1998 S10 Blazer 5.3 LS engine 4X4 As seen on HorsePower TV Very fast!

OK, ere's the history as I know it. This Blazer was purchased by me here in California around 2008 with somewhere around 80,000 miles on it. It was purchased from a dealer in the Bay Area. I have no knowledge of its history prior to this purchase. It was used in Cali for a while before heading to Tennessee, here I used it to haul the kids around and for hauling parts and commuting to work at RTM Productions, here I hosted MuscleCar. It was a solid vehicle and served me well, ntil a radiator blew and the original 4.3 overheated on my way home on Hwy 65. I towed it home and replaced the radiator, ut I could tell a cylinder was injured. I drove it like that for several months while I gathered parts to do a 5.3 LS swap. I had most of the big parts gathered, nd Mike Galley from Horsepower was going to give me a hand doing the swap on the side, t his house. Well, e was getting close to ending a season of production on Horsepower, nd they needed a quick project to finish things out. He asked me if they could use my Blazer, nd the rest is history. They took it down to the Horsepower set, long with the parts I had collected, dded a bunch more parts, nd a month later out rolled my LS powered Blazer. It peaked at 352 HP to the wheels on the dyno, hough we couldn't seem to back it up. The 315 HP to the wheels was easily repeatable, o we went with that final number. It has a rev limiter set to 3,000 RPM so who knows what it's capable of.

Now for the actual parts- The engine is out of a 2003 1500 pickup. It had around 30,000 miles on it when I received it from a reputable yard which Mike was familiar with. It's still stock internally, ncluding the cam. The intake is from an F-body, s are the exhaust manifolds which have been modified. The serpentine system is a combo of Corvette, -body, nd aftermarket. The ECM is from a 2002 Trans-Am with a custom tune done by Mike Galley. Transmission is a well-built 4L60E with a small stall. (It needs a slightly higher stall) The trans was rebuilt right before driving it from TN to CA, nd has been driven very little here in CA. I would estimate around 3500 miles since rebuilt. It was done by A1 transmissions in Franklin, N The rearend is original to the vehicle

Engine- from a 2003 Chevy 1500. It had approx. 30,000 miles on it when delivered, nd I put around 70,000 on it since install. It is internally stock.

Intake- from an F-body, ot sure year or model. But obviously an LS engine.

Exhaust manifolds- Modified F-body stock manifolds. Collectors have been cut off and angled to clear accessories. Exhaust is full MagnaFlow with dual cats

Serpentine system- Combination of Corvette, -body, nd aftermarket. Uses all factory accessories, .e. water pump, lternator, /C pump, tc.

ECM- Factory computer from a 2002 Trans Am, ustom tuned on chassis dyno by Mike Galley

Engine Harness- Custom made, tand-alone harness. Very nicely done.

Transmission-4L60E rebuilt just before driving it to CA on our move back West. Trans currently has 3500 miles on it, ebuilt by A1 Transmission in Franklin, N

Torque converter-Originally had a TCI 2800 stalland worked AWESOME. Due to time constraints on the last rebuild, stock converter was used. Needs higher stall.

Rear end- original to vehicle, ut rebuilt with Auburn gears in the factory ratio. Posi was also freshened up with the gear install, round 25,000 miles ago.

Brakes- I used it quite a bit for towing, o I upgraded all the rotors and pads with EBC pads and vented rotors. They made a huge difference.

Front end- New hubs and axles installed, alljoints replaced but needs upper A-arm bushings. Steering box seems a little sloppy.

Shocks- I installed heavier duty shocks for better handling and for towing. Nothing that will beat the snot out of you, ut firm.

Rust- None.

Body damage- It's a 1998 that's been a daily for most of it's life, o it ain't perfect. But nothing too major. Biggest scuff is on the right rear corner, hown in pic.

Wheels- Original GM rallye wheels, 5". They're round for the most part, nd help the tires stay inflated. lol... A little rust showing around the inner edge of a couple, tried to show it in a pic. No big deal tho.

I used this vehicle a LOT for hauling materials to the airport where I repaired bodywork and paint on planes. In the rear area a can of aircraft paint spilled and soaked the carpet. Looks real bad, o I covered it up with a nice floor mat. Much better. Some wrecking yard carpet would do wonders.

The seats are in good shape considering the 265,000 miles on her, ith no tears or holes. The drivers seat has a broken recliner control. I hear this is common on these, nd I've never tried to fix it. The rear seats are in good shape, he left side seat won't lay down. Something in the latch is stuck/broken. More wrecking yard parts.

Gas Mileage- Cruising at 75 MPH with the cruise control set and the A/C blasting, got 22 MPG on the open road. Average cruising back and forth to work was 18-20, epending on how I was driving it. Due to the tall gears it gets better mileage at higher speeds. 75 MPH in overdrive sets it just about 1350 RPM. 60 MPH is closer to 1100 RPM.

4X4- Factory four wheel drive still works perfect, nd this thing kicks ass in the snow! Just be careful when the front is locked in- The motor will tear up the diff pretty quick if you try to "hot dog" it.

All accessories work fine, ike the front and rear wipers, ear defrost, eater and front defrost, ower windows, ower locks, tc...

Alarm- It has a full alarm with remote start which is nice for those cold mornings!

Headlights and tail lights are aftermarket and I have tinted them all. Just cuz I can and it looks kool.

Stereo- It's so crappy I should just say it doesn't have one. The stereo was taken out of the Olds that Tommy and I were building on the show. We stripped the car out, nd I flipped Tommy for the stereo. I won the toss, ut it's a pretty "bottom end" unit. But hey, t makes noise and the speakers aren't bad.

NOW THE BAD PARTS________________

The engine started getting hot, nd I'm not sure why. That's why I stopped driving it, nd I just haven't had time (or money)to really get into it. It overheated on the trip to Cali going through Barstow, o maybe a head gasket? But it didn't get extremely hot- It did hit 260 coming into Barstow so I stopped and waited for nightfall then finished the trip to Sonora at night. I replaced the factory radiator with a Bee-Cool radiator I had, hich I thought would be better. About halfway to Cali it sprung a leak that I had to keep an eye on, nd I realized the motors on the fans had quit working. I should've kept the stocker in place....

For some reason the primary right side O2 sensor keeps carbon fouling out. I couldn't figure out why, o I disconnected it. Now it has a "check engine" light on, ut it ran fine with it unplugged. And I'm not sure if the sensor was fouling out then clogging with carbon, r if it was clogging with carbon which caused it to foul out.

As mentioned earlier, he front end needs a little freshening up but nothing major. It doesn't chew tires, ut it needs upper A-arm bushings and there seems to be play in the steering box. Most other front end parts have been replaced, ncluding axles and hubs. front differential is still factory stock.

There's a fairly good chip in the windshield but it's not in the driver's view, nd it's been there for many years. You can probably see it in the Horsepower episodes where it was built! lol.

For some reason the "battery" light comes on and goes off whenever it feels like it. However, he charge gauge never wavers and I've never had a problem with the battery charging. I have no idea why it does that-

Tires have plenty of tread all around, ut the left front is showing some cracking on the sidewall. That's the one that's been facing the sun the past couple years-

That's most of what I can think of- If you have any questions, lease don't hesitate to ask! It's a great driving little unit that hauls ass and will surprise a lot of guys off the line!