Wes & Nicole’s K5 Blazer 

Vehicle Type:

Chevrolet K5 Blazer 

Wes and Nicole took their 2wd K5 Blazer on the Power Tour 2018. This was their first Power Tour trip together and they had a blast! They knew right away that they wanted to go again in 2019 and would want to take that Blazer. After the trip they realized that the small black was in the Blazer used about 5 quarts of oil on that trip. That, along with a couple other issues, would have to be addressed before they took it out on a long trip again. 

Details:

During the winter they found a wrecked 2015 Camaro SS to use as a drivetrain donor. The Camaro was an automatic transmission, L99 car and would be perfect for their Power Tour cruiser! Wes, Nicole, and their young daughter worked tougher as a family to pull the engine and transmission along with other useful parts. Wes and I spent a few phones calls and emails coming up with a good list of needed swap parts. We also came up with a solid plan to split up the job into things he could do at home and things we needed to do at Level 7. Once the engine was out Wes had us install a Texas Speed VVT camshaft and delete the DOD system in the L99. We took the opportunity to limit the travel of the cam phaser, clean up the engine, resurface the heads, and install a new valve train. Once that was compete we gave the engine back along with a Yank 3200 stall converter. Over the winter Wes and family got the engine, transmission, cooling system, fuel system and wiring all together and ready for it to come to our shop. Once the Blazer was here we installed a new Moser 12 bolt axle complete with new limit slip differential, 3.73 gears, 31 spline axles, and new leaf spring pads. We set the pinion angles and welded on the new leaf spring pads to do away with the old flip kit. White we were back there we installed a new set of Ridetech HQ shocks. Our other responsibilities included building a stainless exhaust, building an air intake, charging the AC , and working with a tuner to have the truck street tuned. We also calibrated the gauges as well as put about 150 miles on the truck. This is always a standard thing here at the shop. It allows us to shake loose any possible issues that may arise before the owners take it out. 

This was a fun project and was just as rewarding for us a large complete build. We got to help some great people complete a project and possibly avoid some headaches along the way.