More pics in the Gallery

News:

08/18/2002
It's Alive!! The Bitch finally runs again. Towed it over to HotRodV6's place, where myself, HotRodv6, agidius, wilhelm, and DjDizE proceeded to pull the motor, tear it down to the short block, piece it back together, drop it in, and get it to a running state so I could drive it home. Oh how sweet it is.. Lots of pics in the Gallery, including an AVI of it idling.

07/7/2002
08/3/2002
Well, I still haven't gotten the truck to a running state. Mostly because I've discovered that it's dropping coolant into the oilpan. I've tried several things to isolate the leak, but it's looking like it's the heads. Since the heads are studded, the only way they're coming off is to pull the motor back out. More soon...
07/7/2002
Yea!! I fired it up today and got the cam to lope a few times before it died. the mix is WAY too rich from the cam, so I've got a wee bit of tweaking to do on it before it'll be a runner.
06/16/2002
Man, all these niggly little details to keep sorting out. Steel braided fuel line, steel braided tranny cooler line, yadda, yadda, yadda. Had to replace the fuel pump since we figured out it wasn't pumping any fuel. Well, we finally got everything squared away, and we now have a small fuel leak at the back of the TBI and a coolant leak from the manifold. Crap. Gotta pull both back off and check the seals. No pix this time.
05/18/2002
Picked up the modified motor mounts this morning. We had to have the risers moved out toward the fenders a 1/2" on both mounts. Bolted them to the frame, dropped the motor on them, and presto. Motor was bolted in. Sweet. We then started plugging in sensors and wrestling with the fuel lines, and finally said "Screw it, we're using steel braided hose!" Unfortunately, the steel braided hose and fitting store closes at noon on saturday, so we had to stop there. Next weekend ought to do it. Pix here.
05/08/2002
Got the motor dropped in between the fenders tonight. Unfortunately, the motor mounts for the Syclone are just enough different from a 2wd Blazer that they don't fit. Now I'm going to have to take them to a local welder and have them modified to fit. Sigh.. details...details... Pix here.
04/28/2002
Lots and Lots of progress this weekend. We got the intake ordered and installed, water pump is bolted on, engine mounts are bolted on, main studs have been squared away and the oil pan is securely in place. Painted everything that would hold still (except the valve covers, they need to be stripped and repainted, but since I'm going to be losing those once I switch to roller rockers, they can just be a little ugly for a little while. It's REALLY REALLY close to being able to bolt into the fenders... Ohh.. the anticipation is killing me. Pix here.
04/12/2002
What a messed up day. I was all happy because my latest set of parts arrived, (including my headers! woohoo!) but when we went to install everything, it just went quickly downhill. First off, we went to bore the intake to match the 2" Holley throttle body. Unfortunately, there's a water jacket right next to the bore in the stock intake, so we opened right up into it. 1 intake in the trash. Next we went to put the headers on. We got everything all bolted up, and then when we went to add the locking clips so the bolts wouldn't back off, one of the clips broke. Sigh... Not to be undaunted, we then proceeded to the timing chain. Since I now had my thrust bearing, we put it on for a test fit. it seemed too big at first, but a phone call verified the part number. When we went to tighten up the cam to the cam gear, the block wear plate shattered. Great! We think it was possibly stress cracked in the first plate, but whatever. It's garbage now! More parts to buy! yay!
03/10/2002
Time for some non-engine building content. Hellcat1 and I have formed the Houston Area S-Series and T-Series Enthusiasts car club (H.A.S.T.E.), and went to the Sealy Car Club Bash at LoneStar Raceway for some drag racing. Since the 89 is obviously not ready yet, I ran my 2000. It's pretty quick for being a bone stocker. At least I was the fastest S-Series at the track (I think I was the only 4.3L, so that helped). Things could have gone better for the club. We both got eliminated in the first round. Oh well.. better luck next month, I guess. Timeslips here.
03/03/2002
Well, everything in balance I suppose. Since we had perfect weather for the last build weekend, we had absolutely shitty weather this weekend. It was cold as all get out. I keep saying we, but I was too damn cold to even take my hands out of my pockets, much less turn a wrench, so Hellcat did most of the wrenchin this time. We managed to get the cam installed, new springs in the old heads, and the heads bolted up. I then realized that I forgot to get the intake ported to match my oversize throttle body, so we stopped short of the intake. It's always something, isn't it? Ordered my headers today. Hopefully they'll be bolted up next time with the ported intake/throttle body. Pix here.
01/27/2002
What a gorgeous day today. We managed to get the crank and pistons squared away in the block. The main studs and the top end haven't arrived yet, so we can only put the bottom end together for now, we'll swap out the main studs when they get here. The cam turned out to be a special order, so I had to back order it. at least 3 weeks. Oh well. Pix here.
01/11/2002
S-Series Nationals have been announced. Get your butt over there and register. Should be picking up the rotating assy. tomorrow (don't ask).


10/30/2001
Got some goodies from the friendly neighborhood FedEx guy today. Federal Mogul .030 over pistons, Speed Pro gapless rings, rod and main bearings, gaskets, an oil pump! Woohoo! Dropped the crank, rods, pistons, and bearings off at the Mach. Shop to get balanced. Soon....
7/24/2001
Picked up the block and other stuff from the machine shop today. Everything is all clean and pretty. Block is now .030 over and sans paint. Heads got a mild valve job done. Intake was cleaned up and bead blasted. Next step is to purchase the various bits so I piece it together.
5/20/2001
Well, we got the engine out, and boy is it dirty. Apparently the person who last built this engine before I bought the blazer had no idea that the water passages to the heads need to allow water to flow through them. Hot heads = Lots of burnt oil all over everything. Stinky! Nothing a hot tank won't fix! Everything else looks good though. Guess I didn't spin a bearing after all (whew!) here's some pics. (no engine pics. it was too ugly!)
5/5/2001
Giving up on the V8 (for now), going to rebuild the 4.3 and see what kind of juice I can squeeze out of it. More later...
4/5/2001
Going to go search the junkyards for a suitable fuelie V8 tomorrow... Hopefully I'll find something.