Bucketlist Blazer -Restomod build 6.6liter L8T

[NDM]

Just a build update... I am still laid off and I am stuck. I need more cash to buy the remainder of the items needed for motor swap and I do not want to just put a few thousand on my credit card. The only way for me to proceed with the swap is with either a jobby job or by selling off my beloved things. I have already sold a bunch of stuff but I really do not want to dip into my tier 1 stuff. I do not want to sell my motorcycle because I put a lot of work into it and it is actually reliable and fuel efficient. SOOOOO......

Today I reluctantly spent a whole day removing my old motor to replace the flywheel. I got the flywheel on and new motor mounts and set the motor down as I ran out of light. What a royal pain in the Ass that was. Middle finger to the person that thought it was a good idea to put the motor damn near against the firewall. I am 100% moving the motor forward when I do the motor swap. I am happy that I did not break or strip any bolts in the process. That virtually never happens!

So tomorrow if all goes well, I will finally after 4 months be able to enjoy my Blazer again. I did overextend my throttle cable so we will see how that works out. I may have to replace it. No worries, I am just glad to almost be able to drive the thing again.

[lolife99]

Any machine shop should be able to ream them for you.
I would have the balljoints and tie rod available to make sure they ream them the correct amount.

[raggedjim]

They are C10. I spent some time in Great Lakes during my Navy Daze, I'll bet it's cold up there!

[NDM]

Originally Posted by raggedjim

They are C10. I spent some time in Great Lakes during my Navy Daze, I'll bet it's cold up there!

It is actually a very warm winter so far. 30 degrees right now though.
I could have gone to my parents 2nd home in Georgia and grabbed those arms on the way. They got there yesterday though.

[raggedjim]

Well, I have been holding on to them for a while. If you decide you want them just pm me.

[NDM]

Just posting a video to help me kind of get this thing going. I plan to document this whole process so I can help others. Maybe I can even get my youtube account a good amount of views. Enjoy

https://youtu.be/4wfLmYy5nGs

[bnorth]

Any pics of the old amp setup? Those old JBL GTI's pounded!!

[NDM]

Originally Posted by bnorth

Any pics of the old amp setup? Those old JBL GTI's pounded!!

What do you mean the old amp setup? I am not sure I understand the ask. I am more than happy to share photos if I understand what you are looking for.

BTW, these subs are the W15GTIMKII subs. They are the 3rd gen of the GTI subs. These are cult classic subwoofers in the sound quality car audio crowd but do not mistake these for weak subwoofers (I know you were not). These things get downright NASTY when you want to do the SPL thing. I own six of these only two in the blazer and I use them for sound quality with an exceptional ability to get very loud. They simply sound amazing. They are direct descendants of a world renown JBL Pro audio driver but I cannot think of what the model number was. They were used in professional venues and take tons of abuse. These were basically the same design but modified for a car environment.

[NDM]

One more day at least. It seems that I broke the kickdown cable and throttle cable. Everything is all installed and the motor turns but I cannot test drive until I get these replaced.

Tomorrow I will investigate further and maybe get the timing reset since I had to take out the distributor to get to the top trans bolts.

[bnorth]

Originally Posted by NDM

What do you mean the old amp setup? I am not sure I understand the ask. I am more than happy to share photos if I understand what you are looking for.

BTW, these subs are the W15GTIMKII subs. They are the 3rd gen of the GTI subs. These are cult classic subwoofers in the sound quality car audio crowd but do not mistake these for weak subwoofers (I know you were not). These things get downright NASTY when you want to do the SPL thing. I own six of these only two in the blazer and I use them for sound quality with an exceptional ability to get very loud. They simply sound amazing. They are direct descendants of a world renown JBL Pro audio driver but I cannot think of what the model number was. They were used in professional venues and take tons of abuse. These were basically the same design but modified for a car environment.

My mistake I thought the stereo was coming out. Let me rephrase: any pics of the current amp setup?
I am familiar with the woofers, the installer at a shop I used to deal with had a pair in his hatchback powered with the amps that JBL/Crown were collaborating on at the time, can't recall the specs but it was properly loud.

[NDM]

Originally Posted by bnorth

My mistake I thought the stereo was coming out. Let me rephrase: any pics of the current amp setup?
I am familiar with the woofers, the installer at a shop I used to deal with had a pair in his hatchback powered with the amps that JBL/Crown were collaborating on at the time, can't recall the specs but it was properly loud.

Amps are dual JL Audio HD1200/1's and dual HD 600/4's.

[NDM]

YES!!!!
I have just approved an offer for what will be my new career! I am getting a very large pay bump and will be working from home 95% of the time.
My Blazer is going to be getting the works very soon!!!!

My mother says that I am blessed. My old Military Chief used to say that I have a golden horseshoe up my ass....I realize that both of them are very correct. Either way, I am very excited that I can get back to life after what has been 144 days since I went to work last. As a very high energy person, living life without a mission is very bad for me. I am glad that I will have a place to use up all this energy again!

ADHD....a blessing and a curse! Mostly blessing though!

[PowerdbyChevy79]

Subscribed.

[bambbrose]

Would love to see more pictures of this swap as it progresses. Looking forward to updates!

[NDM]

Originally Posted by bambbrose

Would love to see more pictures of this swap as it progresses. Looking forward to updates!

Absolutely. I typically use the forums to document my builds for myself and for those that are looking for the info to do the same thing that I do. I will be so thrilled to share my progress! Most of the items have begun shipping!! So exciting!

On that note, I have come up with a great idea! My dream has always been to have a K5 Blazer that did what my previous two SRT jeeps did. I am likely never going to use the thing off road but I absolutely loved the raw acceleration that my Jeeps had. After ordering the advance adapters kit, I realized that I could in fact grab a ford NP205 case and the front AWD diff from a Bravada (Same as a typhoon) or some stout AWD from another vehicle. By doing this I could in theory build a lowered K5 Blazer with IFS and still have my 4x4 for use as the "AWD".

That would be fricking awesome. If the dude with that twin turbo AWD 71 donk can stuff the front diff in his car then I am sure I could do it too. For those that hate donks....I feel you. If you see this car though, you gotta respect the build. This guy built it in his garage and has been tearing up the competition at the track. The name of the car is "The rusty bullet". While I do not like these cars, I am a car guy and do respect what these guys are capable of building. Different strokes for different folks.

Fo me though, I would love to have an 800hp K5 street machine that puts down 4 tire tracks on asphalt. Sure, I can do it with the gear that my Blazer came with but I would just like to have what I want to have. Low, wicked fast and able to put the power down on any surface.

Before the flaming begins... remember, I wanted a 2wd but came across this 4x4 for a great price. It is my money so I am going to enjoy it the way I want to until someone pays the bill.

[litebulblsc]

It is not rhe front diff you need from the awd vehicle. You need the "center diff". The awd transfercase that will help keep from constantly breaking stuff.

[NDM]

Originally Posted by litebulblsc

It is not rhe front diff you need from the awd vehicle. You need the "center diff". The awd transfercase that will help keep from constantly breaking stuff.

So what would prevent me from running a ford Transfer case. (for Drivers side drop. Then front driveshaft to a front Diff (Maybe an escalade/silverado diff) and then running the axles and adapted late model upper/lower control arms, etc. from the same escalade. This should get me "4x4" but with the ability to run lets say front struts from the same late model truck or even a custom aftermarket air ride setup.

I know that I am way outside the box here and I also know that I would technically not have AWD. It would be 4wd but give me better ride, lowered stance and essentially would have selectable "trackhawk mode" with big power.

[NDM]

Wow! What a royal pain in the ass that was! It took me 15 min to disassemble my 6l90e to convert it from 2wd to 4wd. Of course it took like 2 hrs to put it back together. In the process, the tip on my 26 inch cheap amazon snap ring pliers broke. I was pissed because I was stuck mid project without it. I put my thinking cap on and came up with a very simple solution to tig weld a screw in place of the tip. There must have been oil on the parts because it welded like crap. Either way, it worked just fine. Mission accomplished.

So I also test fit the holley cast stainless exhaust manifold. I don't really like how they look so I may cerakote them black.
All parts arrived except the terminator x max and the advanced adapters 6l90e to np205 adapter (arrives tomorrow I think).

I made a great mess due to tranny fluid that I forgot to drain. Oops!

[NDM]

Well....Given a little time, changes are bound to happen.
I have officially changed the plan again. I am no longer keeping direct injection. Due to a backorder for the Holley LT kit it made me do some thinking and at the end of the day, I decided that it will be better to run port injection for a multitude of reasons but the first being simplicity. The fact that everything for the ported kit is in stock kind of put the seal on the decision. I have a holley high ram intake, ported rails, 80 pound injectors and a gen 4 Holley terminator X max kit that should be here this week.

While I will lose about 9% power bu deleting the direct injection, the plan is to run a cam which will put me ahead of the game again. I should end up with about 530hp NA. The decision to run port injection will save me a ton of $$$$ in the future when I go forced injection. The whole plan has always been to have around 800hp with forced induction.

Other great news is that my Advance adapters np205 to 6l90e adapter is here. This thing is going to be really fun!!

[NDM]

Yes!!!!

[NDM]

More parts! Looks like my Truck will sound rowdy and scoot a little faster.

[NDM]

Holy crap! I ordered my cam this morning and UPS says that it will be here tomorrow!!!!


While that is fricking exciting...the next group of words and photos have got me grinning ear to ear today. My Holley parts arrived and I began mocking up everything. I am absolutely thrilled with the direction that I am going!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I could literally giggle like a schoolgirl right now!!

[NDM]

Okay, Time for some updates.

The BTR 220 cam was installed last night but unfortunately I was sent the wrong VVT lockout.


Also, I mistakenly took out the wrong phaser screw and "CLICK"!! The damn spring let loose....My bad. So fortunately Amazon to the rescue. I had another Phaser on my doorstep before I got home from work today. Now I am waiting for the correct vvt lockout to make the journey from Kentucky to Illinois so I can finalize the cam install.

https://www.amazon.com/GM-Parts-1268.../dp/B08WJ32FVL






Today, I may swap the valve springs since I have the tools to do so.







I received the throttle body but I am currently using it on my Gen 4 swap in the Buick. I will be cleaning the one in the buick up and perhaps porting it before I put the old one back on the buick. I also got the same old cheap Amazon intake kit that I used on the Buick. It works well and is cheap so no need to reinvent the wheel.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001LQMEY2...fed_asin_title

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07VZ7B3VJ...sin_title&th=1







I have the E85 flex fuel adapter kit ready to install. It is a neat device that allows for straight through feed of fuel while allowing the use of a factory GM flex fuel sensor.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08PFCDHHN...fed_asin_title



So I am about ready to get this motor swap started. I need to get cracking again on the 304 Stainless steel tank that I am building since the GM fuel level sensor is on it's way. I also need to figure out what I am going to do about the engine mounts. Buy or build. I am likely to build them to keep the cost down.



Another real struggle that I am having is deciding the mufflers. I love my magnaflow mufflers but I may want to go a little quieter on the Blazer than I have on the Regal. I am considering buying the longer magnaflow mufflers or maybe going to dynomax super turbos. The Blazer will be driven daily and I realize that can barely talk on the phone in the Regal. I can but it kind of sucks. I am not so concerned with how loud they are. Hell, I am over half way through my 40's and loud exhausts are becoming a thing of the past. The magnaflows definitely got louder over time so that is why I may want the larger ones. While I would love to have some flowmasters......Nah! I do not like Borlas and I absolutely hate the way that Corsa sounds (never liked them ever).



So I am thinking that I will be able to go full speed after halloween. My Cars need to be mobile for my Halloween decorations every year. I want to have the motor run on the stand before then. I want the swap to basically be quick once the engine is running.



As always, I typed this up on my computer and will begin uploading a bunch of photos from my phone. Stay tuned!!!

[bambbrose]

Moving quick! You make me feel lazy. Great updates

[NDM]

Originally Posted by bambbrose

Moving quick! You make me feel lazy. Great updates

Winter is almost here. This will be my daily driver so I must move quick. I am 6 months behind schedule due to my layoff from Nov23 to end of Apr24. I should have been done by now.

I absolutely have to prevent from needing to drive my LS swapped buick this winter. It was terrifying last winter. Zero traction whatsoever in the snow and ice and barely any traction in the rain.