JTR Chevrolet S-10 Truck . Chapter 16, New Body Style

Chevrolet S-10 Truck—
Chapter 16 from the V-8 Conversion Manual:
THE NEW BODY STYLE — LT1 Camaro Accessories in 2WS S-10 Blazer

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Chapter 16 Contents:

The New Body Style ••• S-10 Blazer with 1996 LT4/4L60-E ••• Undercarriage of 1995 S-10 Blazer with LT4/4L60-E •••

Automatic Trnnsmission Shift Linkage ••• Underneath the 95 S-10 2WD V8 Blazer ••• LT1 Camaro Accessories in 2WS S-10 Blazer •••

T56 Six-Speed Transmission ••• Six-Speed Shifter ••• 97 S-10 Truck with 97 Vortec V8 ••• 97 S-10 with 97 Vortec V8 •••

LT1 CAMARO ACCESSORIES IN 2WD S-10 BLAZER

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The big issue with using the Camaro LT1 accessories is that Camaro LT1 engines are more common at the wrecking yards than the Corvette engines. The Camaro accessories also offer more room between the engine and the radiator than the Corvette accessories. Also, it is much easier to connect the radiator hoses to the stock S-10 radiator when using the Camaro accessories.

The one potential problem with using the Camaro accessories is that the air-conditioning compressor interferes with the frame rail on the trucks. On the Blazer shown above, the air conditioning compressor comes close to the frame rail, but clearance is adequate. Remember, the 2wd Blazer has the motor mount pads raised about 1-1/4" higher than the 2wd truck mounts (see pages 7-2,3). With the trucks, we recommend notching the frame as shown on page 7-20, so that the driveline angles can remain close to stock.

We believe most 2WD Blazers with V8's are lowered and notching the frame allows improved driveline angles. It also reduces reduces the amount of hammering required in the transmission tunnel when the engine is set-back (Hammering ain't a big deal to us, but some people prefer to keep hammering to a minimum).

In 1995, the S-10 trucks, and the S-10 Blazers got a driver's side airbag, and a new steering column. The new steering column makes the V8 swap easier for two reasons. First, the "bell-style" joint on the steering shaft, which interfered with the exhaust manifold (see page 7-28, 29) is no longer in the engine compartment. This improves clearance between the steering shaft and the exhaust manifold by about 3/4". Secondly, with an automatic transmission, the new steering column uses a cable shifter, which means no firewall mods are required because of shifter linkage clearance problems. 1994 Trucks use the same type of steering column and automatic transmission shift linkage as the early style trucks.

In this swap, the engine was not offset towards the passenger's side and there is good clearance between the steering shaft and the Camaro TBI exhaust manifold.

If the engine was offset towards the passenger's side by about 3/4" (which is a typical amount of offset with the trucks shown in the introduction of this manual) the Camaro LT1 exhaust manifold could be used, which, with the 275-300 horsepower LT1 engine, would offer a power increase over the TBI manifold. To use the Camaro LT1 exhaust manifold on the passenger's side, the frame rail on the passengers's side would have to be notched as shown on page 7-21.

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