[senecagreen]

I used the full size Blazer frame because it was already a V8 and most all the parts Chevy pickups 1973-1987 will interchange. I had the steering gearbox reinforcement plste welded to the Blazer frame as this is a known weak spot. I took pics throughout the build if anyone would like to see them.

I already had a 1985 full size Blazer and bought a 1985 ext cab 2wd long bed 5 speed stick S10 for $600 to get the body plus it was already a manual S10 which is how I wanted to build my mini monster truck project.

The driveline is out of a 1976 K10 pickup. 350 4 bolt main, sm465 3 speed with granny gear, np205 transfer, hd dana 44 front with the 3/8" thick axle tubes w/big lockouts, 14 bolt full floater rear. All this bolted right onto the Blazer frame.

I had to shorten the S10 longbed to match the 108" wheelbase of the Blazer frame. 42" IROK's finished it off. I wanted to build a stick shift so it could go thru deep water without ruining the trans.

The 350 has the basic stuff, cam, intake and the headers are for a 1985 full size Blazer.

 

[bk2life]

cool project..... any building pictures?

 

[senecagreen]

Thanks, I will find them and post some

 

[944v8indfw]

following

 

[TomA]

Looks good. I thought about doing the same thing, since I had an '88 K5 already but I live in California and it probably would have been a smog nightmare, so I ended up transferring the K5 drivetrain (D60, 14-bolt, SM465, NP205) to the S10 frame and keeping the V-6.

 

[senecagreen]

Here in Oklahoma they stopped doing state inspections years ago. The main requirements were the headlights could not be more than 55" from the ground and I had to have bumpers 22" from the ground. It is 55" to the center of the headlights. I added driving lights mounted lower so I could see at night and I made slide in bumpers for the receiver hitches front and rear so I could pull the pins and remove them for serious off roading to have a better approach angle.

This was my 85 blazer and the 85 2wd S10 I bought

 

[senecagreen]

First thing was to remove the body from the Blazer. A buddy of

mine had a overhead hoist in his building so I got it down to the last few bolts. Trailered it over there and lifted the body off and brought the chassis back home.

 

[senecagreen]

I took the body off the S10 in my driveway using my engine hoist and a piece of 3/4" plywood in the cab so I didn't dent the roof

 

[senecagreen]

I set the S10 cab on the Blazer frame on wood blocks just so I could push it back in the garage. I donated the S10 chassis to another friend that did all the welding on this project for me.

I did all this in one day. I started when my neighbors went to work and by the time they got home my driveway was empty again. lol

My wife never questioned whether I was going to be able to build my project. My mom who had used the little S10 out at the farm all summer to haul brush couldn't understand why I wanted to take apart a perfectly good little truck.

My sons were into monster trucks and we had been getting the blazer dented up following jeeps around tight trails and I told them we should just put a smaller body on this truck.

 

[senecagreen]

 

[senecagreen]

I didn't have anyone to tell me how to do this. I decided from my experiences off road to do a platform welded to the Blazer chassis to set the S10 body on. The goal was to keep the driveline angles stock for strength and a Blazer stock suspension has more droop in the front. I had seen people try to stick hd full size axles under a 4wd S10 with big tires but that required a big lift and weak driveshaft angles. I had already converted the blazer to stick shift with manual clutch linkage but the 85 S10 uses a hydraulic clutch.

So I had a platform fabricated I could set the cab on so I could attach a fender to it and slide it forward to center the wheelwell so I would know how much I was going to have to shorten the S10 longbed.

You can see that since the S10 cab and front end is shorter than a full size blazer I knew the distributor was going to wind up just behind the firewall inside the beginning of the transmission tunnel. I measured and made the platform tall enough that if I ever had to I could get the distributor out without removing the cab.

 

[senecagreen]

If I had to do it over again I think I could have built a lower platform and made a dog house in the cab to access the distributor. Not sure if the distributor is actually that far back though. I built this truck 20 years ago and it's still going strong. I have a 99 reg cab short bed complete truck and we have talked about putting a newer body on there and I could lower it then.

 

[senecagreen]

While I had the body off I put in a new clutch, resealed the trans and transfer case. I used a bell housing from a 1986 1 ton chevy truck which that year had the hydraulic clutch. All i had to do was have a new longer braided line made from the S10 hydraulic master cylinder down to the 1 ton slave cylinder.

I used a 1 ton brake master cylinder which bolted right onto the S10 vacuum brake booster and ran longer lines. I used a new brush hog pto driveshaft cut to length with a slip yoke and u joints to connect the steering wheel to the steering gearbox. I lengthened the trans and transfer case shift levers to reach.

 

[senecagreen]

Next the bed had to be shortened to match the blazer 108" wheelbase and a platform built to mount it on. I relocated the fuel filler to the back of the bed floor and a new hose to connect it to the blazer gas tank.

 

[senecagreen]

of course we built something to bolt the front clip and core support to

 

[senecagreen]

The complete body finally mounted. I used 1/8" thick black plastic to fill the gap between the body and the frame.

 

[senecagreen]

I used rubber sheet for the gap in the inner fenderwell up front

 

[senecagreen]

I used a corvette radiator and dual electric fans which keeps it cool. The truck still starts right up and runs strong. Hard to believe its been finished 20 years. I used a crane cam ground on a 108 lobe center for a lopey idle. Its more of a midrange cam but the 108 lobe center makes it sound bigger than it is.

 

[eshaw]

I'd like to see a pic or two of the steering setup if you could.

 

[senecagreen]

i keep it parked in my moms backyard. Next days off I will get up there and take pics of the engine compartment, steering setup, shifters, fuel filler setup in the bed