03 Trailblazer Build.

[Vbb199]

So unfortunately due to the loss of the lumina, i was put in a position to find myself another cheap beater i could tune and turbo, and play with.

The criteria was it needed to be sub 1000$, GM based, and daily driver capable.

Found a 03 Trailblazer on marketplace for 700$ with a bad transmission.

4x4, inline 6 (4200 vortec), 4 speed auto.
I cant remember the miles, but frankly when you do stuff like i do, i dont give a damn. Long as its at least under 250k, which i think this one is. Like 115k or something.



Family owned and bought brand new. Im the second owner. Interior is a 9/10.
Motor looks beautiful on my laptop (operationally) but it had no gears.

Ive been on the prowl for a 4200 powered ride as the motor is a ****** freight train, its HP for HP just as powerful as a 5.3 LS, and its something besides the run of the mill v8.
Anyone can make power with a v8.

So my plans are to turbo it, but first i had to build a Transmission for it. 4L60e.

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[Vbb199]

I pulled the gas tank while working to the transmission, and went ahead and installed a big accel fuel pump that'll flow to 700whp.

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I pulled the oil pan off since it leaked so i could clean it, and drill and tap a turbo drain in the side.

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For those of you that dont know, these things if 4x4 have a hole in the oil pan that the axle shaft passes thru for the front diff... so the front diff had to come.out

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While ive been working on it, i deleted that GOD AWFUL stock airbox for something that'll flow a little better.
Got the trans out, took it apart to discover what i suspected.
Destroyed front pump. Theyre notorious for smoking front pumps due to torque converter depth... for whatever reason the 4200 flywheel pulls tbe TC way out of the pump. So if you get one of these things and its got a bad trans, this is usually why.


I measured the flexplate- to - engine and then TC to bellhousing and when you bolt it together, right away it disengages the TC by .200" from the front pump. Sometime more with other flexplates.

Anyway, i built a good trans for it.

Boost valve, wide 2nd gear band, good ol raybestos clutches, i modified 3-4's clutch piston and played with snap ringa and such until i could get the clutch drum clearance mega tight. Like .035"

Corvette servo for the 1-2 and 4th.
I blocked 3-4 and 1-2 accumulators off with billet block offs i made. Biggest sunshell i could find, 5 pinion plantaries from a 4L65e, as well as input drum stabilization for anticipation of 4x4 boosted shifts, so it doesnt snap my input shaft off. Its basically a collar to help support the input.

Many other things, new solenoids, new pressure switch, harness, plugs, etc.
All valves in the VB have been polished and cleaned. It should in general be a nice, smooth running 4L60e that'll shift really good with some additional tuning on the laptop.

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[Vbb199]

Im currently all back together and buttoned up, and just waiting on 4 new front ball joints.
Then i'll turn it on and see what it can do.



I think first off, once its running, i want to pull the cams and have them reground by a company that does these. For 400$ they'll regrind both the intake and exhaust cam, and it'll remove the 4-500whp cap when boosted, and increase hp by 100 in a n/a motor.


Later down the road i plan i put a GT35 turbo, or a Borg S366 turbo on this thing, so i can have a deadly 4x4 sleeper.

 

[Vbb199]

For those of you who do not know much about the 4200, the earlier 02-05 crankshafts are proven to last to 800-900 WHEEL horsepower, the stock cams stop flowing around 4-500whp, and the stock pistons really need to be upgraded after 700whp

This is an all aluminum motor thats a BEAST and has the same specifications roughly as a 2JZ

Heres a cool website worth browsing on the 4200-

Vortec4200wiki - Dimensions

Info provided by Calvin of the Nivlac57 Youtube Channel, Jeremy of Lime-Swap, and 3258 of TrailVoy Forum

sites.google.com

They are fkn beasts hidden in plain sight for less than 1000$ usually

 

[Old Guy Bill]

Is it 4x4 or AWD?
Whats the wheel base?
Possibly a body swap project?

 

[Vbb199]

Is it 4x4 or AWD?
Whats the wheel base?
Possibly a body swap project?

Nah, I'm looking to have a 4-500whp daily driver

Its 4x4

 

[Turbo4whl]

So you know what the truck driver's say "Six in a row will go, V-eights' hesitate." I believe a turbo on an inline six is a great idea if the engine can support the boost.

 

[Vbb199]

So you know what the truck driver's say "Six in a row will go, V-eights' hesitate." I believe a turbo on an inline six is a great idea if the engine can support the boost.

These 4200's are 10.5:1 c/r factory. With a turbo, they'd be a beast. But it sounds like i need e85 if i decide to go beyond about 8 psi or so. The density of the cylinder just dont work out well with pump gas

 

[ByrdDog]

Sounds like this could be a really fun, unusual engine swap for a C10 short wide...

 

[Vbb199]

Sounds like this could be a really fun, unusual engine swap for a C10 short wide...

Dont temp me too much, i'll sell my 502 in my c10 and swap a 4200 in it!

 

[Vbb199]

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4 new balljoints arrived yesterday!
Unfortunately with the amount i work..... i'll probably not get a chance to install them until sometime in January lol

L

 

[ChuckN]

Cool project. I always thought a Trailblazer SS with the LS would be a cool ride.

 

[bucket]

Hi Vince! Good to see you around these parts again.

Like I said before, I hated working on those things, lol. I don't envy you on this one. The labor part, that is. What you are doing with it is cool for sure.

 

[squaredeal91]

I've driven a couple of these and they rip around good. I could only imagine how hard it would pull! With a turbo. I'll need videos when it's done lol.

 

[Vbb199]

The tune itself doesnt activate power enrichment until 90% or more throttle, the transmission is set to shift weakly from the factory, and the spark and fuel targets are all conservative with these things. Not to mention i think it wont allow you to rev it out past like, 4500 in gear. Which is lame. It can go to 7,000 and im sending it there.



This things getting a full tune n/a (by me)

Both cam's im gonna have reground for more power and flow.

I'll try some E85 n/a also.

Turbo is last; because turbos are easy power, and you can practically just bolt one on and accidentally make it live on anything for a while. I wanna run this thing thru its paces like i did the lumina.

It'll see drag strip times too.

I tuned the lumina by going to the drag strip with multiple passes. Thinking that shitbox got like 10 seconds flat or something n/a in the 1/8th.

I imagine the TB can do better with 4x4 launches and significantly more torque.