Just bought a 1999 GMC Envoy( Transmission lost OD, reverse and didn't like shifting to second) as a parts truck for my 2003 Chevy Blazer LS and my brothers 1998 GMC Jimmy SLT that was he was just in a minor accident with.

The truck has 212K miles on it, but runs great. The intake gasket was just replaced and has a new fuel pump. It has a the fully powered leather interior that my brother is swapping into his truck since he already has wiring for power seats(checked on mine and there was nothing run under the carpet. I was pretty pissed about that). I am taking the rims and tires, trailer hitch and a couple of other randoms things.

Anyways, we were in the middle of tearing it apart this weekend and got to talking about totally stripping it, ripping the back roof off, lifting it on the cheap, finding a used tranny to put it(would try and go for the nv1500 or nv3500 swap) and beating the hell out of it until it died. Would be a fun relatively cheap weekend toy.

I have also been dreaming as of late on building a vehicle and doing a 24 hour Lemons race and kinda have fallen in love with the idea of using this truck for it!

For those that don't know, a LeMons race has a "$500 total" for the vehicle and parts, not including the required safety equipment, brakes, rims and tires. There are many loopholes and work arounds to the rules, that I have been researching as of late. One of them is you can sell parts from the car and deduct them from the overall purchase price.

We bought the car for $700. From my short price researching online, regular old leather bucket seats and leather rears sell for around $500. These are heated seats and have lumbar control, so $500 is a a very realistic price. Could probably argue $600 - $700 since they are in very good condition and could include the leather door inserts as well to up the price. My brother would "buy" them for that much and I would buy the tires and wheels for $350. Hankook Optimas with 80% tread life. Lots of other random parts and pieces we could sell to pretty much guarantee a full $500 budget.


The plan would be...
1. To do a mechanical AWD conversion sourcing used parts from 1996 or older Astros, Safaris and Bravadas.
2. Manual transmission swap, or just swap in a used auto one. Would have to reprogram the PCM for quicker shifts if sticking with the auto.
3. Lower the truck. Probably do a 3" drop in the front and 4" in the rear.
4. Run larger sway bars from a ZR2.
5. If I can find one cheap enough, a ZR2 rear end since its longer.

Lowering is where I am at a loss right now. I thought belltech made a 3 inch drop kit(can't find it right now.) My main question is do I necessarily need anything for the front? Can't I just twist the torsion key adjusting screw counter clockwise until I reach my desired height?

That's all for now. I will update as I do some more researching and make more decisions.

Any input/advice is gladly accepted!!

I know this truck would probably never be a top contender, but it would be unique and that is kind of what the LeMons is all about.

 

Only way to lower a 4x4 is by adjusting the keys.

 

That is a fun idea. I would like to do a LeMons car as well.

 

Well,

Junked the blazer. Lost my work space for it and the underbody was very rusty(spent its whole life in west michigan).

Still want to do a blazer LeMons build someday though. Anyone else in Michigan that would be interested in doing one?