The Truck
The K5 Blazer has always been the truck we kept circling back to: short wheelbase, removable top, two-door simplicity, and the kind of body lines you don't get on anything new. When the right one came along, we didn't have to think twice.
What we brought home isn't a show truck. It's an honest project, a solid foundation with the usual stories underneath the paint. Some surprises good, some not. That's exactly what makes a build worth doing.
Under the hood: a 454 big block (Mark IV / Gen IV, mid-1980s casting) with plans to put a 700R4 behind it for highway gear without spending 4L80E money. Previous owner did some swapping over the years, so we're working with a mix of parts and figuring out exactly what's in there as the teardown moves along.
Build Log
Latest · Teardown
Stripping It Down to See What We Really Have
Every build starts the same way: take it apart and find out what you actually bought. We're working through the truck systematically: interior out, glass out, body coming off the frame.
What we're documenting along the way:
- Bagging and tagging every fastener, labeled by location, photographed before removal
- Documenting casting numbers on the block, heads, and trans so we know exactly what we're starting with
- Marking every wire and connector before disconnecting (saves hours later)
- Inspecting the frame, mounts, and floors as panels come off
- Pulling the drivetrain to assess what stays and what gets replaced
More updates as the body comes off and we get our first real look at the frame. The stories the rust tells are usually the ones worth filming.
First Look
Two quick clips from the day we picked the K5 up. Watch on YouTube.
Photos & Walkarounds
Build photos drop in here as the project moves. For full video walkarounds, jump to our YouTube channel.
Day One: As Bought
Interior Out
Drivetrain Pulled
Body Off the Frame
Tools & Parts
Every tool, fluid, fastener, and shop item we trust on a build like this is in our gear catalog. Same shelf we pull from for every project on the channel.
What's on the bench for this one
Welder and cut-off wheels for the body and frame work, headlamps and shop cameras for documenting the teardown, hardware and fluids for the BBC and 700R4 swap. All in the gear list.
View the full gear list →
