See post #28 here for timing chain tensioner and differences in front cover:. Note this is the sad saga of my first 4.3 rebuild on my newly aquired Blazer which had the bearings get trashed after only 3000 miles Afterwards I put in a Goodwrench engine. Lots of mis-diagnosis in the beginning. Soon will be 10 years IIRC.
https://blazerforum.com/forum/2nd-ge...e-87514/page3/

 

That's some story.


George

 

Biggest moral to come away with is to never ever prime an oil pump with intake manifold off, when drill motor brush particles can fall into the lifter valley. Now have 60k more miles on it. Still no rust - still looks good. No more problems. I figure I have driven my $12,000 out of it based on current SUV prices. Still have the first failed rebuild sitting in plastic in the Goodwrench shipping crate inside my garage.

 

I am very aggressive at learning new things and doing everything myself. The problem is that every once and a while you get into something where experience is important to avoid a mission critical mistake and then I can get out ahead of my ski's. I have a few of these myself but overall I have enjoyed the DIY ride and most things turn out great.

That is a really clean good looking truck.

George

 

Thanks George, I always did like the looks of 2nd gen Blazers - especially this particular color. Bought the perfect-looking POS with 65K miles from a new car dealership. Paid a lot of money for a Blazer. Certainly found out why the previous owner traded it in. I think if anyone else owned this vehicle it would have been in a junkyard years ago.

I'm a bit embarassed that I did what I did to ruin the bearings on my rebuilt engine. Believe me, I have lots of experience building engines! Just had a truly blonde moment while priming the oiling system, and contaminated things big time with grit while trying to do something to perfection - and then I didn't realize my error until Mahle to told me there was strange debris in the oil. If I had just fired it up without priming, I'm sure it would have been just fine. The Goodwrench engine went in because of frustration at my failure and a desire to stop working on it ASAP. I went all the way to the bottom of the slippery slope on that hill and fell on my ***.

The truck has been hit 3 times since I got it. Front and both sides. Fortunately not hard enough to total it and insurance fixed each time. Replaced rear bumper as it started to bubble under the paint. Had bumper painted by body shop during one of the repairs. So most paint is pretty new, and was done by a really good body shop! Still looks great with no rust-through on body, but had to replace a rear spring shackle 4 years ago and a body mount bolt recently rusted and broke off. Been taking it last 3 years to Krown Rustproofing (oil spray) each year to try and save it as long as possible. I think the left rear door bottom will be the first rust-through - but I keep spraying Krown protectant from a spray can inside every few months to slow it down. I bet Reway has heard of Krown Rustproofing before! It's Canadian. So every late Summer I put the Blazer on the trailer, go pick up my buddy, and pull it with the Avalanche (a central Georgia rust-free vehicle) 300+ miles round trip to Monroe, Michigan, a town south of Detroit that has a Krown franchise. Then I have both of them done same afternoon while we hang out in a cafe.

Here it is as of last Summer, all shined up! I still like it, even after all the troubles.

 

If your aggressive about learning and taking risks along the way, there will be some forced errors. You don't forge new territory without them. Then its sunk cost and make the best decision you can from right now.


George

 

Alright so I got the front cover off, it has a tensioner so the chain is nice and tight. Everything looks pretty good to me, I'm thinking I will just replace the front cover and go on my way, what do you guys think? That's some story with your blazer Les, I read that post a bit, it's still looking in perfect condition! George, I'm the same way I like to do anything I can by myself I would rather learn how to do something than pay someone to do it for me. Many times though, "I do it nice because I do it twice".

 

Yep, you have the tensioner. I think its a big go! Just the timing cover. Tiny bit of grease on the sealing surface of the balancer and on the crank snout! Be sure to pull the balancer back on with a tool if it is tight - don't beat it on with a hammer or try to pull it back on with the original bolt.

You have a different style (apparently original) tensioner that will use the original design timing covers. Mine was a cover specifically designed to fit the Manley tensioner.

 

Sounds good Les, I got the new front cover on yesterday. There was a small mishap putting on the balancer, when I first pressed it into the seal it pinched the seal over in a spot, luckily I just put the puller back on and pulled it out a bit then the seal went back how it should then ran it in the rest of the way. I just used some threaded rod with washers to install the balancer. Got the oil pan on at last and started cleaning, I should be able to start painting today. Should I sand all the old paint to scratch it up all over before painting or just paint directly over?

 

Clean and completely oil free is as good as you can do! Looking good!

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