1986 Chevrolet Blazer

The Chevrolet K5 Blazer is a full-size sport-utility vehicle that was built by General Motors. Being GM's smallest full-size SUV, the K5 Blazer is part of the C/K truck series. Introduced to the Chevrolet line for the 1969 model year, the K5 Blazer was replaced for 1995 by the Chevrolet Tahoe. In 1970, GMC introduced its own model of the truck, called the Jimmy, which was discontinued in 1991 and replaced by the Yukon. The "Jimmy" name was chosen to reflect how GM may sound in a similar manner to how Jeep was thought to be a pronunciation of GP in the competing market. Both were short-wheelbase trucks and available with either rear- or four-wheel drive. Despite all Chevrolet versions from 1969 to 1988 having the "K5" badge, GM never internally referred to the model as the K5 Blazer/K5 Jimmy. Officially, the vehicles have always been referred to as the Blazer/Jimmy in 1983, the models were officially renamed "Chevrolet Full-Size Blazer" and "GMC K-Jimmy" (V-Jimmy from 1987-1991), though they are often unofficially still addressed as "K5: to avoid confusion.

The K5 Blazer and Jimmy had "full convertible" removable tops until 1975. For 1976, GM introduced a half-cab design that was less prone to leaks and slightly safer in a roll-over. These half cabs had the convertible top begin a few inches behind the driver/passenger doors and run back to the tailgate.

The second generation K5 models incorporated the rear hatch glass and tailgate into a single unit, which allowed the glass panel to retract inside of the tailgate by use of a manual crack mounted on the tailgate and a dash-mounted switch. The weight of the large glass panel was rumored to be a liability as the manual crank gears wore prematurely and the electric motor was prone to frequent overheating and subsequent failure. This also included the electric motor drive cable which goes to the window regulator to the motor (similar in design to a speedometer cable), which usually would fail under heavy abuse. Another feature of the K5 Blazer tailgate was the safety switch connected to the electric motor which prevented the rear window from being raised if the tailgate was unlatched.

This Blazer came in to have the engine removed, the engine bay cleaned out and installing a new engine. We will also be removed all the trim and badging, doors, fenders and the interior to have the body media blasted down to bare metal. Following that we will be doing any metal repair required and then moving on to paint the vehicle. Then we will be reassembling the interior and exterior.

We have removed the engine from the vehicle and installed it on an engine stand. The tear down process has begun, we have removed the trim and badging from the exterior of the body. We have removed the gas tank from the undercarriage. We have begun to remove the interior; the gauges and other parts of the dash have been removed.

We have removed the driver's and passenger doors so we can begin tear down on the doors and remove the interior. The fenders have been removed. The front seats and rear bench seat have been removed. The tailgate has been removed from the rear of the vehicle to tear down the components. Removed the carpet and headliner out of the vehicle.

We have removed the steering column and both shifters from the vehicle. The body has been rolled out to the field and is ready for media blast. The doors and tailgate have been moved to be media blasted. The doors and tailgate after being media blasted and ready for epoxy sealer. We have epoxy sealed the body after having it media blasted.

Here, we are hand sanding the hood to prevent any warping from getting too hot from the media. The hood has been epoxy sealed.