My Small 98 Blazer Build
 

So back on May 2 we bought a Blazer for our oldest son and I haven't posted any details due to insurance circumstances regarding a crap situation that turned out to be good for us lol! Now that everything is settled so I"ll fill everyone in on the details:)


So we bought a 2000 4 door Blazer and drove it 4 miles home parked it and snapped a couple pics with him in front of it to send to family for the required "check out my first vehicle" pics. We didn't even go in the house we just jumped in the burban and rolled out to head to a friends house to watch the Mayweather Pacquiao fight. About 4.5 hours later we pull into our neighborhood to find a van parked in the middle of the street that was smashed all to hell and people all over our street I think you see where this is going... So I parked and we all got out and checked to see if everyone was ok and saw our neighbors Volkswagon CC with the font end smashed into the dash! Then they told us they weren't sure who's car was parked where my wife usually has her mustang parked but we should check it out so sure enough our sons first car was smashed before he ever got to drive it. Our other neighbors new Toyota 4 runner was parked two spaces over and it was the first vehicle that was hit and it was hit hard enough that it was now parallel parked next to the curb and smashed into the side of our blazer. So it went like this... he hit the 4 runner then backed up and ran into the blazer backed up again and then hit the CC across the street backed up again and tried to flee the scene until a group of people stepped in front of him at which point he jumped out of his cargo van and ran into a house. Turns out he is our neighbor:( Well after much effort proving to our insurance company that the blazer was indeed ours and that it wasn't wrecked they finally paid up and will collect from his insurance whenever they can. We paid $900 for the blazer and got a check for $2800!!


The blazer was totaled so the hunt was on for a replacement which leads me to this thread. After checking out countless vehicles and nothing working out I finally found one yesterday.


It needs a few small things but overall mechanically it is in really good shape. He replaced the radiator but for "some reason" it kept loosing coolant and he couldn't figure out why. It was painfully obvious to me that it needed a new radiator cap so I picked that up on the way to pick up the truck and no more coolant loss:)


The good:
98 2 door 4x4
One owner (older gentleman so I doubt he abused it)
Interior is almost perfect just needs a good cleaning
Body is straight
Decent tires all around
Runs and drives 100%
Only 91,888 miles at the time of purchase!
He was asking $1k we gave him $750 for it (we were looking at vehicles up to like $3k and couldn't find anything decent)


The Bad/needs:


Sway bar end links
Mirrors (housings are broken and screwed on in funny ways lol)
AC charge
Hood bolt
Some paint damage/oxidation
Front bumper needs replaced
Has typical leaky oil cooler lines
Hinge pin bushings

So with the extra cash we have from the other blazer I will give this thing some TLC and then look into a few upgrades for him and a possible paint job.

Now for pics
https://blazerforum.com/forum/attach...ine=1436364161
The mismatched rim is on the back with a brand new tire the guy was just to lazy to put it back on and put the spare on the back.
https://blazerforum.com/forum/attach...ine=1436364161


https://blazerforum.com/forum/attach...ine=1436364161


https://blazerforum.com/forum/attach...ine=1436364161


https://blazerforum.com/forum/attach...ine=1436364161


https://blazerforum.com/forum/attach...ine=1436364161


https://blazerforum.com/forum/attach...ine=1436364161


https://blazerforum.com/forum/attach...ine=1436364161https://blazerforum.com/forum/attach...ine=1436364161


https://blazerforum.com/forum/attach...ine=1436364161


One small rust spot that I think I can save still
https://blazerforum.com/forum/attach...ine=1436364161

That is in pretty good shape. $750 was a steal for that.

Yeah I think with a little bit of work its going to be a really nice first vehicle for my son! I really couldn't believe it when I offered $750 and he took it without even countering. I would have paid the $1k he was asking for it lol!

Just ordered up some goodies for this thing!


Moog sway bar links
Door pins and bushings
Air filter
Oil
Oil filter adapter to delete the leaky remote mount lines
2 gallons of antifreeze to drain out the water that's in it and replace with proper antifreeze since its no longer leaking


I'll be working with my son this weekend to get these things taken care of and see what else might pop up along the way!

Nice grab! You seem to find A LOT of nice grabs though;).

I spend a lot of time searching Craigslist lol! I have to admit I paid for the Craigslist pro app that allows me to search all the locations I want all at once rather than having to reselect locations all the time:( I've got every location in a 150 mile radius locked down haha!

great find for only 750. you sure have alot of "small" builds going on now they all look to be going good though keep it up:icon_clapclap:

Haha I name them all the same mostly for myself to keep track of them but also so its easy for others to identify them as mine!


This weekend I got the boy up early and we tackled a few of the small jobs on the Blazer. I started him with the basics with checking his oil and a walk around of the truck looking at anything that may need a PM and teaching him what to look for. Then I let him tackle swapping the air filter since it was an easy task. After that we went ahead and replaced the top door pin and bushings on the driver side. I let him struggle a bit before I stepped in lol! All in all it went smooth and the door closes smoother and straighter than probably any S-series door I have ever seen:)





Next up was the sway bar links... Again I let him struggle to get what was left of the old links off before stepping in to give him some help and pointers. I ended up having to snap them off which I knew I was going to have to from the beginning so no big deal. After they were off I handed him the new bushings and bolts and told him what had to go against what and walked away! When I came back a couple minutes later he had figured out the correct order for everything and was just left struggling trying to get the nut started on the bolt. I gave him a tip to use the jack to push up the bolt to expose more threads to get the nut started rather than killing himself trying to push it by hand! After that the other side went quick and smooth for him. The last task was putting his license plates on.


He was less than happy with me taking this pic lol!


https://blazerforum.com/forum/attach...ine=1436897188





I will bring it to work tomorrow and yank out the oil lines and put the adapter and filter on the block along with an oil change. I also give it an alignment and it will be ready to go for when he gets home from lacrosse camp on Thursday.





Next thing on the agenda is a stereo upgrade! We are looking into head units now and I plan to do a decent component setup up front and probably a single 12 in the back at some point. It's been a long time since I have messed with car stereo stuff and a lot has changed in the last 15 years! I'm doing a lot of reading trying to find some nice equipment for him for any input or recommendations are welcome.

Check out Kenwood head units, they're pretty good for the price range. I have a Memphis PR12 sub and for one 12 it does pretty good for itself. I can barely use my rear view mirror cause it's constantly vibrating when I'm listening to music.

That's a great looking 2 door for $750 man. I reminds me of my 2 door jimmy I had in highschool. I would go with a JVC OR Kenwood headunit.