Well . . .I've put about 20 or so miles on the blazer so far. Trans seems good. . . .So now on to the next sets of problems.

Now that it's basically driveable several other things I need to address to really make it road worthy

-Fix Wipers that won't shut off once turned on. . .Pulse board looks ok, so not sure what to check next

-Steering. . .I still have the jeep shaft sitting by to swap in, but thinking I need to get a new gear box, as it doesn't look like all the slop is from the rag joints. Will also need to check and possibly replace tie rods, idler arm, centerlink, etc.

-A/C. . .Here i just need to install the new compressor I have, along with the variable orifice tube I got. I do also need to get into the dash vacuum hoses to figure out why I only get floor vents.

-Axle Shafts . . probably. Still getting a lot of noise at higher speeds. Pass wheel bearing I installed seem to have helped some.

-Leaf Spring Bushings/Shackles . . Rear suspension is pretty terrible in contrast with the front now. I'm sure these are worn, and I have a bit of the notorious sag to one side. Will get new shocks at some point as well. I've decided a rear sway bar is a must have, so will order from Beltec when I've got a little more $$ to spend.

Those are my driveability issues, but of course there are several other things I need to do, and a million I want to do. It is running a bit rough, so I'll also throw on the new cap, rotor, wires, and plugs. . then find out it's something else

I have also decided it just sits too low. . . after seeing it on jack stands so long lol. So going to add a leaf to the rear, then crank torsion keys to match or get lift keys. Rear sits lower now so I shouldn't have to max out the torsion bars. I'd love to eventually get the 2" lift spindles, but too much $$ right now.

Just to get a picture in too. . . Here's the old vs new exhaust gaskets I replaced.

 

Yes! So awesome! I'm glad you're able to drive it now. I have some of those same things to do on my Bravada: replace steering box, pitman arm, rear leaf springs, etc. Now that you've rebuilt the transmission, hopefully the other repairs won't seem as bad.

 

Yes I'm cautiously optimistic. Lol after taking it apart 3 times now I'm still in disbelief a bit.

The joys of old vehicles right? At least most of the parts are pretty cheap, just adds up when there are a lot of them that need replaced lol.

I hope so. . . nothing else really seems as daunting of a job as the trans, and fortunately none of them should require as much time on the creeper under the truck.

Going to try to get out this afternoon and work on the new compressor, and tune up. Try to narrow down the worst steering components too so I can order some parts for that.

 

Getting the sway bar mounts back on can be tricky. Try it with it on the ground with some weight. I've also had to use ratchet straps to help. Then other times, they just line up.....

 

I appreciate the input. I'll have to give the ratchet straps a try. . .Didn't think about doing that. Tried using my bottle jack to line them up, but couldn't get enough angle on it to line up the bolt hole.

 

Gotten a few more things done over the last couple days.

Got the A/C compressor swapped out. Turns out the variable orifice tube I had was not correct, was about 1" taller, so wouldn't fit



Also changed out the plugs for the e3's I had sitting on the bench. Old plugs actually looked pretty good.




Started beefing up my grounds as well with some 6 gauge wire. Ran 3 so far battery to fender, then fender to engine, and fender to firewall. Might add a couple more in the future.



Haven't driven any more yet because I forgot to lube the yoke and trashed my new rear output seal, so leaking ATF from the transfer case. $3 mistake, so no big deal.

I have discovered the water pump is almost shot and making awful noises. Possibly Power Steering Pump also, but not 100% sure on it.

Getting SES light for a Code 43, so prob need to order a new knock sensor to see if that takes care of it.

I've been reading up more on the steering and I'm going to attempt to adjust the box. Doubtful that it will be able to take up all the slack, so still looking at a replacement. Thinking quick ratio box when I do. . doesn't seem to be a downside.

Hoping to make a run to the parts store in the morning, then spend some more time working on it tomorrow.

 

Sorry to hear there's so much other stuff to fix. Hopefully it won't take too long. How difficult is it to get to the spark plugs?

 

Lol, Thank you, but nothing that wasn't unexpected. Most of it shouldn't be too bad. Wipers are a PITA, still have no idea here. . just ordered a new pulse board, so will see if that fixes it, but not holding my breath.

Spark plugs were actually pretty easy. . .Only two that were trouble were 3 & 5. Couldn't get to them from above, so went in through the wheel well and was no problem.

I'm also happy to report that my steering adjustment made a big improvement. Still will be replacing the box but might wait a while. I remembered I have a brand new Idler and Pitman Arm I got for the C1500. Need to check but if they are the same part will prob throw those on the Blazer since I have them.

I discovered my cheap upper ball joints are garbage. . at least the pass side. Castle Nut has about 1" gap between the knuckle. . If I screw it down more then cotter pin doesn't catch the nut. Driver side isn't as bad. Just ordered one new AC Delco Joint for the pass side. If quality is good I'll order another for the drive side. $40/ea so wanted to be sure its good before ordering 2.

Lol another thing I noticed was only had about 18-20lbs of air in the tires. Filled them up yesterday, but couldn't test drive because it was pouring and I haven't fixed the wipers.

 

Been working more on the blazer the last few days.

Got my new wiper delay control board in.



Installed it and . . Eurkea! Wipers work as they should. It was very gratifying to replace a suspected part and have it fix the problem.

Of course my success was short lived . Now they sometimes work correctly, and then will suddenly come on in the hi or low setting, while the stalk is in the off position. The delay control still works while this happens. After a while I can turn it to off. . . stays off for a while then it all repeats. Seems like a short somewhere. Otherwise I have the motor, and the column switch I could replace.

I also flushed the power steering fluid and added seafoam hydratune which seemed to help. Pump works fine but is making noise, so prob not long for this world.

Drained the coolant to flush. . . . what a nasty mess. After I drained it and flushed a little water through the radiator, I added about 1/2 gal of white vinegar. Then refilled with water. . . . It should help clean some of the rust and corrosion out of the system.

Just after draining the nasty old stuff the water pump sounded better. I did pick up a new water pump, but I have since discovered the bulk of my bearing noise is actually coming from the Tensioner Pulley, and the Alternator. . . both are pretty horrendous.

So still need to install W/P but I need to pick up a new pully for the tensioner. For the alternator I'm thinking of going to LKQ and grabbing a full size 145 amp alt. I've read any with AD244 case with fit, and like $27 is worth a shot on a junkyard pull. Should prob upgrade the alt wire after as well.

I have played around with the camber bolts some more to try to improve the alignment some, but steering is still terrible. Seems to have some toe out that I need to try to crank in. I did pick up a new Idler Arm to Install, and probably should order new tie rods. Thinking I may get the jeep steering shaft in first then see where I am with it.

Earlier today I put in the new AC Delco upper ball joint to replace my cheap ebay mistake.

Here's what that one looked like:



I forgot to take an installed pic but here they are side by side. . big difference in construction/quality . . .Now I need to order one and do driver side, although the cheap one fits better on that side.



It fit much better, couldn't tell any difference in driving it though.

My one completely unadulterated success was fixing the main air vents. . . Discovered the feed line to the mess of vacuum t's was unplugged from the intake. I did replace a couple little sections of hose, but more is needed.

Oh and I also discovered I had unplugged the knock sensor on the back of the right head, when I installed the dipstick tube. My SES briefly went out then came back on . . .Haven't paperclipped it yet to see if it's still 43, but my new knock sensor arrived today so I have one new one to try.

I think that's about it. I've been trying to get more done on it, but haven't made too much progress on the most important thing. . . The Steering!

 

Drove the blazer around a bit more over the weekend. Seems to be running better and better the more I drive it. Prob sat for a few years so just needed to be run/driven.

Started trying to swap out the knock sensor. . of course it's old, and I stripped the hex head off of it. I need to pull the wheel back off, and see if I can get at it from the wheel well with a better angle.

Got frustrated with that, so I switched and started messing with my Jeep steering shaft. Unfortunately, I didn't get the completely bolt in option. . .at least it seems like a lot of people didn't have to make modifications.

Heated up the shaft, but I wasn't able to get it separated. . . I really need a vice. I'll prob go mess with it more this afternoon. Thinking I'm just going to cut the shaft if I can't separate. I need to trim a coupe inches off anyway, since I would like for it to have room to collapse as intended should I ever get into an accident.

I inspected my stock shaft more too, the tulip joint is separating a bit, so it's probably more worn out than I originally thought. . No surprise, as it's prob original and has 231,000 mi on it.

Also, for my birthday my girlfriend bought me the add-a-leaf. So I'll be getting it lifted a bit sooner than I thought. She also wants to buy me the rear tire carrier. . . Found one at a junk yard about 45 min from here, so we'll prob run up and try to get that in the next couple weeks.

IMHO every single blazer should have gotten the tire carrier. It just looks like it should be there on these trucks, not to mention like 25% more cargo room.

I can't wait to see it lifted with the tire carrier, and a bull bar, I'm thinking this one: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Super-Bull-...19.m1438.l2649

That's my favorite style, just not sure how closely it will line up on a 1st gen. Once those things are done then it will look like it should.

Going to stop by the parts store today and pick up a new tensioner pulley. Hopefully I'll make some more progress this afternoon.