Newbie to WTW....

[k5nutt]

Hello all. I have been on CK5.com since day one...Expedition Portal since the trip to Calgary in the Chalet in 06....and found this site by chance doing a FWC
search last night.

Hopefully soon i will have a rode hard and put away wet FWC "Blazer" model to restore for my highly built 79 K5...i chose the FWC over the K5 w/camper i already own as FWC is truely a ton lighter than the Chinook poptop...and they are truely some wonderful people to deal with.

Many moons ago i saw my first Chalet while living in phx az....and life has just not been the same since...lol.

Not long after driving the 79 K5 to San Diego to pick up my first Chalet camper i met my dear friend Aaron Sheppard who provided the web space and know how to start www dot blazerchalet dot com. I of course take very little credit other than providing content ie: pics and brochures and of course K5 technical knowledge.

Being a wrench i think thru the years i was anal and over the top in restoring the mechanical side of my chalet...but it was money and time well spent as i didn't hesitate to turn the key...fuel her up and drive to calgary for a 6 month work related stay.

Now a days the old girl sits silently on the side of my shop...and i have recently decided to sell the old girl as my growing family has out grown her...and when the FWC arrives in my shop for the 79 K5 which there again
is built over the top to go where the rabbitts might even frown...i can't justify having twin K5's with campers anymore. I was going to do a full body off resto and tweak a few more items along the way as she started life in NE
so she has a rust issue and i still have a sourced clean rust free 77 tub for her in the field...i just don't have the time anymore working in the oil patch.

Anyways the 79 is a tool more or less...and to finish her off the FWC would be
a match made in heaven for my treasure hunting hobby...so i hope to learn a ton here about the in-outs-repairs-do's-don'ts of owning and using a FWC pop top.

DW

 

[DirtyDog]

Welcome to the board DW

Be sure to post some pics of those rigs when you get a chance!

 

[Marc]

Welcome DW

I look forward to pics.

marc

 

[SunMan]

Sounds like a cool project. Welcome.

 

[mtn-high]

Welcome. I'm up I-70 a bit from you in the Vail Edwards Area.

Sounds like quite the project... good luck!

mtn

 

[DLN]

DW,

Welcome to the board. I'll be looking forward to seeing the rebuild, take lots of pics for us.

 

[buzzman]

DW,

Welcome. It's nice to see another "old school Chevy" guy on the forum. As you can see by my profile, I have a FWC Grandby on my refurbished '77 C10. Other than a set of Super Springs and a built 700R4 trans with extra cooling, it's pretty much stock. This past fall I went on a 6500 mile trip with it and the ol' truck worked quite well, although it could of used a little more horse power when going up mountain passes. We spent a total of 49 nights in the FWC last year.

Post some pics for us, please.

Buzz

 

[k5nutt]

Here is a picture of the camper i will be recieving....she is in sad shape as you can see. And the other shot is my current K5 with camper the 76 chalet pictured with the donor of the next camper.

DW

 

[k5nutt]

And this is the intended recipient of the FWC Blazer model camper....my desert tan 79 K5....

DW

 

[k5nutt]

Buzzman....

The 700R4 was a great up grade but have you ever looked into installing a TBI system on that old girl as well? Its a fairly easy upgrade and well worth the improvement in power and economy...

DW

 

[Southern Gent]

Vintage stuff, Welcome

Welcome aboard.

Sean Dempsey of Go Anywhere, LLC in WI. was most helpful to me when I Found my used 1996 Granby. I run a 1995 Silverado truck.

Sean said " the 1996 Granby might not fit on the Newer model Trucks ".

My reply " Sean, this is my New Truck".

 

[buzzman]

DW,

I have never really investigated a TBI conversion for my truck. However, another member of this forum, John D., has mentioned it to me. Have you done it to your 79's? If so, just how easy is it? Cost? I'm handy enough do most things myself, but I don't feel like spending much more money on this truck.

Maybe we should move this particular truck discussion to the Truck mods section. I don't want to hi-jack your thread.

What kind of condition is your FWC inside? Is it a '79 model also? Pics?

 

[k5nutt]

Buzzman...TBI.

An off the shelf TBI conversion kit from a good source that i would recommend like Howell Engineering will run about $1200. And its a 4 wire hook up for the main harness besides connecting the various senors and what ever you decide to do with or for fuel pump or pumps.

I have converted both the 79 K5 and the 76 K5 Chalet to tbi years ago....when i worked at freightliner electronics was my specialty so it was a lot of fun.

Thanx to uncle GM the conversion is pretty easy when it comes to burbs-blazers and the 73-87 C/K trucks. 1987 was the last year of the old body style C/K pickups and the first year for tbi fuel injection....so if you know what you need and a suitable donor is found via the paper-web forum- or boneyard the swap can be done cheaply and its a bolt in due to the body style being the same.

I highly recommend sticking with the factory in tank pump set up as the tanks are baffled to retain fuel around the in tank pump which keeps them cool and prevents a fuel slosh induced hick up from a lack of fuel. However finding a set of tanks if you have the factory twin tank set up can be a pita.
And shipping of used fuel tanks is a no-no due to fuel vapors that could still be in the tanks. However thats actually a god send as the stock tanks are prone to failure. The baffles in the tanks are made of a phenolic plastic and adhered to the bottom of the tank with 4 rivets. In time thru mother natures cycle of hot and cold the plastic warps and the rivets let loose causing the resivor to float around in said tank loose resulting in the pump being knocked off of the sending unit....
Don't despair as a quality replacement can be had from rock auto dot com that has a welded in steel baffle which cures the shipping and afore mentioned problems all together.

If you want to start a post in another forum i'll continue over there for you as i have alot of our vehicle specific knowledge in my noodle...and spare parts laying around. I am pretty sure upstairs i have an 87 C/K tbi truck harness squirreled away. A bit longer to swap the old harness in and the new in...but it would be a factory harness and not an add on....

DW

 

[85k54x4 camper]

Welcome

Another K5 fan. I can't wait to see some pics of you rebuild. I'm still working on my 85' Blazer model FWC. It's such a great set-up. Being able to walk though to the camper is a nice feature. Plus it's a good place to store gear. Out of the way, but easy to get to, once you have camp set up. Your K5 looks like it can handle anything you can throw at it. Once the FWC is on it. It's a hole different experience. I did add some air bag to the back of the K5. It really helped in the canyon roads. Much more stable.
Anyway Welcome and good luck with the project.

 

[stockrex]

FYI: the fitment issue with newer Chevy trucks can be worked around, I researched and found that rasing the bed by 2 inches should clear the radius shaped tailgate opening.
this is my first post
long timer lurker and finally getting my TC.

 

[DLN]

rex,

Welcome aboard. What type of camper are you getting and when? As you know we'll be needing pictures. All the Best.

 

[buzzman]

Tbi conversion

DW,

Thanks for all the info about converting my carb to TBI. I'm sure I could do it with a little more effort and more money. But the more I think about it, the more I think I would be better off in the long run to buy a newer model 3/4 ton truck to haul my Grandby around. By the time my Grandby is loaded up with all my "travel and camp stuff" my '77 1/2 ton is just basically overloaded. I sort of learned that on my month long trip wandering the west last October. I know there are probably many 1/2 ton trucks hauling loaded Grandbys around, and mine works okay for the most part, but I think a 3/4 ton truck is the best way to go, IMHO.