My 1994 Blazer lq4/4l80e swap

[slow94]

I picked this blazer up back in 2011 for $700, it was very dirty and had an extreme lack of maintenance, but the body was relatively straight and the interior was not destroyed.
This is the day I brought it home:

And then after a scrub, removed running boards, and pulled out all the interior for a deep clean:

[slow94]

Phase 1 involved the following:
Pulling the deceased 4l60e and replacing it with a blueprinted 2006 4l80e with a transgo hd-2 kit and some sonnax upgrades(completed, hole in the hardline led to an extreme lack of dex3 burning the 3/4 clutches)

replace those infamous door hinge bushings(completed)
Full suspension rebuild using all MOOG parts(balljoints,bushings,tierods,idler,pitman,bra kes,shocks,hubs)(completed)
Determine why 4wd would not engage(solved, no teeth on pinion gear)

Give the old tbi 350 some added power(Don't lose hope, keep reading)

Fix the mixed and match tires(completed, pics coming)
Determine why rearend is howling like a wolf(Somewhat solved with a 14 bolt sf, only 2wd width)

[kewljay223]

Looks like a good project. I need to change my hinge bushings sooooo bad. Is there a kit that you bought from somewhere? I havnt looked in a while. I also did the complete moog replacement. what a difference! But I was unlucky enough to receive a defective lower ball joint which would pop at every bump! Drove me nuts. Got it replaced under warrantee tho and have been running smooth since. Hope that doesn't happen to u.

[Mickeymotormount]

Nice vehicle for the price. Sounds like the perfect recipient of an LS transplant!

[slow94]

I bought the hinge pins and bushings off the shelf at a local o'reillys, like $8 or $10 I think

[slow94]

The tbi 350 turned out to have an appetite for oil, to the tune of about 3 qts in 200 miles. Not surprised considering that the oil change sticker was 15000 miles overdue when I drove it home and the stick didnt show a trace. That began my hunt for ls power, I found a 100k 2004 denali engine for $1300, complete with everything except the Maf. Sorry didnt take pics before tear down.

Then a little paint

Your new home

And settling in


Still got a little harness work to finish, make fuel lines, tune, exhaust, and should be firing it up.

[slow94]

Engine was clean inside, so I'm keeping it simple
CRANE CAMS 1449041 210/218 .551/.551 114
Pac 1218 springs
Comp hardened 7.4
Stock truck intake with 8.1l injectors
Probably rig up some sort of cai
Exhaust will be stock manifolds and cats into a single 3" magnaflow 18" case muffler
I'll street and dyno tune it myself with efilive
A/C would be nice, but cant decide on a kit I like

Dyno chart for a cam very similiar to mine but at .531 lift, I understand lq9/l92 heads are apples to oranges, but the gains over stock should be similiar. I liked how it gained everywhere over stock not just peak. Its up 20 ft lbs at 1500!



Test N is the stock lq9 cam
Test O is the crane 210/218 .531/.531 114

[slow94]

I've been stuck at work late the last week or so and haven't gotten as much accomplished as I like, but here are a few updates as to where it sits:

Intake and harness installed

Fuel lines(I used the Earl's compression fittings to convert to hard line)

Sitting pretty in its new home:

Gotta sort through this rat's nest and find an affordable weatherpack connector to merge the truck harness and engine harness:

[slow94]

Anyone have experience with the Lsbrackets.com R4 bracket?
It looks like a decent kit from the pictures, I especially like the tensioner. I used another kit on a previous swap and was not happy with how the tensioner worked out. The Novak kit looks awesome, but is pricey, The Dirty Dingo looks ok, but I don't like the manual tensioner, prefer the spring loaded design.