adapt the nv4500 to the np 205... this is as bulletproof as it gets... nice pieces
adapter that allows you to 'clock' the transfer case (if you wish)

this is pretty cool, it replaces an aluminum part that's actually leaking on mine...

Advance adapters ain't cheap, but it's solid quality. 4x4lugnuts (the JO who put the calipers together.... not so much)... here, let me put him out of business. The cable set is a wilwood part, the calipers are simply 1977-79 Seville and El Dorado rear calipers. Save yourself money.... don't use him. I suppose I wouldn't be as annoyed if his advertising is "well, you can save money or save time with my parts"... how does he figure? can't tell his right from left.... screw him, the parts are available elsewhere for less money AND you'll get pictures that actually mean something.

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

so let's try to make today into some semblance of sense... when we last talked, I had built a nut removal tool that eventually worked.
what I didn't do was pull the balancer off because I didn't have the puller. $21.98 and 100 Chinese children will eat tonight

it worked too... but it took a lot of heat


then it was time to give the output shaft a 5/8" shave

and success (blue tape to minimize crap getting into the trans)

then got dead stopped because someone removed the dowel alignment pins - and the fast way to destroy a transmission and transfer case is to ignore the alignment (for those cheaping out - that housing is from a Dodge version of the NV4500 - Advance adapters simply adapts that housing to the NP205). Careful shopping and you'll probably save $200 in parts buying piecing it together


then into the bulk of my night... 205 rebuild

some of the parts looked fine but since I already have new parts (good parts), I'll replace them like this bearing in the lower cover.

first was take the rest of the assemblies apart to check whether or not they needed replacement
this bit was fine


then pull the other t-case apart to see if it had any parts I needed to replace

sure comes apart quickly when you know what you're doing

sadly, a lot of the parts were junk - however, some good was found

the left one is the good one

and the problem with the other is the teeth are worn where they engaged - which would have allowed the case to pop out of gear.
one of the parts I needed to replace was the rear output shaft.... and no joy, while the other t-case part was in good shape, it's the wrong spline - and this one really matters

but the shift fork was in great shape - thankfully, they interchange - so even if the high range fork is worn, you can use the low range fork (which is the same part number)

interestingly, these were in good shape in the t-case I just took apart

they weren't in the one I'm building... too many jammed gears, I guess
this shaft - see the ridges on what is supposed to be a smooth surface? also the teeth where the ring engaged it was absolutely trashed


anyway, new, updated output shaft is on its way and a bunch of other minor parts... I certainly have plenty to do while waiting for them

 

[bobs77vet]

wow, nice work

 

[phantomjock]

Ditto.

 

[rtj]

Wow, this whole project is industrial strength.

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

I'm not thrilled there isn't a seal there - but ah well... onward
subassemblies (this time, the output shaft

install seals

needle bearings

bearings and races on the idler

rear output assembly

I hate spring clamps, but am really glad I spent the $70 on a decent spring spreader

front output assembly

test fit... I'm going to have to build a cross member.... what I have is too wide

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

time to mark this doneish


getting close to install


oh the joy of balancing a transfer case

and test fitted... needs to come one more time, but close

the problem is I need to take about 1/4" off the output shaft

 

[Red77]

It's coming along really well!

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

trim and glue
trim

glued

measure for driveshafts

given how fast Tom Woods is, I imagine this will have driveshafts in it Monday night

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

driveshafts are here

and installed


no bluetooth driveshaft here

now for the fun. the 86 doesn't have a removeable trans cover... it will when I'm done

so for unknown reasons, GM covered the floor with a plastic cover... which trapped moisture... yay, more rust

and the floor.... it has a story, and I'm sure it's good, but it's puzzling me... such as this crack

we've talked about this seat hole

and this random rust

this rust we knew about

however that hole? no clue

it was covered by the plastic... it looks like someone got after it with a pick... but there's no hole in the plastic cover...
there will be many patches... but for now, remove cover so I can build the shifter for the t-case (yep, method to the madness)

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

grinding and welding is going to happen inside, so time to clear it out

eww

I really wish I knew the story of this rig... it has some interesting other stuff, like the entire area behind the seats is covered in tar.... to the point it filled the seat anchors

back the spark generation - so here's another puzzler... the center hump is welded down - that was a 2wd only thing... and the vin is right on the cowl...

and even this has some interesting bumps in it

free tools


and more rust... but not terrible.... some needs patching but as I said before, there is no rhythm or reason to it - for example, the fill cover... is utterly rusted out but the floor is fine... why there? there is no way for anything to pool at that point but the lower portion of the cover is gone....
anyway, more tomorrow.