K5 Blazer Truck Frame Mated to a Chevy Malibu Car body

One of the last things you’d expect on the streets of downtown Moscow is the boxy silhouette of a mid-eighties American sedan sitting high on 33s. A trained eye would easily spot the low hanging differentials along with the leaf spring – something that would required a huge amount of R&D to be executed on the vehicle like the Chevy Malibu. Though, the recipe of this build is more simple – its owner simply chopped the entire car body of the Malibu and installed it on top of the Chevy K5 blazer rolling frame (with the engine and transmission). He only needed to figure out how to mate it all together!

When I came across this 1989 Chevy Malibu built by Alexey at Gorilla Garage, I knew straight away it had to land on Offroadium. This isn’t another donk on skinny tires and candy paint. Quite oppositely, it’s a genuine 4×4 off-road build on real 33 mud tires and solid axles Blazers are known for. Read on to find out how Alexey turned two forgotten Chevys into one menacing head-turner he calls “Hard Rock.”

Key Mods:

• Custom 1985 Chevy K5 Blazer 4×4 chassis swap
• 33″ all-terrain tires
• Heavy-duty truck suspension, steering and brakes

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Mating the Car Body to the Truck Frame

As you understand, mating a car body to a truck chassis is never a bolt-on job, but rather a creative challenge. Alexey and his crew at Gorilla Garage spent nearly four years cutting, fabricating and adapting to make these two Chevys live as one. As a case study in K5 frame-swap, this build proves that firewall clearance and transfer case placement are the two biggest hurdles you need to find a solution for.

At a glance

• The firewall and transmission tunnel had to be completely re-engineered to accommodate the K5’s larger 5-liter V8 motor and 4×4 drivetrain. This allowed no room for the Malibu’s original A/C system.
• New engine mounts, steering linkages and brake lines all had to be custom made to adapt the chassis to the Malibu body. Stainless brake line fittings like these from 4LifetimeLines keep custom-routed lines sealed and leak-free.
• The Malibu’s factory steering and brake systems were far too undersized for the scale of the project, so donor parts from the K5 Blazer were used instead.

Chassis & Drivetrain

The whole project rides on a 1985 Chevy K5 Blazer chassis with a military surplus history. The first headache was in the length of the bodies. The square-body frame runs a 106.5-inch wheelbase, while the G-body Malibu body was built around 108.1 inches. That 1.6-inch mismatch, doesn’t sound like much, but in fact presented a pretty serious problems for the swap. That’s why, Alexey had to slightly radius the Malibu’s wheel wells so the 33s sit centered in the arches instead of cocked forward or back.

The power comes from the K5’s 305 5.0L V8 Small Block mated to the period-correct GM bulletproof overdrive 700R4. When it’s time to freshen up an automatic at home, a master overhaul kit like this Raybestos rebuild kit bundles the clutches, bands, seals and gaskets in one box. Drive splits through the K5’s aluminum New Process NP208 chain-driven transfer case. Because the NP208 sits up high to feed the front driveshaft, the Malibu’s factory transmission tunnel had to be drastically cut open and re-fabricated out of fresh sheet metal to keep the interior floor level.

The body now rides on rugged GM Corporate 10-bolt axles with the 8.5-inch ring gear front and rear. New engine mounts, steering linkages and brake lines were all custom made to adapt the chassis to the car body. A universal line like this JEGS brake line gives you the raw tubing to bend and flare your own runs.

Wheels & Tires

Nothing screams off-road more than a set of real 33s like these Hankook Dynapro M/T tires, that would turn any vehicle into a trail-capable machine as long as they could fit into the wheel wells.

Exterior

The exterior of the Malibu looks pretty stock, from all the side except for the front. Even if you aren’t familiar with these cars, you will immediately understand that something is off about it’s enormous grille.

Indeed it was modified and slightly extended downwards, to cover up the frontal portion of the frame which just couldn’t be covered by the original car’s body. A side-exit exhaust system with dual pipes was custom fabbed to hug the K5 frame rails from the side and accentuate the lifted profile.

Interior

Inside, Alexey kept things largely stock to hold onto that retro 80s feel. The only real intrusion being the re-fabbed transmission tunnel hiding the tall NP208 unit.

List Of Modifications

Chassis & Drivetrain

• 1985 Chevy K5 Blazer, 106.5″ wheelbase
• Malibu wheel wells slightly radiused to reconcile the 108.1″ G-body wheelbase
• 5.0L Small Block Chevy 305 V8
• Overdrive 700R4 Transmission
• New Process NP208 chain-driven transfer case
• Re-fabricated transmission tunnel in fresh sheet metal
• GM Corporate 10-bolt axles (8.5″ ring gear), front and rear
• Custom engine mounts, steering linkages and brake lines

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Suspension, Steering & Brakes

• Heavy-duty suspension components
• Custom U-joint steering shaft to K5 Saginaw steering box
• K5 heavy-duty master cylinder
• Truck brake setup off the K5 Blazer

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Wheels & Tires

• 33″ Hankook Dynapro M/T tires

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Exterior

• Redesigned front grille with Blazer styling cues
• Full-face grille with hidden headlights
• Custom side-exit dual-pipe exhaust

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Interior

• Mostly stock retro 80s interior
• Upgraded audio system

Budget Estimate

Category	Budget DIY	Done properly
Drivetrain refresh (305 reseal; TH350 kit ~$150 / built ~$1000; NP208 reseal; axle bearings/seals; optional regear)	$600	$2,500
Fabrication materials (body mounts; crossmember mods; trans-tunnel sheet metal; hardware)	$400	$900
Welding gas + consumables	$150	$400
Suspension/steering/brakes (mix junkyard + new lines)	$700	$1,800
Wheels (4-5; steel or used)	$300	$700
Tires (4 x 33″ Hankook Dynapro M/T mount/balance)	$1,200	$1,200
Side-exit exhaust fab (tubing; mufflers; tips)	$250	$600
Grille mod + bodywork/rust	$250	$1,200
Paint (rattle-can/single-stage DIY vs. shop)	$400	$3,500
Fluids; fasteners; wiring; audio	$350	$900
Parts/materials subtotal	~$5200	~$14300

Conclusion

Alexey’s “Hard Rock” is one of those rare builds that can be classified as custom hot rods and real off-road rigs at the same time (even in the stock form the K5 blazer has an off-road capability score of 59.6 points out of 100 possible based on our rating). Underneath the retro Malibu skin sits a proper body-on-frame K5 Blazer with a 305 SBC, 4×4, low-range NP208 and truck 10-bolts, riding tall on 33-inch all-terrain rubber. Based on our build score this Frankenstein scores a solid 45 out of 70, earning points for its 4×4 drivetrain with suspension lift and oversized tires (30), body-on-frame layout (5), and low-range transfer case (10).

For anyone researching the K5 Blazer chassis car swaps, Alexey’s build can be used as the ultimate proof of concept for mating a vintage car body with a 4×4 truck frame.