9. While I scrambled to get a compressor working for the ARB Air Locker, Gaut replaced all our lights with the new APC Euro lights we had ordered from Stylin' Concepts. The Euro styling headlights and taillights added a little bit of class to our big blue K5. | 
10. Meanwhile, Jack Arrington, our engine specialist extraordinaire, was busy wiring up six Auto Meter gauges in place of the original Blazer gauge cluster. For simplicity and cleanliness, he ran all the lighting wires and power wires together to keep things neat and tidy under the dash. A clean wiring job like this will help eliminate any chance of electrical failure. | 
11. To get the six Ultra Lite Auto Meter gauges to fit in the original dash panel, Arrington had to ream out each gauge opening with a router so either a 2 5/8- or 5-inch gauge could be shoved in place. The finished product came out just way too sweet. It was almost going to be a shame to throw mud on this dash... |
...Ever since I can remember, the most classic performance steering wheel on any fullsize Chevy has to be the 15-inch-diameter Formula GT wheel from Grant Products. This was on the very first Blazer I had, on the second one I lost to my brother, and it was about to go on this third beloved K5. It's the perfect size for off-road use and has a timeless design that is easy to handle and is durable enough to sit in the elements. | 
12. The truck was finished, save for some wiring details, a rattle-can paint job, and the two-coat Durabak bedliner treatment we were adding to the interior flooring of this K5. At the advice of Durabak, we first laid the rough bedliner that is usually applied to truck beds... | 
...This was to give us something other than a completely smooth and slippery coating. Once the rough coat was dry, we added a smooth version of the Durabak over the rough. The finished product gave us a smoother texture that would not catch and trap dirt, but had enough texture to give me some traction under my feet. |
How It Worked
I drove through the night, as there were more important matters at hand than sleep, like getting to Ultimate Adventure. Unfortunately, about 5:30 a.m. in the Nevada desert, the rod ends walked out on one of the four suspension links in back and allowed the axle to move over far to one side. This pushed the coilover shock against the frame and snapped my hardened shock shaft in half. I was out. There was no way I was going to make it to the start of the U.A.. Now, it was a new race to see if I could join the group at all. Six hours later, I was on the back of Carolyn Schmid's tow truck of A-1 Towing Service and headed for Winnemucca, Nevada. At the tow yard, I was able to use a miter saw to cut down my Hi-Lift I-beam and put it in place of my Radflo coilover to support the rear. I lowered the tire pressure down to 15 pounds, and I was on my way to meet the rest of the group in Elko, Nevada, where the Ultimate Adventure group (and coincidentally my shock) arrived two days later. Radflo two-day shipped me out a coilover shock, and the Eibach coil had enough resiliency to allow me to finish the trip before replacing it. It was amazing how the coil showed almost no signs of fatigue after being bent in half under a 1-ton K5 Blazer. As soon as the replacement Radflo coilover was on the truck, it was on to nonstop abuse again. So far this Blazer has been good to us, getting us up to Idaho and back to Southern California. That's more than we can say for a lot of trucks that we drive daily. Nice job, Fabworx, and thanks again for everything.