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maschinenbau
maschinenbau GRM+ Memberand PowerDork
12/11/24 8:40 a.m.

I think the custom frame is an awesome idea and I really hope you do it, eventually, but that's a lot to accomplish in 3 months. Even an engine swap is a lot for most people in that timeframe. It would be really cool to show up in 2025 with "just" the engine swap, then come back a year later with the crazy custom chassis for the A-B comparison.  

One step at a time. Personally I would be focused on getting the swap running, driving, and sorted, but I'm happy to follow along whatever you do.

maschinenbau
maschinenbau GRM+ Memberand PowerDork
12/11/24 8:57 a.m.

Couldn't resist...

nocones
nocones GRM+ Memberand PowerDork
12/11/24 9:16 a.m.

Another option.  Start looking for a rust free cheap S10 in FL.  Got to 2025 challenge for the party.  Drag rust free S10 home.  

eastsideTim
eastsideTim UltimaDork
12/11/24 9:59 a.m.
maschinenbau said:

Couldn't resist...

Amusingly enough, I threw this together back in July.  
 

Edit:  Having done the swap before, I think part of it is I don't consider completing another to be much of an achievement, and am inclined to put that time towards 2026.  Which means I may just head down to Gainesville for a couple days to hang out in 2025.

eastsideTim
eastsideTim UltimaDork
12/11/24 10:02 a.m.

In reply to nocones :

I did that once.  The black 1st gen came from Jacksonville.  I suspect I won't get a deal like that one ever again.  Will keep my eyes open, though.

I also have a $500 Dodge Ram 50 in my backyard that is considerably more solid.  Don't think I want to cut it up as much as I would need to in order to make it a winning car, though.

Toot
Toot Reader
12/11/24 1:58 p.m.

In reply to nocones :

I have found rust free 2nd gen s10s free all over Georgia if you will just haul them away.  My son has picked up 6 vehicles this year alone because people want them removed from their property so they don't have to pay to have them removed.   I would start there

maschinenbau
maschinenbau GRM+ Memberand PowerDork
12/11/24 2:13 p.m.

The Xtreme with that paint and body kit is so cool though...

eastsideTim
eastsideTim UltimaDork
12/11/24 4:40 p.m.

Having to borrow access to a truck/trailer does inhibit me a bit. 

But anyway:

eastsideTim
eastsideTim UltimaDork
12/11/24 4:41 p.m.
maschinenbau said:

The Xtreme with that paint and body kit is so cool though...

Part of the body kit is still likely to be used.  Paint, eh, not as likely, unless I can get a perfect match cheap.

eastsideTim
eastsideTim UltimaDork
12/12/24 8:28 p.m.

While separating the engine and transmission today, I may have found part of why it wasn't running well.  One of the hold down screws for the distributor cap was completely loose.  I don't think I'm going to put everything back together to see if that was the only issue.

Pete. (l33t FS)
Pete. (l33t FS) GRM+ Memberand MegaDork
12/13/24 2:38 p.m.

In reply to eastsideTim :

Betcha the distributor was broken.

They are plastic.  When you install a new distributor cap and rotor (a regular thing on those engines) you must reuse the old screws.  The new screws have a dab of Loctite and the added thickness of the Loctite is stronger than the distributor body, and the distributor cracks.

 

Very very very common.

eastsideTim
eastsideTim UltimaDork
12/13/24 7:48 p.m.

In reply to Pete. (l33t FS) :

From a glance, that appears to be what happened.

eastsideTim
eastsideTim UltimaDork
12/16/24 6:50 p.m.

The 4.3 is up for sale cheap, and I am hoping it goes fast, as it is taking enough space that a lot of heavy work will be on hold until it is gone.  I also need to do a little carpentry, and build a platform for the 4L60Es, to make it easy to disassemble them, and frankenstein them together.  I also have a shift kit I intend to install, and am debating whether to spend the money on a Corvette servo while everything is apart.  Should help performance and durability, but it's another hit to the budget.

Meanwhile, I retrieved what I managed to salvage of the Trailblazer's main body harness:

And disassembled enough of it to get the only part needed for the swap:

Accelerator to TAC module cable.  As I understand, it's separated from the harness in a GMT800, so a lot easier to get a hold of in the full size trucks.  I will still use part of the main harness.  There is some nice heavy gauge wire that ran to the rear fuse box, so I may not need to purchase anything additional when setting up the cut off switch.  It's also nice to have decent quality spare wire in multiple colors.

Speaking of wiring, I've started looking at diagrams.  If I re-use the S10's fuse box(which I hope to move to inside the cab), I think I can alter the Trailblazer engine harness to plug right into it, and make the wiring look a lot cleaner.  I'll also need to make a few changes to the S10 body harness to allow it to connect to the Trailblazer PCM.  If I have been reading things right, I think I can get the speedometer and tach working, and may even be able to get the other gauges operational, too, but I still need to dig around the Trailblazer wiring diagrams a bit to see if the signals from the PCM need to be conditioned through a BCM first or not.  I think the Current Performance conversion harness keeps the gauges, so I am guessing it doesn't.

The rough plan will be to have the PCM and the fusebox in the passenger side of the cab, where the heater core used to be.  While I'll try to come up with conversion plans, I'll wait to mess with the wiring until any chassis hacking and body relocation is done, to make sure everything ends up being the right length.  So, it'll be a while.

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