Great progress so far, it takes some courage to go the LT1 route. I did in another car, I can imagine it would be a little difficult in a 4x4 Blazer. Getting the accessories situated can be tricky. The best part is, you don't have to worry about the distributor hitting the firewall on installation

I've got a couple questions for you. 1-Do you think doing a solid axle swap would make things easier for the oil pan? Or is the front axle lift sufficient? 2-Do you think stock exhaust manifolds would fit better than any kind of header? 3-How's clearance with your oil filter?

I wanted to go the Gen 1 Small block route to try to retain my 4.3 accessories, seems like lifting the front axle would solve a lot of problems

 

Any of the 5" suspension lifts out there ( trailmaster, bds, or superlift ) drops everything down enough where the stock oil pan won't interfere. I assume the sas will also be sufficient. But again doing a suspension lift isn't needed because they do sell an oil pan for this swap if needed.

I haven't really compared to stock manifolds but I can see there being in issue with the shock towers on the pass and the steering shaft on the driver side. Swap headers are pretty cheap anyways.

Oil filter from the looks of it should be fine to get from underneath.

 

I wonder if the ZR2 suspension would cause any issues with the oil pan since those already have a bit of a lift compared to a regular 2gn.

 

I don't thing the zr2 would clear either otherwise a simple key crank would work on non zr2s

 

Hm. I figured that maybe the diff would be lower on the ZR2 perhaps.

 

According to this:
http://www.s10extremist.org/tech_art...comparison.htm

Other then frame differences I believe the extra lift is achieved from dropping the control arm mounts lower on the frame thus allowing the re indexed keys to provide the additional lift without having severe angles on the ball joints. Nothing about diff drop. I'm sure you can make some diff spacers to drop it but would be simpler to just get the swap oil pan.

 

well its pretty much all buttoned up, front end is back on, accesory belt is on, all thats left is exhaust and waiting for the harness from current performance.

also just found this site today should be helpful to some:
S350

 

looks awesome...and you made it look/sound easy.
one thing though....how are you gonna route the intake?

 

Spectre sells a aluminum lt1 elbow. Will use that with some silicone couplers for Maf then a bit of piping and a cone filter with a k&n off road sock to keep most of the dirt off the filter.

This is pretty much a bolt in swap with the modifications of the frame rail and steering shaft being the only hiccups.

 

But I must say I can't see the stock f body or 1le elbow getting in the way either. I may have a f body intake somewhere I may try out.