It's not the exhaust manifolds themselves (although they can be quite difficult and you should not try to remove the tube from the driver's side manifold without heat from a torch). It's doing TTY head bolts correctly with all the stuff in the way (yes you need new ones). Furthermore on some vehicles it almost impossible to get the grounds and fuel line clamp off the back of the heads with the engine in place (I had to wait until I had the engine forward about an inch during removal and then disconnected them).

Of course some people have done these heads in the vehicle. Heck, some people even re-used their old head bolts and all was fine with theirs. Just letting you know what I would do. Ultimately you have to decide, There is nothing easy about engine work in a 2nd gen blazer.

Have you ever pressure tested the cooling system and checked for leaks into different cylinders? There is a device that fits where the radiator cap goes and allows you to pump up the pressure. Fill system full of water and leave under pressure for an hour. With sparks plug removed, crank the engine and look for water to be blown out of a cylinder.

 

@LesMyer - Once again thanks for the advice.

We did dive in to the next phase. Lots of problem solving and head scratching. We got 90% of the way there. The biggest issue now is that there are 3 head bolts absolutely buried directly under each of the 3 exhaust ports. We put in about 5 hours yesterday. This morning is to noodle hose to get clearance on the drivers side - On the pax side there is enough room to move the exhaust manifold outboard and get to the head bolts. On the drivers side the manifold hits the steering shaft.

All in all pulling the engine would probably have been the right call "prior" to pulling the intake manifold. Now (time-wise) it's a toss up. A couple of problems we solved. For the very rear exhaust manifold bolt on each side we drilled an access hole in the fender well to get a straight shot. You don't need to drill it "socket" sized, just big enough to pass the extension through. On the driver's side, try as we might we could not maneuver around the EGR pipe so that had to come off. Unfortunately it was so corroded that we ended up killing it to remove it. The flare nut would not rotate on the pipe. The good news is that Rock Auto has them for only $37. The rest of the exhaust manifold bolts came loose working through the wheel wells.

Other tips I have read include pulling the P/S pump pulley off in order to get the A/C bracket removed from the long stud in the front of the head. Not necessary. The stud has a female star head on it and I just pulled the stud.

Just gotta solve the 3 remaining head bolts issue today - two top theories are remove the exhaust system or remove the steering shaft - both appear to be a royal PITA.

 

Sadly my son and I have reached a come to Jesus moment and have decided to sell the Blazer as a "mechanics special" project. He's got about $1200 invested in a RC 3 inch lift and 4 new Milestar MT tires + the base investment of $1800 for the original purchase.

I did a bunch more research on getting the heads of and it is still technically doable in place - I watched a video of a guy who did it. But efficiency wise he pulled the inner fender wells and the exhaust system. The exhaust on my kids Blazer is truly frozen at the manifold. This runs the risk of breaking studs or maybe needing to cut the exhaust. We also discovered that the timing chain cover has like an 8 inch open crack - don't know when that would have happened.

The other issue is that my kid and I have different schedules - he works weekends and it would basically be up to me to do the whole job. My hobby vehicles are my Bike, my classic British MGs and my 32 foot RV so I would rather not be in the Blazer business.

So that's where we are at. Anyone have an idea what I should ask for the project, considering all the parts are already purchased for the head gaskets and intake manifolds, including all new studs and a tune up kit (plugs, rotor, dizzy cap)?

 

Too bad. I thought you would regret trying to do major engine work in the vehicle.

Where in Ohio are you. How long has the vehicle been in Ohio?

I'm in North Central Indiana and around here non-running second gen Blazers typically go for about $500. Check Craig's List. There are a lot of old Blazers out there. A 4WD S10 pickup would be sky-high in value, but for some reason not a Blazer.

 

I'm in Dayton. AFAIK the Blazer is original to Ohio. It has minor rust which was one of the selling points.

Not sure how low we are willing to go on the sale - we'll see what happens. I can junkyard the thing for $300 with a lot less hassle. At that point we'd pull the rims and tires and sell separately.

 

Well, good luck whatever you decide!