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83' M1009 Rebuild to Civilian

Massboy

Massboy

1/2 ton status
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Location
South Dartmouth,massachusetts
I have currently started to rebuild an 83' 1009 I got 4 years ago with no motor, trans, or TC. I picked up an 86 diesel civilian Blazer with good 700R4 and 208 TC. I picked up a 91' J 6.2 with low mileage and have decided to get my but in gear. I am also new to this forum and will most likely do a build thread with pictures. During the rebuild I will be adding the AC, doing a frame off, adding the spray on bed liner material both to the bottom of the body and the inside floor. It is getting new doors, tailgate, inner fenders, and outer fenders. (reason for the new sheet metal was dents and the cold weather heating system with holes in the front fenders, there is hardly any rust in this Alaskan stationed M1009) One question I had I posted on another thread but realized the title of the thread was not really in line with my question. The question is: I would like to use a nice set of 33" BF Goods that came on the donor Blazer with the stock rears (3.08's) that are in this M1009. I am going to use this for an everyday driver with virtually no towing and a slight chance of low range snow plowing of just my own drive. I am looking for the best fuel mileage without the trans constantly "hunting" between 3rd and 4th gear. I do know how to set the TV cable and will use a pressure gauge to check my trans. I currently have a M1009 on the road with the stock TH400 and know that 75 mph is pushing it so I'm thinking that the 700R4 w/33"s might calm the rpms down. Has anyone made the conversion to the 700R4 with the stock 3.08 gearing? And, if so, have any gone to 33" tires?

Thanks in advance,
Ted
 
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The OD gear in the 700r4 is 0.7:1, so with 3.08 axles gears it would be equivalent to the TH400 equipped truck but with 2.10:1 axle gears when cruising down the freeway. Personally I think the 3.08 axles and OD in the 700r4 with 33" tires would be lugging the engine too much and not work very well.

Not quite sure what you mean that 75 mph is "pushing it", but depending the actual size of the 33" tires that is only around 2,400 rpm. I'm sure a M1009 starts getting pretty loud inside at 75 mph, but my highly insulated civilian Silverado model seemed fine. My gearing and tire combinations put me around 2,200-2,300 rpm at that speed and I put many thousands of miles on it doing this.

I've had a 6.2 K5 with the 700r4 since '94. The stocks gearing was 3.73 and it had 32" tires on it when I bought it and thought it cruised the highway very nicely (got two speeding tickets going 75+ mph with it). The gearing was switched to 4.10 and I ran 33x12.50's for years as a daily driver and then 35's. The 33/4.10 ratio worked nice also with very little to no shift-hunting, but still I never shifted into OD unless cruising at least 55-60 for extended times. The 35's were okay but it did cause a little more shift-hunting on grades, but my daily driver and freeway time were limited with this combo as it became a second vehicle.
 
Thanks 6.2. This is the type of info I'm looking for. Most my driving is pretty level and I'm looking for the 2000-2200 range. Basically in 3rd there would be no problem and even on the highway at 75 mph OD should drop it down to about the 2000 mark. I think I might be alright. You are correct on the "pushing it" comment meant LOUD, LOL. I will be sound proofing my rebuild as best as I can. I have all the old insulation from the civilian donor blazer and will be using most of that. Spray on liner underneath and on top with full rugs should also help. At least I can try the 33"s and if it does lug too much go back to the stock 31"s or change the gears.
 
My thoughts are that with a diesel, 700R4, and 33s... you'll want at least 3.73s in the axles. 4.10s with a gas engine (not applicable in this case).

I would look at the donor truck and see what it has for gears.

Where in Mass are you?
 
Hi Brian,
Donor axles were 3.42's I believe but they are gone now. The 700R has a much lower first than the TH400 (2.48 TH400, 3.06 700R) so it should start moving without much problem and even 2nd gear is slightly lower. Both 3rds are 1 to 1 with the OD being .70. I can at least try it and see. I live not far at all from you in Dartmouth.

Ted
 
My crystal ball foresees a gear change in your future. :D

You can try it, I think you'll hate it. Or kill the trans.

Not trying to be negative. I'm typically a "glass half full" guy.
 
3.08's and 33's, will put that 700R4 down, in quick order.
3.73's and 33's, and it'll still complain.

Find some 4.10's, minimum.

Or you could get a spare trans... :dunno: :D
 
I have a spare trans.

But, it's MINE!!! You CAN'T have it!

(pulls transmission a little closer)

:D
 
Found a rpm chart and it looks like it will be turning 1650 rpms @75 in OD. Looks a little too low. Better with the 31's @ 1750. I can still run it in 3rd and not use OD until I figure out if I'll go with a gear change. My 08' Duramax is turning 1800 at 75 with it's 17" wheels. Not much different but a lot more power with the DM.
 
I also have two TH400's so I'm not worried about the trans. I also have a 30x60 heated garage to change it in.:D This will be a toy and if I do it right at the start then I won't have an excuse to give to the wife to get back in the garage! LOL


Brian: I see that you used 02' Silverado seats. I will need nice seats for this possibly with heat (wife has cold medical condition). I was curious if 02' and up Envoy seats will work. Will need some sort of pivot set up for the passenger side entrance. Not sure if I can find a way to mount the Envoy buckets to the original Blazer seat brackets.
 
I wrote an article on the install of those seats in the "tech articles" section. I think you need to be a paid member to get in there.

The factory seat brackets (or stands) are the main problem. They play hell with the floor causing stress cracks and all out breakage. I used the silverado brackets/sliders and made support mounts where they were bolted to the floor. They are much stronger and more supportive seats in general. I bet you could find the same style seats in full power and heated with leather and just wire them in.
 
As of right now I'm not a paying member. Did you make the passenger seat pivot forward to the dash for easier rear passenger entry? I was intending on putting 1/8th plate under the seat brackets anyway even though my floors are like new. I found many cracks on others because of the seat brackets so I know what you mean. I suppose I could find high back pickup seats like you said from a extra or crew cab with the power and heat. Man, that would really be pimping my ride!:D I realized today that this truck is almost 30 years old. Going to be almost new when done. Saw a 85 M1009 with a 4" lift and fresh paint both inside and out go for 11k on Ebay. Of course had nice wheels and sneakers on it to but wasn't done up super radical but was virtually rust free and straight like mine. Makes spending the time worth it.

Ted
 
I just slide the seat forward all the way with the backrest forward. Provides enough room to access the rear. My original seats didn't flip and fold forward anyway so I'm not missing anything on that. And really the only one needing to get to the back seat (if I ever put it back in) is my daughter. Right now with the new seats I have 3 seats across the front row. The center seat folds down to a console/armrest.
 
Got the radiator support all painted up and put the headlight harness and lights back on. Got most the frame painted, working on the drive shafts now. Made a list of what I need to get the frame and running gear done so I can run the engine in the chassis. Will need to take out a few things from the old rotted M1009 to put in this one like the new radiator I installed in it about a year ago. Will be using the oil cooler lines from the donor 1009 too. I hope to get some pictures up of the rebuild. It's starting to look really good with everything painted. One question I will be asking in the diesel section. When my brother tried to turn the motor by the balancer so I could put in the torque converter bolts the outer pulleys turned on the rubber. They turn with a lot of difficulty but they turn without the motor turning. I did read that the rubber was put on the 86' balancers to prevent belt oscillation but not sure if there should be any slipping of the pulleys. Does anyone know. I need to use this balancer for the extra pulleys on it for the AC.
 
Done a lot more work on the frame. Picked up all new belts, right front exhaust pipe, emergency brake cables, trans shift cable, etc. Put in the exhaust, belts, and am working on the emergency cables. I pulled all the rear brake components and I am painting the backing plates. The brake shoes are like new with shiny black paint on them and the Gov. stocking numbers. It's amazing how good of condition this Blazer is for 28+ years old. I pulled the military chassis light harness out and have put in my civilian one with all the leads for the power tailgate. This blazer will look like a M1009 on the outside with the tow rings and military issue brush guard but will have all the luxury of the top of the line civilian model. Getting more and more done each day. A good friend of mine who owns a body shop will be taking the body for me. He will be doing the little body work needed and all the coatings/paint. It will be nice to have the body being done while I'm finishing up the running gear.
 
What color you gonna paint it?

And, for what it's worth, I'd leave the manual tailgate window in there as long as it still works. May be a pain to get out and open/close when you need to, but it will work every time you want to open or close it.
 
I agree--never cared for electric tailgates,they only seem to work foe me in summer weather,and I rarely use them often,so they rust up and the motors get balky...I had crank up manual windows on my station wagons and never had any trouble with them..but every time I used the electric ones it was always a gamble if it'd go up and down OK without incident...................................you'd have to pull up on the glass often in cold weather,while holding the key in the up position to get the motor to go,felt like the weatherstripping shrunk against the glass--sprayed it with silicone spray and that helped it a lot for awhile...while with a manua; one,you just cranked a bit harder and it always worked...
 
It's going to get painted GM charcoal black/gray. I was thinking of putting the manual tailgate window in it that I have but I'm still putting the wiring in for the electric because I have it. I have a new tinted rear window glass, new motor, and new regulator that came with the donor blazer spare parts box so it's hard not to use the stuff. Plus, the tailgate that came on the donor blazer works completely too. I will be putting new window wiper/rubbers on the tailgate also. Almost got the brakes completely done tonight. I am painting all the components and the backing plates so it's a process of disassembling, wire brushing/sanding, priming, painting, reassembling. Will turn the drums on the brake lathe and then paint them too. My buddy is having some braided tranny cooling lines made up for me by his friend for a favor owed him plus he gave me two gallons of black automotive enamel tonight to finish painting anything I need. He's a good friend!:thumb:
 
Gotten a lot of work done now. I've put new fuel lines and brake lines in the rear just because there was a slight amount of pitting in the clamp areas. I bet they would've held up for another 5 years but with the body off it took almost no time doing it other than bending up the new lines to match the old. Drive shafts are painted and installed. I just picked up a new oil pan because I brazed a hole in mine and I don't trust it. I will be running this motor first before I change it to make sure the motor has no issues before I go through the work. Started bending up my new tranny cooling lines and will get on the radiator support. Started stripping my old M1009 too. I am using the radiator in my rebuild as it is only 1-2yrs old and better than the one from the civilian donor. I took the fisher plow setup off then the whole front clip off and once I'm done on the interior, the tub will be removed for scrap. Motor and trans are excellent and I will be keeping them. I will have a lot of M1009 parts to sell so keep posted. The Hydra boost has been spoken for but other than that, I'll have most of the smaller items like shackles and brackets. I also have a pair of civilian sliding rear windows that I will be selling. I will be updating my member status here so I can post pictures and have some adds. I will also have some brand new in box parts for gas blazers including 350 engine rebuild parts that will sell cheap.
 
Interesting. Keep at it.

You are over the 15 post minimum and should be able to post pics now.

I'll keep an eye out when you have that gasser engine rebuild stuff available.
 
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