older + more $ = vehicle upgrades

[doonjumper]

Ok I have had my K5 blazer for 8.5 years. I bought it stock and modded it and it has been tons of fun. I am older now and make more money than I did when I bought it so i think it's time to change things up a bit. What I am going to do is put in an 4l80E quadzilla, an atlas II, and either the 572 Chevy motor or a merlin III. What I would like are your opinions on the motor and which ratio on the atlas. The cost of the two motors are bout dead on in price. Ive looked at the different components that each builder uses but I would like a general consensus as to which the community feels is the better motor. As far as the atlas I'm undecided on the 3.0 or the 3.8. I don't rock crawl. I mainly play in the sand and would definitely like to get into the occasional mud bog comps. I would appreciate all the members input before i lock in my drive-train package. Thanks in advance

 

[bogginboy]

a buddy of mine runs a 572 with the atlas 3.0 and dana 60/14 combo with 488s and locked with a bbuilt 400 turbo and 39.5 irocks and it kills

 

[muddermilitia]

I wouldnt waste my $ on a 3.0 atlas. For 1/2 the cost you can get a LOMAX np205 with 3:1 low and its stronger than an atlas.

 

[doonjumper]

Thanks I'll definatley look into that as an option. Just need to learn more bout the LOMAX np205.

 

[broncoman6524]

holy crap...i would kill to have a merlin!

In my opinion i would run a 4speed...Ive driven a few and rode with them and i like htem much better than my th400.

What terrain will this truck be?

 

[doonjumper]

The terrain will be mainly 90% sand dunes and I wanna get into mud boggs.

 

[broncoman6524]

Good choices...

 

[Chevy305]

I vote Merlin III because World Products dyno tunes and breaks in all of their crate engines before shipping them. And I think their warrenty is longer as well.

The Lomax 205 sounds like a good bet for ya with the 3.0 reduction. As well as the SM465.

 

[doonjumper]

Thats the weird thing the Merlin III is already broke in and dyno tested. PLUS it has 695 ponies to the 572 chev'y 620 then there is the torque difference of coarse. I think I have settled on the merlin III, and Atlas II 3.1 You guys rock!! Thanks for the advice, opinions, and time it took to reply.