I picked this Blazer up for 1200 bucks to do a 5.3 V8 swap on. My first truck was a 1982 S15 pickup with a built V8 and that thing was a blast so i wanted to build another one with fuel injection and overdrive this time.
This new one is a 2002 4.3 5speed with the 8.5 or 8.625in rear differential.
I figured i would start a thread in hope that my build might help others in the future.

Here she is


And here is the new heart thats going in.

The accessory drive is a GM performance kit and is based on the Corvette drive to pull all the accessories as close to the engine as possible. This should help me with radiator clearance.

 

This will be take me a few months to get all the parts together and built.

The engine is from a 2002 Tahoe with the throttle body swapped to be cable operated. The miles on the engine are unknown to me but when i opened it up this engine was very clean with zero buildup so i hope i got a good one.

I have my 4l60E in the shop right now being built to a mostly stock build with the small usual upgrades.

I will be running CPW motor mounts and headers with custom exhaust
CPW is currently building me a plug and play wiring harness to drop the 5.3 in and have everything work just like the 4.3

 

That is a nice looking blazer. It is funny how much work is required to add 1 more liter and 2 more cylinders.

 

Nice! Look forward to the build as it comes along

Guessing by the belt drive you're opting out of keeping AC?

 

Im going to go with a high mount A/C system on the top passenger side of the engine. I just have the belt installed to see what it looked like for now.
Too hot in texas for me to say no to air conditioning haha

 

Ah okay got cha Yeah I'm planning a 5.7 swap in my 04 and AC is a MUST to keep here in Florida lol

 

Got the wiring harness in the mail with the new computer. Now im just waiting on the new cooling system and the fun can begin.

 

I also discovered that normal 5.3 plug wires will get burnt on my headers. so i picked up these.




Finally found a black floor shift center console.



And picked up an auxiliary transmission cooler and enough AN fittings and braided hose to do the fuel lines and trans cooling lines. Im going to use as much hard line as i possibly can though.

 

Finally got my last round of parts so i can start the swap in the next few weeks.
High mount A/C compressor with custom hoses



And here is the radiator, condenser and fans to keep her cool. This radiator is massive.

 

Nice radiator.

I'll have to build something along that with electric fans too for my 4.3l build.