5.3 in a s10 blazer

[Hotwire]

Hey all,

Been building this in my head and finally have the funds to make it come true. I can't afford a silverado and can't get a Camaro, so I have to compromise and build my own.

The specs are:

-2002 S10 Blazer, 2wd, 18Xk miles, popped head gasket
-Built 4L60-E from Carolina Performance Transmissions' owner, 700hp capable with different converter, running new s10 converter which will give ~2400 stall
-8.5" rear with Detroit True Trac diff and 3.42s
-Energy suspension/PST poly bushings on all corners/body
-Belltech 2" spindles / blocks in rear
-Monroe reflex shocks up front, air shocks in rear for towing
-2002 5.3 out of GMC Yukon with 110k
-2004 Z06 cam/springs

Polished up the turd with some spray bombs. Had to lap all the valves as the seats were gone, ported the oil pump and shimmed the relief spring. Hoping the engine will last a little while so I can enjoy all this friggin work.

On to the pics:

[Hotwire]

Got it home and got a couple minutes to check it out:


Another dirty dd to clean up:


Found out where all the coolant went:


Need some fries to go with that shake. At least the engine will bring some $ @ the recycling center. Daughter went through the interior, final cost, $649.96.

Going to push it into the garage this weekend and start swapping parts.

[Hotwire]

Got drivers side apart, had my daughter helping me so going is slow. Pulled the intake off and puked a little in my mouth. MOTHER OF GOD!!

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I started videoing the draining but got bored! 20 min in and its still going, 6 gallon bucket 1/2 full.







Lol, was afraid to use a 5 gallon bucket, glad I got the bigger one.

[Hotwire]

Didn't get a lot of time out in the garage but got to a good stopping point. Checked the bucket and there were still globs slowly coming out of the drain plug, but not enough to warrant any more time draining so I plugged it up, this is the result, this is what came out of the oil pan drain plug and nothing else, bucket was empty when starting:



Measured the truck and blazer rear twice and they are the same, only place I think I'm going to have issues is the driveshaft. The u-bolts were a hot mess, think this truck spent some time up north. Doubt I'll be able to re-use them as they threads are gnarled up bad. Going to wait to crack the brake system open when I get my truck taken apart. Here's my stopping point, absolutely 0 front suspension except for the brake calipers, only thing still attached on the rear is the brake hose. Sliding the rear forward makes taking the e-brake cables apart 180% easier.



Checked the glovebox #s, turns out the blazer has a G80 and 3.42s, so it's a perfect swap. Minus the larger ring gear.. Also going to stick w/ the springs that are in there and just run blocks for the time being. Can sort suspension wants later on down the road.

I also forgot to put up a pic of my little grease monkey from the other night, she hung out and crushed stuff in the vise while I wrenched on the blazer. Think she was avoiding my wife too.

[Hotwire]

Had a 98 s10 with the ho 4.3 and 5 speed. It came with the 8.5" rear since earlier versions were popping the 7 5/8s. It's the same as the Silverados except the diff bearings are a little smaller. Sold the truck to fund this build, swapped all the updated suspension and rear before I sold it.

Welp, it's on..


Took a little while to get it out, think I spent more time contemplating what I was doing than wrenching.

It's ridiculous how heavy this frigging rear is. Is absolutely crazy this difference between a 8.5 and 7.625.. My back is not happy, lol, it's getting more tomorrow.

[Hotwire]

Have to show this.. Previous owner fix on the drivers latch. Going to be fun fixing it.


8.5 vs 7.625, friggin 8.5 has to be twice as heavy as the other..




Got the rear of my truck buttoned up and have the 8.5 set in place in the blazer. The extendable driveshaft on my truck took up to the other rear fine. E brake cables are a little tight but everything bolted up and works. Hoping to get the front swapped on my truck tomorrow. Thing already looks like its 4wd, has a serious Mullet rake.

[Hotwire]

Got bad idea #1 completed tonight. Have to swap out my stereo stuff, get it aligned, clean it up, and install for sale sign. :happysad:


Sounds almost stock with factory air box, paper filter, and mechanical fan going. Anxious to drive it again. Missing it, but hoping I'm missing the mods and not the truck itself. That 4wd blazer sucks to drive.

[1FastPickup]

Heck yeah man! I like it. 4 door blazer will make a cool sleeper. Can't wait to see this come together.

[Hotwire]

Got poly's removed, greased, and reinstalled. Also got drivers side bolted together. The quick ratio zq8 steering box tipped over night and left a nice big puddle.

I used the threaded rod/nuts/washers to remove/press in my bottom polys.


Bearing separator and 2 jaw puller worked awesome on the upper arms.


Little progress is better than none.


Cannot wait to get this out of the garage and get everything cleaned up.

[Hotwire]

Originally Posted by 1FastPickup

Heck yeah man! I like it. 4 door blazer will make a cool sleeper. Can't wait to see this come together.

Thanks man, been on this since Feb, just copy/pasting to get y'all caught up.

Wish I had more funds to keep up with you fockers.

This blazer fits my need for fun driving and transportation for the monkey.

[Hotwire]

Pulled the brake fluid reservoir and cleaned out best I could. Bled the brakes, finished up the front end, and loosely put the rear together. Waiting to install shocks, going with air shocks instead of helper bags. Won't be any room after I run exhaust through there. Got the blazer off the jackstands. Hoping the front settles more / 5.3 pulls it down some. Don't think the coils are fully seated. Friends have already commented on the tires..:nutkick: again... That will be fixed after these are thoroughly roasted.



Degreasing tools, cleaning the walking areas, then pulling wire harness, hoses, and everything else to prep the engine for dismissal.

Noticed the rear is really close to the tank. Going to get some axle set back plates when I order the diff. Did a Napa run this morning, got a rebuild kit for the rear, bearings, valve stem seals, some much wanted tools, and some odds and ends.

We're getting ready to start rolling! :bigpimp:

[Hotwire]

This thing has 150 some thousand miles, looks like factory cap, plug wires, still has factory hoses!!

Just a "little" trans line leak.. wasted the pass sway bar bushing and end link, bottom rad hose was swelled up and as soft as a baby's butt. Have no idea why this thing overheated and blew..



Got to pull the distributor, grounds on heads, exhaust manifolds, and mounts, then it's out of there.



I'm freaking tired.

[Hotwire]

Got the first part of what I wanted to do tonight, had two different sets of friends come over almost back to back. Actually glad the first stopped by, he helped me carry the hoist to the garage.

Too bad I didn't have a nicer camera..





Hoping to separate the two and get into the engine tomorrow. When I pulled the y pipe both sides had snail trails of funk running down them.

[Hotwire]

All I gotta say is Thank You Easter Bunny bwock bwock!!



Got the blazer pushed outside, engine and trans separated. The engine turns over by hand but has , funk in at least one cylinder as its hard to turn over by hand. Got the garage ready for a gear swap tomorrow. After that its front brakes and half shafts on a Mazda, then maybe I can do something on my rides.

Next is pulling the trans apart for rebuild and getting the 5.3 in the garage for tear down.

[Hotwire]

Got the garage completely degreased and somewhat put back to order. Started tearing the trans down for the rebuild / fortifying.



Didn't have the right torx for the bellhousing (t50 plus) so I had to shut down early. Hoping to source the tool local and finish getting it apart and cleaned up.



On a side note, Gates has an app that lets you source any of their products for any vehicle. Also has belt routing diagrams. I've found their seal kit for our steering boxes, but still haven't found a vector shaft bushing. The app is called Gates Navigates.

[Hotwire]

Got the trans apart, was able to get the right torx bit (thanks Adam!), had to make a secondary run to get a set of snap ring pliers wide enough to get the low/reverse clutch pack ring.





This steering wheel puller was modified to remove/install lt1 hubs back in the day and just now revived itself as a clutch spring pack compressor.



Cleaning all the parts up and inspecting tomorrow night have to take note of any wear. Will bag everything to keep it clean and order new parts and upgrades.

[Hotwire]

Okay, okay... dammit. Alright!!

I miss my truck Happy?

On the other hand, it's funds are proving quite useful. :bigpimp:





275 40 17s and hubcentric spacers are in my future.

LSx NV3500 sold today, profits nicely reinvested.

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Talked with transmission buddy and got grocery list, got to deposit a chunk of funds and get this stuff ordered. Plan is 2 weekends away for build.

Had to fix a coworkers pressure washer so I didn't get a whole lot of time working on my junk. I do have permission to use the washer so I'm going to clean up the engine bay of the blazer.

Finally got a shot of cleaned up trans:


:eek:


probably going to need a valve job. I know I can lap most the valves into shape but the worst one might need the seat and valve replaced. I did a quick lapping on it to see if it would clean up, but didn't look too promising.

First head disassembled and hosed down with wd40 for the night


worse exhaust valve so far, after light lapping


not so secure grouping of parts


cleaned/lapped exhaust valve. extremely pitted, did some searching, seems normal for ls engines. Going to wire brush rest of valves and lap them too.


stopping point for tonight.

[Hotwire]

Heads halfway clean


clean springs / retainers / locks


Heads done




Transmission goodies in the house. Next Sunday is the day.


Hoping to get into the block to clean it up, install the cam, and spray some hugger orange.

[Hotwire]

The transmissions have subtle differences throughout. Different piston designs, seal types, check ball placements, etc. If you're looking to rebuild one, get one for the specific year your working on. Trust me, there's a lot of parts and a **** ton of things to go wrong.

Trans after disassembly:


Cleaned and ready for rebuild:


Hard parts that were replaced far:




How it sits right now:


Buddy couldn't find his seal resizer, we tried to manually shrink the o-ring seals but kept on cutting them. He left, said he'd be available in 2 weekends, so I bagged everything up, and boxed it to protect everything. Going to spray the case before he comes back trying to keep it somewhat looking clean. Trans has some of his secrets done to it, red alto clutches, beast sun shell, all new pistons, seals, thrust washers, Corvette servo, upgraded pump parts, new steels, etc If I got a billet converter this would hold 700hp. Gives me plenty of room to upgrade.

In the meantime I'm concentrating on getting the engine ready to go, clearancing the frame, and getting everything else done.

Cleaned up the piston tops, hoping to clean the lifters after my girl's softball game tomorrow night.





After that I'm cleaning the block, spraying it with some colors, swapping cams, oil pans, and getting it back together. I'm going to run the stock intake for now, will continue smoothing the other one out after everything calms down.

[Hotwire]

Looks like I'm spending some more money. Pulled the first set of lifters out and setup to clean them up. The internal pistons in the lifters will not come out. I've put every chemical I got into them, all variations of tools, and lots of heat. Absolutely no go. Instead of fighting with these and end up with trouble on down the road I'm throwing in the towel and getting new lifters.



I picked up a can of hammered silver paint and blasted the trans. The pos can would ONLY spray laying sideways, so I had to paint thug style with my gat. Its a crap paint job but hopefully I'll never see it. Just wanted to coat the bare aluminum so it'll clean up easier.

[Hotwire]

Got the Teflon rings sized on the transmission input shaft, drilled the required holes in the valve body separator plate, installed hardened seats for the checkballs, and got the exterior of the block scuffed up for paint. Doing run for masking tape in the morning then pulling the front cover, oil pan, degreasing, and spraying the block. After that painting the covers, fasteners, accy brackets. Installing cam, new oil pan, etc etc.

Got a close up of the trans before I tucked it away.

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Cam installed, oil pan sprayed hammered silver, fasteners and plugs sprayed, block color changed to the right color. Late start today, hanging with the fam. Hoping to have engine assembled tonight. PS, don't get the "new" 3m blue tape, it sucks.

[Hotwire]

My blood/spray paint fume level has topped out for the day. Only thing left to spray is the accessory brackets and possibly the valve covers, but I'm really undecided on those, plus can do later on.

Valley cover, oil pan, timing cover, crank pulley, and fasteners.



Using the same wood I used on the beast's stuff.



Still had a spray bomb left over from my dark cherry 97 s10. Had keys made this weekend and couldn't tell them apart from the other blazer. Hoping this sticks.



Going to get lifter trays on order tomorrow, also going to see about mls head gaskets from the dealership. Got regular felpros, but took off factory mls, heard they're cheaper too..