We used to think that when you'd seen one Chevy Blazer, you'd seen them all. Recently, we were put on the straight and narrow when we encountered Troy Davis' '85 Blazer. At first glance, it's a totally clean Blazer that's too brightly painted on 18s and 20s to miss. Upon closer inspection, however, you quickly realize this truck is nowhere near that simple. It has so many twists and turns in its construction that you're likely to be standing there for at least 30-40 minutes to take in all of what's been done. What was his reason for building such a ride? After 10 years of being involved with mini-trucks, he wanted to build something for the ages, something to be remembered, because there's nothing more fun than driving a custom truck. We feel he's succeeded in doing so with his Blazer. We recommend you hang this feature on your garage wall and remember it - we sure will.
Owner: Troy Davis
Ride: '85 Chevy Blazer
Hometown: Wabash, Indiana
The Lowdown
Wheels/Tires Up front, Troy rolls 18x7-inch Center Line Flare aluminum wheels with 215/35ZR18 Nitto 555 radial tires, while in the rear, you'll find 20x8.5-inch Flares with 245/35/ZR20 Nitto 555s.
Body Modifications Troy's Blazer has been reworked extensively to display itself cleanly in a show situation. The body was smoothed of its door handles, wiper cowl vents, bumper lights, antenna, OEM rear wing, roof seams, tailgate handle, and taillights. In the rear, you'll find Hi-Tech LED taillights, which serve to show others when Troy's ready to come to a halt. The front bumper of Troy's ride is the stock one that's been smoothed and filled for a cleaner appearance. Up front, the truck sports an updated '92 Chevy grille with a billet insert, and in the rear, a molded-in steel roll pan from Sir Michael's replaces the original bumper. Steven Sopher in Denver, Indiana, and Troy performed all of the bodywork on the Blazer.
Paint/Graphics The base color of Troy's Blazer is DuPont Mandarin Copper with gold pearl ghost flames sprayed by Steven Sopher.
Performance Under the hood, plenty of custom and performance work has been done, too. First, you're looking at a 350 Chevy small-block. From the top, an Edelbrock Performer package was installed, as was a performance-ground cam, lifters, intake, a high-performance carburetor, and a Pete Jackson geardrive. You can't miss them, but make sure you really check out the polished flamed valve covers and the air cleaner. Other components that make this mini SUV haul serious tail include a rebuilt '82 Chevy Turbo 350 transmission with a B&M Shift Improver Kit and an exhaust system built just for the Blazer that uses 2-1/2-inch tubing and a Chevy Camaro exhaust manifold. In addition, you'll also notice that the radiator in the truck isn't original. It's a BeCool all-aluminum model with Cool Flex radiator hoses. On top of all of this, the engine block and everything that's not chromed has been painted body color for striking good looks.
Suspension An initial suspension drop was made possible by installing 2-inch dropped spindles from Belltech up front. Then, the front suspension was treated to a pair of Firestone airbags for an even more extreme drop in ride height. In the rear, the Blazer was changed dramatically suspension-wise with a triangulated four-link suspension setup and another pair of airbags. All suspension work was performed by WB Motorsports and painted using GM Gloss Black to clean things up.
Interior The inside of Troy's Blazer is equally coma-inducing. The interior sports bucket seats from a '97 Pontiac Sunfire sans headrests, which have been reworked to look nothing like they did in the car they came from. The dash in the Blazer is remarkable and was built using '96 Cavalier and '97 Sunfire dash parts bought out of a junkyard for $25. Using fiberglass, Troy built the lower part of the dash and upholstered it, along with the seats and custom-built door panels, using Malibu Sand-colored tweed and Almond Ultra leather. All of the interior work in the truck was done by Troy, except for the upholstery on the seats, which was handled by Jus Stitchin' in Goshen, Indiana. Behind the dash sits a Vintage Air heating and defrosting unit to allow Troy not to freeze solid when he decides to drive his truck in the middle of Indiana winters.
Stereo Inside the Blazer, you'll find a Kenwood 5019 head unit just below a set of digital gauges. Stereo components inside the truck include two JL Audio subwoofers behind the seats, a pair of JL Audio separates in the kick panels, and an Alpine V-12 amplifier to power it all. Wiring for the system is all Stinger Electronics gear, and the installation was performed by Stinger and Troy.
Special Thanks To Troy's wife and kids for being so patient with him while he was building his Blazer during so many late nights in the garage. He also wants to thank his very good friends Steven, Negon, Scott, Steve, Thom, and Jay for all of their help and support.