My Build Story, And I'm Sticking To It!

[BLUE THUNDER]

After nearly two months of being at my shop and the mechanics shop Ol' Yeller is back home. New exhaust, brakes, rear diff. The only thing used on the rear end is the housing. I have driven it about 75 miles so far. No overheating, good oil pressure, and most of my lights working. Here are some pics.

[Yukon Jack]

Congrats on it being back home! Glad everything is going smoothly!

[mdunn]

What Flowmasters are those? I just put the 2.5" Super 44's on mine...holy %^$%@#$. It sounds great below 2500rpm, but almost unbearable above that. I knew they were supposed to be aggressive, but not much different than open header. Why did you go with the crossover pipe?

Blazer is lookin' good. Keep up the good work.

[BLUE THUNDER]

I believe the flomasters are the delta flow. They sound great. As far as the crossover pipe, I did it because I needed to balance the two sides. You get a much better sound out of it and it doesn't sound like two four cylinders fighting eachother. Thanks for checking it out. Mario

[BLUE THUNDER]

Well guys it's been a while since I have added anything to this thread. I just figured out how to dig up old threads. I've been driving the Blazer daily since my last post on this thread and have loved every minute of it. The "cool" factor can't be beat. I have been stock piling parts again in hopes of getting everything put in. I'll try to keep everything in order. Here goes. I went to a salvage yard in a nearby city and scored another ashtry, a radio delete plate, some tow hooks off a newer Tahoe, and a Lt side vent window. Best part of that was it was all free. I had bought a radiator from them but it didn't fit so the owner let me exchange all those pieces for the radiator.

[BLUE THUNDER]

Then I noticed that the new motor just didn't have enough power. I decided to buy a new carb from Summit Racing and really liked the results. It really woke up the motor. I also liked the fact that it had an electric choke too.

[BLUE THUNDER]

After the new carb was installed I new I still had a small problem to deal with. The radiator. I had to fill that thing every couple of weeks and had to carry a gallon of water in the back of the Blazer. I really didn't have alot of confidence in the old radiator so I finally ponied up for an all aluminum radiator. It cools the Blazer like nothing else. The temp gauge barely gets out of the "cold" (part with the squigly lines). I had to modify the right rad mount, but nothing too major.

[BLUE THUNDER]

Next I decided to use my only side panel as a template and traced out a pattern on some fiber board and cut them out. I've gotten as far as test fitting them but have not upholstered yet.

[BLUE THUNDER]

I also knew it was time to replace the body mounts on Ol' yeller. I researched this for a while and decided to buy the rubber mount kit from LMC including the hardware. I hope to get this installed in the next couple of weeks. Pics to come on the install.

[BLUE THUNDER]

After cruising around for 6 months with out any tunes I decided to work on the stereo. I had been collecting stereo parts for a while and this is what I got. The stereo is a VR3 cd, am/fm, mp3, with an aux and usb port. Free! I also got some Sony Xplod 6x9's. Those were also free!!! I bought the 6x9 speaker boxes at a Circuit City going out of business sale for around $14.00. I made the box surrounding the stereo and carpeted it. I bought the carpet at wal-mart for $14.00. I got my hands on a 760 watt Sony Xplod amp before a car went to the crusher. Once again, free!!!! I bought the Sony 6.5 speakers at Best Buy for $69.00 and the guy there threw in the matching 6x9 speaker grilles in free. He even took them off the display in front of other customers and put them in my bag. Sweet. I spent the evening making the boxes for the 6.5's. Here's what I came up with.

[Blizz]

damn...stockpiling parts like a mofo. STILL waiting on you to come over.

[BLUE THUNDER]

I finally had a little time on my hands this weekend and was able to do a couple of theing to the Blazer. I got a lt vent glazz and run channel a couple of months ago and I finally decided to put it in. Tha Blazer would get pretty cold when it wasn't in there and now that the weather is nicer I wanted to get it in. I have to say that it was a pain in the a$$ to do. The old one didn't want to co-operate so I no other choice but to get the sawzall. Putting the new (used) one in was alot easier than getting the old one out.

[BLUE THUNDER]

The other project that I took on this weekend was my spare tire carrier. I dont have either the stock one or the aftermarket swing out tire carrier and the spare was just lying behind the back seat. I hated that. A while back I saw a board member make something similar so I figured I wld give it a try. It started off as a swing out carrier from an Isuzu rodeo. The bolt pattern is the same, and the $ was right. I think I paid $10-15 bucks for it.

[BLUE THUNDER]

While taking on this project I ran into a small problem. the part on the carrier that the wheel bolts up to was not tall enough. Because the tires are so wide the rim never made contact with the mount. I decided to section this part and add 2" to it for tire clearance. Here's what I did.

[BLUE THUNDER]

Next I had to make the feet that this contraption was gonna be attatched to. I took some measurements and broke out my newest addition the shop. It made drilling the holes on the floor mounts super easy.

[BLUE THUNDER]

Now that everything was measured an cut it was time to weld. Now I'm not the best welder, but it is plenty good for the spare.

[BLUE THUNDER]

I took the tire off it and ground down the welds a little and hit it with some Rustoleum gloss black. It's def not fabricator/showroom material, but it works. I didn't get any pics of all shiney. I just wanted to get it installed. There is still space on the bottom of the mount to go to a 35" tire. Of course, it would need to be moved over at least 2.5 inches to get side clearance. I don't know if i'll ever go to 35's on a 4" lift, but for now it holds the 33" tire perfectly. Hope y'all enjoy the build pics. Next up, some tunes for Ol Yeller. Stay tuned.

[Longblock]

Awesome work Mario...........

[Blizz]

way to go. good job. i need to fab something like that up for my 'hoe.

[VA72C10]

nice work!

[lks dcvn]

Very MacGyver-ish of you Mario - Nice Work.

[Big Block]

Nice work. Nice to own welding equipment. Better yet, know how to weld.

[BLUE THUNDER]

Anybody have pics ov the tailgate seal? I always smell like exhaust after driving the Blazer.

[Jtrux]

Originally Posted by BLUE THUNDER

Anybody have pics ov the tailgate seal? I always smell like exhaust after driving the Blazer.

Get the AC fixed and roll the windows up.

[lks dcvn]

I had to go back and check to see how your exhaust was run - it shouldn't be too bad in the truck that way...hopefully somebody has a better pic for you , but #25 on the LMC page.