1990 S-10 Blazer 4x4 V8 Swap (TPI)


This is my Blazer. This is the second vehicle I have ever owned (I no longer own the first one, it was totaled). I paid $4000 for it in 1996. It had flood damage and had been repaired and was traded in. I found it at the local Dodge dealership. It was my daily driver until I bought my first RX-7, The Pyle. Then I decided to rebuild the transmission, which had been slipping. I put full B&M internals into it and changed the torque converter for a Corvette converter.



This is my 1987 TPI motor that will power the Blazer soon. Note the oil pan. I had to custom make it so it would clear the front differential.

I converted the accessories to the serpentine setup. The multi-belt setup took up too much room for my taste.

I have over 10 hours polishing the plenum and runners.

The other side doesn't look quite this nice, there are a few dents in the runners. I will change them for larger ones later.

This is my current hold-up. This is the stock harness. The TPI harness is stand alone. I need to figure out how to wire the stock guages and ignition.

This is how it looks at the moment. I will pull the rest of the body off the frame in the next week or so to sandblast and powdercoat.

Some of the parts. I was trying to get a shot of the tranny and torque converter. I used a wire wheel on the transmission case and it shines pretty well.

This is the whole reason I ripped the inside out of the truck. This heater core ruptured and was leaking on the carpet. I noticed it when I could smell a wetness in the cab. So I pulled the dash out and removed the heater core. When I pulled the carpet back, I noticed the paint was starting to bubble. I figured this was as good a time as any to rip out the carpet and sand it down. I found more bubbles and ended up pulling out everything. I figured, I always wanted to do an engine swap, now would be the best time.

Everything but the front glass is out. There was some rust around the corner towards the rear and the driver side rear window would leak. Okay, might as well do body work and paint.

Here's the floorboard on the passenger side after I sanded it down and primered it. No more rust. :)

The rear deck had bubbles in the paint also. Probably from the leaky windows.

My stock spare tire carrier cracked the tailgate, so I welded it back together. I'm just going to remove the carrier and fill the holes.

Here's my custom tranny cooler. It mounts just below the front bumper. It is a B&M SuperCooler available from Summit. The fan came from a 90 Nissan Sentra. The filter in the corner is an external tranny filter. I put it in at the same time as the cooler. I run only B&M Trick Shift.


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