1991 4 Door Blazer Build

[HiTempguy1]

I've been pretty bored lately, the business has been taking a lot of my time, and I currently am not flush with cash (as its all going into the new race car and business) to have a fun daily driver with. Dailying the duramax sucks the life out of me

A good buddy of mine is much more of a "build something to cruise" and domestic guy in general than I am, but he has a hardon for trucks. Last weekend, we went to a show called "Git On Up" in Didsbury that was a GM truck only weekend of drinking beer and doing burnouts. Was a good time.



So as we are talking about him putting together his 1963 1 ton with some crazy power, all this truck stuff gets me thinking; I can't afford a 3rd gen Camaro or Firebird that I'd actually want to spend money on NOW, but maybe there is something I could make silly out there for dirt cheap and fun. The gears get churnin, and as I'm riding shotgun all weekend I have plenty of time to Kijiji.

This is the piece of junk we drove around central Alberta in over the weekend (I helped with the spindle install, he c-notched the frame over a weekend, its a 5/7 drop but it ended up more like 6/8. She's friggin SLAMMED).



I don't need another truck. But a really immaculate short box, regular cab square body S10 showed up and it gave me bad thoughts. And they are dirt cheap usually as they are useless trucks. NOTHING on Kijiji except for a MINT regular cab, short box (basically spitting image of the one at the show) that was already lowered. Too much money. Give up hope Then my buddy suggests s10 blazers. Find a rusty, crappy 1991 4.3 auto 2wd 4 door blazer FOR $500. Hasn't sold in months.

Think about texting the guy, but naw. I'm into it, but not super into it. Monday rolls around, and the weather isn't very good for my work plans out at the shop, so I go into Edmonton to run some errands. Decide screw it, I'm already half way to Athabasca and I am in the dmax, might as well see if the guy will take $300 for the blazer. Yep! So I lineup a uhaul trailer, check to see if my buddy can come with me (he is a gm truck connoisseur, I just build rally cars) and we bomb out there.

Thing is better than expected. They told me with a battery it would run and I could drive it home (typical Kijiji sales line). But it was actually true! Thing fired up and ran smooth. And OH MAN, the friggin' sweet late 80's digital dash had been sent out to be restored and worked flawlessly! I've never been so amazed by an interior item before! And the interior in general was flawlessly mint.

So picked it up, brought it back, and washed it up.







So now what? I have a running, driving, rusty AF Blazer.

On the short list is cutting out the rusty rockers and 3m gluing in a new set. May try to do a silver/charcoal/grey two tone along the bottom trim, we're going full retro with this build. Found out after the fact by checking the RPO codes that it is 3.08 gears. MOAR rear gear needed. Searched on kijiji, guy has a 2wd s10 axle he just took out (2wd is narrow, didn't want the 4wd). He thinks its 3.73.

Arrange to meet up with him today. Ends up being a s10 nut, has a beat Typhoon in the garage he got dirt cheap and a regular cab short box square body s10 in the same blue as my blazer. He did a 5.3 LS swap into it

Since he pulled it from the truck with the 5.3, rpo codes confirm 3.73 and a posi, no need to pull the cover. Then he throws in the astro springs he has (lower the truck 3" and are stiffer). On top of that, he just so happened to have a used set of assembled front drop spindles that he didn't need anymore. He wasn't even thinking of selling them, but I flashed some cash and got them for half price of new. And it came with all the ubolts, nuts, and 3" drop blocks.



Jeez, this is fun already and I haven't torn the truck apart!

In the next week or two, next step is to go get a complete 96 vortec engine and 4L60 tranny I have lined up for $300. I'd keep the 700R4 as it's not computer controlled, and the s10 stall is typically a cheap mod people do for a higher stall converter behind v8's (~2300-2600rpm). The 700R4 of those years is the same as what was behind the v8's, so it should be a bolt in affair.

In theory, by selling off the 4.3 and the 4L60 I am picking up, I could have a rocker repaired, slammed, v8 4 door blazer for ~$1000 including diesel for getting parts and the $55 uhaul trailer rental. Not bad!

[ExtraSlow]

This is awesome.

[SKR]

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Holy fuck do I ever need a 1991 Blazer. Just for these gauges.

[BerserkerCatSplat]

That digi-dash is truly incredible.

[firebane]

Watch the sliders for the heat controls as they are known to break.

[LilDrunkenSmurf]

Fantastic. I love budget kijiji builds.

[HiTempguy1]

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That digi-dash is truly incredible.

It literally sold me on the Blazer. Apparently they are relatively rare, it was an option or something? Either way, it's staying.

As with most cruising builds, we are definitely in a "form over function" situation. But there is a budget to stick to, mainly no budget whatsoever, everything done as cheap as possible. You can get 15x8 steel wheels for dirt cheap, unfortunately, the $60cad ones are the wrong bolt pattern. The 5x4.75 rims are ~$100cad each. I really wanted to go with the steam roller/nascar truck look, but for the price it would cost, I don't think it makes much sense. Steel wheels are bitchin', but not bitchin' enough to pay how much brand new (or nice condition) aluminum rims would cost.

For future inspiration


I imagine if I ever buy new, it will be these 4th gen rims. Pictured below on a nice S10 build. This truck will most certainly see an autox, and if I get it setup right, at least a lapping day.





However, I just stumbled across 15x9 versions of these with the proper backspacing and bolt pattern for dirt cheap. I don't think I can pass it up... will run 255/60R15 on them for now. Not ideal, but wide tires with a bit of meat on them are impossible to find for 15" rims nowadays. 4" lip on the ones I found!!



But... the seller was being a bit of a dildo, plus they are in Calgary, plus it would be a bit of a hail mary as to proper fitment, PLUS I wouldn't know if he was telling the truth on size until I got there to measure.

So I went tried and true instead, $200 for 1994 17x8.5 and 17x9.5 Corvette sawblades, pick them up tonight:



Then I will purchase these tires. It was VERY important to me that I did not run mixmatched tires, I hate that. But finding staggered sizes that aren't goofy (unless spending TONS of cash) is difficult.



245/45R17 front
275/40R17 rear

While I could have probably found rims and tires for less, we're talking a total of $805cad for rims and tires, including the 2" rear, 2.5" front spacers I need off ebay (I am trying to find them used for extra savings). Pretty good considering I'll be rolling on brand new wide rubber on 17's. The 15's would have required derpy 265/50R15 Hankooks that would have cost $600+ alone.

[gretz]

When you figure out a name for her, i'll donate a custom billet "emblem" or logo to keep with the "budget" theme... If you don't want to rock one / want to have a de-badged look, get me a valve cover off the 4.8 to do something for you with.

[HiTempguy1]

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When you figure out a name for her, i'll donate a custom billet "emblem" or logo to keep with the "budget" theme... If you don't want to rock one / want to have a de-badged look, get me a valve cover off the 4.8 to do something for you with.

Haha, that would be awesome. I truly do like a friend's suggestion: "Blahzer" . Would love to have it on the rear hatch, because honestly, this truck is far enough gone it will always be pretty "blah" even when slammed with a V8 and big meats.

Current minor acquisitions this week: 2.25" adapters so the Corvette rims will fit (generic pic). $180cad shipped. Ebay has a sale on right now, promo code PRIMOSALE, I could have got 2.5" adapters for $140cad shipped which is crazy cheap.

https://www.ebay.ca/itm/122345556914



Had a hell of a time finding the info on what was the proper spacers to get for the Vette rims. Finally found a square body S10 running 8.5" wide front, 9.5" wide rear and 2.5" spacers all around while lowered. His truck also had the small fender flares around the wheel wells, while mine are just the chrome trim. So I decided 2.25" would be good, and if I wanted to be a hack, I could always run a small spacer on them

Going to replace the battered front airdam, RockAuto has literally every part for these trucks, can practically rebuild one from scratch:



The front grill is toast, green corrosion and general crappy treatment has taken its toll. All told, $110cad shipped for those two items which will REALLY clean it up.



Originally, I was going to do the rockers. I'm debating it, but luckily, CAPS has 4 door rockers and rear lower quarter panels in stock. As I said, "originally" I was going to do this. Right now I am running into a dilemma of how much to spend. At the rate I am going, rims, adapters, and tires are $800. The lowering stuff, plus the 3.73 rear end, plus the purchase of the blazer was about $550. I'm quickly approaching what I envisioned as my $1500 cap and haven't even gotten the V8 in. Yes, it has bitchin' rims and brand new tires (both things that are probably the most important thing to me out of a cruiser), but I do need to prioritize. The truck is going to get driven this year half of July, August, and September, after that, it is mothballed.

So I think I am going to say fuckit and run rusty rockers this year and just stick with the 4.3/700R4 with the 3.73 rear combo. This winter (when my business is super slow), I'll have all the time in the world to cut out rust, weld, do shitty patch work, and drop a 350 in. We'll see.

[firebane]

@HiTempguy1 there is a youtube channel cled SPPTV where they swapped a 5.3/4l80/8.8 into an s10

[HiTempguy1]

Finally got around to doing a bit more work. The shop and garage are both full, so I decided to swap the 3.73 rear in and do the 3" lowering blocks on the flat deck trailer It actually was a decent idea, was probably easier doing the work there than on the gravel.

Interesting note, this truck had full front and rear ABS, a pretty rare option back in the day. Of course, I promptly cut everything because screw taking it all apart. This took... maybe 3 hours of reallllllly slow work (I wasn't in any rush) punctuated by a couple of phone calls and beer drinking. Had my friend from the truck show mentioned earlier helping. We get sidetracked pretty quick as we talk and bullshit about car related stuff, when we finally wrapped up we spent an extra 30 minutes talking about his new plans for the GMT400 pictured earlier (holley sniper system, vortec head 350, turbo, make 500whp).







So that was 3" lowering blocks in the rear, the front spindles will be a 2" drop, so cutting a half coil should give me another 2" to get the 4/3 once I get the front done. I want more lows, but for now this will do.

Oh, just as helpful info, Seafoam Deep Creep IS AMAZING. Project Farm on youtube did some pretty good standardized tests to determine which penetrating fluid actually worked, and this one was highly recommend. All of the bolts on this truck after two applications and a week of sitting, not a single problem getting them off. As you can see, the truck is rusty as fuck. I'm sold, no more WD40 for this guy.

[HiTempguy1]

Been REALLY busy, I guess I just got a fever for more lowered blazer things!

I'm going with mismatched tires, screw it. Tire prices went up recently, so the Maxtrek's I was looking at were up to $460 after tax and shipping n: , too rich for my blood! So I went kijiji surfing and stumbled upon some practically new conti extreme contact dw(s?) for $150 for the pair of 275/40R17. Sold! It was crazy typical north end Edmonton shenanigans walking into this dude's backyard, he has a HUGE pie lot (could fit a 6 bay garage on it if he wanted) that was FILLED WITH TIRES. Like, he had a screened off "tire storage area" and probably had close to 600 tires back there, it was nuts!



I'm trying to pick up a set of 245/45R17 fronts for $50. If I save $250 on tires, that could theoretically get me the vortec and 4l60e that's sitting in grand prairie for me to buy...

Now, I've had these adapters for about a week now, but wow... if there was ever a time to use the word "thicc" un-ironically, this would be it I think.





And boom, everything fits perfect, I think I'm going to be pretty happy with fitment.

[Sentry]

Sawblades look good on so many cars.

[never]

Stop screwing around and just get wheels and tires on the truck already!

[bjstare]

That's gonna look great. Love those wheels.

[HiTempguy1]

Taking a quick detour into the interior and fixing the ICE situation.



Didn't get it completed as a crazy storm came in and I was just fiddling around on the parking pad. But I'm pretty happy with it so far, crazy how easy these old cars are to work on. Went with the following deck:



Even though I have a huge collection of CD's, I haven't listened to them in ages. I also had a bit of an idea in regards to how to use the USB:



16gb should basically hold as many 320kbps mp3's as I care to have on it. I'm working on a way to decrypt and rip the sound files out of Spotify and put them onto this. With how small it is, it should basically just looking like a cap sticking out of the USB slot.

Just ordered these Pioneer 3 way 4x6's last night, they come highly recommended and for some reason, the Blahzer (that name has stuck with me, its official now) only came with the front dash 4x6's and no other speakers in the rear?? So I put a watch on camelcamelcamel and snagged them for $80 after tax, pretty happy with the price and should help compared to 30 year old speakers.



I wanted a sub and amp, but the costs for new stuff just didn't make any sense and I wasn't having any success on Kijiji. But a friend had a spare amp and sub kicking around, so I can borrow them for the rest of summer! Ordered a 4gauge install kit off Amazon for $40cdn, wired it all in and ran the wires and rca's to the back just under the transmission tunnel carpet.

Tonight I am picking up a set (4) of 245/45R17 tires for $100, so I'll have two spares, or I could resell them I guess.

I didn't get as much done as I wanted this past week as I spent the weekend at the Rimbey Rumble (this is a video I took of Horsepower Solutions/Neil Richards "The Cream Dream", LSX turbo car, runs 4.9X in the 1/8 mile at 150+mph. Its nuts).



Made me rethink my initial plans for this thing. I might start to use it as a development bed for a setup to go into a cleaner S10/Blazer next year. Start with 350 swap, then move onto twin turbo setup:

https://www.cxracing.com/turbo-kit/t...0-V-TT-GT35-T4

I like the kit because its cheap, it apparently works from reviews, and its flanged for T4 so I can step it up to 72mm turbos eventually. Once the 350 swap with the gt35 twins is done, it would get the appropriate transmission/drivetrain behind it as things broke. Then a new properly built motor, etc etc. It would be a nice, staged modification list with a plan, and be a great way to sort an eventual setup out for a cleaner chassis.

I mean, one can dream anyways. 600whp on a stock 350 is doable with twin turbos, even hotrod recently did it. Would be an entertaining shitbox for sure

[Hallowed_point]

Digi dash is so awesome. Early 90's high tech gm haha. Cool build!

[HiTempguy1]

Well that escalated quickly. Been watching too much sloppy mechanic youtube videos.


» Click image for larger version

Found this on Facebook marketplace. A german couple on break from university are traveling across North America for almost two years. They found out the hard way that their rusty Quebec van they purchased when they first arrived had no chance of passing an OPI. $1200 later, and I have a complete swap for a LQ4 and 4L80E transmission into the Blahzer.

Going to be pushing to get into x275 this year. With the LQ4, 1400hp is possible bone stock with the ring gap widened up on the factory pistons. So that's what I am going to do. Since space is limited, I wouldn't be surprised to have the turbo inlets sticking out of the hood.

[Sentry]

Lol sweet, those vans are ideal donors since they come with a RWD 4L80 already. I haven't played with LSes yet but I know my way around china turbos. Also sloppy mechanics is my favourite facebook group.

[HiTempguy1]

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Lol sweet, those vans are ideal donors since they come with a RWD 4L80 already. I haven't played with LSes yet but I know my way around china turbos. Also sloppy mechanics is my favourite facebook group.

Yes yes and yes. I know a van wasn't necessary, but I really wanted a 4L80E. They can be built to withstand 1400hp for about $4k cdn. It'll survive ~900whp with a shift kit and new servos. The perfect trans. And everything is just plug and play/bolts in. I will be ordering a wiring harness though, I'm not fucking around with electrical gremlins. I just realized my personal spending account at work specifies "computers and accesories" and a custom harness would be an accessory for a computer sooooo...

I fully expect to get a run against you at one of the HalfMile events even if its not turbo'd. LQ4 with a cam and tune vs turbo 5oh should be fun