Guess who's back!?! Atl-atl's K5 Blazer + Four Wheel Camper "The Crawlin Cabin" documentation thread!

[nitro_rat]

For the hydroboost I'm pretty sure it's the brake pedal itself that's different, the hole spacing is different. You don't need the whole pedal box for that swap.

The issue that I have with aftermarket stuff is that if your Novak clutch slave takes a dump in the middle of nowhere on the Friday afternoon of a holiday weekend where are you gonna get a replacement? A stock part is on the shelf at an Autozone somewhere...

 

[Atl-atl]

For the hydroboost I'm pretty sure it's the brake pedal itself that's different, the hole spacing is different. You don't need the whole pedal box for that swap.

The issue that I have with aftermarket stuff is that if your Novak clutch slave takes a dump in the middle of nowhere on the Friday afternoon of a holiday weekend where are you gonna get a replacement? A stock part is on the shelf at an Autozone somewhere...

So it would be possible to grab a pedal from any newer truck with hydroboost, even an automatic? And just replace the actual foot pad on the pedal so its a smaller one like a manual. It seems to me it will be incredibly hard to find a hydroboost manual trans brake pedal.

Im keeping my eye out for an SM465 hydraulic bell housing.

 

[Atl-atl]

Today I drove up to a little bumblef*ck town about an hour north of Phoenix to pick up a different bellhousing for the SM465. I learned that I had the bellhousing for a mechanical clutch and it would be easier to make this all work if I could find one for a hydraulic clutch so I can use all factory GM parts. There are conversions available to run a hydro slave cylinder on the mechanical bellhousing but they are not "off the shelf" parts and Id rather have stock stuff. Apparently they are hard to find yet somehow I found one the first day I looked!

When I pull up to the house its a typical "unincorporated such-n-such county" type place and there are cars everywhere. Definitely in the right place. (Spoiler alert, I dont die) Guy comes out and invites me over to the garage where there is a literal assembly line of transmissions. Turns out he "retired" from his lifelong business rebuilding transmissions and just cant let it go. So I grab the bellhousing and then think hey, I need a 2WD output shaft and tail housing for the 700r4 to throw in my bosses C10. Of course he has about 73 to choose from! So I grab those parts too and after about an hour and a half talking about everything going on in the modern world, Im finally back on the road. I call my boss with the good news, swing by his house, the two of us take the trans and parts over to the shop that did the current driveline on his truck and we drop everything off. The 700 is getting the 2WD treatment, new internals, new dipstick and a higher stall converter. I was promised burnouts when its done. :laugh:

Im not 100% sure this bellhousing will work, most of the holes line up but I think it might have been bolted to a Dodge motor not a Chevy. The two bottom holes on the loose housing are angled backwards about 45 degrees and dont line up with the two lower holes on the housing thats mounted to the trans. Can anyone tell from these pictures if thats accurate? Is there a difference between Chevy bellhousing bolt patterns and others? Everything else lines up. How many bolts need to match between the bellhousing and the block to be acceptable?

 

[nitro_rat]

So it would be possible to grab a pedal from any newer truck with hydroboost, even an automatic? And just replace the actual foot pad on the pedal so its a smaller one like a manual. It seems to me it will be incredibly hard to find a hydroboost manual trans brake pedal.

Im keeping my eye out for an SM465 hydraulic bell housing.

You need a brake pedal from any 73-87 c/k truck or 73-91 c/k or r/v Suburban/Blazer/Jimmy with hydroboost. Diesel rigs or 1 tons are a good place to look. If you score an automatic pedal you can just cut it down so the manual pad fits.

Today I drove up to a little bumblef*ck town about an hour north of Phoenix to pick up a different bellhousing for the SM465. I learned that I had the bellhousing for a mechanical clutch and it would be easier to make this all work if I could find one for a hydraulic clutch so I can use all factory GM parts. There are conversions available to run a hydro slave cylinder on the mechanical bellhousing but they are not "off the shelf" parts and Id rather have stock stuff. Apparently they are hard to find yet somehow I found one the first day I looked!

When I pull up to the house its a typical "unincorporated such-n-such county" type place and there are cars everywhere. Definitely in the right place. (Spoiler alert, I dont die) Guy comes out and invites me over to the garage where there is a literal assembly line of transmissions. Turns out he "retired" from his lifelong business rebuilding transmissions and just cant let it go. So I grab the bellhousing and then think hey, I need a 2WD output shaft and tail housing for the 700r4 to throw in my bosses C10. Of course he has about 73 to choose from! So I grab those parts too and after about an hour and a half talking about everything going on in the modern world, Im finally back on the road. I call my boss with the good news, swing by his house, the two of us take the trans and parts over to the shop that did the current driveline on his truck and we drop everything off. The 700 is getting the 2WD treatment, new internals, new dipstick and a higher stall converter. I was promised burnouts when its done. :laugh:

Im not 100% sure this bellhousing will work, most of the holes line up but I think it might have been bolted to a Dodge motor not a Chevy. The two bottom holes on the loose housing are angled backwards about 45 degrees and dont line up with the two lower holes on the housing thats mounted to the trans. Can anyone tell from these pictures if thats accurate? Is there a difference between Chevy bellhousing bolt patterns and others? Everything else lines up. How many bolts need to match between the bellhousing and the block to be acceptable?

The LS bolt pattern is a little different from the traditional Chevy SB/BB pattern. The lower 2 bolts on each side should line up.



I'm a lazy bastard and I don't use the top bolts anyway, never had a transmission fall out on the road. Did bust an aluminum bell once with a SM465 trans but it was behind a 450 hp small block and I was power shifting so... Don't think the extra bolts would have helped.

You can buy an "adapter plate" that will require a flywheel spacer. It will let you put all the bolts in if that will make you sleep better.

 

[zoomad75]

You need a brake pedal from any 73-87 c/k truck or 73-91 c/k or r/v Suburban/Blazer/Jimmy with hydroboost. Diesel rigs or 1 tons are a good place to look. If you score an automatic pedal you can just cut it down so the manual pad fits.



The LS bolt pattern is a little different from the traditional Chevy SB/BB pattern. The lower 2 bolts on each side should line up.

View attachment 599195

I'm a lazy bastard and I don't use the top bolts anyway, never had a transmission fall out on the road. Did bust an aluminum bell once with a SM465 trans but it was behind a 450 hp small block and I was power shifting so... Don't think the extra bolts would have helped.

You can buy an "adapter plate" that will require a flywheel spacer. It will let you put all the bolts in if that will make you sleep better.

LS bell pattern is identical to the original small block pattern except one bolt on the passenger side between the center peak and the two vertical bolts is not used. Don't try to drill it out to use it as it will go right into the water jacket of the #8 cylinder.

 

[Atl-atl]

Well I have gotten precisely zero done on the Blazer since its just sitting in storage. This has allowed for one thing to happen though. Procurement of parts. One more looong box shows up on Monday and I will have everything in my possession except the radiator fans. Christmas in July, as they say.

 

[Atl-atl]

Since @zoomad75 told me the 5.3 wasnt going to be powerful enough to spin the tires with the camper...

Let the power mods commence! Schoenfeld 1302LS1 long tubes. Apparently these are the go to header for cheap/powerful K5 LS swaps.

Unfortunately when I removed the driver side manifold the rear most stud is broken off(I was aware of this) inside the head. I was hoping there might be something to grab onto. My welder is buried in storage because I wasnt going to work on anything before buying a new house. Probably doesnt make sense to apply heat to an aluminum head with a steel stud inside it anyway, right? I imagine an easy-out isnt going to work if it was on there so tight that the stud snapped in the first place. Guess Ill carefully try to drill it out.

Also ruined one of my plug wires taking it off. :banghead:

 

[Hillbilly Heaven]

Someone makes a small drill fixture for drilling out the broken bolt with head on engine in the vehicle. Should work out great for you.

 

[Atl-atl]

Someone makes a small drill fixture for drilling out the broken bolt with head on engine in the vehicle. Should work out great for you.

Looks like its made by Lisle Corp. Very slick setup and not super expensive at ~$100. Very cool, thanks for the suggestion. Im going to try an old fashioned left hand drill bit and see if that works. If not, or I run into more broken studs as I pull them to install the ARPs I got, I might give the Lisle kit a try.

 

[OverlandNA]

Since @zoomad75
Also ruined one of my plug wires taking it off. :banghead:

You can slide the boot up and re-crimp the connector.

 

[zoomad75]

Looks like its made by Lisle Corp. Very slick setup and not super expensive at ~$100. Very cool, thanks for the suggestion. Im going to try an old fashioned left hand drill bit and see if that works. If not, or I run into more broken studs as I pull them to install the ARPs I got, I might give the Lisle kit a try.

I'm pretty sure we put those studs in with anti-seize so I'm going to bet the rest of them come out without too much hassle. It was 4 years ago, but there isn't a fastener that goes in anything over at Larry's place that doesn't get coated with the stuff. The heat from the heads might have cooked it off, but I think they should come out ok.

 

[Atl-atl]

You can slide the boot up and re-crimp the connector.

Ill try it but I dont know how confident Ill be in the result.

I'm pretty sure we put those studs in with anti-seize so I'm going to bet the rest of them come out without too much hassle. It was 4 years ago, but there isn't a fastener that goes in anything over at Larry's place that doesn't get coated with the stuff. The heat from the heads might have cooked it off, but I think they should come out ok.

I definitely still have anti-seize under my fingernails from them hahaha. Ill see what I can do this weekend about removing them. I cant tighten the headers down all the way because they are contacting the engine stand so it has to wait anyway. I just had to see how they looked because they showed up today.

 

[nitro_rat]

I always weld a washer over those studs, then weld a nut to the washer. They come out easy then! Maybe a left hand drill bit?

 

[Atl-atl]

Sometimes you gotta know when to hold em and when to fold em. Weeks have gone by with no progress on the Blazer so this time I chose fold em. Last week I dropped off everything(except the Blazer) at Tempe Speed and Performance to begin inventory of all the parts so they can do the swap for me. I ran out of time and patience. And with my company in the process of being bought-out I decided now was not the best time to buy a new house. So I have nowhere to work on the truck and wont in the next few months. I just want it done and usable. After talking with the owner Tony numerous times I was confident they could do the work, the way I want. They specialize in LS swaps and even recently put an LS/SM465 in a different truck so they are familiar with exactly what I want, something I thought Id never find. They should be ready for the Blazer to get dropped off by the end of this week or beginning of next. Its sad but its the best decision.

 

[Hillbilly Heaven]

A mans got to do what a mans got to.