1985 V8-S10 Blazer

Update your progress on your various car projects.

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Blue_69_malibu
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Re: 1985 V8-S10 Blazer

Post by Blue_69_malibu »

Just don't sell the carb that you pulled off that 350!! :mrgreen:
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TheRookie
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Re: 1985 V8-S10 Blazer

Post by TheRookie »

I think the Holley 750 DP on my GTO is too big. Either need to look at something like that 670 or would love to go EFI. Now that it's warming up, might be hard to entice Dave to come down to CLT :)
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Fred32v
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Re: 1985 V8-S10 Blazer

Post by Fred32v »

Will the S10 be ready for Carlisle?
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GMC Canyon Crew Cab Short Box 4x4 V6!
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TireSmoker
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Re: 1985 V8-S10 Blazer

Post by TireSmoker »

I'm making pretty good progress. The fuel tank just needs hoses from tank --> frame and the fuel pump/fuel level wiring hooked up and it's ready to go in. The main wiring harness is mounted/routed and ready to be connected to the battery. The O2 sensor is installed, the switched 12v lead is run to the fuse box, just needs final hookup. I still need to make fuel lines.

I'm hoping to get it fired up this weekend.

Still need to work out the throttle/TV cable bracket.

-Dave
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Re: 1985 V8-S10 Blazer

Post by TireSmoker »

Well, I'm not gonna have it running in time for Carlisle, but made a lot of progress. Fuel tank is in, plumbed, and wired. Up front, I just need to put ends on the lines for fuel filter --> throttle body & return line from throttle body back down to the frame. Then I can check it for leaks.

Electrically, I just need to hook up main power/ground, wire to the coil for tach signal to the computer, and switched power at the main fuseblock.

Lastly, a throttle cable bracket. Existing one for the carb won't quite work. The Sniper is wider than a carb at the throttle linkage. I have one on order from Summit.

-Dave
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Re: 1985 V8-S10 Blazer

Post by TireSmoker »

I finished up all the plumbing last night. By the time I was done it was late, so I wasn't prepared to pour gas in the tank and test for leaks. I'll do that when I get home tonight.. barring any major leaks, first start should be tonight!

-Dave
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Re: 1985 V8-S10 Blazer

Post by TireSmoker »

After a successful trip to Carlisle and a nap this evening, I put the finishing touches on the Sniper installation and took the first test drive! It seems to run pretty good. One issue has surfaced, though. After getting up to temp in the garage, when I was driving up to the gas station, the temp reading was under 160, which means it won't go into Closed Loop and self-learning. Odd thing is, I have a 180 thermostat in there. I think I may try re-locating the temp sensor to the head, which usually reads a little hotter than by the thermostat.

-Dave
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Blue_69_malibu
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Re: 1985 V8-S10 Blazer

Post by Blue_69_malibu »

12 hours have gone by since Dave's post....and NO Terminator or T2 references?

What's wrong with us? :mrgreen:
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Re: 1985 V8-S10 Blazer

Post by TireSmoker »

After being up for job-work till 2am last night (scheduled), I got up this morning and was able to quickly change the temp sensor from the intake to the passenger cylinder head. While watching it warm up in the garage, it's sorta interesting see how far apart the temperature difference is between the head and the intake. And while I've never timed it, it seems like it warms up pretty quick.

After the first test drive, I could feel an inconsistent mis-fire. Pulling into the garage, I could see the boot on #5 arcing to header. That's the same bank the O2 sensor is on, probably aggravating the problem. It was arcing right through the high-temp sleeve I have over the wire boot. Fortunately, I had a good spare boot in inventory and it too was a quick fix. Now it felt much better. Holley & I made a run to Chipotle for a Victory Burrito.

Later in the afternoon, Gwen and I took a longer ride, and ended up at BP's house. The only issue on that trip was some leaking transmission fluid. I bet it's the speedometer cable, but haven't confirmed that yet.

But on the whole, it really runs nice. Worthwhile upgrade.

-Dave
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Basement Paul
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Re: 1985 V8-S10 Blazer

Post by Basement Paul »

It sounds real good. Idles like a new small block too. Looked like a real clean install and sounded sweet when you were tearing it up on 84. Well done!

-BP
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MostMint
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Re: 1985 V8-S10 Blazer

Post by MostMint »

Nice. now what is the VPI for an 85 S10 Blazer lol
[quote="Basement Paul"]Is that a mint rocketship on the hood?? :shock:
-BP[/quote]
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Re: 1985 V8-S10 Blazer

Post by TireSmoker »

I don't know, but it does have a 20 gallon tank!
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Re: 1985 V8-S10 Blazer

Post by TireSmoker »

I finally made some significant progress on the shifting this weekend. A while back, I bought a B&M Governor recalibration kit, since I could only get about 4500 RPM in first gear.

https://static.summitracing.com/global/ ... -20248.pdf

It turns out, this is a fairly easy process. I removed the original governor, clipped the ends of the nails and removed the weights and springs. The factory weights were stamped "C" and weighed 15.3 grams. There are also two springs (one on each weight), one heavy, one lighter. The B&M instructions said that lighter weights = higher shiftpoint and that with the springs, the heavier springs will produce closely-stacked shifts, while lighter springs will spread them out.

The B&M kit comes with 6 weights, numbered 1-6. 1 is the heaviest, 6 is the lightest. B&M #1 and Factory "C" weight are both about 15g. I don't know how to compare the factory springs with the B&M springs, but B&M gives you 6, with a range from heavy(1) to light(6).

So, out the box, with (2) "C" weights and factory springs, shifts were around 4500 1-2, and 4200 2-3.

Combo #1) B&M #4 & #3 weights, B&M yellow(#4) & green springs(#3). Shifts were waaay too late, no good. But I also got my first taste of high RPM with this engine! (6000!)

Combo # 2) "C" weight, #2 weight, factory heavy spring, B&M green spring. 1-2 @ 4800 and 2-3 @ 4800

Combo #3) "#2, #4 weights, factory heavy spring, B&M green spring 1-2 @ 5600, 2-3 @ 5700. This would've been about perfect, but it seemed to take a little speed before it would shift 3-4 at part throttle. But I wanted to get the WOT shifts down to 5400-5500

Combo #4) "#2, #3 weights, factory heavy spring, B&M green spring. I was expecting this to lower my WOT shift points a little bit, but it didn't. It also has the issue of needing too much part-throttle speed (55mph) before shifting into 4th.

This is where I stopped. Also, some of my testing was on wet roads, which made it less than ideal conditions. I think I may trying going back to Combo #3, but change the B&M green spring (#3) for either the blue(#2) or purple (#1) and see if that makes 4th gear come in sooner at part-throttle.

At this point, it'd be fun to take it back to TRP to see if it can crack 13s since it can finally reach into the powerband.

-Dave
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Basement Paul
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Re: 1985 V8-S10 Blazer

Post by Basement Paul »

THE POWERBAND!

-BP
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Re: 1985 V8-S10 Blazer

Post by TireSmoker »

So I've just been driving this thing a bit this year, and even took it out to Thompson one more time, lucking into a Truck Class trophy on Aug 15. (see https://www.tiresmoke.org/viewtopic.php ... 18&p=14665 ). But the ETs are still lousy, and the 60ft (2.4x on most runs) still horrendous.

I bought a custom torque converter a few weeks back from Edge Racing Converters. Tony has an Edge in his car and it works great. I called and talked to Andre about what I had and what I wanted. He was a very good guy to deal with. The pic of the two converters almost hides some of the size difference. New one is a 10", max. Previous Summit converter is 13" and no where near the 2600 advertised stall, flash or otherwise.

At breakfast this past Saturday, Paul offered to come over and help me swap it on Sunday. I'm always down for help, especially for this job, as getting the trans out (specifically, getting the bellhousing bolts) is no small feat. I had to be up at 6am for scheduled maintenance for work. By 8am, I was in Tiresmoke Central getting everything ready for Paul's arrival at 10.

I pretty much had everything ready to go. The plan was to let the engine/trans tip back so that hopefully we'd get a shot at the upper bellhousing bolts. The passenger side isn't awful, but the driver's side is real tricky. But after piecing together just about every extension I have, along with a taped-up u-joint, we were able to get all the bolts out. I may have to buy a few 2ft extensions for the future. Neighbor Jerry was cool enough (as usual) to let me use his transmission jack.

Once we got it out, we made quick work of the converter swap. I took a picture of the input shaft, as I believe the o-ring at the end is vital for the lockup to work. So, I have a picture, it's there. Lockup never worked on the Summit converter. After the converter swap, I made a governor change, from #2/#3 weights to #1/#2 weights to lower the shiftpoints a little.

It took a little while to get it out, but once we knew the obstacles, it went back together pretty fast. By 1pm, the trans was back in the truck with all 6 bellhousing bolts & all 3 converter bolts tightened. We set the crossmember in place and called it a day. It was starting to get hot and muggy too, so it was a good stopping point.

I'll get it back together this week and hopefully cruise it over the holiday weekend.

-Dave
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