Hey guys....

So a few weeks back... I overheard my boss talking about hauling an old blazer off to the scrap yard that had been sitting for a few years. I asked him about it and he took me to see it. Its a '95 LT 4 door 4x4... had been sitting in his pole barn for the better part of 7 years...

Here it is when I first checked it out..






Then he started on the back story... his dad bought it new in 95... he had some health issues and the truck apparently had started smoking so he parked it and it sat ever since... He then said that it never left our little town... and the last 3 years it was on the road, it probably never saw over 25-30mph...

I take a peak inside... odometer sitting at 90,600 miles... Oil change sticker in the windshield dated in 2000 had 90,468 miles written on it... Started checking things over... oil was full... radiator was low but it had antifreeze in it... trans fluid was clean... so figured what they hey..

So after a little bit of discussion... I drug it home for $500 (2 blocks to my house). After pumping 12 gallons of varnish out of the fuel tank... 5 gallons of fresh fuel and a can of seafoam.. its running better and better each time I run it.

Home...


A few things I noticed right off... alternator was dead... obviously all the fluids, belt, etc..etc.. need to be changed... and a good tune up... tires are shot... things are adding up quick. Then I got a knock on the door from a neighbor down the street. He works for a local tire shop and he had a set of tires in the back of his truck... a guy came in with a jeep wrangler and said he didn't like the brand.. he couldn't sell them and couldn't see throwing them in the recycle pile.. and he said he couldn't take any money for them or he could loose his job.. ... so after getting them mounted and balanced also for free...

I ended up with a like new set of 30" bfg all terrains, mounted and balanced - free


Then the clean up began... Inside was in great shape other then the driver seat... which my mom owns her own auto upholstery shop.. so that wont be an issue... doesn't look like the back seats had ever been sat in..




After looking at the outside of the truck for a while... I decided the crap molding that was missing most of its chrome needed to go away... as did the chrome wheel arch pieces...








I finished the driverside tonight... and started working on the rear bumper pieces... hoping to get that finished in the next day or so if weather holds out.

Alternator and oil cooler lines will be here tomorrow... so far including those pieces... I'm in it for around $650 (changed oil and a few other little things)... and its running great. My garage door is now black from the carbon... but its running much better. I'd venture to say that was the cause of the smoking issues... but its not smoking at all for me now.

Anyways, planning on servicing the trans, transfercase, flush the brake fluid, flush the coolant, a good tune up with all acdelco goodies (plugs, wires, cap, rotor, belt, hoses, etc..etc..) and I found that rockauto.com is actually cheaper on ac delco then the local parts house wants for their cheap junk.

My wife has been putting around in a 99 2 door dodge neon for the last 8 years.. (only has 90k miles on it now too) but she needed something bigger... this worked out nicely.. no car payment and a truck that should last a long time and get decent fuel mileage.

More to come soon
-Chris

 

dude! badass. i wish i could score like that.

 

Definitely badass, can't beat something like that.

 

barn finds are alwaus a prize. never know what ull find and the majority of blazers and jimmys are beat up,in scrap yards or being driven for offroad not to often u find something as clean as this. good job and nice score

 

No doubt... I told my boss that I didn't think there was much wrong with it just by looking it over...

He said he didnt want to screw me over or anything and told me to take it home... an if it was worth it, to pay him the $500... I kinda just laughed and handed him the money.

Gonna drive it to work in the next day or two... once I get the oil cooler lines swapped out and the alternator on. He'll get a kick out of seeing his dad's old blazer up and going again

-Chris

 

why can't this stuff ever happen to me lol, nice score though!!!

 

Great find and great job in getting it running. I have a couple of questions.
1. How did you flush the fuel system and tank.
2. How did you remove the adhesive from trim pieces?

 

1- I unhooked the fuel filter... slid a large piece of hose over the filter outlet and the other end into a container... and gradually let the pump do the work for me. Pumped the tank dry. I'm sure there is still some crud in the tank... thats why I havnt replaced the fuel filter yet... I'll replace the filter after the first full tank of fuel or so.

2 - Patience. lol... I used fish line to start cutting the molding off... then once it was loose enough, I slowly pulled it off being carefull not to rip the paint which is possible. After that, an old credit card, my fingernails, a small plastic putty knife, and 4+ hours.... It was well worth the effort.

More to come soon
-Chris

 

New alternator is on and working good.... which fixed my wiper issue (wipers wouldn't shut off)... apparently low voltage was at fault.

Anyways... hoping to install the new oil cooler lines tomorrow and start driving it. I work close to home so I plan on driving daily until all the little things are done and then giving it to my wife... that way if it strands me on the way to work... its only a few blocks to walk instead of 15 miles for her...

More to come
-Chris

 

Nice find! Keep up the good work.