1970 K5 Blazer CST 4x4
1970 Chevrolet Blazer CST
Up for auction is my 1970 Chevrolet Blazer K5 CST. I picked up the truck with every intention of doing a resto-mod and began working on it as soon as I got it home....actually, on the way home. The previous owner was a younger gentleman that had planned on restoring the truck with his father as they had restored a C10 together. Life got in the way and he ended up inheriting his father's truck and had no desire to take on the Blazer.The truck is a CST and came with a column shift three speed and factory air conditioning. One of the things I've always loved about the K5's is the fact that the tops are completely removable on the first generation models...meaning it's a true convertible. What I really wanted was a daily driver with a removable soft top for cruises around town and on some back roads.
The frame of the truck is incredible and has no holes or cracks. In truth, the truck spent most of its life in the air so it wasn't really near the elements. As the truck sits now it's on a 4 inch body lift and a 4 inch Pro Comp Suspension lift with Earl's brake line extensions. The steering shaft has been extended as have the rest of the steering components. a Pro Comp steering stabilizer is installed up front.
The truckoriginally came withdrum brakes all the way around, but was converted to a disc front setup when the transmission was changed to a Muncie SM465 four speed. The only leak the truck has is an occasional drip from the front input seal. The transfer case is a NP205 and the four wheel drive and transmission perform perfectly...mind you, it's not a close ratio Muncie, it's meant for more utilitarian purposes.....in the case of this truck, you could simply drop it in low and drive over a Fiat or a Miata. The clutch has good feel and is up to the task of turning the oversized tires, but I haven't had it apart to assess condition.
I picked the truck up along the PA/MD border and drove it to Tioga County PA....a trip that took the better part of the day since the truck has enormous tires, had zero front brakes since it had the drum brake master cylinder and brake booster as well as a set of leaking rear brake cylinders. To make things a little more interesting it had a massive cam installed that produced little to no vacuum to help that incorrect brake booster out. Suffice to say, it was an interesting ride through the PA countryside....I went through a copious amount of brake fluid just to get the truck home.
Once home I pulled the rear wheels and changed out the rear brake shoesand brake cylinders. I then changed the brake booster, master cylinder, proportioning valve, and front brake linesand now the truck actually stops the way it's supposed to....albeit, with 38.5 inch tires it takes a bit longer to stopthan a stock truck.
I started by pulling the Holley 1850 four barrel, intake, and heads off the 350 to find that it's filled with a set of .60 over Keith Black flat tops, bumping displacement to 358 cubes.The cylinders looked great and hadminimal wear.The cam was a high liftmodelmeant for sustained high rpmand as stated,produced a minimal amount of manifold vacuum. I replaced the cam with a milderRV cam from Comp Camsand a set of matching hydrauliclifters.I installed a set of JegsRocker studs to go with the Comp Cams roller tip rockers and a set of sealed power pushrods.The heads were disassembled, cleaned, checked, painted,and re installed with a set of Fel Pro gaskets. The intake is an Edelbrock performer topped with a new Holley TruckAvenger dual feed 670 carb with electric choke and fuel pressure gauge. In my cursory assessment of the configuration of the harmonic balancer and the accessory mounting, I believe the block not to be original to the truck. It appears to be an early 80's four bolt, likely from another blazer. The valve covers are reproduction finned units with fel pro gaskets and the oil pan gasket was swapped out for a fel pro one pieceunit.
I installed a new water pump and belts as well as flushed the cooling system and replaced the thermostat and T stat housing. The fan is a clutch-less unit mounted direct to the water pump.
I removed the headers, sandblasted them, and painted them with hi temp black header paint that's not really holding up well. The headers were re-installed with new manifold gaskets and copper collectorgaskets where they meet the welded exhaust. The dual exhaust routes through two Flowmasters and exits behind the rear wheels. The exhaust does not leak and sounds great.
The timing chain was replaced with a Pete Jackson quiet gear drive and the new cam was broken in using high zinc (ZDDP)Comp Cams break in oil and additive. It's quite deafening to break in a cam with a high compression small block that runs long tube headers and dual flowmasters that exit out the side. After break in the oil was changed with Pennzoil and a new filter.
The battery wouldn't charge well, so I upgraded the entire charging system with a MAD Electrical kit with a 94 amp 12SI internally regulated alternator and heavy gauge accessory wiring as well as billet alternator mounts and a billet power steering pump mount. The battery was upgraded to an Optima Red Top with a new hold down. The truck is now set up to remotely sense alternatoroutput and to adjust accordingly asopposed to the externally regulated alternator that it came stock with.
I swapped out the plugs with ones suited to an HEI setupand installed a setofnew MSD wires to go with an HEI distributor and MAD Electrical HEI wiring.
The truck started its life an olivegreen withmedium green interior.
The body needs repair and the previous owner welded in some patches covered with body filler. I'll do my best to describe every single thing I can as I want someone to know what the truck has and what it needs in the way of body work:
The rockers are slip on replacements that are welded in and look solidThe front floor pans are solid, but have holes drilled for drainage should you find yourself in a stream or a pond. The driver's side was patched in one place. The bed floor in solid, but needs one crossmember replaced underneath.The box side inner liners need replacedand the wheelarcheshave been patched.(not the best workmanship, but can be cleaned up in my opinion)The fronts of the quarter panelshave been patched, but need ground and filled.(same type of patches as above)The tailgate needstwo patches along the bottom edgeThe hood is in primer, but is fine otherwiseThe driver's fenders need a patch at the rear edge and the passengers fender has already been patched. (needs ground and filled)The doors have surface rust along the outer bottom edge and the interior needs patched at the seam. The hard top has some chips and was poorly painted, but does not leak.All glass is good and the cranks and quarter windows work well.
Dash lights, gauges, and all exterior lighting but one rear turn signal work. The oil pressure and water temperature gauges are aftermarket units and the tachometer is an iequus analog unit mounted to the dash pad The dash pad is cracked. All glass is in great shape and just needs a good washing. The previous owner installed a Pioneer CD/Media player and 6X9 speakers along with new 6.5" front speakers....the wiring for thespeakers is not hidden and the rear speakers need to be installed in boxes rather than simply hungon the bed rails.
The bed is has a padded carpet liner and the front seats appear to have come from an 80's blazer and have some terrible covers on them. The seats are not my favorite.....in case you couldn't tell. The belts are corresponding units from an 80's blazer and work fine. The center console is all there, but is cracked and needs fiberglass repair. The stock steering wheel was replaced with a smaller grant unit with the horn button relocated to the dash.
The fuel cell is a stock steel one and has a filler neckand vent extension. The fuel gauge works and is accurate.
The tires are weather checked and worn Super Swamper 38.5 inch TSL models on three black wagon wheels with a single steel turbine wheel thrown in for good measure. The tires hold air and I drive it all over with them....evidently Super Swampers are indestructible.
I drive the truck ALL OVER creation....I've taken it for two hourone way trips with no issues. It's loud, it starts and runs well, it doesn't smoke or use oil. The steering wanders a fair amount, but I chalk that up to having the TSL's mounted. The suspension is stiff, but it's a 47 year old truck that's been lifted and sits on mini monster mud truck tires.
I'm amazed every time I jump up in this thing and take a lap around town, how well it runs. Youclimb in, stab the throttleonce, turn it over, and it's alive. It's no dragster by any means, but sounds unreal when you open it up. If you were inclined to you could sit at a stop sign and turn those 38.5's as long as your eardrums could stand the whine of the gear drive and the roar of the flowmasters.
It needs tires and the turn signal fixed for inspection, but other than that would pass a PA safety inspection.
I'm sure I'm missing some things I've done, but it's a cool, old blazer and they're becoming hard to find with good frames. I have a set of 70's western turbines I could throw in for the buy it now price, but I really was hoping to find another place to use them.
The truck can be driven anywhere, but it's gonna be a long drive that will require legal beverages at each rest stop
I'll add a couple of links to youtube videos later. Please email with any questions. Listed locally and as such I reserve the right to end the auction early.
On Jul-29-17 at 16:55:59 PDT, seller added the following information:
On Jul-30-17 at 07:40:21 PDT, seller added the following information:
Some applications are showing the embedded youtube videos and some aren't. If you can't see the hillbilly videos of me driving the blazer around, terrifying children, dogs, and sasquatch just let me know via message and I'll direct you to the videos.
On Jul-30-17 at 08:32:57 PDT, seller added the following information:
A check of the casting numbers in the block, front and rear yielded the following: V0119CUT for the front casting and 3970010 for the rear casting. From my research it indicates that the block is a L82 block from a 1975 Corvette.....which isn't numbers matching for sure, but at least it's a Vette motor!
On Jul-30-17 at 10:27:12 PDT, seller added the following information:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QaLUdQ5wYZ0 start up video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GsBM9X9huqk low gear pull
- Make: Chevrolet
- Model: Blazer
- Type: SUV
- Trim: CST
- Year: 1970
- Mileage: 999,999
- VIN: KE180S186827
- Color: Blue
- Engine size: 358 ci V-8
- Number of cylinders: 8
- Fuel: Gasoline
- Transmission: Manual
- Drive type: 4WD
- Interior color: Gray
- Drive side: Left-hand drive
- Options: 4-Wheel Drive
- Vehicle Title: Clear Want to buy? Contact seller!