[Harley]

Guess it's a good enough of a reason for more pictures.

Here are the brackets spot welded to the body and painted body color afterward.





Here is the body harness laid out. You can see the engine harness grommet just to the right of the transmission tunnel. I pulled that out of a 2000ish Grand Am/Alero/Malibu. They have the PCM inside the dash on the driver side, so the connectors need a hole big enough to pass through. And well so did mine!



Cut the carpet to fold around the brackets and routed the engine harness along the passenger side of the PCM.



The dash can be R&R by removing the fuse block, but the BCM needs the PCM out. For all the times I've had either out I regret not welding nuts to the brackets. May have to get some riv-nuts the next time I have it out.







I tucked the TAC module up behind the passenger kick panel using the Transfer Case Control Module bracket. I'm actually using the original studs although not exactly how GM designed them. I guess the TCSCM doesn't share a bolt pattern with GM cruise control modules like the TAC module does.



And the driver seat perspective

 

[BTE]

That is really cool! And nice attention to detail with the brackets! I'll look back at the under-hood shots to see how it looks with everything missing.

 

[Harley]

I've had the Blazer insured for a couple weeks, now, and use it when the weather is dry. I really try to avoid the dirt road the shop is off of when it's wet out.



Took her for a short trip up to the Copper Peak Ski Jump for the Redbull 400 race.





Did some very brief sight seeing on the drive back, but can't pass up the opportunity for beauty shots.



Still some ice on Lake Superior in the distance.



Drove the Mackinac bridge both ways.





The heater core decided it wanted to be an early casualty too. Lasted longer than the steering box, but still not long for a new part.

 

[s/c'd cav]

looks nice !!

 

[Harley]

Less than a month before I pick up the Blazer from Michigan and drive it out to Oregon...

Primer is going on soon!

 

[BTE]

Painting it the same color?
What did you end up using for a shifter gasket/boot for your T56?

 

[Harley]

Painting it the same color?
What did you end up using for a shifter gasket/boot for your T56?

Yeah. I'm a fan of the pewter after rocking it for 10 years. She's just lived a rough life and the paint was showing it.

I used the factory S10 foam gasket with a relocated hole to fit the T56. On top of that I have a 4th gen Camaro 5 speed rubber floor pan shifter boot. 6 speed is similar, but slightly different. I don't think it would make a huge difference in fit choosing one over the other. I found the 5 speed boot at the junkyard, so I used it.

I cut the floor to fit the S10 foam gasket like it was from the factory. If I were to do it again I might try mocking up a piece of sheet metal with the Camaro boot pattern to see if I liked that better or not. Right now I'm digging the flange of the Camaro into the floor to get a seal for that and the foam is doing most the sealing work. I think the flange going through the hole in the floor and digging into the foam would be more optimal, but this works.

 

[droppedss]

this was a pleasant surprise to come upon. Super clean build man, bonus is that your from michigan (same here, just relocated when I was a kid many years ago to the Cincy area.

 

[Harley]

this was a pleasant surprise to come upon. Super clean build man, bonus is that your from michigan (same here, just relocated when I was a kid many years ago to the Cincy area.

Thanks man. I wouldn't be surprised if we crossed paths at some point. I brought the Blazer to at least one of the Dropt Out shows and a few others in OHio.... 7 or 8 years ago? I hung out with the Oaktown guys and joined up with them not long before we dissolved too.

Just doing a quick browse through the forum tonight, but did get the Blazer out to Portland successfully and the paint job really adds that extra polish. I'll have to post up a trip recap with a few pictures soon.

 

[Boshears]

Nice job!

 

[Harley]

I've been slacking on updating, but the Blazer is now in Oregon with fresh paint with only a fuel pump needing to be changed along the way. Yay side of the road repairs!

The main reason for the respray was rust at the back of the roof around the CHMSL. Getting rid of the 20 years of dings, scrapes, faded plastics, and paint imperfections was a huge bonus. Also got a color matched front bumper in the deal as well as the roof rack and CHMSL holes welded up.

My friend Scott did all the paint and body work for me. He put in a lot of time getting my Blazer looking this good and I'm immensely grateful for that.

The roof rust was far worse than it looked on the outside ?







The whole rear section got cut out and a roof out of the junkyard grafted in.
















Rear windows had the plastic fixed up and sprayed with a custom gold/silver metal/pearl mixture a friend of mine whipped up many years ago for my grille.

 

[Harley]

I got back to Michigan and jumped in a couple nights helping get her back together.





Windows in and ready to hit the road after an oil change







Made it to Chicago the first night



Did an overnight blast to Denver from there



Swung up through Wyoming where I picked up more bugs and lost a fuel pump





And finally introduced the Blazer to Portland

 

[Rhotpursuit]

I need to see it in person. My son just picked up an '06 Trailblazer SS. Nice rig, but ends up it has a bad lifter.

 

[akevinmorton]

Looking Good!

 

[goes2fast]

I wish I would have known you were coming through I would have liked seeing that beauty in person and meeting you ae well. ?

 

[goes2fast]

I need to see it in person. My son just picked up an '06 Trailblazer SS. Nice rig, but ends up it has a bad lifter.

Sounds like time for a set of LS7 lifters. ?

 

[Rhotpursuit]

I don't know anything about LS engines...I'll leave that to Harley...lol. I drove it back from Salem, and when you merge onto the highway...people better get out of the way because it wants to run. I've never been in a vehicle that big that shifted that hard when you were on it. I kinda wish I had one. The truck would be gone in a heartbeat.

 

[goes2fast]

I don't know anything about LS engines...I'll leave that to Harley...lol. I drove it back from Salem, and when you merge onto the highway...people better get out of the way because it wants to run. I've never been in a vehicle that big that shifted that hard when you were on it. I kinda wish I had one. The truck would be gone in a heartbeat.

From what I have read the 2 weak points are rocker trunnions and lifters that can be upgraded then they last pretty much forever if you take care of them.

 

[BTE]

Yeah. I'm a fan of the pewter after rocking it for 10 years. She's just lived a rough life and the paint was showing it.

I used the factory S10 foam gasket with a relocated hole to fit the T56. On top of that I have a 4th gen Camaro 5 speed rubber floor pan shifter boot. 6 speed is similar, but slightly different. I don't think it would make a huge difference in fit choosing one over the other. I found the 5 speed boot at the junkyard, so I used it.

I cut the floor to fit the S10 foam gasket like it was from the factory. If I were to do it again I might try mocking up a piece of sheet metal with the Camaro boot pattern to see if I liked that better or not. Right now I'm digging the flange of the Camaro into the floor to get a seal for that and the foam is doing most the sealing work. I think the flange going through the hole in the floor and digging into the foam would be more optimal, but this works.

Thanks for the heads up. I'm planning to install a T56 into mine over the winter. Your Blazer is bad***.

 

[Harley]

I did a couple things this weekend.

Saturday evening I swapped in the Red Head Steering box I picked up last weekend. They blueprint the whole box and make sure all the parts are sized correctly, which is a huge step up from the rebuilds and refurbs I spent way too much money on already. Just has to last more than 1000 miles and it will be in the lead over my last two steering boxes...

Also swapped in a factory fuel pump and sender instead of the parts store overpriced special I did the side of road repair with. Much quieter.

Today, I actually used my truck for what it was built for. One of my shopmates put on a track day for his 60th birthday and I was quite fortunate to be invited. The Blazer felt like a monster out there and I definitely scared myself, but had way too much fun anyway. Everything worked well, great power, handling, and braking. Blazer has more of all of that than I can handle at the moment, but that just means I will go back for more.

Photos were taken by 4theriders.com He got some great action shots.