Hot Shit Blazer

[BMFBII]

Yea, the zq8's have a much better feel, and I think they're like 2.5ish turns lock to lock as aposed to around 3.8

I'll get some pics posted tonight but I did some work over the weekend.
With the use of my handy dandy plasma cutter I manged to cut out quite a bit of weight considering I havn't started in on the doors or frame yet. I weighed it all on a bathroom scale and it showed total of 115 lbs between the abs, rear bumper, and steel that came out of the hood, and a few other parts.
I managed to install the rear drop blocks (2 inch with a 2 degree wedge), and I uninstalled the 2 inch shackle lift. Unfortunelty my plan of unwinding the torsion bars didn't goo so well. I started with the driver side and basically unwound it as far as it would go and with the truck being so light it was still about 2 inches taller than the back was. When I went to do the pass side I noticed that the cross member was actually broken where it meets the frame and that the torsion bar was wedged up in the top of the bracket (explaining the clunk noise coming from right there when I would go over bumps). also, the adjustment bolt snapped off with little effort. My only solution is to go with a coil over setup on the front end. I'll save that for last though I think...I wanna get it running before I start spending money on stuff like that.
I ordered an intercooler, racetronix harness, 2 deatschwerks 330 lpr pumps, and stainless line last week and I'm hoping it will be here soon. Id like to start getting the intake side mocked up and get the fuel tank back together and into the truck. I also need to order the shocks for the rear end, I'm planning on using the monroe LL shocks, seems to work very well on my other truck...

[GTPimpin]

my handy dandy plasma cutter

Oh, you bought one too?

racetronix harness, 2 deatschwerks 330 lpr pumps, and stainless line

Didnt get injectors?

[BMFBII]

I guess I worded that wrong, its in the garage for now, also, how long do I have tha tfor?

and not yet, I wanted to get a few other things out of the way, I should have them before the end of the month though

[GTPimpin]

I dont have any particular plans for the plasma right off... just finished blowing through a few cars so the fiero is the only thing I have I want to cut up.

[BMFBII]

well I got a few things done tonight

I got the intercooler installed that came in the mail today. its a godspeed 31x12x4 and with some work, I got it to fit behind the grill and still leave plenty of room for the radiator. To mount it I used some thick washers that I flattened on one side for the top mount, and for the bottom I used a piece of 14 gauge steel bent into a 90, and welded to the bottom on the core support. I like it...





believe it or not, this is the final product mostly. Keep in mind the daylighters will fit into where those holes are (its why they are there, although I had to shave some plastic from,, right there to get it to fit)



also the stance as of now, The front bars are lowered all the way and there simply is no longer enough weight on the front to bring them down any more, I am going to have to go with a coilover setup in the frotn to make it work...

[BMFBII]

last few nights I managed to get some work done.

I got the rear doors cut out and the rear tailgate gutted. the rear doors still work with the factory hinges and everything, but all the glass is out, as is the rear glass. I replaced it all with tinted lexan. Doing that dropped enough weight to where the 2 inch drop was basically for nothing at this point, as the truck is riding about as high as it was. I talked to a good friend who does this stuff for a living and he told me what I can still take out and what I need to keep to keep the structure of the truck in tact, so after I get some new parts for this plasma cutter I'll take his advice and finish it up. each door had nearly 28 lbs of metal, glass, and steel in it, and the rear gate was closer to 35. with the rest of the glass out thats good for about another 100 lbs that came out.

last night I cut the torsion bars and crossmember out, just to get them out of the way. I decided I'm going to use a coilover front setup and should have it in after the 1st of the month. cross member, torsion bars and all was close to 60lbs taken out. I gota couple tires off craigslist that I mounted at work today. I'll get those on and maybe post a pic up. I am hoping my lease on this cutter lasts until saturday...I need to finish up a few things on the frame and in the cab.

[GTPimpin]

cutter is good till next week, I am booked solid at least until next tuesday or weds

[FKNSL0]

post the recent pic of it completely lowered

[BMFBII]

back end still has to come down about an inch

[motorhead]

Digging it... carry on.

[BMFBII]

alright, I have no pics right now, but I thought it would be worth an update

I bought a cage from s&w cages, made from mild steel. I decided on mild instead of moly for the simple fact that I can weld mild without fear of it shattering in a roll over. also the 40 lbs differeance doesnt hurt my feelings too bad.

I also bought a set of impact racing 5111111 5 point harnesses to go along with the cage, and some compition engineering harness bracets to help me mount them to the cage.

I also purchased the torque converter I needed, which is a precision industries vig. converter with a 3400 stall.

I tried to buy a set of injectors but they're a bit harder to find than I thought they would be, the line I had on a set is gone, so i am trying to find another.

I got my headers welded up, they look pretty good. I installed them into the truck and it looks like the one tube that links them got slightly warped, but it still lines up and bolts up fine.

All of my fuel line came in, and I started putting some of it together last night, although i am going to wait for my filter to come in, so that I can actually have it all cut to the correct lenth. also waiting on my racetronix harness to come in, I talked to them today, they say it shoudl ship out friday or monday and be here next week.

I finished gutting the truck, and cut a few things off the frame that I didn't think were needed, and got rid of the cross member that held in the torsion bars. With the jackstands just behind the front wheels I could bench press the back of the truck off the back jacks...

I completly rebuilt the back brakes and replaced the lines back there, as well as the lines up front going from the metering valve to the flex hoses. I still need to get my hands on some new rotors and pads. and bleed them...

I lowered the back another 2 inches, and I decided against going with the LL coilover assist shocks. even without the shocks in there yet, its really stiff with the removed weight. I am going to try this set of bilstiens I have laying around and see how they do.

I went though and re-did the harness off of the original car. I got it down to what I need, and cleaned it up so its ready to go into the truck. I plan to run the whole thing off of a switch...other little things will include a relay for the fans, but thats really all i can think of, the original truck still has everything, and all i will need to do is run the fuel pump on wire from teh pcm into whats left of the wiring to the fuel pump on the truck. That will only be a signal wire at that point for the relays in the racetronix harness...

things I need to buy still
coil over setup for the front end
alternator
powersteering pump res.
belt...
rotors, pads,
prolly some foam for the cage...
oil pressure, volt, fuel, tach, and trans temp gauge (I have boost, and water)
misc hoses, goofy fittings for the turbo feed and drain lines
lexan to replace the back glass with
cone filter...
transcooler.
Floor shifter
I should be able to get most of those things here in the next week or so...

[FKNSL0]

I'm adding pics BMFB...

[Mad Max Motorsports]

For your front end try spohn performance, they have some S-truck stuff.

[motorhead]

What is the exact intent for this truck once built? Or is it just for pure shits and giggles?

[GTPimpin]

I always thought it would have a good place as a little all season rally truck... But technically any advice I offer on it improves its ability to be a grudge racer.

[BMFBII]

front end stuff for the 4x4 chasis is pretty good stuff right from gm, and a few other common suppliers. The biggest issue I have right now really are things like my tie rod ends, and my steering box is a bit looser than what I would call safe. those are things I am going to address, at least checking everything out and probably replacing most of it. I don't really need anything to radical out of the steering, although the zq8 box would be nice. as long as its tight though, I should be alright.

as far as use goes there really isn't one, Although I do have dreams of rally, I would have to find somewhere that would let me run exibition, because its crazy illegal...mainly due to the cage (side bars, I could fix that) exhaust exit point, engine size, fender/tire clearance, and prolly some other stuff. It would still be fun to take to the strip, track, woodward, auto/rallyx, pretty much anything. My biggest real issue with any event is the exhaust, but it was so cool to do I had to try it...If I ever change my mind I can take that pipe out of the fender, rotate it down and weld the rest of the pipe I have onto it and point it at the ground, maybe even somewhere behind the driver...

[BMFBII]

grudge racer is also fun, although I have no idea what its going to make for power

[FKNSL0]

It's pretty much a shits and giggles blazer. Just build something dumb and have fun.

[BMFBII]

got some work done over the weekend. I managed to take my trans out, get it bolted together correctly and fully attached to my transfer case, seal the whole thing, and install it, with my torque converter into the truck. It was a pain in the ass to find my torque converter bolts and flex plate bolts, with which I had ignorantly thew them in with the rest of my collection of bolts. While I had to cross-member out that I had made I welded more steel to it so that it was stronger. I also welded in a set of hood pins for the hood finally, after a large windstorm blew the hood off of the truck, and mother nature dragged it mercilessly across my driveway and yard.

I replaced my alternator bracket with one that I found, and it comes complete with BOTH heater hose fittings...it looked new and clean, so I rubbed some dirt on it so that it would blend in with everything else.

tonight I ordered a set of QA1 shocks and eibach coils for the front end, as well as a pro-ratchet shifter, a push bottun starter, and some misc fittings. The cage should be here this week, and I cannot wait to install it next weekend. If I get lucky maybe I'll have time to install my wiring harness and fuel stuff too, as now I have all of that.

[hypnofish]

a few pics from a little work done today.