Project Lil' Stinker
 

Well, I figured it was time to go ahead and get cracking on the build of my 1998 Blazer LS 4x4 Four Door known affectionately as Lil' Stinker.

I bought the truck in August of 2012 and managed to drive it three weeks before the engine decided to go south on with me throwing number 1 and 2 rods through the aluminum oil pan. At the time, I was totally unaware this particular body style was as receptive to the 5.7 V8 swap as its earlier sibling is, so I opted for another 4.3 V6 Vortec as I needed to get the truck back on the road.

Fast forward to June 21, 2013 and driving back from Saint Louis, Missouri where I was at for most of my summer on a car restoration project, again, the bottom end starts making horrendous sounds just as the original engine did three weeks after buying it. Back in April of this year, I had already planned at "some point" of doing the V8 swap after finding I could drop in the 5.7 Vortec with minimal modifications. This now brings me to posting of my build...

Since the engine decided it wanted to go south on me, I have bought a 1998 Chevy Suburban 4x4 donor vehicle with 52,000 (documented) miles. Paid $750 for the entire truck and have sold off the majority of parts that I wouldn't be able to use whatsoever, focusing on keeping only the drivetrain and rolling chassis (vehicle was T-boned in the driver's side between the driver's front and rear doors). Had everything as far as frame, axles, engine/transmission checked and no damage to any of that. I've gotten the engine and transmission/transfer case pulled from the Suburban and the engine has been detached from the transmission for use in Lil' Stinker.

I'm now hoping in the next couple of weeks to modify my carport as to keep the north wind from howling in so I can get the new engine into the Blazer. I've gotten the 4.3 V6 out, modified my core support so my radiator now tucks underneath with a cut out made for accessing the radiator cap without taking away from the structural integrity of the core support, entire exhaust is removed as well as the original V6 ECM and complete engine harness. Between having the "IceApocolypse" here in Texas last week and temps finally reaching 45 degrees on Thursday (yesterday) and my exhaust shop saying they can get the Blazer scheduled in after New Year's, I've been holding off on doing any real work to get the new engine in place.

Once the new engine is in and Lil' Stinker is up and running for a couple of months, here' the list of the remaining modifications:

Engine/Transmission: 1998 GM 5.7 Vortec V8 with 4L65E - OBD II Compliant
Suspension: Rough Country 6" lift
Body lift between 2" & 3"
Wheels/Tires: V-Tec Raptor 372 - 16" x 8" Phantom Black with 33x12.50x16 BFG KO AT TA's

Paint and Body: House of Kolor Shimrin 2 - S2-KBC KANDY BASECOAT with KK10 PURPLE / S2-00 / FX PAC'S - Kolors 1037 - Purple (top) and 1035 - Green (bottom) over a Black base
Modified ZR2 Fender Flares
GMC Jimmy Power Mirrors
Custom Front and Rear Bumpers - Most likely ordering from Blue Lake Offroad in Dunwoody, Georgia

Interior Upgrades:
Complete Medium Grey Leather Interior from a 2002 Blazer LT Four Door with power Driver AND Passenger seats with aftermarket heating and cooling kit

Audio/Video Upgrades: I don't have all the specs on this yet as my nephew is designing my complete system, but do know its a scaled down version to what he has in his Chevy 'hoe (Tahoe).

Personally, this vehicle is a perfect fit for me as I've got PLENTY of other larger vehicles - those being Hearses. I'm building this to have a decent sized vehicle with the capabilities of being able to tow a popup camper, a 16' to 20' car hauler, etc.

Here's a few pictures of the wheels, bumpers and paint colors I'll be using. Pictures of the bumpers can be found at https://blazerforum.com/forum/paint-...blazers-83305/

Will be getting pictures posted once I figure out which phone, camera and computer I have them and will definitely post updates with detailed pictures of the build.

Looking forward to sharing my adventure of this build of Project Lil' Stinker.

Frank

Sounds awesome man. Since the 4.3 isn't the most.....efficient (lets be honest its terrible with fuel economy) , is the 5.7 more efficient? Good luck with the swap!

Honestly, I'm not sure if it will be better or worse. I'm also going to be lifting it, putting larger tires on and ADDING significant weight to it as well. I'm somewhat doing everything after the engine swap in stages, but plan now is to do them as soon as possible when money is available. I've got the lift kit already, but need to pony up $1766 for wheels and tires and don't want to lift it until I know the those are en route to be installed.

Will try and see if I can get a baseline BEFORE I do any of the other mods though as I'm a bit curious too.

Love the wheels. Were you able to find those in a bolt pattern that fits?

Thanks and yes, I'll be getting them with the 5x4.75" bolt pattern. This is the company I'm working with for wheels and tires - https://www.facebook.com/MrWheelDeal - They have deals on Facebook all the time as well. For the wheels and tires with shipping, I'm looking at $1766.00 to my door. Best I've found for a comparable wheel and tire is over $2600.00 locally and my choices for wheels are sorely lacking!

Things are looking up here in Texas and HOPEFULLY the cold weather like we've had (along with rest of the country) is soon behind us. It also looks like I may be moving my project to a buddy's place who has a nice warm shop anyway.

Have some questions regarding catalytic converters and dual exhaust though. In looking at everything, it appears that I MIGHT be able to retain my crossover pipe from the V6 and re-use this on the V8 conversion. I know on the 5.7's GM used 2 cats and then went down to the single exhaust on the passenger side. What I'm wondering (and to save me a buttload of cash) is i possible that I could ADD a second O2 bung AFTER the single cat and retain my original exhaust. I still plan to change that massive muffler they put on the Blazer but if I could just add the extra O2 sensor on the backside of the cat, it would save me about $700.00 for new exhaust. Mind you, this is ALL providing I can actually use the crossover as it already has the pre-cat O2 sensors for driver and passenger bank.

I should have waited to post about the exhaust thing I'm dealing with as I also got via FedEx today ALL of my lighting for Lil' Stinker! Have Green LED's for the dash, my new HID with Halo (purple halo)/8000k HUD headlights, LED parking lights, pair of 5" and pair of 3.5" lights with Green Halo that will eventually ride in the front bumper that I ordered from Blue Lake Off-Road, LED taillights under smoked covers and White LED's for my dome lights. Also went to AutoZone and they've got a pretty decent selection of LED strips for interior/exterior use. Bought 4 of the green LED strips so far that I plan to wire into the interior lighting that I'll place along the door openings on floor for ambient lighting.

Weather has FINALLY turned warm again with 65 degrees tomorrow and 72 for Sunday with temps all week in the 60's, so should be able to get crackin' on some of this and MAYBE get my engine in by next weekend too!

Hey guys (and gals),

A friend of mine on Facebook is kind of a master of being able to Photoshop vehicles and he's done some absolutely AMAZING transformations (Tucker Hearse and Flower Car for one). Anyway, I asked him if he could help me get what Lil' Stinker is basically going to look like once I get all the modifications and paint work done. Other than this picture having purple tint, this is REALLY close to what she's gonna look like, right down to the Raptor Phantom wheels!

Thats gunna look sweet man. Good luck with the build!

Gonna look bad ass man..Thats a great photoshop work also..Wish I could get someone to photoshop mine for me... Cant wait to see this done..