My 93 4x4 project "Skinny Wallet"
#91
10-08-2010, 02:22 PM
Well, my parts finally came in.
Here is the broken old ones and the new ones side by side.
Also scored these badass 6" supertraps brand new at a garage sale. Buddy was asking 40ea but I scored them for...:
$50.00 Two brand new 6" Supertrap exhaust tips.
Ive held them up and they will fit beautifully on each side of the hitch for the V8 to breathe through. They are 2.5 inlet, so I figure headers into straight pipes also 2.5 back to these guys, true dual all the way... Or should I install mufflers? These traps have a removable baffle in them. Or should I have one muffler and split it? Or no mufflers? What you all think?
Heres another surprise I found on the front end, LF... Missing factory rivet on upper balljoint.
Here is the broken old ones and the new ones side by side.
Also scored these badass 6" supertraps brand new at a garage sale. Buddy was asking 40ea but I scored them for...:
$50.00 Two brand new 6" Supertrap exhaust tips.
Ive held them up and they will fit beautifully on each side of the hitch for the V8 to breathe through. They are 2.5 inlet, so I figure headers into straight pipes also 2.5 back to these guys, true dual all the way... Or should I install mufflers? These traps have a removable baffle in them. Or should I have one muffler and split it? Or no mufflers? What you all think?
Heres another surprise I found on the front end, LF... Missing factory rivet on upper balljoint.
Last edited by ohsofly; 10-09-2010 at 10:45 AM.
#92
10-14-2010, 09:37 AM
Got her all put back together this weekend, all the new stuff is installed and working perfectly. Not the stereo system though, still have to install the bass and wiring sometime.
Took her out to my favorite camping spot and ripped up the trails too.
Going to be working on that custom hood with my buddy soon, and maybe Ill hit an exhaust shop and get them to install my tips on the V6 exhaust, then I can just get it done again when the motor swap happens.
Still havent found the right second vehicle... Still looking.
Took her out to my favorite camping spot and ripped up the trails too.
Going to be working on that custom hood with my buddy soon, and maybe Ill hit an exhaust shop and get them to install my tips on the V6 exhaust, then I can just get it done again when the motor swap happens.
Still havent found the right second vehicle... Still looking.
#94
10-17-2010, 03:01 PM
Well I was curious just how bad *** these would look, so here for your veiwing enjoyment.
Do you think they should go straight back, or bend them outwards like the diesel boys around here like???
And from the side
And here is where the clearance issue is going to come into play. It would appear that about 3" can be trimmed off this end, and I betcha the exhaust guy is going to want to do just that.
Do you think they should go straight back, or bend them outwards like the diesel boys around here like???
And from the side
And here is where the clearance issue is going to come into play. It would appear that about 3" can be trimmed off this end, and I betcha the exhaust guy is going to want to do just that.
#95
10-23-2010, 02:43 PM
Well I am not putting on those exhaust tips until I find a rollpan and notch it. I just dont like that downward angle they point, i want them horizontal, up another 4 inches at the back. To do that I need a rollpan and ditch the bumper, then notch it out like the new dodge rams have thier duals only larger. Yeah thats going to look sick.
I went to the junkyard to look around and there was only two 1st gens there, and they were both raped and pillaged. What a waste of a dollar to get in... I was hoping to find a new rad in one of the hundreds or sweet 1st gens they should have had, but nope. Didnt even find a window switch panel in either of them. Took a look around for new seats since I seen that other thread where that dude got the seats from a trailblazer for dirt cheap. Nothing cause poeple never close the doors and windows on the vehicles there. If I owned a junkyard I would make my employees tape broken windows and shut all the doors before going home.
Today was an expensive day. Radiator is leaking really bad now and I cant get one until monday...
From my gastank, sending unit and body part guy:
$180.00 - NEW Spectra Premium radiator
From and unamed source that uses this stuff by the pallet:
FREE - 20 Litres of Long Life orange antifreeze. Good for 1.200.000 KM.
From NAPA:
#3.88 - NEW thermostat gasket
$10.44 - NEW thermostat - stock temperature opening
$26.79 - NEW lower radiator hose
$34.25 - NEW upper radiator hose
$34.25 - NEW Micro-V belt
$27.59 - Outer sway bar bushings
$1.98 - 4 new hose clamps
$6.54 - Lucas fuel system cleaner
From JBs Power center:
$24.99 - Slow flash resistor for LED bulb circuit (both sides in package)
$57.99 - Vision 360degree LED taillight bulbs
$12.99 - Eurolite 194 LED bulb for front corners
From New Age Auto Specialties
$70.00 - Left and Right crystal sealed beam replacements for H4 (Ya ya ya $40 a pair on Ebay)
$299.00 - PILOT brand 6000k H4 HID lighting kit. (I know its much cheaper online but I support local business)
The lighting kit will in here in a week to a week and a half. This stuff was sold to me by a sweet little 70 year old woman. She knew her auto-toys too! It was the strangest thing. I told her that her grandkids have to coolest grandma ever. Ill add photos later on of the before and afters... I couldnt wait for that other member that got the old school truck a set of these to post his photos. That old woman says that the kits on the internet tend to have smaller wires and cheaper components making them up. Also getting warranty on defective products can be impossible sometimes and that PILOT is an excellent company. Ive check them online and its a large company with a great reputation of high quality stuff, so I am satisfied with the extra spending for quality goods.
The salesguy at JBs assures me that on my 1st gen S-series if I put these LED bulbs into my front or rear signals that they wont flash, they just stay on. Thats why the slow flash resistors are needed, he says I need one on each bulb, but that sounds stupid to me and I doubt he actually knows how electrical circuits work, I should only need one on each circuit, left and right as all they do is add resistance simulating the load that 5 filaments would be taking up when signalling. I will post photos of the installation of these as well. And maybe try and get video of the slow and fast blinkers and upload to my youtube to share with my viewers. This should make my tinted tails nice and bright again and give them a different look up close.
I have a week and a half till these HIDs come, maybe longer. In that time I may try to modify the new bumper to house these other HID foglights the old lady had that just looked like they belong on my blazer, and they match the new headlight units perfectly. I am also going to prime the grill in flat black and put the new bowtie in it. I will add the bumper, grill, valence, and HID on the same day while the hood dried cause I will black it too. I may also try and find crystal clear signals and markers to match my new lights too. Im sure I can get my 'old lady' to hook me up LOL.
I am looking for something like spikes to weld onto the 4 carriage bolts that hold the bumper on. It would be cool if my rig had spikes on those, and maybe a few more up the center of the hood to match. They would get powdercoated pewter of course. Im going to have so much fun messing with this truck over the winter. Maybe my bud and I can prep and paint it by summer even? Wishful thinking.
I went to the junkyard to look around and there was only two 1st gens there, and they were both raped and pillaged. What a waste of a dollar to get in... I was hoping to find a new rad in one of the hundreds or sweet 1st gens they should have had, but nope. Didnt even find a window switch panel in either of them. Took a look around for new seats since I seen that other thread where that dude got the seats from a trailblazer for dirt cheap. Nothing cause poeple never close the doors and windows on the vehicles there. If I owned a junkyard I would make my employees tape broken windows and shut all the doors before going home.
Today was an expensive day. Radiator is leaking really bad now and I cant get one until monday...
From my gastank, sending unit and body part guy:
$180.00 - NEW Spectra Premium radiator
From and unamed source that uses this stuff by the pallet:
FREE - 20 Litres of Long Life orange antifreeze. Good for 1.200.000 KM.
From NAPA:
#3.88 - NEW thermostat gasket
$10.44 - NEW thermostat - stock temperature opening
$26.79 - NEW lower radiator hose
$34.25 - NEW upper radiator hose
$34.25 - NEW Micro-V belt
$27.59 - Outer sway bar bushings
$1.98 - 4 new hose clamps
$6.54 - Lucas fuel system cleaner
From JBs Power center:
$24.99 - Slow flash resistor for LED bulb circuit (both sides in package)
$57.99 - Vision 360degree LED taillight bulbs
$12.99 - Eurolite 194 LED bulb for front corners
From New Age Auto Specialties
$70.00 - Left and Right crystal sealed beam replacements for H4 (Ya ya ya $40 a pair on Ebay)
$299.00 - PILOT brand 6000k H4 HID lighting kit. (I know its much cheaper online but I support local business)
The lighting kit will in here in a week to a week and a half. This stuff was sold to me by a sweet little 70 year old woman. She knew her auto-toys too! It was the strangest thing. I told her that her grandkids have to coolest grandma ever. Ill add photos later on of the before and afters... I couldnt wait for that other member that got the old school truck a set of these to post his photos. That old woman says that the kits on the internet tend to have smaller wires and cheaper components making them up. Also getting warranty on defective products can be impossible sometimes and that PILOT is an excellent company. Ive check them online and its a large company with a great reputation of high quality stuff, so I am satisfied with the extra spending for quality goods.
The salesguy at JBs assures me that on my 1st gen S-series if I put these LED bulbs into my front or rear signals that they wont flash, they just stay on. Thats why the slow flash resistors are needed, he says I need one on each bulb, but that sounds stupid to me and I doubt he actually knows how electrical circuits work, I should only need one on each circuit, left and right as all they do is add resistance simulating the load that 5 filaments would be taking up when signalling. I will post photos of the installation of these as well. And maybe try and get video of the slow and fast blinkers and upload to my youtube to share with my viewers. This should make my tinted tails nice and bright again and give them a different look up close.
I have a week and a half till these HIDs come, maybe longer. In that time I may try to modify the new bumper to house these other HID foglights the old lady had that just looked like they belong on my blazer, and they match the new headlight units perfectly. I am also going to prime the grill in flat black and put the new bowtie in it. I will add the bumper, grill, valence, and HID on the same day while the hood dried cause I will black it too. I may also try and find crystal clear signals and markers to match my new lights too. Im sure I can get my 'old lady' to hook me up LOL.
I am looking for something like spikes to weld onto the 4 carriage bolts that hold the bumper on. It would be cool if my rig had spikes on those, and maybe a few more up the center of the hood to match. They would get powdercoated pewter of course. Im going to have so much fun messing with this truck over the winter. Maybe my bud and I can prep and paint it by summer even? Wishful thinking.
Last edited by ohsofly; 10-23-2010 at 08:14 PM.
#96
10-23-2010, 11:36 PM
Even if the orange (Dexcool) antifreeze is free, I wouldn't use it. That crap plugs up everything.
As far as the exhaust tips, maybe you could throw on a 3 inch body lift? Then you wouldn't need a different bumper/rollpan? Just an idea.
As far as the exhaust tips, maybe you could throw on a 3 inch body lift? Then you wouldn't need a different bumper/rollpan? Just an idea.
#97
10-24-2010, 10:10 AM
That would alsmost work, but Ive never seen a body lift kit that moves the bumpers up a coulpe inches too. Usually you get that stupid gap between body and bumpers. I think Ill go with the rollpan so its cleaner and the tips will be even more visible then.
LED LIGHT CONVERSION
Today I converted all the exterior lights to LED. Its not that easy to do on a 1st gen. You cant just stick the bulbs in and expect them to work. Ill explain.
Total project cost
$26 - ($13 x 2) for the four Eurolite 194 bulbs.
$50 - (24.99x2) for the Vision slow flash resistors
$58 - (29x2) for the Vision 360 degree LED rear bulbs
$20 - for one pair of Eurolite white 3157 LED bulbs for the front
$25 - GM bowtie hitch pulg/3rd brake light
extra (you will see at the end)
$25 - red LED accent lighting pods.
Tools used:
Soldering iron
heat shrink tubing
digital multimeter
side cutters
various screwdrivers
5 minute epoxy
OLFA OB-1 skinny utility knife to modify the rear light sockets so the bulbs fit and lock
I am replacing the 194 bulbs in the corners on front and back, and the rear brake and signal bulb for now. Here is the parts used in my modification.
4x Eurolite 194 dual LED bulb. one pair white, onr pair red for the front
2x Vison 360 degree 28LED 3157 replcement in the rear brake spot cause they are bright!
2x Vision LED circuit resistor twin packs. You need one for each large LED bulb. Not for the 194s only though because they dont flash, they turn off and thus dont affect the flasher at all.
2x Eurolite 3157 9LED red replacement in the front siglals
First I removed the taillights. It required my modifying the taillight lamp socket to get the LED to twist into lock to begin with. I had to take about a milimeter off the face of the plastic on the socket so that the bulb can go into it a little deeper before bottoming out. Both bulbs are in now, I go try the signal lights - They blink really really fast on the left side and work fine on the right side??? Also on the right side my hitch brake light blinks as well? Cant figure out how that works but thats the first ghost in the machine since changing these bulbs. So I guess I actually do need those resistors that the guy sold me. I epoxied them to the back of the light housing on each side like this:
There is 3 wires coming off the plug. BLACK is for running lights, BROWN is for ground, and WHITE is for signals. So you want to solder each end of the resistor to the BROWN and WHITE wires. I then coated the connections at the resistor with epoxy to seal them from the elements. Once the resistor was in place the signals went back to normal, but the hitch still blinks with the right signal. I tried the 4ways, and notice that now my interior chime dings with the lights??? How strange is that? I have never even heard an interior chime in this truck before, it sounds like its behind the left most vent... Thats the second ghost in the machine now... And Im still on the back. I fasten it all back together and this is what we get.
BEFORE - stock light bulbs in tinted taillights. Park lights and then brakes on then just the stock bulb.
AFTER - LED 360 degree bulbs in tinted taillights. Park lights and then brakes on then the LED bulb
You can totally see how much brighter those 360 degree bulbs are, and for the $20some dollars each they were worth it.
Now we move on to the front. I changed the grill and bumper over so these are the premeir photos for that as well.
BEFORE
OK so I added the Eurolite 3157 bulbs to the front signals, and I got back the fast blinkers. So I guess I am going to need one pair of reisitors for every pair of bulbs... Son of a gun. The thing is that it only blinks fast to the left, the right works fine... The third ghost - My speedo and guages have worked perfectly since this mod...
AFTER
That new grill fits like crap and will be going in the trash once I find a better one. It looks like its about an inch wider than the stock one, and the emblem doesnt really fit the hole well and its a little crooked. Not good.
And I also added a little treat, I hope you all like it. Thats 2 little LED pods mounted beside the headlights behind the grill. I sprayed the front of the new rad with metalic paint just a little, its still black, but it catches the light and made a world of difference over just shining them against the rad with no paint. These red glow lights are hooked up for my park lights as well and look super cool at night. Im thinking about making a silver bowtie on the front of the new rad before I put it in, it would grab the light different and you would totally see it though the grill.
LED LIGHT CONVERSION
Today I converted all the exterior lights to LED. Its not that easy to do on a 1st gen. You cant just stick the bulbs in and expect them to work. Ill explain.
Total project cost
$26 - ($13 x 2) for the four Eurolite 194 bulbs.
$50 - (24.99x2) for the Vision slow flash resistors
$58 - (29x2) for the Vision 360 degree LED rear bulbs
$20 - for one pair of Eurolite white 3157 LED bulbs for the front
$25 - GM bowtie hitch pulg/3rd brake light
extra (you will see at the end)
$25 - red LED accent lighting pods.
Tools used:
Soldering iron
heat shrink tubing
digital multimeter
side cutters
various screwdrivers
5 minute epoxy
OLFA OB-1 skinny utility knife to modify the rear light sockets so the bulbs fit and lock
I am replacing the 194 bulbs in the corners on front and back, and the rear brake and signal bulb for now. Here is the parts used in my modification.
4x Eurolite 194 dual LED bulb. one pair white, onr pair red for the front
2x Vison 360 degree 28LED 3157 replcement in the rear brake spot cause they are bright!
2x Vision LED circuit resistor twin packs. You need one for each large LED bulb. Not for the 194s only though because they dont flash, they turn off and thus dont affect the flasher at all.
2x Eurolite 3157 9LED red replacement in the front siglals
First I removed the taillights. It required my modifying the taillight lamp socket to get the LED to twist into lock to begin with. I had to take about a milimeter off the face of the plastic on the socket so that the bulb can go into it a little deeper before bottoming out. Both bulbs are in now, I go try the signal lights - They blink really really fast on the left side and work fine on the right side??? Also on the right side my hitch brake light blinks as well? Cant figure out how that works but thats the first ghost in the machine since changing these bulbs. So I guess I actually do need those resistors that the guy sold me. I epoxied them to the back of the light housing on each side like this:
There is 3 wires coming off the plug. BLACK is for running lights, BROWN is for ground, and WHITE is for signals. So you want to solder each end of the resistor to the BROWN and WHITE wires. I then coated the connections at the resistor with epoxy to seal them from the elements. Once the resistor was in place the signals went back to normal, but the hitch still blinks with the right signal. I tried the 4ways, and notice that now my interior chime dings with the lights??? How strange is that? I have never even heard an interior chime in this truck before, it sounds like its behind the left most vent... Thats the second ghost in the machine now... And Im still on the back. I fasten it all back together and this is what we get.
BEFORE - stock light bulbs in tinted taillights. Park lights and then brakes on then just the stock bulb.
AFTER - LED 360 degree bulbs in tinted taillights. Park lights and then brakes on then the LED bulb
You can totally see how much brighter those 360 degree bulbs are, and for the $20some dollars each they were worth it.
Now we move on to the front. I changed the grill and bumper over so these are the premeir photos for that as well.
BEFORE
OK so I added the Eurolite 3157 bulbs to the front signals, and I got back the fast blinkers. So I guess I am going to need one pair of reisitors for every pair of bulbs... Son of a gun. The thing is that it only blinks fast to the left, the right works fine... The third ghost - My speedo and guages have worked perfectly since this mod...
AFTER
That new grill fits like crap and will be going in the trash once I find a better one. It looks like its about an inch wider than the stock one, and the emblem doesnt really fit the hole well and its a little crooked. Not good.
And I also added a little treat, I hope you all like it. Thats 2 little LED pods mounted beside the headlights behind the grill. I sprayed the front of the new rad with metalic paint just a little, its still black, but it catches the light and made a world of difference over just shining them against the rad with no paint. These red glow lights are hooked up for my park lights as well and look super cool at night. Im thinking about making a silver bowtie on the front of the new rad before I put it in, it would grab the light different and you would totally see it though the grill.
Last edited by ohsofly; 10-25-2010 at 12:23 PM.
#98
11-08-2010, 02:01 PM
Well, I blew the oil cooler line right out of my upper connection in the new rad, oil was everywhere!!! What a mess. Now I have to find some kid of fitting to work cause obviously the threads in the new rad were cut too thin... Jeesus.\
HID lights have been lost in shipping, just my luck... This happens every time I order something it seems.
I did find another vehicle though, so soon my project will be on stands until shes done.
2001 blazer, 4.3L, 4x4, LS, black, 300K, loaded, new tires - $400... It has a transmission that wont come out of second gear. So I will pull the old trans out, and take it to my tranny guy that will sell me a beefed up one for $1000 cash as long as I hand over the old tranny.
My friend and I will be doing the body mods and prepwork over the wintertime, and painting mine, and his wifes vehicle with the same paint. Satin Black by springtime.
HID lights have been lost in shipping, just my luck... This happens every time I order something it seems.
I did find another vehicle though, so soon my project will be on stands until shes done.
2001 blazer, 4.3L, 4x4, LS, black, 300K, loaded, new tires - $400... It has a transmission that wont come out of second gear. So I will pull the old trans out, and take it to my tranny guy that will sell me a beefed up one for $1000 cash as long as I hand over the old tranny.
My friend and I will be doing the body mods and prepwork over the wintertime, and painting mine, and his wifes vehicle with the same paint. Satin Black by springtime.
#99
11-08-2010, 08:30 PM
Looking good, And for the exhaust tips i would side them out the side i think it would look nice like that
