Some may be wondering what's up with the square body in the pics of my Y88 progress. Here's some of the story.
The Y88 Trans Am was, at one time, my one and only project. My plans were to slowly restore it while driving something else. So I bought the K5 Blazer as a side project to work on while still being my daily driver. Seems like the 4x4 bug took over and ended up putting the Y88 on the back burner until I retired.
I bought the K5 from a small car lot in Kentucky and had it shipped to my work address. At the time I was working 4 hours away and was at the end of a 6 month tour. Once I got to my work place and put everything away I got in the K5 and went to drive home. Needless to say, I was sold a lemon. The transmission would not shift out of 2nd, and it overheated as I was headed home. I stopped at a Sonic to check things out.
There was very little water in the radiator.....there was no overflow jug. Not even a nipple on the radiator for the overflow jug hose.
It had a 700R4 transmission. The detent cable was being held on to the throttle body linkage with a heavy gauge wire.
I filled up the radiator and drove home at 20 mph because the transmission wasn't shifting correctly. Once home I was able to give it a good check up. I had the 700R4 rebuilt. Had a bad freeze plug so I replaced it. Drove it around and it still had an overheating issue. Found out from a rebuild shop that the driver side head had two hairline cracks. They just happened to have an exact replacement sitting on their showroom floor so I bought it and put it in. Since Kentucky is quite a distance from Goddard, Kansas I decided not to pursue a lawsuit and decided to just make this K5 my own. I got it for a good price so it didn't hurt that bad.
All was good. But there was a learning curve. 1987 was the first year for the fuel injection and sensors. I was used to carburetors and no sensors. The truck site I joined, CK5, had all the help you could ask for. Or at least they helped you spend money on upgrades. That is what I did. Kept upgrading the suspension. I went from stock height....to a 4" spring lift w/37" mud tires....to a 9" lift kit, same tires.....now it is down to a 5" lift with a 4 link suspension with coil overs and 40" Maxxis tires.
I sold the 350 TBI and 700R4 transmission and installed a rebuilt 1999 454 Vortec FI and 4L80E transmission.
It is still a work in progress but it does run and drive. I need to finish the rear section including some rear bed floor areas that have rust. Plus finish making the metal boxes to hide the coilovers and hoops. Along with finishing the roll cage.
I have done all the work on this K5 except for the engine rebuild.....including re-gearing both axles. This is where I get my welding practice. I am not a novice at all. I use google, you tube, CK5 and whatever else I can find to help me learn. Pics loading.
