I bought a hunting truck some months ago that I plan to work on and make a daily driver. The ad for it listed it as a 73 Blazer. I had no reason to question that and really didn't go looking for the Chevy logo anywhere...I was more interested in how it ran and what I'd have to repair etc.

Since I've bought it it's been in storage while I move to a new place and set up my garage.

Today I decided to decode the VIN just out of curiosity and to see if everything matched...low and behold the VIN decoder says the first letter (T) is the Division Code which is C for Chevrolet and T for GMC!

So my "Blazer" is a Jimmy? LOL anyone know if there's a JimmyForum.com?

 

It's still a square body K5, it just didn't have the sales that it's Chevy counterpart had. That part makes it difficult to find the parts that are unique.

What are your plans for it?

 

Yeah I know enough to know that basically they're the same vehicle...just came as a bit of a surprise as I had never really considered it.

It runs ok right now but it's not street legal. It won't pass inspection because it was a hunting truck so it has no seat belts. And since it's a 73 and there's no "B" pillar to attach a shoulder belt...

I'm thinking of either installing seats that include a shoulder/seat belt or since I'm going to put in a roll bar (hopefully attached to the frame through the bed) I'm thinking I could anchor the shoulder belt to the roll bar....but I'm not far along yet to know what's best or if it will work.

Currently it has 38.5 Boggers which I'm going to swap for 35s as I don't plan to do too much off roading...just camping and hunting from time to time.

I actually plan to LineX the entire vehicle inside and out as well...flat black.

When it comes time to making repairs/upgrades etc. I'll be on here daily I'm sure.

Right now I'm just starting to research and learn as much as I can about the vehicle....I'm by no means a mechanic but I enjoy working on things as does my wife (lucky on that count) so we're planning on working on it together and learn as we go.


https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B5H...ew?usp=sharing

 

few years back, i owned a 84 gmc jimmy and a 84 k5 blazer at the same time, one was a daily driver and one was the off road truck. really no difference between the two. one had the double head lights and one had the single lights but its all interchangeable

 

Your parts will be interchangeable unless you want to restore it to original specs. In my experience of owning both, I've only found the width of the body and the size of the wheels to be different. I liked the height on my Jimmy just fine but I find my Blazer is shorter. There will be lifting in it's future after it's mechanical repairs are finished.

 

As far as inspection goes, I thought it only needed to work if it was mandatory at the date of manufacture. Like in VA (I know states are different) cars made before catalytic converters don't need to have them installed in order to pass, because it was acceptable when it was made. Like how also in VA, cars that were made without turn signals up to a certain year aren't required to have them.

 

Yea, they can't make you put in shoulder belts if they didn't come with them from the factory.
As for retrofitting belts think very carefully before you start putting in safety equipment. If you bolt the seat to the floor pan and the shoulder harness to the roll bar that is bolted to the frame and in an accident something happened to the body you could be causing injury with the seatbelt. Same thing with the seat with integrated belts bolted to the floor. The floor pan is not strong enough to hold the seat with you in it, it needs extra support. If you're going to mount a seatbelt to a cage, you should also mount the seats to the cage. Google it and you can see what I mean.