89 K5 LS3/LSA blower build

[danimal95]

recently acquired an ultra clean 89 K5 blazer fully loaded silverado out of WA state.Really nice color combo blue/charcoal with a charcoal colored topper,interior is dove grey and really all it needed was a couple new carpets and a day worth of cleaning.Has a 4" suspension lift and new 33x12.5" tires on the factory aluminum wheels.Aslo had a rebuilt 350 and was converted to carb and a TH400 trans,neither of which mattered much to me because I new the overall out come of this truck Knowing at some point I would be building another K5 I had been gathering parts since I sold my 1970 some 6 months ago,I was pretty set to get going as soon as the truck arrived to me.Yanked the old drive train out and was able to get $500 for it thanks to CL...so then it began,ordered a set of Dirty Dingo mounts and slapped the fresh 6.2 into it,from there it took about 15 minutes to bolt up the 6L80E trans and converter and to my surprise the stock cross member for the trans mount bolted right up to the late model t-case adapter.at this point I went to bolt up the NP241 case only to see that I need a different input shaft,ordered,no biggie...time to move on the rest of the build till the new shaft arrives.So I grab a set of new ZL1 camaro stainless exhaust manifolds I had acquired and they fit like they were designed for that truck,from there I fabricated the rest of the exhaust in stainless to a Gibson dual in dual out muffler.Moved onto the blower,basically set right down with zero clearance issues,pretty simple.In an effort to remain on a budget I started measuring and looking around our shop for accessories that would line up with the LSA drive belt,we had a new camaro power steering bracket from a blower install we did and a PS pump off a LS powered truck that fit the bracket,after measuring all that was needed was to mill 1.25"off the rear of the bracket and it lined up perfectly,after fabricating a remote reservoir for the pump and making lines the steering was complete.Next was the alternator,there was no budget solution for this so I had to bite the bullet and get a factory bracket and a alternator from Rock Auto,accessories done...next up was the fuel system,dropped the tank did some measuring and discovered with a little persuasion I could fit dual in tank pumps,so thats what I did,after fabing up a bracket on the stock sending unit and tee'ing in both pumps the fuel system was pretty much done,I will also be using the stock fuel lines for the feed and return.The factory shift arm for the trans bolted right up and works great,really at this point the only real issue has been the cross member for the engine which I had to remove for oil pan clearance but will be replaced with a tubular piece,the rest has been a breeze. As of now that is where the project sits,I am hoping to get a lot more done in the next few weeks.I will be adding E85 flex fuel sensor just like my other build.I already have the wiring harness,gas pedel,and E67 ECU all from Modern Vintage out of Indiana I wil be posting pics in the near future..stay tuned

[danimal95]

[danimal95]

couple side notes:using 04 GTO electric fans,and at this point it doesnt appear that the A/C will be able to be retained,although I am still going over all my options and havent made a final decision yet,if it gets scrapped I will modify the factory A/C box so it appears to be a non A/C truck..

[russgt]

Awesome project! I will be watching because an LS swap may be in my future

[68Timber]

Beautiful truck, subbed for updates.

[danimal95]

thanks guys,I should have a bunch more pics up this weekend

[Ski-me]

Very Cool project! Surprise to hear how well things are bolting up and looking "stockish". Like the valve covers too....

[LSV8]

Thanks for posting Dan! That is an unbelievably clean truck! Thanks for the mention. My Dad was just talking about doing the LS swap to the '79 K10 he bought new. I will show him this thread for inspiration.

[danimal95]

Originally Posted by LSV8

Thanks for posting Dan! That is an unbelievably clean truck! Thanks for the mention. My Dad was just talking about doing the LS swap to the '79 K10 he bought new. I will show him this thread for inspiration.

Glad to do it,I like to give credit where credit is due and your conversion harnesses are awesome,I appreciate all the help you have given me on both of my latest conversions-customer for life

[danimal95]

[danimal95]

[dallred]

Awesome!! I am putting a 5.3 in my 89 Blazer. I am working on alternator wiring right now. Should I run a wire from the alternator post to the battery and one from the post to the fuse block (I think the stock wire that went from alt to the fuse block)

[danimal95]

Originally Posted by dallred

Awesome!! I am putting a 5.3 in my 89 Blazer. I am working on alternator wiring right now. Should I run a wire from the alternator post to the battery and one from the post to the fuse block (I think the stock wire that went from alt to the fuse block)

yes that is exactly what should be done,depending on your accessory drive you may be able to use all the original battery cables and alt wiring,mine all fit in place perfectly

[danimal95]

getting close! possibly fire it up this friday..

[crashz]

First, I'm jealous. Of the blazer, the powertrain and your shop space!

Second, I really liked the line "In effort to stay on budget..."

[danimal95]

Originally Posted by crashz

First, I'm jealous. Of the blazer, the powertrain and your shop space!

Second, I really liked the line "In effort to stay on budget..."

thanks,I think you would be floored if you knew how little I actually have into tis project

[McMurray76]

subscribed!!

[danimal95]

Fired up!finished exhaust last night,true duals all the way out 2 chamber flow masters tail pipes that mimic the stockers. Have a few small trans programming issues to work out and a bit of wiring to finish but otherwise it's about done and should be on the dyno soon

[danimal95]