Imma 16 year old highschool student and we've had our old 96 blazer sittin in the yard for about 5-6 years. I've decided i wanted to take this under as a project vehichle. The problems it was having when we sat it down was no reverse( i beleive its the rear sun gear in the transmission), breaks were locking up, break lights were not functioning right,fuel pump, and it might of had a few more small issues. I wanna get it running first before i start to restoring it, what all do you think should have to be done before it get it to running. I have pretty decent mechanic skills for a person my age and was wanting to know if this would be something easy for me to do. The hardest thing im looking at is the transmission removal and repair. I just wanna know how hard it will be to get started and running. Thanks for reading and please help me out.

 

I would start with the fuel pump issue first, change fuel filter too. Then I would pull spark plugs and fill cylinders with oil or wd40 and of course change oil if its been sitting for 5-6 yrs outside in the elements. Let oil soak in cylinders for a good while then crank engine with plugs out, this will be messy but should help cylinder walls, until all oil is out of cylinders. Replace plugs and hopefully u got fuel issue fixed then crank away hoping for a fired up engine

 

Ok thanks for tips...when/if i get it up and running and all the other repairs made how reliable of a truck am i looking at hows it on gas. How does the 4.3 do power wise and how much can it pull im looking at throwing alot underhood aftermarket parts at when i get all the repairs made. I've done alot of research and read the haynes repair manual for it a few times and pretty much troubleshooted and pinpointed all my problems.

 

They can be very reliable trucks.. if maintained. If it's been sitting for that long, expect there to be a lot of annoying little things for awhile. Mine sat for two years before I got it. Had a lot to do to get it running good, but nothing major at all. Once you attend to the fuel system (pump, filter, spider, regulator "nut kit") they're fairly bullet proof and straight forward.

As far as mileage, I average about 18 with 50/50 mixed highway and city. Probably about 20 highway, and 16 in town.

Power seems decent considering it's a v-6 pushing around a 4500 lb truck. I've never towed with it, so I'm not sure about that.