received in trade, unexpectedly, a rather rust free 2wd short bed regular cab 4.3 auto s15 today. long story, but i had sold my caravan to a guy who left a deposit, today was last day of the contract we had for him to pick it up, he had no $ and offered his truck since he needed the van with the wheelchair lift more than a small truck. so i have a truck now. took it for a ride, everything feels good and the 4.3 is ballsy in the little truck.
so - junkyard bolt ons - what are they? would like to do sway bars, maybe drop a couple inches eventually, already have 17's for summer tires if i can find a pair of cheap 275's
i'm flat broke right now so cheap is good. have big front brake kit but i do not want to lose the ability to run the brand new 14's on it for winter or daily status. also have a new pair of vortec heads that i think would REALLY wake it up. not right now though.
cosmetic things need addressed, like a big scrape in the drivers door and the front clip really could use a repaint, but i can not get over how clean it is. pics will follow of course, but it is dark out right now.
not much for junkyard bolt ons- the S truck is narrower than a G or F body, so sway bars won't fit. the 4.3 trucks already have stiffer front springs than even an IROC Camaro. maybe an IROC or Monte SS steering box, but if you've already got less than 3 turns lock to lock you won't gain much there.
ZQ8.
Rear discs from a Blazer.
Done.
Brian
The 4.3 is nice. You can actually tow stuff with that. Maybe put a turbo on it? Syclone? 
pics? sell it to me for cheap?
No, sell it to me for cheap.
<needs a cheap pickup for some reason. Can't remember at the moment, just remember it's a good idea.
Ranger hit it, look for a zq8 optioned truck in the yard. They have the faster ratio steering gear, big swaybars, and a frame brace thats a holt on.
Here is a build of a GRM challenger based around a GMC S15. Im pretty sure this guy did a lot of junkyard crawling to get to the finished product.
http://www.pro-touring.com/forum/showthread.php?43374-project-drivabeater
Ranger50 wrote:
ZQ8.
Rear discs from a Blazer.
Done.
Brian
i might have missed it, but i didn't see a model year..
it matters for rear disc brakes because they changed the axle flange on the housing sometime in the 90's- from 82 until then, they used the same axle flange as a 78-88 G body or 82-92 F body with drum brakes, so the later disc brakes aren't a bolt on deal on an earlier model. 80's F body disc brakes aren't a bolt on to any other vehicle due to the different flange and rotor offset used on the 9 bolt Borg Warner axle those cars came with.
the whole rear axle would swap in, but the 4X4 models had a wider track width and used a brake rotor with a deeper offset to it than the 2 wheel drive models, and most of the disc brake S trucks i've seen were 4X4 models with the only exception i can think of being the S10 Extreme and whatever the GMC version was called.
i'm not 100% sure on this, but for some reason i'm thinking that every S truck with rear disc brakes had the beefier 8.5 rear axle, so that would be a worthwhile upgrade..
Heres the rear axle breakdown.
Starting in 98- all 4x4 trucks and suvs got rear discs. These axles are 4" wider than your current axle. All blazers also came with rear discs and the dual piston front brakes, including 2wd models. These arent as common as the 4wd models, but do exist. Thats what id be shopping for.
The 8.5" axle was included in 4.3 manual trans trucks and blazers, as well as auto zr2 trucks and blazers of those years. With a stock powertrain its (IMO) an expensive and hard to find upgrade.
RoosterSauce wrote:
The 4.3 is nice. You can actually tow stuff with that. Maybe put a turbo on it? Syclone?
dont need to tow anything with a short wheelbase truck, already have a extended cab chevy dually with a 454 for that. the problem is, since the weather got cold, as soon as salt hits the road i was down to the big dually only, which i do not want to drive except for work because 9mpg sucks. i could pull your house off its foundation though.
kevin this one is staying, unless you have the $1150 he owed me on the van :) unfortunately because of the truck being given to me as payment, i can not pick up the e30 that the van money was to buy. 'twas to be the challenge car next year due to its 4 doors of haul the newly arriving 3rd passenger down to florida goodness.
98+ Z28 front brakes are a bolt on using 98+2wd spindles and $75 in brackets. I just happen to have said brakes for sale...
Oooops, my bad. Long day at the track.
2wd Blazer for the rear discs. Seen here: Click me
Brian
i just happen to have them too, the brackets included, but do not want to lose the 14" wheels - until at least the new tires on it wear out
Find a sucker to buy your current wheel/tire setup and buy either the tire size you want or a set of 15" wheels with tires for the same price. that will open up the brake options a bit more.
can one fit a 15" wheel over the ls1 camaro brakes?
i do have 15's that will go on soon, because they have my altimax arctic snows on them.
may toss some old school wires on the 54 next summer to cruise, which will free up the 17x8 soft 8's for summer fun.
If you find a 2nd gen 4-cyl automatic extended cab, it should have 4.10:1 gears (if you're into that sort of thing). Drum brakes, of course. Not that there's anything wrong with that.
I'm not seeing the supercharger, there...
F-body, A/G-body, and even some B-body suspension/chassis bits will swap over. Front brakes were remarkably similar from 1971-2001.
SBC and LSx fit without too much headache. T56 and 3.73s will wake it up too.
Don't go nuts on power or traction without trading out the 7.5" rear.
Look hard for ZQ8 bump stops on my 96 Impala they worked really well. They are a urethane and add progressive stiffness. On the Impala there was about a quarter inch of free space before they made contact, cheap from the dealer if you can't find them in the junkyard.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XzO7OfyqSTY
The 8.8 Explorer rear axle is a bolt in affair from what the S-10 forums say. Also, I'd swap in the computer from a fullsize C/K w/ the 4.3 as those are programmed with different parameters. The S-Truck makes 190HP while the C/K makes 210HP with the same engine. That Ford axle would only be useful if you planned a V8 swap, but the redrill for the 5x4.75 lug pattern would suck. Look for Blazers because those usually had rear sways in them. Been looking myself, but not all that hard. My 96 is a standard cab, has a 2.2 (LN2), and the NV1500 (5sp). The rear is the 7.5" loaded with 3.73 gears. Not sure what you have in yours, but the GM RPO code for that gear set is GT4. Another thing to look for if you want a LSD is the G80 RPO. If I remember right, it would be in this order "G80 GT4" on the tag. I believe GT5 is the 4.10 designation. Have fun with your new toy.
Correct on the GT5 being 4.10. Just helped a buddy change his out after a diff bearing explode and destroy his in no time flat. Ext cab 2000 Sonoma 2.2/5spd equals 4.10's.
G80 is a POS given it's the Eaton GovLock. I'd rather have a open diff over that piece of berkeleying E36 M3.
Personally, I'd rather see a shortened 8.5" 10 bolt then screw with an 8.8, even though the 8.8 has a proven track record.
Brian
If you need a 4.10 7.5" let me know, got an extra in the back of my own S10. Figure I'll want something a little taller and stouter where I'm going with it.
And while all the blazers have rear sway bars, since the gas tank is on the other side of the axle they go the wrong direction from the axle. Some have made it work, some have not. F-body ones are as easy to find and work as well.
This will wake it up
