Chevrolet Blazer K5
I used to have a friend who drove around in a 4X4 S10 with a body and suspension lift.
and he was thinking about something bigger, like a full size blazer.
while talking about it we opted to go give our friend the junkyard guy a visit and just ask if he knew of any for sale.
and luck was once again on our side because just the day before he got a call from someone who wanted to sell his off.
we soon found out that we knew this guy!
he was the owner of a small local zoo and used this truck to haul his elephant to all sorts of festivities.
so the next day we headed out to that zoo, just to find out that... he drove the truck to our friend the junkyard owner
the very same day!
even with the clock ticking way past five and the junkyard closing at 5.30 we scrambled to get the hell to the junkyard
and while driving like crazy, the cell phone came in handy to warn our junkyard pall of our visit.
and there it is.. the "zebra"
1977 full size 4X4 inline six engine...
painted in zebra stripes with an elephant head painted on one door and a tiger face on the other.
BIG custom made 3 inch bull bar filled with concrete on the front.
while this truck was supposed to be for this friend of ours, his enthusiasm faded as soon as he found
out it was "only " a six cylinder.
and me walking around this truck... I liked it!
so after a while I told him that if he did not take it, "I WILL!"
(he would regret his decision of not buying it later )
as usual at first this truck had some minor problems and these started the day I picked it up.
I drove it out the gate after having it given a check just to find myself stranded
about a good 200 yards from the junkyard. and to make things worse...
right smack on the middle of the train tracks!
what the hell??? that truck had been idling for a good 15 minutes without any problems and now???
opening the hood and what I see is a huge block of ice on the natural gas dispenser.
now you have to know that in order for this what we call LPG system to work it needs heat to prevent this freezing.
and since this heat is provided by a bypass on the return line of the water for the interior heating radiator,
and this radiator being clogged... and to make matters worse, that battery was on its last legs.
so there I am, on the train tracks with a dead battery and a frozen fuel system. NICE!!!
all I need now is one of those unstoppable freight trains to arrive!
needles to say, we managed to get it going again by switching to regular gas and a boost of a battery charger.
I installed a new battery, flushed that clogged radiator, changed the oil and sparkplugs, changed that annoying squalling
alternator belt and... drove it around for over a year without any major problem.