2000 ZR2 Blazer Refresh
 

Hi all!

Decided to start a thread on the refreshing (not restoration) of my Blazer ZR2 I picked up recently. I want to get this Blazer in good condition as a weekend warrior; Off-roading, weekend trips out of town, some driving for photography sessions in nature. I have a lot of options for off-roading and exploring so those are my goals.

Anyway I'm going to break this down in four phases: Interior, Suspension, Motor and Paint at the end.

Interior is worn and dirty, ask me what it takes to clean 20 year old carpet.
Suspension is worn out. Previous owner changed out the shocks front and back so it's okay in that regard. Ball joints, tie rods and bushing are gonna have to get replaced before I do any serious driving.
The engine is solid, a few leaks but nothing major. Starts right up, oil pressure and temperature are consistent. Shifts in 4HI, 4 LOW and back to 2HI.
Paint and rubber on outside have gotten beat by the sun and age so I want to repaint it and treat/replace the rubber portions that I can.

So this thread is gonna be a journal of my progress. I will show you the little nuances of fixing up a worn out vehicle but in no way is this professional.

So this first step I took after I closely examined it was deciding to replace the interior. I hit the local junkyards with my dad looking for interior pieces. I needed a lot, almost the entire inside. So I tracked down some better condition seats and found some dark grey ones. I think you need a 15mm deep socket for the front seats and if I remember its a 17 or 18mm deep socket for the rear seats along with a T50 torx. The T50 is also for the seatbelts.

If the front drivers seat is powered and you need to push it back to expose the front bolts then you need to take off the plastic guard (takes a small torx) under the front bottom of the seat and there you can find some way to move the seat back using a power drill and come bits.

In that run, I grabbed all four seats, the four seatbelts and visors.
I'll come back and clarify the specifics, like socket sizes.

So we went back the next day to the same donor vehicle that gave me the first run supplies and grabbed the lower portion of the rear panels. The ones with the arm rest and small storage cubby. My ZR2S was missing the arm rests and the cubby latches were broken off. These were solid but dark gray. (I will deal with that very soon).

I also needed a new steering wheel. Mine was also rough and almost worn completely through. So in order to get a steering wheel you need to rent a steering wheel puller from you local autoparts store. I recommend Autozone for that, $20 and 90 days to return it. O'reilly was charging me $70 and 2 days to return it. So to pull the steering wheel you need to remove some small bolts from the underside of the steering wheel cover. It's better if you have the key for it or if you are at the junk yard one that the has the steering wheel moving freely.

If you are doing this on your own vehicle, unplug the battery!

Remove those pieces and set them aside. Then turn the wheel half a turn so the logo is now sideways (on the airbag). Get yourself a screwdriver and small mirror. I put the mirror behind the steering wheel on the cluster to reflect back you an opening. Inside there is a small wire, like a thick paper clip. Also there is a white plastic piece in there too. Don't be tempted to push on it that's not it. Push on metal clip and the airbag will click open on one side. You can't miss it. Turn the wheel the opposite direction so the logo is sideways facing the opposite way and repeat. Now the airbag will be loose.

Take care on these next parts. Slowly lift the airbag and with a small flat screwdriver disconnect the airbag and put it aside. Afterwards you have to disconnect the horn wiring. You will see some Torx screws with springs in them with red wires leading to a small plastic piece with a spring into the steering wheel frame. Carefully push and turn counterclockwise to release the white plastic connector. You will see it has some small plastic hooks on each side (careful with these and the wires connect to it.) and carefully let it hang out of the way.

Take your tool rental and pull the steering wheel and there you go. You don't need the wheel puller to put the steering wheel back.

All this stuff I learned on the fly. More next time.

Be sure to post pics!

Sounds like you are off to a good start!

Definitely sounds good... waitting for pics!

Yeah I'm getting in the mindset to document more. These two steps are after the fact and are good for forcing me to remember how it work to take it apart and put it back together. I realized that by now that there are a lot of little fixes that are gonna need attention. Like a cut speaker wire, broken speaker mounts, cleanup of old spilled liquids long since petrified like an ancient dinosaur, dust in every nook and cranny. Stuff like that.

GM used a lot of plastic support pieces and those are all broken or are ready to break.

Here is how it looked right before I put the headliner back in. Which I replace the material.
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/blazerf...31be564ee7.jpg
Bare bones interior

Carpet!

Oh the fun. So I can imagine in its 20 years of existence not much attention was paid to the carpet. There were no floor mats so there is a hole in the driver side where the heel of the past owners dug into it and made a neat "heel hole". My old ford focus had one of those so I know where it came from (not from digging for gold). Drinks were spilled in the passenger side and the back seats, for a second I thought some were rust but it was just petrified cola or coffee. And now my favorite... pet hair. There was dog hair everywhere in the carpet, I would pull a screw and it came with hair. Plus the last owner was a smoker so there were cigarette butts hidden too.

So my options were to order replacement carpet from Rockauto for $350, have a local auto upholstery do it for $500, take it south of the border into Mexico and get it done for about $200 or clean it with a carpet cleaner a carpet vacuum and a lot of scrubbing. I decided for now I would clean it. Since I could use the vacuum to keep my Buick and my dads truck from looking like this in the future.

So I did. Since the seats were out of it and I knew how to remove the inside panels, I moved ahead. I could always take the carpet out and have it sent to get a new one made in the future. I didn't worry too much about the places that would be hidden by the seats, but it all got scrubbed and cleaned.

So that's about it. Nothing spectacular about cleaning out old carpet. The removal was pretty easy just take it slow so you don't catch any wires or connections running underneath.
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/blazerf...380607944d.jpg
Before
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/blazerf...b6b1c69bfa.jpg
After

That cleaned up really good! It's going to look good cleaned up!

Nice job on the carpet. Last week I was able to score a really nice rear carpet from a wrecking yard for less than $25.

What you can do is make a list of parts and now and then go to the u-pull yards and slowly accumulate what you need.

I posted about how I was able to use the VINs of the Blazers in the yard to find which had the interior colors I wanted. This would work for others too to find ZR2 specific parts.
https://blazerforum.com/forum/builds...e4/#post724203

That's a very good tip! I do have a list in my head of what needs attention. But as I am working on it I discover something new to add to the list so it's ever changing.

Yeah our local junk yards have an app so as soon as an S10/Blazer in certain year range drops in I am notified so I can go an pull parts. It's a bit frustrating since a lot of the people that go there do not go about the right way of dismantling parts so you get some important pieces are broken while they were trying to remove it. It happens alot with the dashboard bezels, the door panels and the inside trim pieces.

But I have learned that I have to be patient with this build. There are still a lot of S10 and Blazers still driving around many in good condition so eventually I will get all the pieces I need.

So to the headliner!

The cloth on the existing one was beginning to sag on the driver and passenger side. So when I found out how easy it was to remove the headliner I went ahead and removed it to asses the condition of it. Once decided I removed the cloth and began the tedious process of removing the old foam from the headliner with a toothbrush sized metal brush! I know but since I am going through home renovations my dremel ended up in one of many boxes of temporary storage. I set it up on a flat surface in the shade of the garage and just started scrubbing, it took a good 2 hours to removed the old foam but I was in business.

Next I raced off to the local auto upholstery store and tried to buy 3 yards of headliner material but got nowhere on account of the workers there. I went to another place and I got my headliner material in 5 minutes. It was about 98 degrees outside so I decided to take a break until the late afternoon when the sun eased up.

Here is where things started to go wrong. Over here where I live around 5-6pm on many evenings we get some cooling winds coming from the west. It's great because on hot days it's nice to feel the cool breeze coming back. Problem is it gusts so trying to put a headliner material on a cardboard/fiberglass surface that has not much weight is not fun. A few times it would blow over before I even could lay the cloth material over it. I ended up using those plastic clamps to hold one side down and started spraying the glue.

I had a full can of some heavy duty spray adhesive Misty brand whose valve went bad and leaked out the side. So no good. I found that I had a full can of 3M 77 general purpose glue and decided that this could work. This was my second mistake.

I managed to coat half of it and glue the material down, I smoothed it out paying attention to any air pockets or wrinkles. Then I moved the clamps over to the glued side, "just in case" and spray the other side. By this point the can was felling very light but I managed to finish the flat surface, but I didn't have enough to cover the overlap on the backside. I managed to get the misty adhesive to work and forced it to work and finished just before dark.

My third mistake came next. I started cutting the access holes for screws and upper console, etc and everything was going good. Got them all cut and instead of waiting I went ahead and put it back into the truck. Well, that did it. I came back the next morning to find it sagging in many many places but since I cut the accessory holes already, it was a lost cause. I ripped off my headliner material and decided to let the glue dry completely while I pondered my options. $45 dollars and a day gone.

SO learn from my mistakes.

1. Don't rush the job.
2. Have a suitable work area.
3. Use quality glue and have extra just in case.
4. Let the glue dry and cure completely before moving it back into the vehicle.

I will post some pics in about an hour so you can see visually.​​​​​​

Here's the pics of the misadventures in replacing the headliner. Looking back it wasn't as bad as I thought but like I said I got impatient. I recommend that glue. It's very sticky, I got some on my hands and it takes about a day and half for the glue to wash off with constant hand washing and scrubbing. Just make sure the valve is good and keep some replacement spray nozzles on hand. The quality of the glue clogs them up quickly.
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/blazerf...6aee840d55.jpg
Before, you can see the stain on the right side and you can make out the air pocket.
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/blazerf...611fbfacf9.jpg
You can see my troubles beginning in the back
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/blazerf...a89f715b5f.jpg
Disaster
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/blazerf...3941609a7f.jpg
Worse than before
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/blazerf...9427021979.jpg
Quality glue, just make sure the valve works.

So I'm in the mood to type today so I will update where I am at now. The headliner was from last weekend. This weekend was very busy and productive!

Thursday comes around and I am at work and decide to check the local junkyard inventory to see if anything new had been added. I was surprised to see a '96 Blazer 4X4 2 Door in white was just added. It looked like the rims it has matches mine! I didn't have my tools in my car with me so I could head directly after work so I planned on friday after work heading there directly and see what is left. When I go a day later they are always torn apart with lots of broken pieces scattered everywhere. Which is a shame because you might need a part that someone else broke.

Friday after work I head over and found it, and to my surprise no one had touched it. I went inside and the interior was immaculate, the last owner really took care of the interior. So I climbed in and sat there trying to see what I could use on mine. I already had the seats which were charcoal, and the lower rear panels too (also charcoal). But my Blazer is Pewter Grey. I was planning on painting the rear interior panels to match the pewter grey. I decided to take the upper inner panels with me right then and see how I could take them home in my sedan. Which fit, barely.

I would come back the next morning right when they open and grab the carpet and headliner. Off I went and I took all interior panels except for the dashboard and door panels, since they were different than mine. I took my time and got the rear glass hatch to open and with that I was in business, I took care to remove all the pieces and gather all the lug nuts for the next guy. I didn't want to be one of those guys that just destroys everything. I took the seats out and placed them outside along with the other pieces I didn't need. When I had what I wanted I put everything back inside and went to pay for my stuff.

I came back yesterday morning to pick up the center console (this one was in better condition) and a spare rim to replace the one hanging off the back. And of course the guys who destroy cars got it and broke and scattered a lot of the pieces I took care of putting back into the car. I managed to find the center console, disassembled and scattered and pulled one of the tires off for the rim.

So now my ZR2 is Charcoal grey instead of Pewter grey. I like it it looks a lot cleaner inside.
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/blazerf...9150e788ca.jpg
Rim that matches my ZR2
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/blazerf...b5ecc2da15.jpg
Donor Vehicle.
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/blazerf...4695dce7a5.jpg
All the seats were in very good condition. Manual seats but clean.

So what's the deal with the destroyer people? Can you tell if they are after specific parts?

The few times i go to a u-pull yard i'll try to kerp things tidy for the next person as a way to "pay it forward" to the person who did that for me.

”this is glue.... Strong stuff”

- elwood

Yeah it is. My work has about two boxes of the stuff. Which is where I got it but since it's been sitting so long a lot of them are leaking, losing pressure or have bad valves. I managed to find a good one and asked the manager for it and he gave it to me.

I don't know maybe they are impatient, don't care, don't have the right tools with them or don't know how to disassemble. There are some that break open glove boxes and other storage places to find valuables the last owner left behind. It's not uncommon to find some nice stereo speakers hidden in a weird spot because someone wanted to "save" them for themselves. Plus the workers don't patrol anywhere (they just stay by the entrance) so it's not like they are gonna get caught for it. Supposedly if they catch you breaking a piece you pay for it. But each junkyard has its own problems. Some more broken windows, others more broken parts, some more scattered parts.

The best way is to get there as soon as the car your looking for drops or hope you have really good luck.

I found a video on youtube from 2014 of a ZR2 that looks very close to how mine looks.


The main differences from mine and the youtube version are: I have aftermarket rims, I don't have those wind deflectors on the hood and windows. I don't have the step platform under the doors, I have a cowl hood instead of the flat one and the badge on mine has a blocky, stencil lettering with the word Off Road in red. Other than that they are identical, more now that I changed the interior to charcoal grey instead of pewter.

Also some past owner, sprayed the fender flares and bumpers with that rhino lining, like for truck beds, and my goal was to get them smooth but the texture is growing on me. So I may leave them as is.

One more update for today.

This past Sunday, I went all out and put the inside back together. I have almost everything i need to complete it. I just need the charcoal door panels and the dashboard. Mine is good except for the bezel around the odometer and radio. It's cracked same with the dash mat.

So i cleaned the carpet on Saturday evening with my handy carpet cleaner and some scrubbing and let it dry overnight. The next morning, while the carpet was getting rid of the last of its dampness, I gently washed the new replacement headliner. While those were drying I got all my pieces together and formulated a plan of attack. I removed the grey carpet I had recently put back into the truck and by then the new carpet was good to go in. I removed the last of the pewter grey trim pieces still inside. After I attached the seat belts from the center mounts only.

The headliner was dry and in it went. Added the visors and overhead console. Added the hand holds to keep the headliner in place. Next I added the lower rear trim panels, then the upper trim panels and got the seat belts attached from the top.

I then moved the rear seats into place and began to tighten them down. As I was almost done with the rear seats I was using a ratchet with a pivoting head and while I giving it the last push to tighten them the pivot moved up and threw my hand into the metal frame of the seat and cut me pretty good. So after the bleeding stopped I packed it up for the day. I joked with my dad that the Blazer has tasted my blood so we are connected. Haha

I just needed the front seats, center console and the door panels to complete and be done with the inside for now. So with a busted hand and help with my dad I added the front seats and got a pewter grey console in place.

Yesterday (Tuesday) I removed the lower tailgate cover and cleaned all the dirt out of the mechanical switches and parts and greased them. I put the new charcoal grey tailgate cover and added a handle to the glass hatch, mine was missing.
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/blazerf...cc451cc4af.jpg
Carpet in!
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/blazerf...b42da317cc.jpg
Looks great!
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/blazerf...05402e64a0.jpg
Visor lock
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/blazerf...324e792763.jpg
Seat belts bolted in
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/blazerf...184423356d.jpg
Lower rear trim panel in.
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/blazerf...31366650b2.jpg
Passenger side.
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/blazerf...f68cc3ba41.jpg
Back seats all cleaned up

A small update for now.

I got a lot of parts from UPS and FEDEX and are waiting to be replaced. This weekend I plan on replacing:

- Door Pins on driver door (door sags).
- Door Roller Pin on driver door (won't stay open).
- Add missing door spring (driver side).
- Lower Ball Joints on both sides.
- CV Axle (driver side)

The door pins are going to fun. I plan on building a wooden frame to hold the door while I replace the pins and roller pin. My roller pin didn't come with a C clip so I am going to a mechanic shop and ask them to tack weld the roller pin. Once the welding is complete I will add a replacement door spring. I'll make sure to take pics in case someone is interested in seeing how it works.

Looking nice and fresh! Keep un the work.

Have you found the special tool for compressing the door spring?

https://cdn11.bigcommerce.com/s-sno9...=2?imbypass=on

Yeah picked it up on amazon for $7 along with a replacement spring for $3. The door pins were about $13 (for both driver and passenger door). I even found the roller pin that holds the spring in place. Mine was cracked and the spring was long gone.

Would you mind putting up a link to the roller pin if you can, my moms Jimmy is gone all together, so pins are once a few months lol.

Sure thing, just let me make sure it fits perfectly and I will post the part numbers and the place where I found it. I'd hate to put it up and you buy it and it doesn't fit correctly. You can see in the photo where the old one cracked and the spring pushed itself free long ago.
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/blazerf...a5717bee48.jpg
New and Old

Thanks, the one on the jimmy, that little roller at the bottom, was bent 90°, making the spring pop off everytime the door closed lol. My dads ready to sell the truck just because of door hinges lol,

Here we go:

This weekend I had a lot I planned to do unfortunately due to the heat and discovering I need more parts before I could continue, I focused on the door hingers and the door roller pins. The following below is how I did it. You may need to substitute some parts/tools/steps to suit you.

For this you will need the following parts:




These will need to be ordered as all separate pieces and put together before you can use it on the door. Check Amazon. I got them off a Chevy Service Parts Department. The storefront name was Findlay Auto. Dpn't worry if Amazon tells you it's not compatible with your Blazer.

For the regular hinge pins, I don’t have a part number just some generic ones off Amazon.

The tools you will need:

Good quality chisel (to break weld on roller pin)

A small hammer (about 6” version)

1/4” Flat Punch (to knock out and push in pins)

Hydraulic Press or small sledge hammer (to assemble roller pin)

Welder (to weld finished roller pin in place)

To assemble to Roller pin you need to put the hinge pin, door check roller and the Pin together. Take you time and check very thoroughly that you don not damage the parts. If you have a hydraulic press you can press it all together. If you don’t use the small sledge hammer to hammer in the pin and get the roller pin assembled. Be very careful you stop before the pin cracks and the before the top mushrooms. Otherwise you will need to grind it flat so it fits back into the top hole.

I find it easier to remove the door. If you are replacing all three parts (roller pin, and two door hind pins) then you can remove the door for easier access. Otherwise you need to hold the door open. Remove the door panel and set aside. My ZR2 has power mirrors and power windows so after I removed the door panel, I disconnected the large cable on the side above the speaker. It’s a matter of pulling the blue clip that surrounds the top of the connection down and you can disconnect the door. (Remember to leave the window rolled down for better mobility when the door is loose. Stuff the disconnected cable into the cavity where it leads from and now you can remove the soft rubber boot that bridges the door and body. Once the boot is removed, I wrapped the cable around the parking brake so it is not hanging in the way. With this disconnected when you remove the pins you can remove the door from the body and set aside.

Knock the door pins up and out of the hinge, keeping track of the orientation the pins and bushing went in. You can always refer to the passenger door for their locations. Now with the help of you someone strong, knock the pins out while they are holding the door. Once it is out, help said person to take the door and set aside where it will not get damaged.

Now you can knock the weld and head off the roller pin. If you use a good quality chisel you can easily knock the head off the pin. An angle grinder works also now that we have access to it. Be very careful of the windshield glass. Once the head is flat/flush with the hinge, take the 1/4” punch and the small hammer and hit it down so the pin falls out of its location. Again, be careful with the windshield it’s very close to where you are working so one wrong hit and you will need a new windshield.

Take a small piece of sandpaper, roll it up and gently sand the holes where the door pins and roller pin fit. Just a little bit to remove the rust and dirt.

Next push the roller pin through the holes until you cannot push it by hand and it holds itself in place. Take your punch and hammer and tap the roller pin until it if flush in the underside of the top part of the hinge. Now break out your welder and tack weld the pin into place. Put a few welds in the top and the bottom part of the hinge. You don’t want this to move at all, once the spring is in place it will exert a lot of force onto the roller pin and you don’t want it to break.

If you don’t have a welder, then you will need to take it to a mechanic or muffler shop that has a welder and have them weld it. But this will be until after you put the hinge pins into place but before you can put the spring into its location.

There are lots of videos on youtube that show you how to add the hinge pins, so I won’t go into detail on that part. Just make sure you pay attention on how the pins and bushings are placed on the hinges. You can see how they are put in on the passenger side, if you forgot.
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/blazerf...217c803d05.jpg
Roller Pin Removed
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/blazerf...59e16a582d.jpg
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/blazerf...ae54a2c886.jpg
Top Access
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/blazerf...f4743f5b78.jpg
Pins and Roller Pin Off
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/blazerf...5e8608738c.jpg
Roller Pin Welded, Hinges In.
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/blazerf...c90c5cc350.jpg
Pin in, not yet welded.

There you go! It can be done so don't worry about not being able to do it yourself. Feel free to add that post to one of your FAQ posts asking about roller pins.

That's awesome! Thanks for that little write up! It's been bookmarked! Lol

No problem at all! The place I took it to the weld it for me was sorta surprised on what I wanted welded. He said not many people can do that repair. He mentioned a special tool to compress the pins together. I mainly used a small sledge hammer to drive it together. I really recommend a set of punches, you never know when you may need one.

So this weekend I decided it was time to replace some of the worn suspension and steering parts.

I ordered the upper and lower ball joints, CV Axle for both sides and both tie rods from RockAuto. Once the sun let up I went to work and although it was hard work I managed to finish the drivers side. It took me about 5 hours to get it done. Partly because I had never done it before and I had to run to the parts store to buy some tools I needed.

You need a lot of patience and different wrenches of different sizes to take off the bolts I used 18,19 and 22mm wrenches and sockets. I believe the CV Axle nut was a 36mm and fit snugly. The lower ball joint had been once changed in its life because it had bolts with nuts holding it in place. The upper ones were original. Well looks like it was time to break out the grinder and work those rivets out. You need a grinder with a metal material disc, a punch and a small sledgehammer to pound the rivet down once the rivet head is ground down to the plate. It takes a lot of energy and strength to get those rivets out but it can be done.

With the rivets gone I knocked the old ball joint. All the ball joints, tie rods and axle rubber seals were gone or ripped and the grease long gone. Once all the new joints are put into place I loosely tightened them so they wouldn't fall and proceeded to put the whole assembly back together. I recommend an extra jack for this part. Position the jack under the control arm and slowly lift you can get the bottom of the upper ball joint into its opening. Then push the upper control arm down with your strength and then put the castle nut on and lightly twist it so the ball joint stays in place. After that it's all a matter of tightening the bolts/castle nuts and adding the cotter pins where needed.

Oh yeah and I added a bit of grease with a small paintbrush to certain areas for future access. I will be needing to replace the rotors very soon.

On monday evening I attempted the Passenger side go as far as removing the rivets on the upper ball joint. Let me tell you the upper ball joint rivets on the passenger side are much larger than the driver side and you are gonna need a swear jar when the punch tools don't work. I ended up using a drill and drilled out the center of the rivet just enough for the punch tool to catch and not slip when I was repeatedly hitting it with the hammer.

The passenger side ended up being about three hours total since I knew what I was dealing with now.

Whew!

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/blazerf...b436d602d1.jpg
Rivets!

One update for now. I haven't worked on it much since it runs really good and handles a lot better since I replaced the ball joints, axles and tie rods. But I will need to replace the rotors, break pads, and ABS sensor.

I really dislike drum brakes so I am thinking of removing the drum brake and adding a disc brake setup for the rear. Easier on the maintenance.

Me too
 

Hey I just got a 2001 ZR2 a few months ago. It's nice but it needs a little fixing up and customizing which I have already begun. Would like for us to trade contact info so we can conveniently stay in contact to share ideas and advice. I can give you my number or an email.

I'm planning on swapping out the wifes drums and installing the axle/disc brake setup from the blazer when I'm done swapping in the zr2 axle.

Im surprised that ur zr2 came with drums, I thought they were all disc setup already.

Sure thing, shoot me a private message on here and I'll send you an email or text. I haven't worked on my Blazer much lately. It rides good and starts up every time.

So an 2021 update: I had my favorite Transmission shop that I use service the Transfer Case, Transmission and Rear Differential. The transfer case was low on oil and was/is leaking via the seals but not enough to concern myself yet. The transmission was good and the oil was changed. The Rear Differential was very dirty, it was most likely never changed. But all those were drained and given fresh oil, so it's good!

I have to replace the front brakes and discs, whomever changed them last waited until the brakes were eating into the disc before putting fresh pads on. Sigh. So besides my desire for rear disc brakes, I need new front disc brakes and ABS sensors.

I took it off-roading to some dirt trails a few weeks ago. Crossing soft river sand and bumpy dirt roads. It was really fun to get the Blazer dirty.

I'll come back and update this when I order and get the parts I need.

He does have disc brakes on the rear, providing it is the original axle. I think he is confusing the drum for the the parking brake as drum brakes and hasn't notice the disc brakes back there.

You are right. I saw the drum brake and assumed as such. It clicked in my head seeing as when I priced a replacement brake system it offered all four disc brakes. Thanks for the heads up

Well, finally got around to doing the brake system for this ZR2. I bought new bearings for the front wheels, calipers and rotors for all four wheels and new parking brake pads for the rear. Spent all saturday tearing out the old brakes, calipers and rotors on the front wheels.

On sunday we had some wicked nasty wind so I didn't finish the job. Yesterday (monday), I did the rear brakes, rotors, calipers and replaced the parking brake pads. Just need to replace the fluid and it's finished.

Gotta love deferred maintenance. A previous owner let the brakes go a little too long and it ate into the rotor. Instead of machining the rotor to be smooth, they slapped on a new pad and called it a day. So I got the luck of having to replace the rotor. On the rear passenger side brake, it was absolutely caked in dirt, oil and paint. I had a lot of "fun" having to clean out the back of the axle and brake system to clean out as much dirt as I could.

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/blazerf...6b5febfca8.jpg
Bearing removed, all cleaned up with some Brake Clean.
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/blazerf...bc9f748394.jpg
This bearing would not let go of the rotor.
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/blazerf...ecf6974e0f.jpg
More grooves that a vinyl record.
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/blazerf...978459309c.jpg
Got to love deferred maintenance.
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/blazerf...152cb2c909.jpg
All new and ready to go.
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/blazerf...a38f98129c.jpg
Rear brake with dirt covered parking brake.
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/blazerf...e1b2a8f586.jpg
Build up of dirt, oil and crud
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/blazerf...208145d1c5.jpg
The dirt I scraped off the rear axle, rotor

The next part to take care of, is maybe replacing the rear shackles with newer ones. They are in good condition but when you look at the Blazer from the side you can see the rear sits a bit lower than the front. That may be a job I decide to do if I feel like I'm up to it.

I still have to do a bit of work on the engine, mostly maintenance/check. The interior still needs a new dashboard, plus I would replace the heater core while the dashboard was being replaced. After that it would need some minor door dings taken care of and then a repaint just to make it look nice and new.

I'm debating whether to add a roof rack, some flood lights and maybe a whinch.