Bucketlist Blazer -Restomod build 6.6liter L8T

[NDM]

I have the same problem as Zach at 7:30 in this video.


https://youtu.be/A4GbcMaXDBg?si=5AMj78ibBQrwBv82

[SCOTI]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zcts2IHZFko

[NDM]

Originally Posted by SCOTI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zcts2IHZFko

Oh yes. I have watched that video at least 5 times in the pas few weeks.

[Richard]

Pretty cool video and mods. Recall I mentioned the escalade for parts or awd swap sometime back.

[NDM]

Originally Posted by Richard

Pretty cool video and mods. Recall I mentioned the escalade for parts or awd swap sometime back.

Here it the thing. I am out of space. If I do a full escalade chassis swap, I need to have space to put a whole frame and any parts. I am also kind of at a point where I am wanting to just go with stuff that works vs all the fab work that I normally do. As I got passed by a Silverado today, I realized that I could just buy a crossmember kit from like QA1 or porterbuilt or one of the other companies and just enjoy it for a while. If I do the Escalade swap, I head back into the unknown again. Lots of fab work and lots of fitting that will take forever. I just want to drive at the moment. I want to be able to enjoy the power.

I am likely going to either build this crossmember that I already have as a lifted 2wd Blazer since that is pretty well documented here or I am going to sell a bunch of my beloved belongings to purchase something like the QA1 crossmember kit.

It is like every car on the street is trying to tell me to go 2wd. Every time I drive it I yearn to be able to drive aggressively again. There is this cammed longbed silverado around here that keeps ending up in the lane over from me. Mine is purposely quiet. I want to let this young man know what time it is but I cant. Not stable enough. I am not stupid enough to risk whomping on it at the moment. I would hate to take another tow truck ride due to playing around.

Plenty of decisions to make. Hopefully I can just decide soon. The cold weather is right around the corner and I do not want to be dealing with this in the cold garage for the second year in a row.

I really want the ability to do this even if I dont do it often.
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/gaew0Ia0JRI

[SCOTI]

Originally Posted by NDM

Here it the thing. I am out of space. If I do a full escalade chassis swap, I need to have space to put a whole frame and any parts. I am also kind of at a point where I am wanting to just go with stuff that works vs all the fab work that I normally do. As I got passed by a Silverado today, I realized that I could just buy a crossmember kit from like QA1 or porterbuilt or one of the other companies and just enjoy it for a while. If I do the Escalade swap, I head back into the unknown again. Lots of fab work and lots of fitting that will take forever. I just want to drive at the moment. I want to be able to enjoy the power.

I am likely going to either build this crossmember that I already have as a lifted 2wd Blazer since that is pretty well documented here or I am going to sell a bunch of my beloved belongings to purchase something like the QA1 crossmember kit.

It is like every car on the street is trying to tell me to go 2wd. Every time I drive it I yearn to be able to drive aggressively again. There is this cammed longbed silverado around here that keeps ending up in the lane over from me. Mine is purposely quiet. I want to let this young man know what time it is but I cant. Not stable enough. I am not stupid enough to risk whomping on it at the moment. I would hate to take another tow truck ride due to playing around.

Plenty of decisions to make. Hopefully I can just decide soon. The cold weather is right around the corner and I do not want to be dealing with this in the cold garage for the second year in a row.

I really want the ability to do this even if I dont do it often.
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/gaew0Ia0JRI

You mention the lifted 2wd swap & then name drop Porterbuilt & QA1 set-ups as options but they're options that are going to lower the vehicle.

What's wrong w/just going to a stock height or lowered 2wd GM front end (that's optimized)?

[NDM]

Originally Posted by SCOTI

You mention the lifted 2wd swap & then name drop Porterbuilt & QA1 set-ups as options but they're options that are going to lower the vehicle.

What's wrong w/just going to a stock height or lowered 2wd GM front end (that's optimized)?

I am very torn between those options. Lifted 2wd allows me to have close to the same height I am now but with more stability and better steering. It is also likely the cheapest option.This allows me to keep my 6 lug rally wheels too.

Qa1/porterbuilt etc. Are the most expensive but give me rack and pinion, lower weight and I am sure it would be pretty good handling. I also have the option to get close to a stock height or low to the ground. The issue with these is that I do not have the budget for new 5 lug wheels. Also I would have to lower the rear to match the front.

I would be totally happy with stock height too. My goal is decent handling and steering. I am not looking for perfect at this time.

But wait, there's more.....

I am currently looking into a complete stock C10 rolling chassis with wheels and some upgraded components. If I can get it at a decent cost, I will swap everything over to the Blazer. Hopefully I can get it for less than the cost of a QA1 front member. I would swap the front and rear suspension components and likely recoup some of the funds by selling my 4wd components. My 6l90e was 2wd and I converted it to 4wd. I have the parts to convert it back to 2wd. It would take me 1 afternoon to do. I really hope I can make this deal happen because it would solve all my issues. I could drive it that way until I could afford a full chassis build. The wheels are one of my favorite designs too.

[Richard]

Originally Posted by NDM

Here it the thing. I am out of space. If I do a full escalade chassis swap, I need to have space to put a whole frame and any parts. I am also kind of at a point where I am wanting to just go with stuff that works vs all the fab work that I normally do. As I got passed by a Silverado today, I realized that I could just buy a crossmember kit from like QA1 or porterbuilt or one of the other companies and just enjoy it for a while. If I do the Escalade swap, I head back into the unknown again. Lots of fab work and lots of fitting that will take forever. I just want to drive at the moment. I want to be able to enjoy the power.

I am likely going to either build this crossmember that I already have as a lifted 2wd Blazer since that is pretty well documented here or I am going to sell a bunch of my beloved belongings to purchase something like the QA1 crossmember kit.

It is like every car on the street is trying to tell me to go 2wd. Every time I drive it I yearn to be able to drive aggressively again. There is this cammed longbed silverado around here that keeps ending up in the lane over from me. Mine is purposely quiet. I want to let this young man know what time it is but I cant. Not stable enough. I am not stupid enough to risk whomping on it at the moment. I would hate to take another tow truck ride due to playing around.

Plenty of decisions to make. Hopefully I can just decide soon. The cold weather is right around the corner and I do not want to be dealing with this in the cold garage for the second year in a row.

I really want the ability to do this even if I dont do it often.
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/gaew0Ia0JRI

Yes, a full chassis swap is a big deal. I get it, would have loved a full boxed frame on my truck. Space, time and cost. To mod the IFS to fit is another deal. Note that there will be some frame modifications necessary to put a C10 chassis under the Blazer. I think a 2wd front suspension cradle would be a better option. If cheap enough for the front. Maybe a way to go.

[SCOTI]

Originally Posted by Richard

Yes, a full chassis swap is a big deal. I get it, would have loved a full boxed frame on my truck. Space, time and cost. To mod the IFS to fit is another deal. Note that there will be some frame modifications necessary to put a C10 chassis under the Blazer. I think a 2wd front suspension cradle would be a better option. If cheap enough for the front. Maybe a way to go.

Agreed.

No reason to do a full 2wd frame/chassis swap unless the rear suspension is truck-arm vs. leafs.

[NDM]

Originally Posted by SCOTI

Agreed.

No reason to do a full 2wd frame/chassis swap unless the rear suspension is truck-arm vs. leafs.

If I get it, I will use everything accept the frame rails. Cradle with wheels, truck arms, coils, rear end and truck arm crossmember. I will likely do some frame boxing while I am in there.

[SCOTI]

Originally Posted by NDM

If I get it, I will use everything accept the frame rails. Cradle with wheels, truck arms, coils, rear end and truck arm crossmember. I will likely do some frame boxing while I am in there.

I'd triangulate/square/stiffen the front, center, & rear rails before boxing.

[NDM]

Well, here we go. I sent the initial funds for the chassis. I am officially going 2wd. The choice was hard but it boiled down to stability mostly. Another simple calculation was that I need new BFG tires on the setup I have. This chassis comes with almost new tires. So basically, I am buying a full 2wd front setup with 20 inch Billet specialty wheels and Cpp control arms as well as a full rear setup with 22 inch Billet specialties wheels and 305 wide tires. I could not even buy the wheels and tires for the amount that I am paying for the whole rolling chassis.

So once I pick it up, I will get cracking on removing the crossmember and swapping everything over to my Blazer frame. Once the trans is swapped back to 2wd and the swap is complete, I will get a new driveshaft and be back in business. I cannot wait to feel the power difference due to weight reduction and the removal of the transfer case from the equation. Should be like having a totally different beast. It will certainly look different!

[NDM]

Holy crap! I joked that my Blazer would be "like a foot lower". Well, I swapped the front and to my surprise I was short by a quarter inch. This fricking thing is 12.25 inches lower than it was 2 days ago! That is definitely more than I expected.

I am very pleased that I was able to do it WITHOUT REMOVING THE MOTOR! I was able to keep the motor in the same position but the new mounts has it about an inch higher. I am not super thrilled about the elevated motor. It was a pain to get the mounts lined up too. I kind of wish I had stayed with my fabricated mounts.

I need to redo the brake lines so that I can drive it out of the garage and turn it around to do the rear. I also need to swap the shocks, drill for the sway bar and install the 2wd steering box. I will likely start working on it friday since I need a break from laying on the floor. It is a real workout.

[SCOTI]

I bet that was quite the undertaking. Doing that work flat-backing it on the concrete took some moxie for sure.

[NDM]

Originally Posted by SCOTI

I bet that was quite the undertaking. Doing that work flat-backing it on the concrete took some moxie for sure.

Not really. I thought it out in depth before I began. Once I could see it in my head, I got in there and it went very smoothly. I was very pleased to be able to do it without removing the motor. I didn't even break out the engine hoist. If I had to remove the motor, It would have taken a freaking week. I probably had about 8 hours total to remove the 4x4 front suspension and install the 2wd stuff. I am obviously not done but I this was a big step.

1 car jack
1 motorcycle jack
4 jack stands
1 angle grinder
1 pneumatic grinder
1 rivet gun (remove rivets)
1 large bandaid
4 towels to clean up blood from my finger
electrical tape to field wrap my bloody finger
toilet paper to wrap my bloody finger

[SCOTI]

Originally Posted by NDM

Not really. I thought it out in depth before I began. Once I could see it in my head, I got in there and it went very smoothly. I was very pleased to be able to do it without removing the motor. I didn't even break out the engine hoist. If I had to remove the motor, It would have taken a freaking week. I probably had about 8 hours total to remove the 4x4 front suspension and install the 2wd stuff. I am obviously not done but I this was a big step.

1 car jack
1 motorcycle jack
4 jack stands
1 angle grinder
1 pneumatic grinder
1 rivet gun (remove rivets)
1 large bandaid
4 towels to clean up blood from my finger
electrical tape to field wrap my bloody finger
toilet paper to wrap my bloody finger

Gotcha.

With your combo, look into or build/fab something like this:
https://www.summitracing.com/parts/s...iABEgLc1PD_BwE

And triangulate the front rails to the x-member w/the HD truck braces (found under 3/4 & 1-ton Squarebody trucks):
https://www.modernc10.com/modern-c10...ces-p651533535

[NDM]

Originally Posted by SCOTI

Gotcha.

With your combo, look into or build/fab something like this:
https://www.summitracing.com/parts/s...iABEgLc1PD_BwE

And triangulate the front rails to the x-member w/the HD truck braces (found under 3/4 & 1-ton Squarebody trucks):
https://www.modernc10.com/modern-c10...ces-p651533535

The Hd braces look easy enough to build. I was thinking about doing rack & pinion so it would definitely interfere with the rack.


The frame stiffener does not look so bad either. Definitely more work to fab though.

[NDM]

I am currently in a delimma.
-Do a flip kit and keep my 4x4 rear with 3.73 gears by swapping the 6 for 5lug axles. Later convert to 4link.
-Install the 2wd truck arms and coils but that diff has 3.07 open gears. My plan was to do 3.73 and a truetrac.
-Pull the 4x4 diff and weld new angled perches for 2wd truck arms. Swap to the 5 lug axles Install the truetrac.

[SCOTI]

Originally Posted by NDM

I am currently in a delimma.
-Do a flip kit and keep my 4x4 rear with 3.73 gears by swapping the 6 for 5lug axles. Later convert to 4link.
-Install the 2wd truck arms and coils but that diff has 3.07 open gears. My plan was to do 3.73 and a truetrac.
-Pull the 4x4 diff and weld new angled perches for 2wd truck arms. Swap to the 5 lug axles Install the truetrac.

T/A set-up is a no-brainer as the chassis is made for it as well as leafs & a better set-up vs the flipped leafs. The T/A axle housing brackets are available from several sites so they should be easy enough to obtain. Then it would just be adding the TrueTrac when convenient.

T/A set-up also works w/the style of chassis bracing previously linked.

Another chassis brace source:
https://tinworksfabrication.com/prod...y-truck/63-72/

[NDM]

Originally Posted by SCOTI

T/A set-up is a no-brainer as the chassis is made for it as well as leafs & a better set-up vs the flipped leafs. The T/A axle housing brackets are available from several sites so they should be easy enough to obtain. Then it would just be adding the TrueTrac when convenient.

T/A set-up also works w/the style of chassis bracing previously linked.

Another chassis brace source:
https://tinworksfabrication.com/prod...y-truck/63-72/

I already have all the brackets. Everything that was on the 2wd short bed chassis is in my driveway. I just want to maintain 3.73 gears and add the truetrac. I may just by the gears and truetrac for the 2wd axle housing. I need to change the pinion seals either way so I might as well go all the way.

[SCOTI]

Originally Posted by NDM

I already have all the brackets. Everything that was on the 2wd short bed chassis is in my driveway. I just want to maintain 3.73 gears and add the truetrac. I may just by the gears and truetrac for the 2wd axle housing. I need to change the pinion seals either way so I might as well go all the way.

Then add some 'anti-squat' adjustable mounts in place of the fixed mounts @ the stock center T/A front x-member if that's your path. You want to be able to help dial in putting your power down.

https://tinworksfabrication.com/prod...squat-bracket/

[NDM]

Decision made and more cash burned.

[NDM]

Added some parts to ensure that I do not blow the driveshaft off the rear end again.
I am gonna run a bigger yoke, u joint and girdles.

[SCOTI]

Looking forward to seeing your progress.

[NDM]

Originally Posted by SCOTI

Looking forward to seeing your progress.

Basically everything is getting delivered tomorrow. I will get right to it for sure.