My custom 1974 K5 Chevrolet Blazer 4X4

 

 

Here is my toy, my ever changing pride and joy… a 1974 Chevy Blazer; now before my fellow motor heads beat up on me I am fully aware that this will never roll across the blocks at Barrett Jackson’s Car Auction as a collector car but I didn’t pick it; it picked me. 12 Years ago I was in the market for something to play around with, at the time I had an 80’s long bed Chevy pick-up; hardly worthy of chrome valve stem caps let alone anything else. I worked up on post at Ft. Huachuca at the time and drove passed the “Lemon Lot” where contractors and soldiers sold their stuff. As I drove passed it that morning it caught my eye and distracted me all day; it was nothing at the time, no lift stock suspension, Wal Mart tires with some kickin’ white spoke American Racing rims (LOL) and some Plain Jane aluminum runners on the side, stock grill etc etc etc. The guy selling it was asking the right price but I haggled him down to $4000, it has new paint and interior but there was just something about it….. so I sold that pick-up truck and added a few Ben Franklin and she has been mine ever since.

Yes, I said she….. they are all she’s. I wish I had some before pictures of what it looked like before all the changes.

As much as I have loved this thing, I almost sold it several months ago…. I thought I wanted something new to play with and my old racing engine I put it in it was tired and had issues, quite frankly I didn’t know what to do with it anymore. One day Maria comes home from church and calls me on the phone and says it had a right rear flat, well that didn’t surprise me much as it sat for 14 months without me even trying to start it. Well, you don’t ever buy just one tire or at least you shouldn’t especially if you want to sell it…. But the thought crept in about buying 4 new ones and by gosh if you are going to go that far why not buy the rims you saw in that add of 4Wheeler Magazine.

So I went with 4 new Dick Cepek 33 x 12.50s, 17” Black Powder Coated rims but what about that engine?  Thanks to Jegs, March Performance, Corbeau Seats and LMC Truck and their awesome online service…… here is what I came up with so far.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I bought the ZZ383 GM Performance High Performance Crate Engine with 425hp and 449 ft. lbs of torque!!! But man….. those things are bland looking out of the box…… what about some chrome?  My favorite color is chrome…… the first night home, suffering from Jet Lag and wide awake at 3am in the morning, I started going through some of the boxes that not only filled up my “Earnhardt Room” but part of the dining room like a kid on Christmas morning.  Evidently, my gleeful cheers and excitment woke Maria up so we lived our early morning like a late night infomercial.  She is such a sport!!

 

 

 

 

Out with the old, in with the new; no more finger eating flex fan off the crank pulley, with the March system you’ll need to go electric and Be Cool dual electric fan and aluminum radiator from Jegs worked out nice and kicks on right on cue @ 200 degrees.

 

 

 

 

Here is a close shot of the serpentine conversion system from March Performance called the Style Track…. VERY easy install and nicely engineered.  About a 4 hour install altogether.

 

There was nothing wrong with the seats I had, they were in great shape but I was on a roll so I bought Corbeau reclining bucket racing seats for the front and a 42″ Baja Bench seat for the back.  And don’t forget the Simpson Racing lap belts.  (I have installed shoulder harnesses for the fronts the backs will go in after the cage is installed).

 

 

 

 

 

The Dash is something I installed several years ago but had to include it…… there is nothing like Auto Meter gauges; besides, you need a good gauge to help you monitor what’s under the hood.

 

 

Robert Butterfield - Butterfield Photography - Sierra Vista, Arizona