Bucketlist Blazer -Restomod build 6.6liter L8T

[NDM]

Still waiting on the correct vvt lockout but at least I got the new dual valvesprings and new pushrods installed. ( made a huge mess) The damn package with the lockout has been sitting at my post office since 0730 this morning. Why they did not deliver it is beyond me. I wish I could just pick the damn thing up.

Oh well, if they deliver tomorrow I will be able to install the phaser, oil pump and reinstall the front cover and oil pan. Officially it will be an approximately 560-570 hp motor. That will be nice to drive one day!

[NDM]

Finally got the vvt lockout. It took less than 60 seconds to put it back together and then I headed to the garage to close the motor back up. I did a little paint work and torqued everything to spec. I am happy with the progress. It is getting closer to test fire time!

[NDM]

Motor pics from my work today.

[NDM]

Since People may be getting sick of my posts here I will just post these random thoughts that keep entering my mind about this build.



I realized today that I may be underestimating the amount of power that my motor is going to be putting out. Brian Tooley Racing for me has been known to be pretty stand up folks amongst the other manufacturers inflate their numbers. Well I was on their site today and found the results from their testing of the motor that I am running on E85. I realize that I was estimating based off a factory intake and E85. That is clearly not what I am running. I have a Holley Hi ram intake and will be running E85. Well it just so happens that my high ram is comparable to the trinity intake that they tested it with and low and behold................I may just be underestimating a bit.



This is the one with the factory intake.

[NDM]

Originally Posted by NDM

Since People may be getting sick of my posts here I will just post these random thoughts that keep entering my mind about this build.



I realized today that I may be underestimating the amount of power that my motor is going to be putting out. Brian Tooley Racing for me has been known to be pretty stand up folks amongst the other manufacturers inflate their numbers. Well I was on their site today and found the results from their testing of the motor that I am running on E85. I realize that I was estimating based off a factory intake and E85. That is clearly not what I am running. I have a Holley Hi ram intake and will be running E85. Well it just so happens that my high ram is comparable to the trinity intake that they tested it with and low and behold................I may just be underestimating a bit.



This is the one with the factory intake.

Following up on my own post, I found a test between the trinity intake and the hi-ram but it is on a 6.0 stroker build. This is why I am kind of excited. The BTR testing was done with a stock intake and a trinity. The new video shows that the Hi-ram beats the trinity everywhere. If this is the same kind of results that I will get then I will be very happy! The second screenshot shows that the BTR testing numbers are somewhat consistent (lower though)with the tested numbers. BTR got less power though.

[NDM]

Tired of waiting for the dual allternator pulleys to be in stock so I bought the single alternator belt to run the motor. It was only like $26 so no big deal.






Got the 3 inch exhaust tubing kit. Just need mufflers now.







Figured out how to run the factory oil dipstick with the lower profile oil pan. I just have to weld on a tab since the bolt hole is too low. It will be tight on the firewall but should make it.





Worked on my Halloween decorations. Halloween is my favorite holiday.

This year added a simple old run down cooler with fake blood, food coloring and random fake body parts wrapped in bags or saran wrap with fake blood inside. Added some napkins with blood to make it look real deal. Even labeled some parts for effect.

[NDM]

Following up on my last post a few min ago, I started thinking that my logic may not be far off for a few reasons.

The factory GM crate L8T motor (called L8P) comes with a slightly smaller cam at 218/231 vs the BTR 220/232 cam. The L8P is rated at 523 hp and 546 tq but it is rated at 91 octane fuel. Since E85 is said to offer around 15% more power that puts the smaller L8P cam at around 602hp estimated with e85 fuel. This is not very far off of BTR's numbers with the factory intake.



This is how my logic is working in this case. Eventually I will find out the truth but for now, I am intrigued by the idea that my 72 Blazer with a simple cam and valve spring swap may offer better power to weight numbers than a Jeep trackhawk. For those that like math this is that calculation.



Trackhawk is about 5356 pounds with 707 crank horsepower. The Blazer is only about 4200 pounds and will have about 581 hp (going port injection loses about 9% vs direct injection). Theoretically, a 4200 pound blazer (given the same suspension, drivetrain and electronic wizardry as a trackhawk ) would only have to have 541hp to be as fast as a trackhawk.



A different way to look at it would be that a 581hp blazer at 4200 pounds would be the equivalent of a 740hp trackhawk given the previously mentioned weight and apples to apples comparrison specs.



I am not about to sit here and claim that my 72 K5 Blazer in 4wd high with approx 581 crank hp is going to outrun a trackhawk.......but.........come next summer if I can swing getting the dream of a supercharger accomplished, I sure do think that I could give it a good shot!�� Prochargers kit is supposed to add 150 hp. I think that 731 total hp may in fact do the trick! Power to weight ratio calculation indicates that a 4200 pound K5 with 731 hp would be like having a 932 hp trackhawk.



I have seen a Silverado make 169hp additional with just adding a whipple and 8.95 pounds of boost. That aint much boost.



Either way, I am done dreaming and calculating for the night. Sweet dreams!

[NDM]

Exhaust purchases have begun. I will be running 3 inch 304 tubing so I will have to figure out how to adapt to the 2.5inch holley manifolds. I may end up porting the manifold exits to get closer to 3 inch. If not, It should not make much difference. The 3 inch tubing will be almost like running open headers anyway. The Speed engineering kit comes with an H and an X pipe in the kit. I will decide which I want to run eventually.



https://speed-engineering.com/produc...pr_seq=uniform

[NDM]

Nothing spectacular to announce but I spent the day learning how to operate the Holley software. I uploaded a couple global files to the ECU and finally got it pretty much how I want. I can now definitely confirm that the Holley software is much easier to use than HPTuners. After just a few hours I feel comfy that I will be able to tune the motor about as well as I have my other LS swap with a factory ECM. So far I am pleased with Holley terminator X max. I should be able to start the motor on the stand soon. Just waiting on a couple parts for the fueling system to arrive.

[NDM]

This one is very exciting for me! While I just almost blew a gasket at the results of the Bears vs Commanders game, I did finish the design of my fuel system. The holley filter regulator will be near the tank as they suggest. My flex fuel sensor do-dad just so happens to mount perfectly to the Holley fuel rails. The line from the rear will come to the flex fuel thingy and run between the 4 and 6 intake runner and go beneath the intake to a Y adapter. From the Y the equal lengths go to the rails on the back. The front of the rails just tie together.

All lines and fittings are Evil Energy AN-8 lines bought entirely off of Amazon.
Basically I am 95% ready to test fire on the stand.

[NDM]

Brushless Spal fan from a camaro is on the way. Only 1 more thing on my white board list. Mufflers. I am deciding whether I want to go up to 18 inch case (vs 14 inch) this time. I love that V8 muscle sound but I am getting older and tire from the noise. I want aggressive sound but still want to be able to make a phone call.

Day after halloween and I am going to begin the swap.

[NDM]

Fan is here. Only mufflers remain. I will begin tomorrown too tired today from halloween festivities.

[NDM]

WOW! I have been dicking around for two days trying to get my PWM Camaro fan running. I finally got it and want to add the issue here.
This video was the thing that helped me figure out the issue. I was using output B12 in the holley software was one problem and I moved it to B10 based on the chart he had in the video. The biggest issue though is that I was using a power supply to power the Holley on my "Bench (dining room floor)" and a car battery to power the fan. Well I needed to hook the holley and the fan up to the same battery. Once I did both of those things, I was able to provide the PWM signal from either my cheap amazon PWM generator device or the holley. This means that if I want to install the fan on my Blazer with the old motor, I can do that with the DROK signal generator. Once the motor is swapped and I am using the holley terminator X max, I will beall set up because I have already configured the ECU on the bench. FYI, I am setting the max duty cycle at 60% because the fan basically puts out almost max output by the time you hit like 54%. You are really just wasting amperage above 54%.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CZ3NJ8X6...sin_title&th=1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7C-Y0VsD6pY&t=214s

[NDM]

Well, It was nagging me to death. I wanted a black holley hi ram from the start but they do not make ont for Gen 5 motors yet. I was going to just leave it the aluminum color but I accidently got oil or grease on the lid somehow. I finally decided to use the cerakoat glacier black that I had from when I cerakoated my Regal manifolds. I am glad that I finally did it.

It took 3 bake cycles at 350 degrees, a ton of acetone and dish soap scrubs and a couple sandblasting sessions. I smoothed a couple flaws in the casting by sanding and then sandblasted everything for the final texture with Black diamond blast media. It should be cured enough to handle it tomorrow night so I can place it on the motor to see the results.