1971 Chevy K5 Blazer
From Rain to Sunshine
The ’71 Chevy K5 that you see here before you didn’t always look this good, nor is it owned by the person that it was intended for. Chaz Berry out of Las Vegas, NV, bought the Blazer sight unseen from eBay and it had spent most of its life in Oregon being exposed to rain and snow and rust. The purchase was originally for his wife Holli and was in rough shape when it arrived off the trailer. When presented with the prospect of a slightly decaying Blazer, Holli balked at it and wanted a Jeep Rubicon to take the dogs to the park and have fun in it. Chaz immediately scooped up the unwanted Chevy and set to work making it into the beauty it is today.
Dressing the Part
Since the K5 was destined to be topless for the rest of its life, Chaz knew that picking the right interior would be key as it would be on full visual display wherever he went. So he chose a set of Pro-Series seats in VXR pattern, black on black with red contrast stitching, matching rear bench, door panels and custom matching rear quarter panels that match the TMI design scheme, as well as a tailgate panel.
With the interior handled, Chaz wanted the rest of the cab to stand out so he installed a custom center dash with a 7-inch touchscreen for audio and climate controls, he moved the ignition to the center column, installed a set of Dakota Digital gauges, Billet Specialties steering wheel, a stained oak rear floor, and a custom-made roll cage.
A Mighty Roar
Chaz had the original 350 bored .30 over, had it balanced, and blueprinted to create a 383 stroker by Dischiben Motorsports in Las Vegas. It also received Summit headers, Edelbrock heads, cam, intake, air cleaner, and water pump. A Holley Sniper fuel injection was also installed as well as an Aeromotive 340 fuel pump, Champion four-row radiator, MSD ignition, vintage air conditioning, Flowmaster exhaust, and Dans Driveline driveshaft mated to a 700R4 transmission.
Looking Good And Walking Tall
Chaz wanted the outside to come inside and vise versa so he sat down with his paint and body man Jose Hernandez and came up with that awesome color-shifting black and red with a little metal flake thrown in for good measure, and called their new color creation ChazBerry, for obvious reasons. Then a set of new chrome bumpers were installed, TMI bed rails and windshield cap, retrofitted Tyger nerf bars with custom aluminum milled step pads, 7-inch LED halo headlights, a billet front grille, new chrome accents all around, and side marker lights.
The Blazer was well on its way to becoming what it looks like now, all that was left was a little upward mobility. A Skyjacker 2.5-inch lift with new shocks was installed to get the K5 just high enough to give it plenty of toughness but not outshine the quartet of Fuel Throttle wheels wearing BFG K02 tires. Giving the ’71 that much lift and tire required an ABS Power Brakes, Inc, master cylinder all the way from Orange, CA.
Wired for Sound
To keep the lights on the Blazer was fitted with an American Autowire Classic upgrade kit, Dakota Digital gauge harness, and necessary components to power the Alpine Sound system including a five-channel amp, two subs, and four component speakers.
Having this Blazer fall into the hands of Chaz was actually the best thing that could happen to it. Being rescued from rain-filled Oregon and given an extreme make-over, Chaz was able to make it his own and give it a new lease on life. It now spends its days basking in the Sin City sunshine, going from car show to car show, and generally looking its finest and living its best life. Chaz was able to find the diamond in the rough, and now has a custom paint named after him!