1985 V8-S10 Blazer

[TireSmoker]

So after craigslisting for years, and feeling that I was finally in a good place with the Chevelle, I picked another vehicle. Nature abhors an empty garage spot. I went to look at it this past Monday, but he wanted to keep his high end stereo stuff and needed to get it out. I was fine with that, but meant I'd have to wait another day or two. So this morning, I got a ride to work from Gwen, BP picked me up in the afternoon, and we went down to pick it up.

It's an 85 S-10 Blazer with a 350/TH350/3.08. I've always liked v8 s10s, but the 2wd 2dr Blazers are even cooler since you're not stuck in a tiny cab. I found this down in Akron and its really clean, rust free, painted this year (and did a good job), the cowl hood is steel with supports underneath. Tires are like new (didnt check date codes). The interior is really clean and stock. The door panels are the biggest weakness, along with no radio.

It's the wrong time of year to buy something like this, but I think I got a really nice truck for the price, and I have the room to keep it this winter. I wanted something I could cruise around in most of the time without worrying too much about where it's parked like I would with the Corvette, and anymore, the Chevelle. I'm not gonna drive it in the snow and salt, but it could otherwise function as a true daily driver, including taking Holley.

It's got a small block, and I have a lot of small-block parts. I'm not anxious to tear into it, but I think it could benefit a bunch with some carb and ignition tuning. If I get ambitious later on, I can do a lot without having to buy much.

I don't like the wheels, though. BP brought a couple of his ZQ8 wheels for me to try on. I think they'd be a big improvement.







-Dave

[GMJohnny]

Awesome!!! ....... and I agree with the BP wheels! I've always thought
that those were one of the coolest factory wheels produced. Nice choice!

GM

[ttamrettus]

very nice. I 3rd the ZQ8 wheel.

[MostMint]

Looks good. Would you consider removing or de-chroming the wheel well trim?

[Maverick]

I had an S10 Blazer 2-door Sport. Think it was a 1990. It had blacked-out trim around the tail lights, grille, and wheel well trim like this.

http://www.2040cars.com/_content/cars/i ... 90/002.jpg

It also had slide-to-open side windows in the back, which I've never seen on another one. Had a 3.8L V6 IIRC but always thought it would do well with a small block.

[TireSmoker]

It was either a 2.8L or 4.3L V6. Funny you mention those windows, because I've seen them -- would love to have them.

-Dave

[TireSmoker]

Looks good. Would you consider removing or de-chroming the wheel well trim?

It's sorta low on the priority list. Are they that bad? I consider them less-than-ideal, but not awful either.

The weekend that I got it, Gwen and I drove it up to Presque Isle on Saturday night. While it ran flawlessly, its just kind of a dog and seems worse on gas than it could be. After that trip, I removed the carb and found it had a Torker2 single plane intake. Low-po 350, Torker2, Holley 1850. I've read that these are about the single worst intake made for the SBC, and certainly not the right one for a motor like this one that doesn't go much over 4000 and cruises 71-72 MPH @ 2500rpm. I found a Performer in nice condition on the west side for $85, picked it up yesterday and swapped it this morning.

It seems a bit better, but still needs additional tuning. I'm not convinced the vacuum advance on the distributor is working. I wanted to swap in my HEI while doing this, but there were two items that were going to require more effort to re-engineer than I wanted right now. (oil pressure sending unit and lengthening a main ground wire in the main vehicle harness.)

I have a Sony head unit in inventory that will now have a permanent home. It also came with a pair of 6 1/2 speakers that fit nicely into the cutouts already in the door panel from previous owner. I have a radio installation kit coming from Amazon, and as soon as that arrives, it should only take a little bit of wiring to get some tunes back into it.

I like driving this thing around. It drives well, the ride isnt too harsh. Gotta find wheels for it, though. The more I look at these, the more I dislike them.

-Dave

[wxo]

and cruises 71-72 MPH @ 2500rpm.
-Dave

Sounds like a good 700R4 tranny would be a nice future addition if it will fit.

[Fred32v]

Really sweet ride! I guess I'm just old school, I really like the wheels that came on it.
Ok, I can see it on the track at TRP, even autocross, but I'm not sure about Nelson.
Hopefully we can see it at a Saturday breakfast before it snows.

[Basement Paul]

I'm going to go out on a limb and say it probably won't get to any of those places. But I can see it getting lots of miles cruising and looking cool. A nice pair of 6x9 speakers somewhere in the back would sound great with all that acoustic area back there.

I've been looking for wheels periodically too. I'm thinking this might be nice enough for a set of new wheels though.

-BP

[Blue_69_malibu]

FWIW, the chrome trim around the wheel wells doesn't look that bad in person.....like myself.

Cool little ride. If Dave doesn't like this motor, we have four or five spares to pick from at his place.

In all seriousness, we have at least two pairs of Vortec heads between us that would really wake this thing up. But, there's no need to rush anything at this point.

[TireSmoker]

I'll make a pass with it at TRP at some point. It won't be too exciting. It's probably in the 15s as it sits. But it does drive down the road pretty nicely. It'll definitely get a lot of cruising miles. No auto-x or Nelson, unless as a support vehicle. I'm resisting the urge to tear into the drivetrain in the hope of making it 'better'.

There are factory openings in the sides behind the seats for 6x9s, but not too deep.. I just received my radio installation kit from Amazon tonight. My 6" speakers fit in the current door openings. The Sony Xplod speakers even have red trim to match the interior.

700r4 would be a nice addition and it looks like there is plenty of room. I'm pretty sure they were a factory option in these.

I'm just going to drive it until snow/salt or the temp tag expires (Dec 15), whichever comes first.

-Dave

[MostMint]

Are they that bad? I consider them less-than-ideal, but not awful either.

Not awful they just don't look right to me.

[GMJohnny]

Dave...

When you say the vacuum advance might not be working right, my thoughts
are that the distributor may just need to be cleaned. It was a very common
problem on my Olds motors to have to clean the distributor. It was one of the
first things I would do when I got a "new" Olds. For some reason, the shaft
would get all gunked up and be incredibly difficult to turn, which kept the advance
from working. If this were my motor, I'd go right to that as step 1. Also, I can
remember a Buick powered station wagon that Fred32V had that the timing was
just set way wrong when he got it. It made a huge difference timing it correctly.

Just a couple of ideas that might pep the truck up. It also might just feel slow
because it is difficult to go from a low 12 second car to a 15 second car! Cool ride,
I always liked the 2 door blazers.

GM

[TireSmoker]

The distributor is a newer electronic Accel. My very scientific test of the vacuum advance involved me trying to draw a manual vacuum with my mouth.. I'll pause for all your jokes.



Anyway, it didnt feel like I was holding a vacuum and I didn't see anything move. But with this thing, I'm not sure what part is supposed to move. Busted diaphragm? I didn't have a pump to draw a real vacuum. RPM would go up when I removed the hose from the vacuum can. I would expect it to go down. Anyway, the goal on Sunday was just replacing the intake. I don't imagine much drive time is left this season, so I wanted it back together.



Old crappy Torker................Nice-n-clean Performer


-Dave