Welcome back to Americana, We are now on the 3rd installment of the 1987 K5 Blazer Rebuild or Restoration. The Exterior is almost completely done.

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For 1973, GM's line of full-size trucks was redesigned and updated; internally, GM named this the "Rounded Line" generation, while the unofficial nickname was "square body".[9] A tilt-steering wheel became optional.[8] Although rear-wheel drive Blazers were manufactured until 1982, the majority sold were four-wheel drive. As tested by Popular Science in 1973, a K5 Blazer with the 175 hp (130 kW) 350 V8, automatic transmission, and full-time four-wheel-drive accelerated from 0–60 mph (97 km/h) in 22.5 seconds, with an observed fuel economy of 9.648 mpg‑US (24.38 L/100 km; 11.587 mpg‑imp) at a steady 45 mph (72 km/h).[10] With the standard 250 I6, automatic transmission, a 1974 K5 Blazer returned fuel economy of 13.69 mpg‑US (17.18 L/100 km; 16.44 mpg‑imp) at the same speed.[11]

The 1973–75 K5 Blazers were equipped with a removable convertible top. In 1976, a half-cab design was introduced and used until 1991.[12][13]

The second generation K5 models incorporated the rear hatch glass and tailgate into a single unit, which allowed the glass panel to retract inside of the tailgate by use of a manual crank mounted on the tailgate or an electric motor activated by a key-operated switch on the tailgate and a dash-mounted switch.[14] The weight of the large glass panel was rumored to be a liability as the manual crank gears wore prematurely and the electric motor was prone to frequent overheating and subsequent failure. This also included the electric motor drive cable which goes to the window regulator to the motor (similar in design to a speedometer cable), which usually would fail under heavy abuse. Another feature of the K5 Blazer tailgate was the safety switch connected to the electric motor which prevented the rear window from being raised if the tailgate was unlatched.