Hello internet,

Backstory:
I've been lurking around asking for how-to's and why-this for several thing on my 2002 S10 Blazer.
I've wanted a nice multi-use truck, but at the time when I was looking for a vehicle to get around college. I barely had money for a newer model car. So, my father pointed to a posting for a red, 2-door, 4WD, Blazer with 126k miles that the owner was selling for $2,000 about 4 years ago. As of writing this, she's currently at 174k miles.
I took up the opportunity and I've enjoyed driving it ever since. It was definitely not perfect and needed a lot of TLC. The previous owner didn't really take good preventative care of it.
First problem it had was a failing water pump, which wasn't a big deal. But, that lead to discovering that the whole inside of the coolant system had a hard build-up of the original orange Dex Cool coolant that lead to the heater core clogging and eventually cracking after it was flushed out.

I was never really a car person before owning this Blazer, but my shear determination to have something nice and in good shape has lead to an obsession of trying to restore and repair every little thing about my little red Blazer.
Here's a short list of what I've done so far and why...

• Water pump (previous one failed)
• Drive belt (previous one ripped)
• Idler pulley (seized and caused the drive belt to rip)
• Fuel pump (previous one failed)
• Radiator (leaking transmission oil)
• Distributor (was starting to wear out)
• Heater core clogged (previous owner never flushed the system)
• Dome light panel (replaced because previous one never worked at purchase)
• Wiper control module (replaced because previous one worked intermittently at purchase)
• Heart core replacement (cracked from doing a coolant flush and started leaking inside the HVAC box (Yes, I pulled the whole dashboard out))
• Front wheel bearings (previous ones wearing out)
• Brake fluid flush (preventative maintenance)
• High performance brake rotor upgrade (old rotors felt warped and I favored the high performance option)
• Rear window trim restore (discussed below)
• Brake light LED upgrade (I just wanted it)
• Front turn single LED upgrade (I just wanted it) (upgraded flasher relay too)
• Full interior LED upgrade (foot wells, dome lights, and map lights) (dashboard untouched)
• Driver-side window regulator (previous one failed)
• Diver and passenger side 6.5" coaxial speaker upgrade (driver side speaker failed)
• Front and rear diff oil change, and transfer case

Pending

• Shock replacement (seems to be wearing out)
• ABS fix (some short in the electrical; wire harness or broken solder)
• OIl leak (Front seal or rear-main seal)
• Transmission oil replacement (preventative maintenance)
• Spark plugs (preventative maintenance)
• Power steering fluid flush (preventative maintenance)
• Frond-end suspension rebuild (if more components seem to wear out)

Project:

When I got this Blazer the rear trim was in pretty rough shape. I'm sure anyone with a 2-door model is familiar with this.




I've been getting really into detailing, and having the plastic trim look like this after waxing really bummed me out. So, I began looking into methods for how to restore.
The best solution I came up with after looking around for ideas was to just keep sanding it down and repainting it over and over.

Here's the products I used.




First I masked off the windows and body panels with blue tape and newspaper. A painter tarp might have been better, but I didn't want to spend the money on it when I have piles of newspaper waiting to be recycled.
Then I sanded it down first with 80 grit. My goal was to sand it down until the little divots where flushed out. Then I used the sanding primer to lay down an initial coat. Then 180 grit sand paper. Primer. 320 grit. Etc... You get the idea.
I spent about 1/2 day just doing prep work, 2 days on constant sanding and priming, then the final day spraying the final coat.



Fully sanded down. No paint. I did have this covered and removed for the photo.


Sanded primer.


I went through maybe 4 cans of sanding primer and bumping up the grit count on each new layer until I was ready to polish it down.
After using 1500 grit to polish, then I used the Trim and Bumper paint for the final coat.


Final polish and coat with bumper trim.

The above is what the final coat looks like. I was really static when I saw how well this looked. I wasn't expecting much from the bumper trim paint.

And now the final result



There are still a few light scratches from getting too aggressive with sandpaper and not doing enough polishing. I was wasn't able to sand it flush with all the divots in the plastic, However, that kind of texture it left behind has grown on me.
In retrospect, I think maybe using a light body filler after the first sanding to fill in the divots would have probably worked better and saved time with the constant priming.

I'll have more Blazer restoration stuff to post in the near future.

 

 

That looks really good! Good job

 

Goddamn that looks nice. Making me wish I had a red Blazer now too.

 

Wow. Nice job. Others I'm sure will find this thread useful. And good job on getting all the other stuff fixed.

 

Looks so much better!

Ever thought of paint matching it?

 

Nice job. That's the way to fix things right. Hopes it will last.

 

this is awesome work bud. I too am a big fan of all things Rust-Oleum. I have used the filler primer before and I think you just showed me what I want to do with my roof rack. you got me on the multiple grits multiple times, I'm normally not that patient. you have inspired me Jedi Master. I am but a Padawan.

 

Looks fantastic man, I have the same issue with my 2000 red blazer. You've inspired me to do the same thing. Thanks a mil! if you zoom in the pic, you'll see it.

 

For faded plastic trim there is a product called "Refinish Restorer". Does a nice job for about a year on my Avalanche bed covers. It is clear, but treats the plastic and turns faded cladding dark again. Here it is on my initial application after buying the rust-free vehicle in NW South Carolina and bringing it back to Northern Indiana. You just brush it on with a foam brush and let it dry. I repeat each year. Quick and easy.