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I scored this rusty pile of wore out parts on February 22, 2021. The previous owner (PO) said it had a rebuilt 350 in it with about 60,000 miles on it. It had been sitting for about 5 years and had not been started in about a year. I gave it a shot of magic go juice and it fired right up. We made the deal and I had it towed home.

It runs and drives somewhat ok after I replaced most of the dry rotted vacuum lines and it seems to idle quite a bit better.

March 21, 2021. I was messing around with the BRB's dash. Installing an aftermarket gauge set. It started fine, then nada. Hmm, key switch must be bad since it is real loose --- not so fast --- I acquire a new key switch and it still doesn't start.
I begin excavating the steering column. Hmm, cracked turn signal mechanism --- that is why the turn signal switch is sloppy. Distractions only. I dig deeper --- the linkage to the safety switch doesn't move? There is a pot metal widget that is supposed to push/pull the linkage that broke. Of course the wrecking yard is closed on Sunday's and it is supposed to rain and snow this evening. It looks like I'll be wet and cold tomorrow.
Back to the excavation. The cruise control wires are burned and the lower column bearing is worn.

Perfect timing for the expanded “Rounded Line” forum. Nice!

You do have a few irons in the fire, maybe Mrs. Rusty Rod is right. NAW!, LOL!

I had always wanted a K5, we had the 6.2L diesel version when I was in the Service. As Rusty Rod is finding out a clean rust free example is hard to locate on a decent budget. Of course I had a list of items that I wanted it to have, a manual transmission being the hardest to locate.

March 25, 2021. I made the trek out to the "local" pull a part wrecking yard. I found several square body trucks, but no K5's. I pulled a fairly nice rust free hood and a much nicer fender (no huge dents and only one small rusty spot). I also nabbed a few odds and ends that I needed for the suburban.

I'm waiting on parts to rebuild the tilt steering column, when they get in, I'm planning on documenting it thoroughly.

Tuts, there were two or three SQB's with manual transmissions on the lot. I should go back and pull a 5 speed out for the burb. I've converted a few "muscle cars" from manual to automatic and viceyversa, it is not too difficult if there is a donor vehicle right there so that one can pull all the parts.

There were a couple of old car bodies out there too. Its sad that they will be shredded soon.

Momma says "No more projects"... Ultimately I would love to have a K5 with an NV4500 mated to a 6.5L with turbos, if I have to dream it might as well be BIG.

March 26, 2021. I sanded the new hood some today... it's got hail damage. at least there isn't a 1/8" of bondo on the whole lid!!

I messed around with my Coupe today, I got my $100 84 305 running.. NO smoke! It sounds real good too (no exhaust). This is essentially the same engine that is in the BRB.


Tuts, Mrs. Rod didn't say yes, but she also didn't say "NO"... it was "do what you want".... it was a trap.

April 1, 2021. The BRB is gonzo, it caught fire and burned to the ground. At least it was outside.

April 2, 2021. Apparently, someone was playing a joke on me. The BRB is safe and sound.

I am currently waiting for more parts for my steering column to arrive. In the meantime, I used "Selective Interchange" i.e. cannibalization, to get the 84 305 running. I'll put new stuff into the 83.

April 12, 2021. I found a couple hours to mess around with the steering column. Of course, I was missing the one picture that I needed to find the right spot for an odd looking part. I spent more time messing around than I did not fixing anything. I "thought" I had all the needed parts to repair the loose column, but alas, the wrong parts were sent. Apparently, all steering columns are not alike. I'll be tearing it apart yet again once the right parts are in hand.

April 13, 2021. I put the spark plug wires back on the BRB. I pulled the plugs and gapped them at .045 as they were all a bit wider than that.
I moved The Coupe into Mrs. Rods garage and slipped the BRB into my shop. Apparently, a blazer is quite a bit wider than a business coupe. I only had a couple inches on either side to spare, I still banged both mirrors. But it is out of the weather now so I can work on getting some of the needed work done.

I think you need a bigger shop

Don’t we all! LOL

April 14, 2021.

The "shop" is a good size. The 'burb is just too close to the centerline and fairly close to the door.
Today, I scored a very nice tailgate to replace my rusty one, a clean fender to replace my rusty one, and a newer steering column to replace my wore out one.

April 15-16, 2021. I put the "new" tailgate on the BRB and stripped the old one out. I should be able to recoup most of what I spent ($100) on it from the good parts.
I pulled the drivers damaged fender off along with the inner fender. I'll be making another trip down south to the guy I got the tailgate from, as he has pretty much everything I need.

April 20-24, 2021. I removed both front fenders and inner fenders. The replacement fenders are much cleaner than the originals, so I just need to sand and paint them.
The firewall has nasty black tar goop all over it, so I painted the firewall satin black.
I need to do some repair work on the inner fenders, so I'm going to put half the fender bolts in so I can run around and get the smog test done.
I hooked up the oil pressure gauge, 50 psi at high idle when cold.
I swapped the new HEI distributor out with the 84 305's. No I need to figure out the timing; I think I spied the timing mark in between a bunch of hoses.
I spent a couple hours at the wrecking yard looking for "stuff". I found a wiper motor that looked fairly new. I'll find out soon enough if the pump works (the old one did not work).

April 27-29, 2021. I dropped the transfer case out, waited for seals for the "new" t/c. Installed the "new" t/c. Apparently, the "slamming into gear" issue is internal to the transmission. I sourced a replacement 700R4, now I need time to replace it!

You need to get after it!

Thanks! I figured it "fell off" the page. I even searched and it didn't pop up... I didn't realize that I haven't touched it since the end of April. I did spend 10 weeks "schoolin" myself, then traveled for a couple weeks.

Sept 2-5, 2021. I spent a day dropping the transfer case and another day dropping the transmission (obviously I didn't spend the entire day on it. I'm getting kind of good at pulling and replacing the transfer case, I've done it 3 times now. The transmission essentially "fell" out of the truck. My BRAND NEW transmission jack doesn't hold pressure. I had to remove the whole exhaust system too, since I couldn't get the modification to come apart. The previous owner had the tranny replaced and they cut the pipe near the Y.
The replacement transmission went in pretty easily. I was patting myself on the back when I noticed that there was a brand new trans filter sitting right there!
I spent a couple hours arguing with the exhaust pipes, but they finally capitulated. Tuesday, I'll get back at it. I have to replace the right side exhaust manifold studs, since I broke two of them off. Of course the FLAPS doesn't stock them. I repaired the AIR pipe that was broken off in the manifold, so the smog dude can't complain about it now. I need to tighten a few connections, top off the fluids and "hope" for the best (Hope is not a course of action, but in this case, I'm hopin').

September 13, 2021. I finally got around to figuring out why the BRB was missing and running horribly. When the transmission "fell" out, the engine also went backwards a bit, it cracked the distributor cap. One of the heater hoses sprung a leak too. I have a set of hoses ready to go on, time constraints.

September 15, 2021. I figured that I better fix the drivers door window. The PO had it jimmied almost to the top and then taped. I messed around and figured out that the window riser mechanism was just stuck inside the door. Apparently, the bottom bolt holes broke. I spent about 3 hours trying to get everything back together. Then found that it is nearly impossible to put the electrical motor on the riser while it is installed. So I started over. It is still not finished!

Progress is progress.

September 17, 2021. I took a day off yesterday. Zero motivation after attending the funeral of a friends son. RIP.

I did order a couple more pieces of sheet metal for the wheel arches.

September 28, 2021. The time sure is flying by, pretty soon the snow will be flying too!

I've been tinkering with the BRB here and there in between sorting out boxes of "good junk". I took it down to the Smog place where it failed for too much NOx. A quick ggoollier search revealed that there are several reasons for excess NOx; a bad cat (no rotten egg smell); a bad EGR valve; excess carbon buildup; and a couple others. I ran a can of seafoam top end cleaner through the carb and made a bunch of smoke which was hopefully the carbon being burned out. It ran rougher than before. I poured in a can of "Guaranteed to pass smog check" liquid, now to run through the tank of gas.
I installed a new egr valve and it seems to be running much smoother now. I put in new plugs and wires as well.
I wired up the electric seats and took out about a 100 lbs of "stuff" than I'd tossed behind the seats.

Last Entry:

I did manage to get the BRB to pass smog, barely. I drove it around for a few weeks before I got a job offer back in California (my old job)!

I sold the BRB to a fellow who lives "down south" a bit towards Aurora. I gave him all the extra parts that I'd gathered, along with almost all of the stuff I'd removed for whatever reason. He made a trip back to pick most of it up. Of course, there were still more parts hiding under all the stuff on my bench.