Winging a 1971 K5 Blazer L96 6L90 Swap

[HotRod4me]

Hi, everyone. Been watching this site for a long time putting my build together in my head. Picked up a tired Hugger Orange 1971 Blazer and a parts truck over the summer.

So here were go- I love the old patina paint on the truck so I think I'm going to leave the body and paint alone for now. The drive train is a different story. I plan on doing a 2" spring lift, new stock 33" tires and a L96 motor with a 6L90 transmission behind it.[ATTACH]Attachment 2162428[/ATTACH]

[72gmguy]

Sounds cool. I will be watching!

[68panelman]

Looking good

[HotRod4me]

This is going to go pretty fast for a while. I've been working on it for a little while and now just starting to post the progress to document the adventure and possible help others doing something similar along the way.

[HotRod4me]

Tear down started

[HotRod4me]

Motors out

[HotRod4me]

Anyone looking for a motor

[HotRod4me]

Parts Truck

[HotRod4me]

Body is off the frame

[HotRod4me]

This was a little nerving to have the body suspended in the air like this, but everything worked out in the end.

[68panelman]

Cranking right along. I'd take that motor if you were closer. Keep up the good work!!!

[HotRod4me]

Built an adjustable cart, so I could move the body around the garage if needed. Space is pretty tight!!

[HotRod4me]

Ready to start striping the frame for sand blasting and paint.

[HotRod4me]

Picked this 6.0L L96/6L90 motor out of a 2019 Silverado 2500hd with 4 miles on it this fall.

[HotRod4me]

Frame is painted and ready for assemble.

[HotRod4me]

Tearing down and inspecting the NP205 Transfer case. Found some pretty good instructional videos on youtube for rebuilding this piece.

[HotRod4me]

Added a Rough Country 2" suspension lift. Rebuild both axles and swapped out the open read end with the one from my parts truck into my build, since it had a stock posi rear end. Installed all new spicer u-joints to handle the additional power I'll be putting to the ground with the L96. New drums in the rear and drilled and slotted discs up front to stop this beast when it gets moving.

[jaros44sr]

Looks great, nice work

Don't forget the poly mounts on.the motor, I've read where they don't play well, if you mix poly and rubber

Now would be a good time to add hydra boost, it will stop the big tires w/o.a problem, also, consider a 3 pice cross brace motor mount, if you ever have to drop your oil pan, you will be glad you did.
Now I want drill and and cross vent my front hubs, these forums are a slippery slope
Thanks for posting up, gives me hope and incentive thar someday I'll finish mine

[Kenz72K5]

Looks Good, will look in to see how your doing, My 72 K5 I purchased a year ago already had the LS1 and 6L90 but alot of things I still wanted to do such as Electric windows, door locks, 1 piece window etc. has a 6 inch lift that I would like to lower to 2-3 inch.....

[HotRod4me]

Thanks for checking out my build guys. I already purchased a Dirty Dingo motor mount for that exact reason and the rubber motor mounts. Now I'm second guessing those and considering the polyurethane ones. I'm at a good point to swap them out now, so thank you again for the tip. That is exactly why I love these forums and other builders input.

[HotRod4me]

Picture of the new drums and gas tank.

[HotRod4me]

Transfer case rebuilt, Advanced engineering adapter installed for the 6L90 and ready to go. Now I just need to figure out a shift linkage adapter.

[HotRod4me]

In tank fuel pump from Tanks Inc installed with Corvette pressure regulator and new shoes on stock rims. Love the look of these tires!!

[68ls1]

Originally Posted by HotRod4me

In tank fuel pump from Tanks Inc installed with Corvette pressure regulator and new shoes on stock rims. Love the look of these tires!!

I've got a coupe of questions about in tank pump
What part number is the one you used?
Did you have to modify depth? Tanks Inc quote max 12", where as I believe Blazer tank is around 13"
How is clearance of unit to floor, as there is not a lot of room there?

[HotRod4me]

I used the Tanks Inc PA-4 unit. The pump will flow 255 liters per hour and handle up to 630 HP with 60 psi of fuel pressure. I'm running a stock L96 motor that produces roughly 360 HP, but eliminated the mechanical fan, added a cold air intake and plan to run stainless headers with 3" exhaust. I'm guessing the little performance upgrades will add maybe 40 additional hp. The reason I went with the larger fuel pump is that I wanted to keep the option of running e85 if I wanted and e85 requires 25-35% more fuel.

Yes, I did end up extending the reach of the fuel pump arm roughly 3/4" and extended the pick/return lines, so the unit sat flat on the bottom of the tank. I also wanted to change the line to make sure I didn't have issues if I ran e85.

I'm not sure on the clearance at this point, but figured I could drop the tank down slightly if there are any issues.

Thanks for checking out my build and I'll keep you posted when I start to fit the body.