Jeep Trailblazer SS

[Madkidd007]

Originally Posted by gottattooz

I mounted the rear bumper today.

I also figured out the space available between the grille and the radiator to mount the engine Fan and the trans oil cooler with it's own fan. Unfortunately there isn't enough room for an a/c condenser, so when i remove the front clip to make new core support mount holes, I'll remove the a/c compressor and the lines. I've never had a/c in anything I've ever owned, so it's not that big a deal.

-Josh

So why not mount a heat sink cooler on the frame rail? And Being mines a Saab I don’t have a good spot upfront for a trans cooler but I rarely tow anything and when I do I just don’t pull heavy in overdrive. The 4l70 isn’t that vulnerable, it’s the creating extra stress and heat that it can’t take. With that much interior space you’ll probably want the A/C

[gottattooz]

I got to meet MadKidd007. I gave him all the a/c stuff i took off that I'm not using. It's nice to meet forum members that are close by and into the same hobbies, especially when they're cool people.

I found a solution to my lower radiator hose dilemma. I bought a 180 degree stainless "U" pipe and plumbed it inline to solve my issue with the hose necks being at an odd angle. I'll secure the pipe with an "L" bracket and a p-clamp. There's about 1/4 inch of Clearance between the lower radiator hose and the serpentine belt. I'll keep an eye on that to make sure it doesn't rub when the tensioner flexes under acceleration.

I fitted the front clip and the hood, secured the inner fender wells to the core support. I threw the grille on just for the pictures. I know it's not ready to drive yet, but seeing it come together is getting me more and more excited about my progress.

-Josh

[Madkidd007]

Looks like you got to work after I left. Meant to bring it up when I was there but how much room do you have in front of the radiator? Thinking mount the radiator on the front side of the core support for the fan clearance if you had the room. I’ll let you know when I get the parts off the bravada tomorrow

Originally Posted by gottattooz

I got to meet MadKidd007. I gave him all the a/c stuff i took off that I'm not using. It's nice to meet forum members that are close by and into the same hobbies, especially when they're cool people.

I found a solution to my lower radiator hose dilemma. I bought a 180 degree stainless "U" pipe and plumbed it inline to solve my issue with the hose necks being at an odd angle. I'll secure the pipe with an "L" bracket and a p-clamp. There's about 1/4 inch of Clearance between the lower radiator hose and the serpentine belt. I'll keep an eye on that to make sure it doesn't rub when the tensioner flexes under acceleration.

I fitted the front clip and the hood, secured the inner fender wells to the core support. I threw the grille on just for the pictures. I know it's not ready to drive yet, but seeing it come together is getting me more and more excited about my progress.

-Josh

[gottattooz]

I sectioned, flanged and fitted the passenger front inner fender well. I also found out that the factory trailblazer inner fender liner still fits in the stock location and will add a second layer of insulation to the front wheel well.

-Josh

[mongocanfly]

You really got it coming together...

[gottattooz]

I removed, cleaned up and painted the passenger inner fender. Scuffed and painted the trailblazer inner fender and painted everything with epoxy paint.

I got a few intake hoses off some of our scrap trucks at work to see if i could fabricate my own instead of spending $200-300 on an aftermarket one. I cut the stock throttle body elbow off, cut the intake hose to fit and stuffed the maf sensor in the other end. I still need to buy a filter, but that's $60.

I assembled the passenger side, hopefully for the last time. I think it looks great. Better than I had imagined.

-Josh

[gottattooz]

I fitted and finished the driver's side fender well.

I also shortened and secured the lower radiator hose coolant pipe. With the clamp and bracket, i was able to pull away from the serpentine belt and get another 1/8 inch clearance.

-Josh

[gottattooz]

I made a bracket to secure the maf sensor from flopping around and letting the intake hose rub on the belt tensioner. I honestly didn't know how it was going to turn out, but i love the look. And that k&n filter looks like it was meant to be there.

-Josh

[gottattooz]

I spent the weekend stitching the rear floor pans together and making filler plates for the big holes. I used a flap wheel to smooth out my welds and sprayed everything in epoxy paint.

I also plugged in the electronics, filled the engine oil and coolant and fired it up. I took a video of the exhaust, but i don't know how to upload it.
-Josh

[gottattooz]

I want to thank MadKidd once again. He gave me a set off inner fender well plastics from an envoy he was parting out, as well as a spare tire carrier and full size spare room and tire. I cut and mounted the inner fender wells. Thenmounted the spare tire carrier. I'll have to figure out the mechanics of getting the spare to go up and down as the slot for the tool points up at an angle toward the floor of the Jeep.

I wired up the tail lights, reverse lights and rear turn signals three other day.

Today i mounted the headlights and wired up the headlights, fog lights, running and turn signals and installed the grille. I also wired the engine fan and trans cooler fan relays to ignition power.

-Josh

[67ChevyRedneck]

You've made a ton of progress. I think that grille is my favorite of all the 63-91 grilles.

[Palf70Step]

[gottattooz]

I started mocking up the front bumper. But then i got distracted because i wanted to set the toe on the front axle. The next thing i know, dad and i took a test drive to put fresh fuel in the tank. I didn't really romp on it. I just wanted to make it to and from the gas station without a break down. I definitely didn't think I'd have it on the road this soon.

-Josh

[mongocanfly]

WOW...!!!....congrats on the "test" drive..!!

[Madkidd007]

Originally Posted by gottattooz

I started mocking up the front bumper. But then i got distracted because i wanted to set the toe on the front axle. The next thing i know, dad and i took a test drive to put fresh fuel in the tank. I didn't really romp on it. I just wanted to make it to and from the gas station without a break down. I definitely didn't think I'd have it on the road this soon.

-Josh

Oh come on, that’s not even a test drive, that’s like a 1/4 put down the screet. Ah hahahhaha

[Palf70Step]

[67ChevyRedneck]

It's pretty much a chevrolet now. Will be much more reliable

Congrats!

[Ol Blue K20]

Congratulations, great news on the test drive.

[gottattooz]

I took some old brackets from work, beat them straight and used them to mount the front bumper.

I removed the plastic impact strips from the ends of the bumper because one of them was messed up. I put switchback led lights in the open mount holes to be used as turn signals. They're not permanent, but i haven't figured out what i want to do for turn signals yet. The halo lights around the fog lights in the grille were supposed to be my parking and turn signal lights, but only one of them has a working amber ring and even it's not very bright. I bought the fog lights a while ago, so i can't return them. The white halos come on with the ignition. The parking lights are on the headlights. Pictures of the lights just show up as a blur on the phone.

-Josh

[gottattooz]

I started assessing the roof condition. The passenger side has some rot above the drip rail. It's been filled work body filler previously. I pulled the headliner down and pulled handfuls of rolled window screen stuffed behind the damaged roof skin, I'm guessing to catch body filler.

-Josh

[mongocanfly]

wow..thats not gonna be a fun fix...good luck

[67C10Step]

I cannot even begin to say how much I like this build. That thing will be a head turner when done. I always like the projects that those that don't know anything will say "what is that?" and those that do know cars will say "I gotta go check that out because it's not factory."

[gottattooz]

Thanks for the compliment, 67c10step.

I removed the headliner and headliner supports. I sanded and painted the supports, and sanded and undercoated the ceiling. It was an absolute mess sanding the ceiling and issuing a blow gun to remove the debris.

-Josh

[gottattooz]

And here's a preview of the lights. The amber bumper lights are turn signals only, but there's a short that is back feeding the right turn signal into the parking lights. The parking lights are in the headlights. Then all the lights with the fog lights in the grille lit up. It was easier to get a picture with the Jeep on the lift because it didn't cause a glare on my phone camera.

-Josh

[Ol Blue K20]

The roof sucks but you have the skills. The lights are looking good