the slowest (build) blazer

[tobiahr]

I've already had my blazer for 4 years and think I drove it half of one summer before "The Project" began. Lately my friends have been telling me they want some pics of the progress or lack thereof. So the thread begins.
Attached are the pics from the craigslist add for the Blazer. I htink the guy was asking 700 or 750. I talked hime down to 600. This was Spring of 2007.

[tobiahr]

The Blazer had 2 things going for it. It was a factory 2wd and it had integrated seatbelt seats from a extra cab pickup already in it. The downside was the previous owner tried to comvert this otherwise prime factory vehicle (still has the chalkmarks on framerails and underhood) into some sort of lifted 2wd mudder and then left it in a field with the windows down for about 2 years. this left me with some serious rust in the normal areas.

[tobiahr]

The first thing i had to do was repair the brakes so it would be safer to drive. Had a wicked pull to the left when you applied the brakes. The rear cylenders leaked like crazy and the right caliper was completely seized. you can see the result of the leaky rears but i didn't gets pics on the front.

[tobiahr]

After I got it road worthy enough to make it the 70 miles to my house I brought it home and got started on the changes. First thing to go was the 32 inch mudders. No place for them on a 2wd IMHO.
While I was at it I removed the 3 inch lift blocks from the rear axle to try and level her out.
When I was bringing her home I had some fuel delivery problems so I decided to drop the tank and give it a thorough inspection.
Tank looked ok and so did the fuel lines, so why did they bypass the mechanical fuel pump and put the electrical at the front of the vehicle?

[tobiahr]

I have an overall plan for the vehicle but no real timeline for when it should happen. The summer of 2008 I finally got the vehicle inspected and street legal and started driving. This is when I found out the real reason you should not put a cheap electric fuel pump at the front of the vehicle. After repeatedly stalling in traffic I replaced the mechanical fuel pump, removed the electric, and have had no further fuel delivery issues. For those that don't know an electric fuel pump doesn't have a lot of vacuum and so has issues with pulling the fuel from the tank to the front of the vehicle. That’s why all of the instructions say to put it as close to the tank as possible and why new vehicles put them in the tank. The second modification after the wheels and lift was I wanted a serpentine system. "OFF TO THE SALVAGE YARD"
Paid 150$ total for the complete system including alternator, power steering pump and AC compressor. SWEET!
And I still don't have it completely on the Blazer.
You see this is where my curse kicked in. Anytime I think it’s going to be a simple job it isn't. The serpentine setup I got moved the AC compressor to the passenger side of the vehicle. Ok simple, I get the condenser coils from the donor vehicle and put them in the Blazer. That will take modifying the radiator core support. I haven't gotten to that part yet as I’m kind of afraid to start cutting it up.
So I started installing the serpentine system anyway. Now I find the stock headers won't work for me. So I get a set of aftermarket. While removing them I see the rear seal on the transmission is leaking. Check. Got that one fixed (sorry no pics).

[tobiahr]

I have had this suburban front clip lying around for a while so I decide to put it on so I can get the turn signals behind the grill. I don't know why I didn't just swap the core support so don't ask. It’s on now. Not really sure when I did it and didn't take pics of the swap. While I was at the salvage yard I found some sweet Tahoe power bucket seats and replaced mine. Still have the seat belts in the seat so no big change. Jump ahead to 2011 and I decide I better get the phantom grill and drop kit pieces I need while the wife says it’s ok to spend that kind of money on a vehicle that doesn't move (tax refund). Here is where the drop starts.

First the U-bolts from the lift needed to be modified a little

Then I discovered the engineers really were not thinking of future maintenance when designing the front hanger. Seriously who puts the bolt in from the shielded side? All you would have had to do was assemble it from the other side or make a hole in the panel. On second thought maybe I should be talking with the assembly line workers.

[Liddy71]

looks good I thought about taking my springs and having them put a 2-3 arch in them at the spring shop . dont know if it would work or not

[tobiahr]

Decided to continue dropping the front instead of raising the back. Removed the stock front coil spring and ther was tire clearance all the way to the bump stop. Measured the difference in drop between the fron and back and ordered the correct drop spring and TADA!
I should be able to add spacers to the rear so it is even with the front without clearancing the fenders but i'm going to clearance the front by rolling the inner fender knife edge up instead of pointing at the sidewall of the tire.

[cletis]

That is a huge transformation from the first pic to here, looks really good.

[made2drag]

looks good! i missed the part about your rear drop....i know you took the 3 inch blocks out...what else did you do to drop it? from looking at it im guessing you pulled some leafs...it looks like my rear drop on my 78

[tobiahr]

Originally Posted by made2drag

looks good! i missed the part about your rear drop....i know you took the 3 inch blocks out...what else did you do to drop it? from looking at it im guessing you pulled some leafs...it looks like my rear drop on my 78

Was actually an axle flip. Got about 5 1/2 inches of drop. Now that it is finished the rockers are about 11 inches from the ground all the way around. 17 inch wheels kinda fill the wheel wells and make it look lower.

[tobiahr]

For reference i took a few pics alongside my 2001 S-10 Blazer at factory ride height. Roof lines are within about an inch of each other in height.

[Can't kech me]

I love 17" coys... is it a 350?

[tobiahr]

Originally Posted by Can't kech me

I love 17" coys... is it a 350?

VIN says 5.0 but i havent cracked the seals on the engine yet or looked up the casting numbers to confirm. I am out of money for now and will be thinking on swapping in a LS and 4L80e or building a 383 stroker in the future. From the research so far the swap will cost about the same as the engine I want to build and have about the same hoursepower and torque. From what I've been told the swap will get better gas milage while doing it to.

[Can't kech me]

Originally Posted by tobiahr

VIN says 5.0 but i havent cracked the seals on the engine yet or looked up the casting numbers to confirm. I am out of money for now and will be thinking on swapping in a LS and 4L80e or building a 383 stroker in the future. From the research so far the swap will cost about the same as the engine I want to build and have about the same hoursepower and torque. From what I've been told the swap will get better gas milage while doing it to.

Do the LS!

[tobiahr]

I told you it would be the slowest build. I finally got the time and money to start working on it again. had a pretty bad motorcycle accident that stopped all projects a few years back. I bought a running driving 2003 suburban with some hidden rust to give up its heart for the blazer. Its only a L59 and a 4l60 but that should be plenty for this guy. What started as a engine bay clean up has gotten out of hand though. It now is stripped to bare frame rails from the firewall forward and I am waiting on a friend to help me weld in a replacement for the crappy shock mount repair from the previous owner.

[LT7A]

Dude, what a revival! Good grab on the Burb drivetrain.

[tobiahr]

thanks. I just need to keep the momentum this time around. I have lots of plans for things I cannot do myself, yet. I did make a promise to the wife that I would get it back to the point that I could actually drive it around before I start with any bodywork or other mods, so the drivetrain comes next. hopefully my friend that can weld will not wait too long as currently this is the only thing keeping me from painting the frame rails and reassembly. it has been in the 100's for the past couple of weeks and my garage has been about 115ish with the door open so he wants to wait for it to get cooler. if there are any welders that would be willing to take on a small job of welding in a 8x6 inch diamond shaped patch on a frame rail and are in the south Austin/Kyle area hit me up. you must also be willing to work in a hot garage

[Whamo]

glad you're back

[tobiahr]

So some progress has been made. Bought a small piece of frame from a salvage yard that has a good shock mounting point. I was originally going to cut out the damaged portion from the original frame and weld in a matching patch but after talking with a few welders decided it would be better to just patch a large piece over the damaged area. So it has been done!
Now to seam seal the repair just to make sure no more rust and paint all of it with chassis paint. After that I can put the new front end parts I purchased on, new tie rods, all bushings, a SWAY BAR and start with the actual engine and transmission install.

Full weekend for me and I'm loving it.

[Palf70Step]

Glad to see you still plugging away with it.

[tobiahr]

A little more progress today. Seam sealer on the patch for the shock mount and paint for all. Tomorrow I start on the cross member disassembly and clean, maybe Saturday I will be at the point I can put paint on it as well. Would have gotten more done but once it gets above 100 degrees outside my garage becomes unbearable.

[tobiahr]

another weekend update. had to rebuild the front end (replace the rod end, bushings, etc.) so I decided to do a full clean and spray a little paint at the same time. got the upper control arms disassembled, cleaned and painted. forgot to take the clean pics but I can get those on the lower control arms or many of the remaining. also cleaned and sprayed the two front sway bars I have collected. need to decide which one to install once the Blazer is back on its feet and would welcome opinions. There will also be a factory sway bar from a c-30 installed on the rear before she hits the street. There is a significant difference in size between the two as can be seen in the pictures. the larger is about 1 1/4 inches (~32 mm) and the smaller is 1 5/32 (~29 mm) while the rear is 1 1/16 (~27 mm)

[tobiahr]

Well I have some good news and some bad news. Good news is my job is one that is considered essential so I am able to work during this quarantine. Bad news is my job is one that is considered essential so I have to work during this quarantine. Over all I think the good outweighs the bad in this case.

I have gotten the lower control arms blasted and painted over the last month and the cross member cleaned and prepped last weekend. There must have been 1/2 inch of oil soaked dirt in the center cavity. spend almost 3 hours Saturday with a wire brush and a power washer trying to get it out. Decided late Saturday night to try oven cleaner Sunday. Stuff worked great on getting the lats of the gunk out of the hard to reach areas but if anyone else uses it be warned it will immediately oxidize any metal so you will need a coat of rust converter sprayed on in almost immediately.

Paint is has been my primary focus and I have made some progress on the weekends that it wasn't raining. Last coat on the cross member was this afternoon so i may start assembly late Sunday night once the paint cures. Possibly just get everything lined up and all the bolts located and just try and get one piece per night this week.

I hope everyone reading this is in a good place in their lives and they and their loved ones are happy and healthy.

[tobiahr]

Much progress has been made!
In a flurry of activity I managed to get the front suspension 99% installed. I say 99% because i ran out of grease and could not grease all the fittings. Also it was hot and I was tired. But yay for me. I am not going to put the sheet metal back on until after i have swapped in the LS drive train, so the next step is to start prepping the wiring from the donor and removing unneeded stuff from the Blazer firewall.