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The Hellcat Blazer

Just a budget Blazer build out of control
Overview Gallery Discussion
ABH Customs said:
I've never seen a panhard with leaves, but I have 3.5 extra feet of that .125 wall DOM so I'll have to play around with it!

Time to start crackin on these traction bars, these are BEEFY. I found my instant center yesterday, and my center to center length is gonna be ~87cm. I wish ORD coped one end for the bushing side, I'm gonna have to grind them for an hour :haha:
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@AugustDiesel recently did a panhard bar on his BluJay build, post #161.
 
Okay. The truck is running GREAT, I have to have put 300 miles on it in the last few days, I should've looked at the odometer. I have a couple things happening:

The power steering fluid gets pretty hot. I have callused hands and I grab food right outta the pan like any other man here, but the lines get too hot for me to hold. Very hot. Once it gets hot I can feel the steering lacking/not super smooth at low RPM/low speed conditions. I'm concerned it may be boiling the fluid in the lines. That Corvette PS pump is also turning 35's AND running the brakes, so I expect to need an HD pump at some point as well.

There is a large gap from the radiator to the intercooler heat exchanger currently so I will be running some tests first, but I may ditch this 2 row AC condenser for my black squares single row condenser/24×12 heat exchanger setup, and use the current exchanger as a power steering fluid cooler. If I'm gonna buy another one anyway, may as well some upgrades for the same cost.

I ran into a TRX guy in town and asked some questions. His intake temps just cruising around and on the highway are 110-120 degrees, and mine eventually get to (but don't exceed unless I'm stopped) ~115 degrees, but that's with a good amount of driving, so I'm confident that's normal. I took the hood off and my heat soak took significantly longer (duh, lol) but still settled around 100 degrees. Once I get some consistent airflow over the heat exchanger, I'll figure out my next move on the cooler situation. BUT we have verified that more airflow = cooler underhood/intake temps, so I bit the bullet and ordered a cowl hood. I took a risk on the design, but I wanted to try something a little different than the traditional Chevy cowl since this is something unusual. Hopefully it pulls it off! It's a 2", I'm not a fan of the 4-6" look. The flat hood fit, but the insulation just touched the top of the blower, and everything heated up 3-4x faster and reached higher temps. I'll post a picture as soon as it arrives.

The suspension is great. Once I get limit straps, bump stops and my driveshafts I'll actually be able to use it, but it's much smoother going down the road. It almost feels slower now than with stock suspension, because now it doesn't squat or stand up in the rear, it just goes. Just the right amount of weight transfer, not enough to upset anything. The traction bars work perfectly how I've got them set up, it really just goes with minimal attitude. I've spun the tires from a stop (like a roll-on, no hits yet) and it's super smooth with no hop or chatter. I couldn't physically feel the moment I lost traction, or when I regained it, all very smooth. So far, so good!
 
ABH Customs said:
Okay. The truck is running GREAT, I have to have put 300 miles on it in the last few days, I should've looked at the odometer. I have a couple things happening:

The power steering fluid gets pretty hot. I have callused hands and I grab food right outta the pan like any other man here, but the lines get too hot for me to hold. Very hot. Once it gets hot I can feel the steering lacking/not super smooth at low RPM/low speed conditions. I'm concerned it may be boiling the fluid in the lines. That Corvette PS pump is also turning 35's AND running the brakes, so I expect to need an HD pump at some point as well.

There is a large gap from the radiator to the intercooler heat exchanger currently so I will be running some tests first, but I may ditch this 2 row AC condenser for my black squares single row condenser/24×12 heat exchanger setup, and use the current exchanger as a power steering fluid cooler. If I'm gonna buy another one anyway, may as well some upgrades for the same cost.

I ran into a TRX guy in town and asked some questions. His intake temps just cruising around and on the highway are 110-120 degrees, and mine eventually get to (but don't exceed unless I'm stopped) ~115 degrees, but that's with a good amount of driving, so I'm confident that's normal. I took the hood off and my heat soak took significantly longer (duh, lol) but still settled around 100 degrees. Once I get some consistent airflow over the heat exchanger, I'll figure out my next move on the cooler situation. BUT we have verified that more airflow = cooler underhood/intake temps, so I bit the bullet and ordered a cowl hood. I took a risk on the design, but I wanted to try something a little different than the traditional Chevy cowl since this is something unusual. Hopefully it pulls it off! It's a 2", I'm not a fan of the 4-6" look. The flat hood fit, but the insulation just touched the top of the blower, and everything heated up 3-4x faster and reached higher temps. I'll post a picture as soon as it arrives.

The suspension is great. Once I get limit straps, bump stops and my driveshafts I'll actually be able to use it, but it's much smoother going down the road. It almost feels slower now than with stock suspension, because now it doesn't squat or stand up in the rear, it just goes. Just the right amount of weight transfer, not enough to upset anything. The traction bars work perfectly how I've got them set up, it really just goes with minimal attitude. I've spun the tires from a stop (like a roll-on, no hits yet) and it's super smooth with no hop or chatter. I couldn't physically feel the moment I lost traction, or when I regained it, all very smooth. So far, so good!
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Never had a blower setup, but on my turbo diesel, my intake temps are normally around five degrees above ambient temp.
 
Fastereddie said:
Never had a blower setup, but on my turbo diesel, my intake temps are normally around five degrees above ambient temp.
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If you’ve got an intercooler that’s about right. My turbo tundra at full boost is 15-20* above ambient and at ambient driving around. Blowers run hotter since typically they have a heat exchanger that’s cycling coolant through and not a big front mount intercooler.
 
For sure, cooling W2A, then A2W can't get the incoming charge the same as ambient, it will always be warmer. Lowering under-hood temps yields lower intake charge for 2 reasons. First, the blower housing, manifold and everything is a little cooler. However, air doesn't really sit in an intake long enough to take on much heat from it, at least while you're driving around. The other factor is the elephant in the room - you're feeding the engine under-hood air, so of course lowering that temp drops the intake temp. CAI could bring it down another 10-20 degrees, and would help differentiate the factors.
 
Blue85 said:
Lowering under-hood temps yields lower intake charge for 2 reasons. First, the blower housing, manifold and everything is a little cooler.
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Especially with how the lid is designed, that was my thought process too.

Blue85 said:
However, air doesn't really sit in an intake long enough to take on much heat from it, at least while you're driving around. The other factor is the elephant in the room - you're feeding the engine under-hood air, so of course lowering that temp drops the intake temp. CAI could bring it down another 10-20 degrees, and would help differentiate factors
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I was gonna fab something for a cold air intake through the core support, but now I may just have the filter take a 135⁰ turn and sit right next to the blower so it gets fresh air from the cowl
 
Well, the hood got here but was way too small. I called in to order, and to verbally confirm fitment as verified by the website for a K5 Blazer, but it was an S10 Blazer hood. Huge bummer, I really liked the look of it. No wonder I've never seen one on a K5! Lol. So I returned it, and ordered another cowl hood that is definitely for my truck. It's a little different, but that's the theme of this truck so I went with it! Estimated delivery is 6/17.
 
I have 4 speakers and no subs in the truck, and for some reason all 4 speakers are in the back of the truck. I wanted to add some audio, and got a great deal on 2 Kenwood 10" shallow mount subs. I got a decent deal on a 2400w amp too, so I started putting some ideas together and got to crafting. I didn't want a conventional sub box, because I want the back fully open for cargo or whatever. If I fold the seat forward, then the box is in the middle of the cargo area and I gotta unbolt and move it, just a hassle. Here's what I came up with.
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They fit over the wheel wells, and sit next to the back seat on the front half. This moves the audio forward towards the driver area, and also makes great use of the empty bedsides! They're just under 6" thick, and stick out of the bedsides 2.5-3". The red line in the photo below is an internal wall, showing this box is 1 piece but has 2 separate enclosures, the rear being for my 6x9's that are currently back at the tailgate. I did the math, my enclosure provides 0.75 cubic feet for the sub. It asks for 0.6-1.0, so it's right in the sweet spot.
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With the seats forward, the subs are protected from cargo and the armrest is forward of the sub. When the seat is back, the armrest us up and back, so it's never obstructed.
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I beveled the edges and got my 6x9's cut. I also went around every seam and sealed all the gaps (where the wood glue ran or didn't totally fill the gap) with DAP Ultra Clear. I'm gonna give it 24h to cure, then I'm gonna hit the boxes with some rubberized sealer spray. This will seal and waterproof them, also making them look nicer. I may or may not put some of that carpet stuff people use over it, we'll see how it turns out! I also went around and flushed up all the overhangs or uneven edges (like the photo above, on the right) so everything should look alright once it's sealed and black. The amp is probably gonna go under the driver's seat, to be out of the way and out of the sun.
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I've never made sub boxes or anything like this before, so we'll see how it holds up. I used some pretty cheap plywood since I was just playing around, so I may re-make them with some MDF or Birch if I have any moisture problems or anything later.
 
The osb will probably flake apart under any stress. However if it sounds decent then you've found a cheap way to model up for some better wood.
 
My son had this ratty looking guitar amp. I pulled the carpet off and shot it with rattle can rubberized undercoating. It took like a week to dry, but with the texture, it looked good enough to just leave it like that. The right way to do that would be some real cabinet finish like Duratex, but it's a lot more money. I would think bed liner would work well.
https://www.parts-express.com/speak...hardware-speaker-grill-cloth/cabinet-covering
 
Audio is working great, and limit straps are on their way. I went with TMR clevis mounts/blocks, weld-on double shear tabs for the axle side, and PRP quad wrap straps. The way I will be mounting them, 13" front and 14" rear straps. Ran me ~$350 for everything.

Driveshafts from Dynamic Drivelines should be here today, hopefully. Rear 1410 shaft and front 1350 shaft came out to just under $1200, and the front is good for any load/rpm in 4wd! They're also good for well over 800hp and 30 degree shaft angle, which is more than I will be pulling.

The hood got here, and I like it much more than I thought I would! It's the Jegs sunken spine 2" cowl
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The angle makes it look like a dent, but it's smooth, seems like it's because of how the cowl is formed while also curving down the front of the hood. It's like a slight bulge, but it's intentional in the design. I only noticed it in that last photo
 
Excited to see 4 wheel
Burnouts/launches once the driveshafts show up!

Would be a killer sleeper from a dig, nobody would expect it. Could probably hustle a couple people
 
muddybuddy said:
Excited to see 4 wheel
Burnouts/launches once the driveshafts show up!

Would be a killer sleeper from a dig, nobody would expect it. Could probably hustle a couple people
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I am also looking forward to some hits from a dig. May God help that front 10 bolt! Lmao. I hope those 30 spline chromoly shafts don't let me down. So far everything has been performing perfectly, I'd like to keep that theme going. My only concern with hard launches is front wheel hop/risking bending or tweaking the front springs, since they're so soft
 
After a month of waiting for driveshafts, UPS lost the front one!! Agh! Summer will be over by the time I get this thing done. 2-3 more weeks before I have 4wd :reddevil::cry:
 
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