Hey guys!
I just joined the forums. ( I love it btw ).

I need some help. I have always loved the big k5 Blazers. Well I found one in awesome shape. Lifted, rancho steering stabilizer.. Runs great. ( A little cold natured, but once warms up runs awesome ). Well I bought it 1,400$ , and I was planning on just using it for close driving, offroad, hunting, fishing, and boat pulling, and fun. Well my 99 Silverado was stolen and totaled 2 days ago. so heres my question

I drive from Ohio to Kentucky ( about 3 hour drive to there 7hr total ). I was wondering if it would be safe / practical to drive a 1979 ( 30yr old ) vehicle as a daily driver, and to kentucky and back once a week? We're not sure how many miles are in the motor becuase its obviously not the original motor.

Thanks for taking the time to read this

Matt

Its all up to you. I have daily driven my 80 K20 off and on for several years. Although to make a 3 hour drive like that on a regular basis, I would not want to pay the gas bill.

If I were you, I would look for something a little more economical.;)

I dont mind the gas bill.. the person I make the trips for pays for 75% of the gas, plus I get money to stop and eat on. Other than the fuel issue do you think it would be cool?

I daily drive my 85 K10 short bed, I bought it out in wyoming when i was at school drove it home to CT full of my junk. I have drivin it to 5 hours one way several times to get parts, to go fishing and hunting with no problems. but i do bring tools and parts with me everytime i go. So its really up to you and your trust in the vhl. I would drive mine anywhere because i trust it and know the work done on it is right. I also dont know the milage on the motor but if it run well they i wouldnt worry about it. Oh also mine is lifted 4 inches, D60 front, FF14bolt rear, 4.56 gears, small block 350, th350 trans, NP208 t/case and 39.5" IROKS. I get about 12-15 mpg on the highway from what i can figure out anyways. so its really not all that much worse then some of the newer trucks and mine looks way better.

So its up to you if you want to drive it do it and if you can fix it if it breaks even better but if you cant just have some cash with you to pay someone to fix it for you thats all. Plus these trucks parts are cheap and easy to work on so makes it a little cheaper if you need to fix it out on the road.

depends on the shape of it if it looks good to go do it. I drive mine on 40's everywhere and dont think twice. imo id drive an old rig like that thats maintained over a new one

Cool guys thanks! The only thing I had to do to it was burp the air bubble in the cooling system, and it was leaking a little oil around the pcv valve.. But I fixed it, and it runs great. I was thinking about rebuilding the motor just for the hell of it because I can do it for about 100 bucks.

I will take some pics later!

I'd say go for it. It's always nice to see old iron on the road, and it'll start making noise and smoking before it really dies on you...

If you really want to be sure about the engine, run a compression test. If it tests out good and it is not using any oil between changes, go for it.
About the only thing I would worry about is oil consumption, stem seals on valves get hard and break pulling oil down through the stems into the combustion chambers. If you have none of these issues, top off your fluids in the running gear and drive and enjoy it.
I hate the way Ohio lets trucks get in the fast lane and impede traffic flow. Makes me wish there was a Federal Law about commercial vehicles over say 20 thousand GVW having to travel in the right lane, unless passing.