The last time we saw this little LT4 Corvette-powered Blazer, it was scootin’ cross-country with three of its 502-powered Chevrolet Raceshop brethren. The group was part of the GM motor medic display, which traveled with and supported participants on the 1998 Hot Rod Power Tour from Los Angeles to Detroit.
Exterior body mods for this cool custom Bow Tie include a shaved roof rack; relocating the center-high-mounted brake light to the inside of the vehicle; shortening the rear bumper; and a Brazilian S-10 hood, headlights, grill, and fender caps.
For the East Coast Power Tour, Raceshop engineer Mark McPhail and the author decided to improve on the Blazer’s already potent powertrain by removing the 4L60E four-speed automatic transmission and replacing it with a T56 six-speed manual. Raceshop technicians Todd “4-Speed” Monsey, Dennis Skutecki, and Mike Daniels took on the task.
They started the project by focusing on the T56 installation. The first modification was to install a Centerforce hydraulic clutch system just like the one used by Flowmaster’s John Wilson when he built his ’67 Camaro (see Get 6: Good Swap Stuff On T56 Six-Speeds Into Early Camaros, September 1998 ). The stock ’95 Blazer tranny crossmember remained in the stock location, however the tongue was removed and a 3/8x1-inch slotted hole was cut in the center of the top of the crossmember rearward of the original tranny mount location. The ’96-and-later crossmembers are different and would require more work. The crew then drilled a bigger 1-¼-inch hole through the bottom of the crossmember to allow access to the retaining nut. They also lowered the top of the cross member 1-¼ inches to permit room for the stock ’96 Camaro trans mount. This was the most extensive modification. The rest was easy.
The Raceshop boys decided to retain the original console when it was determined that the stock shift lever would poke through the console about in the middle of the rear cupholder. To clear the shifter, the guys cut a 4-inch hole in the floor above the lever and installed the modified crossmember. The next step was to seal the opening using a ’96 Camaro rubber boot. The team created clearance in the bottom of the console to allow room for the rubber boot to move with the shifter and then reinstalled the console in its original position. The next step was to reposition the stock Camaro shift handle slightly forward and upward to place it in the center of the cupholder opening. Next, the guys fabricated a bracket from ¼-inch aluminum angle. To finish off this swap, the boys added a ’96 Camaro leather boot and shift ball.
Since this Blazer was originally an automatic, the Raceshop team replaced the clutch, brake, and parking brake pedal assemblies with pieces from a manual S-10 of similar vintage. This incorporates the use of smaller pedal pads, which provide more foot room during enthusiastic driving. The automatic steering column was retained after the shift lever was removed and the appropriate manual column covers found their way on to the steering column. A few wiring changes were required to allow the clutch pedal to control the cruise control and starter. Clutch activation duties were carried out with a combination of a ’95 S-truck master cylinder coupled to a ’96 Camaro clutch slave cylinder. Since the T56 and 4L60E transmissions are the same length, the original driveshaft and yoke were reused.
Additional modifications that complemented the tranny swap included the installation of a 3.73-posi-equipped ’98 T-Blazer (4WD) rear axle with disc brakes and the use of ’96 ZR1 Corvette wheels front and rear. Because the T-truck rear axle is wider than the S-truck axle (59 versus 54.5 inches), the 11-inch-wide Corvette wheels bolted on without the use of spacers. The front 8½-inch-wide wheels required the use of 2-inch spacers because the front end is essentially still a two-wheel-drive S-10. The rest of the front suspension includes 12-inch rotors from a 1LE Camaro using ’96 Impala SS calipers and Bell Tech ’96 Impala SS 2-inch dropped front spindles positioned with Hotchkis upper A-arms. The bigger brakes required a bigger master cylinder from a ’96 Impala SS. The Blazer runs Goodyear rubber all around—245/45ZR17 on the front and 315/35ZR17 tires on the rear—and they all fit under the sheetmetal with no body mods.
While there’s little that’s still stock on this Blazer, it also typifies what can be done to a Blazer or an S-10 truck to transform it from a utilitarian pickup into a road burner with V-8 power.