$5.5k thats crazy! The ZR2's up here go for around that price. The blazers are way cheaper.

And I've seen pics of the blazers with those camaro rims. They look good, but I haven't quite decided what I really want for rims/tires yet. I see a lot of different setups on the site and so many look good! But currently I want to do a body lift before I do anymore. Hopefully I can pick up a kit after New Years (funds permitting) and then get it installed in the spring.

 

how hard is it to put the lift kit on love this height looks great.

 

Nice looking Blazer, and I like the progress you're making. One issue you might run into swapping over the front diff and axle from the 95 ZR2 donor is that the front diff will use the older bolt on style CV axles, and your 98 will use the newer style. If you swap in the front diff you'll need to replace your CV axles with the older style because they are not compatible. I ran into this issue when I swapped a 99 ZR2 axle and diff into my 96 Blazer.

 

The lift was really easy, its just 2" shackles in the rear and 1.5" torsion crank for the front. The worst part about the shackles is the bushings for the rear leaf springs.

And I ended up passing on swapping the diffs over from the S10 ZR2, I didn't want to have drum brakes in the rear, so I sold it to someone who was looking for a beater. But I did get the fender flares, roof visor, and skid plates from it.

 

Do those skid plates on the Zr R2's just bolt right on to other models?

 

Yea everything pretty much bolts up really easily, just make sure you grab the little brackets for the trans pan plate. The only one that needs modifying is the front skid plate that covers the oil pan. It sits a lot differently than the stock one so it has to be modified to fit. I haven't modified it yet, so its sits a little goofy.

And as an exciting yet awful update, I'm not in the process of removing the engine. I had a misfire that would come and go when it wanted to for about a year now (changed cap/rotor/plugs/wires with AC Delco) and I also had an incessant ticking/tapping sound (was told it was lifters). So I decided on pulling the heads out (which is a complete pain) and now that the entire top end of the motor is off, I figured I may as well just pull the entire thing out and check/refresh the lower end or just swap something in. Pics to come

 

Nice good to know, thank you!

 

So its been a while, things have been progressing slow between subzero temperatures and being just plain busy. So this is her when I parked her in the garage right next to my Celica (note: the plow is not attached to the Celica lol).





Started pulling all the top end stuff off to get the lower intake removed.



After removing the intake, I also pulled the heads cause I wanted to check them out closer. Removing them with the engine in the truck was a huge pita but I did get them out.



After I got that far I went out ice fishing for a few days and when I got back I found a 5.7L engine out of a suburban with 150k that I picked up for dirt cheap. The worst part about the whole trip was trying to remove the engine from the back of the pickup that was lifted 4" and has 33s because the engine hoist wouldn't reach high enough. I also had to get another engine stand to bolt it onto since the only stand I had has a Lexus V8 bolted to it currently lol. So this week the plan is to start disassembling the 5.7 to look at it closely and get the 4.3 block outta the Blazer since I won't be using it anymore.







And it sits right next to the Blazer in the garage for now until I get it on the stand and free up some extra space to work on it.

 

Looks good! What kind of grille guard is that? Looks beefier than some I've seen.

 

Thanks! And I'm honestly not sure what the brand is, my buddy got it off a Honda Ridgeline for free so we bolted it on the blazer. It looks beefier because if memory serves its 3" tubing but I'll have to see what it takes to make it look right after I do my body lift tomorrow. I may have to fabricate new mounting brackets