So a little update:

for one thing, I talked to a local spring shop(they've been in business at the same location since 1908, just an interesting side note) and they are making me a set of rear springs by taking a new pair of factory spec springs, and adding 2 extra leafs for me- one short one in the bottom of the pack, and one long one towards the top of the pack, and slightly arching the springs. This will get me close to what I need for height in the rear...And hopefully not be too stiff compared to my front springs. I'll have the springs by the end of the weekend, so next weekend she will be sitting more or less level again!

Other than that, I removed the factory crossover, and spent a ton of time grinding rust off the front end of the frame to get it ready for epoxy sealer. Still got a lil to go, but it's looking a whole lot cleaner.

 

Looking good so far. Is that a Porsche 356 I spy in the background?

 

Thanks! Also, yessir, it's a '58 356. Thing was a mess all the way through...Everything underneath was rotted right out, and the body had been thru the wringer as well... Lots of work went into that one.

 

Finished grinding my frame, and got it sealed up finally! Certainly looks better than surface rust and bare metal.




Friday the rear end comes out, and ill be getting the Dana 44 in the rear too....Then I can do my brake system , and start getting the driveline back together. The goal is to have her going by June for an off-road event

 

The frame does look way better now.

 

Thanks! ....I wish I could say the frame was looking good in the back too....But unfortunately, when I took off the rear bumper/ hitch she was looking mighty crispy under there.


Nothing in any detrimental areas, everything else is rock solid... but where the hitch sandwiched the frame, I got some rot thru starting on the frame :::cringe::: I'll have to get some channeling welded in there to reinforce and give my bumper I will be building something solid to mount to.....NY winters strike again...

Anyhow. Got the rear end pulled out too...It put up a good fight, but it's out lol.



Picked up the rear springs today also, they're hiding in the first picture somewhere. I'll get them sealed up tomorrow so I can get the Dana 44 under her on Saturday

 

My hitch was pretty crusty too. I had to take it off and wire wheel the crap out of it. I also had to re-weld one of the nuts that the bumper bolts went to. Unfortunately my bumper was beyond hope.

 

This is pretty much what I want to do to my Blazer, Would love to be sitting on Dana 44s some day!

 

Start researching, and make it happen! I've been wanting to do this and gathering info on it since I got my first blazer, and I'm finally getting to do it.

Got my spring perches cut off the rear 44. Bolted up my shackles and leafs to the truck



In order to figure out if I was going to need blocks in the rear, mocked up the axle under the truck and put weight on it, and then lifted it back off and messed around with sticking different things I had laying around in there, and reapplying weight/snugging u-bolts until I got it right.

Consensus is: I'm going to need 3 inch blocks back there. Not what I was hoping for, but it is what it is for now. Here's what it looked like sitting on its own weight (had the equivalent of 2.5inch blocks in these pics)





The front should level out the rest of the way once all the weight is back up there again.

Pulled the back end back apart, and glassbead blasted the shackles( I'm reusing the ones I had, they are 2 inch lift shackles I installed a few years back) sanded up the leafs, and epoxy sealed them all. I'll be throwing it back together tomorrow for now, and ordering the proper blocks I need.

Oh, and I also cut off those quarter panel extensions and studs that hang down in the back for the factory rear bumper.

 

Got the back end back together with the epoxied leafs and shackles. Now I've moved on to some other little things in the meanwhile.

Glassbead blasted my motor mount brackets(lower piece that bolts to the frame, I have brand new motor mounts), my power steering pulley, crank pulley, and harmonic balancer. Got them all sealed up and looking new.

I also drained what was left of my brake system. Then removed the ABS module, which will be getting replaced by a proportioning valve.

I removed the brake master cylinder also, which may be getting replaced by a larger one out of a full size- but I'm undecided about that still. I'm just getting it out of the way so I can get my vaccumn booster off, clean it up and paint it....Right now it looks terrible and is covered in surface rust because my old one went bad a few years ago, so I got a new one, painted and installed it-- only to find out it was defective. So when I got a new one again I was fed up and just threw it in without coating it.


I ordered a remanufactured Astro box, and it should be in tomorrow, so with any luck that will be painted up and installed over the weekend.

My lift blocks for the rear axle won't be in until next week

I went to install the Corvette servo I got from GM I'm my transmission - and realized it was just one piece, and not everything I need...So I'm just gonna say screw it, and buy the kit off Amazon. I was trying to stick with OEM parts for it, but at 12$ for the whole kit, I'm just going to go for it. That will be getting ordered tomorrow.

Also, will be ordering wilwood proportioning valve so I can start running new brakelines