Stink Ten Two. The second Blazer.

[HO455]

I picked up this 1988 Blazer a couple weeks ago it's pretty solid but has some issues to be corrected. Obviously it's an ex-Forest Service rig. Its an odd combination of options 2.8 V6 with a manual transmission, manual steering, manual windows, no AC but a rear window defroster. I'm not sure if the side mirrors are factory or aftermarket as I don't remember ever seeing any like them before.

The first thing to fix is the steering as it has a ton of slop in it. I ordered a Red Head box for it. Apparently most of the manual steering boxes on S10's are S10 only and such the core charge is more than the box was.

After removing the guard on the coupling I found the cause of most of the play.

[dagnabbitt]

Wow, I really like that, great truck. Post more pics if you can!

[special-K]

I love ex-municipal trucks. Even cooler with custom touches. I believe those mirrors are aftermarket. I'm wanting to buy something more trim for the Sonoma. It seems manual boxes wear sooner than power. I think it's that the P/S systems absorb more "road steer" between the box and steering wheel. But I do see the contributing culprit

[4793]

always good to see another Forest Service green vehicle out there, and your Blazer is nice and straight

I think the Forest Service tried to keep their trucks fairly bare bones with options suitable to where the truck was working. I imagine in the northwest rear defrost is more necessary than AC. My Forest Service truck came out of the southwest and is very basic but it does have AC- and, weirdly enough, the cassette deck radio

[HO455]

Apparently somehow I didn't save all of the post. Here's the other photos. And coupe more. The seats are 95 Camaro and the door panels have had the fabric replaced with GM pleather.

The rag joint was not made of the normal rubber fiber I'm used to seeing (Like the new one) but was made of a urethane looking material. It looked as one part had been broken for awhile as the edges looked kind of polished Needless to say it drives much better now.

I did contemplate converting to power steering but that would turn a 4 hour job to a 4 week job and I'd miss out on all the aerobic exercise.

[special-K]

yeah, stick with the Armstrong steering

[HO455]

The lil Blazer needed a change of tread so out with the Michelin Maypops and in with some Firestone Indy 500s. While up on the lift I got some photos to post.

Front suspension has 2002 spindles and lower control arms with UMI upper control arms.

The rear axle is also 2002 vintage with 3.42 gears bolted to a posi carrier.

[HO455]

I put the new Blazer to work today. Drove out to Orchards and picked up the lower end of new the engine for my 72 Firebird. I was thinking of starting a thread about it in the Alternative Tinkering section once I start doing more than gathering parts.

[HO455]

Got all the wagons together for a photo.

[HO455]

I got to wondering how a Forest Service vehicle was ordered so I took a photo of the RPO codes in the glove box, found a decoder sheet on the interweb and started decoding the 62 RPO's listed.

I was able to decode all but 11 of them. I was surprised as to how many changes had been made to the truck since the factory. The SPID showed it originally was a 4.3 automatic 3 speed with OD and a roof rack. After reviewing I the list closer I started to question the decoder list I was using. Maybe it was for a different year or brand of GM vehicles. Then I got smart and compared the VIN number on the SPID to the one on the truck and found they don't match!

I guess someone swapped glove boxes or dash boards at some point.

Oh well it kept me amused for an hour.

[leegreen]

That is a really clean Blazer. But I think I figured out why the 2.8 oil filter did not fit.

[HO455]

Thank you, I'm trying get it cleaned up bit by bit. The carpeting needs replaced as well and the headliner is sagging so there's a couple of projects on the horizon.

I wondered if anyone would catch the filter joke. My Burban had a whole bunch of PO inflicted problems, this truck is much, much better.

[HO455]

The pinon seal started leaking. At first I noticed spots the size of a half dollar but they quickly got more significant. So I decided if I was going to have to deal with the seal I would change the gear ratio too. The F-body T56's have a 2.66 first gear ratio which I'm sure GM chose due to fuel and emission concerns but otherwise they're a real buzz kill. Especially in stop and go traffic combined with 3.42 rear gears.

The truck had 3.42's in it when I got it. There was a receipt for them being installed along with a list of new parts in the documentation that came with the truck. I wanted to put a set of 3.90's in but they were back ordered so the next best option for me was 3.73's. I ordered a set along with a pinion spacer set to be used instead of a crush sleeve. Then I dropped the truck and parts off at Six States and had them install the parts.

I am pleased with the results as the truck is nicer to drive in traffic with less need to slip the clutch when starting out. On the other end now 6th gear is usable at 60 mph instead of 65. I still think 3.90's would have been the best compromise but I'd probably still be waiting for them to come off back order and leaving a trail of gear oil everywhere I went.

As a side note the shop reported that the reason the pinion seal was leaking was the pinion shaft bearings were loose and the carrier wasn't shimmed properly and it had slightly too much play. So a new set of bearings got installed too. Now the truck certainly seems smoother at this point.

[HO455]

Doing some maintenance on the Blazer today and found this mess in the air cleaner. I'm guessing there 20 horsepower there in amongst the sunflower seeds and the hazelnut.

[HO455]

I noticed early on that the light output on the Blazer's headlights was atrocious! This was kind of unexpected as it had a pair of Hella glass H4 light housings. Until I inspected the lights I was figuring old bulbs and/or low voltage to the bulbs. However inspection showed the silvering on the inside of the housings was failing. (See photos.) I've never seen this kind of failure on quality lights like Hellas before. Basically the fix was new housings followed by installing relays to ensure proper voltage will be delivered to the bulbs.

I installed new Koito H4 headlamps with 60/55W Vosla +150 bulbs that I sourced from Daniel Stern. And I got part of the relays installed but the high temperature ceramic sockets I ordered are back ordered for 2 more weeks. So more to follow on this one.

https://www.danielsternlighting.com/.../products.html

Now I'm eagerly waiting for night fall to go dial in the new illumination.