olds rocket powered blazer

[ol'blazer]

ive wanted to go big block in my blazer for a while.. but i also wanted to be different from every other truck with a small block chev, big block chev, or ls, nothing against them! i just want to be the odd ball... so i found a guy who sold me a 455 with a th400 tranny running for 600.





this is the truck, and the small block i will be replacing, its a 350 with 10.25:1 comp., vortec heads, performer rpm air gap manifold, headman headers, cam.. alot! it chugs along pretty good! but there's no replacement for displacement



heres the beast! out of an 76 delta 88, smogger year but should be alright.

[cable666guy]

Sounds good...good luck with it !

[ol'blazer]

Originally Posted by cable666guy

Sounds good...good luck with it !

thanks alot! so i got the engine on a stand tonight and started by pulling the intake and valve covers.



quite a build up of sludge in the lifter bank, and rocker arms..



i dont think it too much though... im gonna say that anyway

[hardcore4life]

Damn, those are dirty. So what are the build plans for the 455?

[ol'blazer]

Originally Posted by hardcore4life

Damn, those are dirty. So what are the build plans for the 455?

I'm not going to do to much, rings and bearings, oil pump, a more aggressive cam, timing chain, replace the smogger "j" heads with better flowing pre 71 heads, aluminum intake, carb... Nothing to crazy, just a budget big block.

[hardcore4life]

That will be cool. I've always been a fan of big block grunt.

[rusty76]

kool

[ol'blazer]

after pulling the exhaust manifolds i noticed that they were both cracked!




which usually wouldn't be a huge deal, just buy a new set, or find a uncracketed set from the wrecker.... well the cheapest i could find a new set was 300 off ebay, and i looked at three cars at the wrecker, and all three had a cracked left manifold in the same place mine did! so i can get a right one, but not a left!
so im either going to braze the set i have, i know its not the greatest, but it'll work!!... or instead of spending the 300 on new manifolds, ill spend about the same money on a set of headers for a A body car, like a cutlass or 442 and do some modifying.

[nekkidhillbilly]

if you want it run like a 70 you will a higher comp ratio. idk on olds but im sure its the same on a stage 1 you can either change to 70 pistons or shave the heads some. do you have an od in the blazer or th350?

[ol'blazer]

Originally Posted by nekkidhillbilly

if you want it run like a 70 you will a higher comp ratio. idk on olds but im sure its the same on a stage 1 you can either change to 70 pistons or shave the heads some. do you have an od in the blazer or th350?

68-70 455 were more powerful engines, they all had around 10:1 comp, and better heads... i knoe mines a real smogger, ideally i would like to freshen up a pre 71.. but theyre not around as much anymore... and i converted my truck to a 700r4 from the stock 400, haha and now im going back to the 400.

[muffintop]

subbed, im hopping to do a quick 454 freshen up myself.

[ol'blazer]

Originally Posted by muffintop

subbed, im hopping to do a quick 454 freshen up myself.

Thanks! Good luck with your build

[ol'blazer]

so i pulled the heads today, all the cylinders don't seem to be damaged or scored.



http://rs1240.pbsrc.com/albums/gg482...rq.jpg~320x480

alot of carbon build up, and the water jackets are a little rusty. overall its not to bad though

[ol'blazer]

so i pulled the heads today, all the cylinders don't seem to be damaged or scored.





alot of carbon build up, and the water jackets are a little rusty. overall its not to bad though

[dragonball98312]

Good looking blazer, bet its going to be a fun truck

[ol'blazer]

merry Christmas!! my dad was kind enough to get me rings, bearings, oil pump, timing chain and a gasket set. should have a good start to my build now!

[ol'blazer]

picked up some seats at the junk yard today, theyre out of 2005ish mazda 3, i like the look of them.

[ol'blazer]

on the cluster in my truck, the speedo and fuel gauge where always the only two that worked, my temp.,oil pressure, and amp, never worked since ive had the truck, eventually i want to go all aftermarket gauges. for now im just doing the three.
this is what i started with:



from there i cut out a piece of tin to cover where the factory gauges go:





then with some measurements to line up with the original holes, then i used a holesaw in the drill press to cut out the three holes:





then i had to cut out the original guage holes to make room for the new ones and bolted/glued my tin overlay:



and this is what i came up with:



its not completely done yet, im going to fiberglass the back to add some reinforcement and a couple other little things.

[ol'blazer]

picked up a few things over this week,

i picked up a set of boss 338 20" wheels for my blazer

also i got pretty lucky and found a 1980 chevy half ton with a olds 350 Diesel at the auto wrecker, my 455 should just drop in there now

[ol'blazer]

also, its hard to see in the picture, but the rubber mounts are brand new

[68Timber]

Any updates?

[ol'blazer]

Originally Posted by BRUISER

Any updates?

well i picked up some good used tires from my manager, who has a 68 swb, and the weathers looking good for the weekend, so i should be pulling it out of storage and stating to put it together.

[ol'blazer]

had a little fitment issue with the boss 338s. had to take a little off my hubs, they work great now tho!



i was told boss fixed this problem... but guess not for me!
i also started on putting in the seats from the mazda 3, i think they look sharp!



they should look alot better than the ripped/brown plad ones, with sun faded walmart covers!



next up i want to throw in a set of 2" drop springs, and 2" shackles, to turn my 3-5 drop, to a 5-7

[ol'blazer]

this weekend i was pretty busy, cut a coil from my front springs, with mt 3" spindles giving me a total of 5" of drop in the front:




to lower the back im going to remove the over load, and one leaf, the thickness of them alone is 3/4". so i should be at least get 2" out of them.




i ended up tourching the rusty- crusty u bolts...

other than that i took all the leafs apart and painted them. im going to see if i can buy new u bolts tomorrow and put it all back together for my 5-7 drop.

[ol'blazer]

also picked up some fancy lug nuts for the 338s