Thanks for all the advice guys!

I spoke with a mechanic friend of mine and he confirmed that the Fel-Pro gaskets are the best ones to get, but the RTV they include is total junk. He recommended I get the original factory RTV sealant, part 88864346. Since I work at a Chevy dealership, that wasn't hard to get my hands on.

I'll be back at it this Wednesday. More to come, and I'll try to include a few pics of the process. Really looking forward to doing those oil cooler lines

 

Hello all!

Finally got a couple of days to start putting the thing back together. Last thing I'm working on replacing is the heater core. What a royal pain that has become - who had the grand idea to put it all the way back in there??? I was able to use a long extension and a flex socket to get that tricky screw behind all that plastic in the engine bay.

I used Permatex liquid gasket on the new water pump and distributor gaskets upon recommendation of a mechanic friend, and I used the GM RTV sealant - lots of it - and gave it a couple weeks to cure, and re-tightened all bolts to their required torque. Things look a lot better than they did when I took the engine apart - I cleaned a lot of old oil off of this thing - I'll post pictures of before and after soon!

Does anyone have a recommendation for tightening the fan clutch onto the water pump at its required 57 ft/lb? Even if i do it with the belt on, it's going to start slipping well before that point - and the last thing I want is to turn off the engine and have that thing spin off!

I should have this thing up and running in just a couple weeks - I couldn't be more excited to get it back!

 

Got everything back together, finally. It probably took me 30 hours, but I replaced everything - not just the LIM gaskets, but a new MPFI injection system, a new radiator, distributor with cap and rotor, spark plugs, fan clutch, oil cooler lines, heater core, water pump, all new hoses, and so much more.

Quick side note - I ruined my oil filter adapter by stripping one of the holes for the cooler line bolts - it doesn't take much, and I just didn't make sure it was straight on going in. The aluminum housing on these things is not strong! BY FAR the best and easiest way to make sure the cooler lines fit right is to take the oil filter adapter off of its screws, attach the cooler lines, and then put the oil filter adapter back on its screws.

After putting in the oil and coolant, I tried to start it, and absolutely nothing is firing. It cranks easily, but there's just no ignition whatsoever. After reading a dozen articles on this, and confirming that my fuel pressure is good, I'm assuming it's the distributor alignment. I put it back in the same position that I had it in before I started, but being as the distributor was one of the first things I removed, I'm sure the crank pulley encountered some movement while it was out, causing the timing to be off. Time to figure out how to do the TDC thing.

If anyone has any other recommendations, let me know - I'll be back at it this weekend, trying to get the thing running.

Also, still wondering what the best method is for tightening the fan onto the water pump - I have the wrench, but how do you hold the pulley in place? Recommended torque is 57 ft/lb - something I obviously am nowhere near...

 

There is another tool for holding the pulley in place. A loaner at Autozone or Advance Auto Parts.

 

Thanks Les! I'll make sure to stop by and pick that up before I drive this thing around!

 

 

I just wanted to put a wrap on this one - made a rookie mistake and had the distributor cap 180 degrees off. Blazer fired right up after that, and has been running well for the last 6 months. if anyone has any questions regarding LIM gasket replacement, I'd love to offer up anything I've learned.

Thanks for all your help everyone!

 

Thanks for the update and congrats on getting running!