"Veronica" 4x4 Blazer

[xtremebilly]

Hello everyone! First off, let me just say I love this forum, tons of info, tons of great dimes. This build would’ve been nearly impossible without it. Buckle up, its gonna be a doozy. Im sorry for the poor quality cell pics, recently i bought a digital camera.
Ok, This is Veronica

She’s a ’89 2.8l/5 speed/4x4. My first vehicle, purchased April of 2008. I got her with a 2” body lift, 31’s, handmade square tube bumpers/spare tire carrier, a lot of stuff broken, dirty, missing, and ~215,xxx miles for $1400. Since then, minor mods here and there, quite a long list actually.

Engine: Not much, cause I knew I’d be swapping in a v8, I didn’t want to waste money on the 2.8l, student/young adult budget. NOT CHONICOLOGICAL .
-New 4.3 Hd 3-core radiator, hoses, t-stat, heater hoses
-New serpentine belt, idler pulley and tensioner assm., alternator
-TBI injector fix, Spectre aircleaner, fuel filter, fuel pump, distributer, cap, rotor, wires, plugs, msd ignition coil, ignition module.


Driveline: All stock, like a rock, except new front CV’s

Suspension/Steering: My first major upgrade on her


-2” Rough country lift kit (I didn’t have the cash or reasoning to go higher or SAS).
-PowerPerformance complete suspension and steering kit. Inner/Outer tie rods with their HD toe adjusters, upper/lower balljoints, pitman/idler arm
-3leaffab 3” lift shackles
-31x10.5r15 Bridgestone Dueler Revo 2’s (5x)
-brakes pads, shoes, rotors, drums, RF hub bearing assm.

Interior/Sound:
-Clarion VZ409, Clarion 4x6 fronts, 1600 watt Koiiler Amp, 2 12”Audiobahn Subs, Knukonceptz.com Power wire
-98+ column shift center console modified for 5 speed(every, and I mean every, piece is from a different blazer/pickup at the junkyard, haha)
-Black alligator pattern headliner (the lady at the fabric store thought it was giraffe, so when someone asks what it is, that’s what I say)
-Wink mirror/custom map light (one of the first things I did after purchase. It’s big and ugly, but hey, no blind spots)
-New window motors, fixed courtesy lights, other small stuff…

Exterior: Not my biggest concern, luckily the paint is decent, love the color blue I have, I think it’s a rare color, cause I’ve yet to see another, and believe me im always lookin. Rust is getting bad, I will address this later.
-15x8” black 8 spoke steels
-Custom Front bumper( big and ugly, was my senior project in High school, built it in a week, which was only 7 hours class time. Will be redone eventually.)
-4inch square fog lights
-Projector/halo ebay lights, led taillight bulbs, window screen mod

Well, that’s the jist. On to the swap

Since day one I knew the 2.8l needed to be replaced, but not because how it runs. All my high school friends are shocked/amazed/jealous about how long this blazer has lasted me. I had the oldest vehicle and its lasted me the longest. But the power, or lack thereof, has had me v8 hungry. So recently ive finally overcome budget issuses with a new great job. At first I was looking into vortec 350’s, but then I got bit by the LSX bug.
Swap:















-2003 LQ4 out of an Express van, 97k ,$1500. Running the truck intake. Aeromotive 340, new fuel lines/fittings/'94 fuel sender/'94 tank, corvette filter/regulator. Modified '99 f-body manifolds. Keeping A/C(in stock position). Miloden Oil Pan. Remote oil filter/cooler.




-2001 4L60E out of an Express van, Blown(failed Torrington bearing in low/reverse planetary assembly.) got for FREE!! From a buddy I worked with for showing him the inside of it. Took it to my school and rebuilt it. My instructor gave me a 4L80e low/reverse planetary assembly
(with 5 instead of 4 planetary gears) in exchange for my blown one, for instruction purposes. If im not mistaken, that essentially makes it a 4L65e… the fluid pump failed on the tranny dyno, so a got new one of those(don’t want to risk running a rebuilt one). will be runnin an aux Tranny cooler.


-236 shift on the fly transfer case
-custom driveshafts, motor mounts, tranny crossmember.
-8.5 disc brake axle swap
-98+ dual piston caliper/knuckle swap
-’93 astro hydroboost swap
-Current Performance wiring harness
-Order the rest of the new rough country lift lit that didn’t come with mine. The front diff drop especially, maybe the new control arms, or make my own.

Garage where the operation is taking place



Progress so far




Progress will be slow, because i travel for work, but dont fret, it will be done.

Thanks for viewing my thread. feedback is definitely encouraged

[85Monster]

Not a fan of the grille personally but you've got plenty of good parts to keep you busy for a while. Can't wait to see it all start coming together.

[Nitemare]

holy shit this is gonna be ill.

[prupnurp]

Looking forward to this one..

[xtremebilly]

Quote: Originally Posted by 85Monster

Not a fan of the grille personally but you've got plenty of good parts to keep you busy for a while. Can't wait to see it all start coming together.

Yeah, that pic doesn't do it justice, its black window screen, layered twice and secured by self tapping screws through sheet metal plates. i like it, and its a great way to protect the condenser/radiator from rocks and bugs. same thing for the headlights, keeps people from flashing their highs at me, still provides great visibility. and if a cop says anything i can tear it out on the spot and not get a ticket, haha, a roll is like $5 at Home Depot. functional and adds a unique look. there's alot of parts i dont have pics of yet, ill post when i can. You and me both!

Quote: Originally Posted by Nitemare

holy shit this is gonna be ill.

[xtremebilly]

More pics

[spazattack]

IMO, front bumper looks way too big. To each their own though! Looking forward to progress

[xtremebilly]

Quote: Originally Posted by spazattack

IMO, front bumper looks way too big. To each their own though! Looking forward to progress

it's huge. haha, the bottom is perfectly level with the front crossmember. i will redo/build a new one. once i relocate the front diff, i can crank the t-bars up about an inch, which might make it look better.

[Driveway Kustoms]

the bumper just needs to move up a good 6 inches or so to match the bottom of the headlights or close and it would look fine

[~Baja~]

My thoughts are the same on the front bumper, huge. But nice start, looking forward to updates!

[Sonomanclature]

ahh another Resident, looks good so far.

[xtremebilly]

update:



OH NO!!




test fit #1 (no front diff installed)


2002 7.5 lsd, had trouble finding a 8.5, so this one will do until i blow it up, haha.


rear brakes






New vs. old












painted my intake in the wrinkle plus stuff, still needs a coat or two. the bracket and valley cover are just black

[xtremebilly]

Update:

rusty hole in my floor is fixed. welded and sealed.


installed RC differential drop kit, but the oil pan still hit, so i had to notch it. forgot to take pics. also added about 2" to the driver side of the g-force crossmember to clear front drive shaft and match the old crossmember. i also trimmed the p/s-alt bracket to clear the l99 wp im using.

Muffler and cats arrived



the waterpump and flaming river steering shaft kit should be here today. work is getting super busy, but im aiming for a june deadline. i just might finish this on the first page, haha.

[xtremebilly]

repost fail

[xtremebilly]

two updates in one day?!


Flaming River Steering Shaft kit







VVT camaro WP, bought from autopartstomorrow.com
it was delivered by ups ground, it came in a box that i would say was pretty snug, no padding, gashes in the cardboard from impacts, and the waterpump was facing down. And that box was put on top of a shorter box that was roughly the same width by depth. then both were place in a bigger box with brown paper around two adjacent sides and the top. the outside box had no clear "this side up" or arrows, and was "filled" from the wrong side.

I know its not very common to swap from a manual to electronic shift transfer case, but does anyone have some info that could help? i need to confirm exactly which transfer case i have. it was from a blazer, and has three buttons (2hi,4hi,4lo). i grabbed the switch and the lower harness from the same truck, didnt realize there was a computer module i should have grabbed too. and does the transfer case sense front wheel slip within itself, or does it use front wheel speed sensors?

[xtremebilly]

small part update today, big progress update sometime this weekend


Holley ls fuel rail kit 534-210.


not sure how well these will fit the truck intake, hopefully like glove.


and some more AN fittings. the twist tight fittings and gm efi adapter are for my fuel system, and then some -10 to -6 AN adapters for the oil pan outlet/inlet

[Kampz69]

if it was just 4hi/lo/2hi, then its a np233 tcase, not a 236. yes there is wiring and other electronics you will need (and encoder motor on the tcase itself and the TCCM which is located under the passenger side kick panel), but the vacuum system in place should be able to work with it id guess.

IMO, i would keep your manual shifting case. lots of potential problems with the electronic shift units...make sure your vacuum system is in good shape (lines/actuator/etc).

[svmcgover]

very nice! this thing is going to be insane. Sub'd.

I kinda like the huge bumper. it's very zombie apocalypse

[xtremebilly]

Quote: Originally Posted by Kampz69

if it was just 4hi/lo/2hi, then its a np233 tcase, not a 236. yes there is wiring and other electronics you will need (and encoder motor on the tcase itself and the TCCM which is located under the passenger side kick panel), but the vacuum system in place should be able to work with it id guess.

IMO, i would keep your manual shifting case. lots of potential problems with the electronic shift units...make sure your vacuum system is in good shape (lines/actuator/etc).

youre right, its the np233. i forgot to mention im using the 233 instead of the 236, for ease of retrofit. because the 236 has the auto 4wd function, i believe it needs front wheel speed sensors and front abs input/data bus signals, blah blah blah. with the three mode np233, its just 2h,4h,4l. on saturday i went to the junk yard and got the module and the connectors for the whole system. i was trying to keep the harness intact, but that was proving to be a big pita, so im just going to make my own harness. i dont want to keep the manual shift because im using the floor shifter and console from the electro shift models. im not too worried about the electronic shift, cause im lucky enough to have a junkyard with plenty of s10s to pick off of.

[xtremebilly]

Quote: Originally Posted by svmcgover

very nice! this thing is going to be insane. Sub'd.

I kinda like the huge bumper. it's very zombie apocalypse

Thanks man!

[xtremebilly]

ok, so i was planning to have big update for you guys, but i was having one hell of time trying to fix the leaks from the notch on my oil pan, id fix one leak, and find another, grind down and reweld, another leak would pop up, over and over in different spots. and its warped to shit now. so im afraid im going to have to scrap it, get a new one and order some of Jareds 4x4 mounts, to avoid the notch entirely . i did make it to the junkyard tho, and i picked up a front drivehaft, a pretty new looking 2nd gen coolant overflow bottle/computer bracket, and all the connectors and module for the transfer case shift system. also picked up some metal for my oil/fluid cooler bracket and started on that. also fab'd up a cover for the old manual transfer/transmission shifter hole, and started working on mounting the floor shifter and console. i was hoping to finally get the engine and trans in, and start running AN lines. but that DARN pan stopped that. oh well, you win some, you lose some.