Re: Jeep Trailblazer SS
 

I transferred my card board templates to sheet metal today. The wiper cowl delete, cowl-to-cowl cover and the left and right rear fender well filler panels are ready for trimming and shaping.

The wiper cowl delete panel is pretty simple as it's just a flat panel that will cover the vent holes under the finned cover.

The cowl to cowl panel has a curved radius, so i had to make relief cuts to allow the metal to bend across the top. Now that they're secured in place with self-tapping screws, I'll tack weld the bottoms and remove it to fill in the seams of the relief cuts.

I haven't fitted the rear fender well panels yet.

-Josh

Re: Jeep Trailblazer SS
 

The boss called as I was leaving for work and asked if I'd stay home today as we're slow at work. So I got to tinker with the Jeep again.

I cut out the fuel filler door of the trailblazer and transferred it to the side of the Jeep. I'm stoked that it went as smoothly as it did. It's not perfect, but I'm happy with it.

-Josh

Re: Jeep Trailblazer SS
 

Looking good.

Re: Jeep Trailblazer SS
 

Nice work on the filler. Enjoying watching you go thru this. Did you get it so the anti-theft would let it start again yet?

Re: Jeep Trailblazer SS
 

Not yet. I pulled out all of the computers and ecus while I'm welding so I don't burn anything up. I think it's a little more in depth than just cycling the key. I lost power to the front seats and everything. It might be a ground issue.

-Josh

Re: Jeep Trailblazer SS
 

My new aluminum double cross flow radiator came in today. If you'll notice the inlet and outlet are on the same size. Novak-adapters.com makes radiators for jeeps with ls conversions. Coolant goes from right to left in the top half, trickles down the left side and them goes left to right on the bottom half. And they make brackets so it fits in the factory Jeep location.

-Josh

Re: Jeep Trailblazer SS
 

Well the new radiator didn't fit. It's 2 inches too wide. I was trying to mock everything up to see how close the radiator is to the water pump and go from there, but that's on the back burner for now.

Instead, I welded up the wiper cowl panel and painted it.

-Josh

Re: Jeep Trailblazer SS
 

Sucks about the radiator but the cowl is looking good.

Re: Jeep Trailblazer SS
 

Well, novak admitted they sent me the wrong radiator and stepped up. They sent me a return label to ship back the wrong one, and then sent me the correct one very quickly. It's so pretty!

I finally got motivated enough to make another cowl to cowl cover. I took my time this time and did hundreds of tack welded to keep the warping to a minimum.

-Josh

Re: Jeep Trailblazer SS
 

There were a couple spots around the windshield frame that were rotted away, so I did my best to patch and repair those sections.

-Josh

Re: Jeep Trailblazer SS
 

I mounted the dash speakers. I used a hole saw just a little bigger than the magnet, plugged it in and secured it through the pad into the bottom plastic support of the dash pad. I also mounted the drl light sensor between the defrost vents.

I had to cut of the Mount tabs on the back of the wiper cowl grille because i had to weld up the holes. So I made new mounts to maintain the proper mounted height of the grille.

I squared the body up where I wanted it and I welded the cowl to cowl panel in permanently. We have a few tubes of Sikaflex sealant left over from building the garages, so I used it to seal the seams where I welded the covers. I thought the sealant was black, but it's very gray. I'll paint it black later.

-Josh

Re: Jeep Trailblazer SS
 

It's coming together!! Looking good.

Re: Jeep Trailblazer SS
 

I painted the cowl cover with epoxy paint. Then it's on to the inner rocker panels.

But first, i had to get the Jeep out from between the posts of the lift. I couldn't open the back doors but a few inches. I can't put the transmission in neutral without battery power, and I've got the ecm and tcm out So I don't fry anything when I'm welding. So, summit racing to the rescue. I bought a set of wheel dollies to push it around the shop.

I drilled holes in the lip of the top off the rocker panel so I could weld the inner and outer panels together. I got the top rail and the bottom of the rocker welded up on the driver's side. I need to weld the floor Pan to the rocker and then repeat the same oh the passenger side.

-Josh

Re: Jeep Trailblazer SS
 

If you can get underneath you should be able to disconnect the shift cable and shift your trans manually? I’ve done it on my 4l80e and you probably have a 4l60e which should be the same.

This is a cool project! I’m doing an LS swap into a ‘79 J10.

Question - the cowl is farther forward - firewall too? How does everything fit at the radiator and grill then? Seems like things are pushed forward a lot but probably I’m not understanding it all yet. Regardless, impressive work!

Re: Jeep Trailblazer SS
 

Technically it’s a 4l70e but all the same geometry. As far as not being able to get it out of park. It’s just the interlock mechanism locking the shifter itself, pop the trim around the shifter up and there is a button beside the shifter itself you can press and it will release the shifter as long as you are pressing the plastic button. I’m sure you can YouTube it.

Re: Jeep Trailblazer SS
 

Thanks for the transmission cable info. My other issue is that the front wheels point outward after replacing the front suspension. I can roll it about 2 feet and it'll roll back a foot when I let go. I was going to loosen the lower control arms and use a ratchet strap to pull the front of the wheels in a little to correct the alignment, but I haven't gotten to it yet. But I am stoked about the progress once been making.

-Josh

Re: Jeep Trailblazer SS
 

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Re: Jeep Trailblazer SS
 

[QUOTEQuestion - the cowl is farther forward - firewall too? How does everything fit at the radiator and grill then? Seems like things are pushed forward a lot but probably I’m not understanding it all yet. Regardless, impressive work![/QUOTE]

The trailblazer cowl actually hangs over the back of the engine. It's not wide open like on the older cars. I lined up the wheels in the front fender well and I was amazed that the front seam of the front door openings lined up perfectly.

After cutting the front core support for the trailblazer off, i had to trim back the inner fenders about 2 inches to fit the Jeep core support. I haven't fitted the front end with the new radiator yet, so I don't know the specifics of upper and lower hose lengths or how close the radiator will be to the snout on the water pump, but I'll make those adjustments when I get there. It's definitely a lot tighter than the trailblazer core support.i cut off a few inches of the front frame so it wouldn't stick out past the grille. I'll post my findings and solutions when I get there.

-Josh

Re: Jeep Trailblazer SS
 

The Inner and outer rocker panels and the floor pan are all one piece now.

-Josh

Re: Jeep Trailblazer SS
 

Looking good!

Re: Jeep Trailblazer SS
 

I welded in the right rear fender well filler panel today. I think it came out really well.

-Josh

Re: Jeep Trailblazer SS
 

It's going to be sealed up soon.

Re: Jeep Trailblazer SS
 

This is coming out so cool. You're going to have such an awesome/fun driver.

These things have gone nuts in price. A clean, nice paint 80's-91 that's ready to drive goes for 15-20K, that's just a nice driver quality one.

Re: Jeep Trailblazer SS
 

Yeah, they were pretty iconic in their day. If you watch movies like sixteen candles where the family had a really nice house with a great paying job, they always had a grand Wagoneer in the driveway. Of course mine's going to drive like a trailblazer, but with 395hp/400 tq, awd 4-wheel disc brakes and the fattest sway bars I've ever seen, I'll be ok with the aggressive handling versus riding on a cloud luxury of the Wagoneer.

-Josh

Re: Jeep Trailblazer SS
 

The one that got me was "Problem Child". That beautiful medium blue one John Ritter's character drove.

I remember telling my dad he should buy one when I was a kid.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgRYZBc4NM0

Re: Jeep Trailblazer SS
 

I finished the left fender well and the stinger on my welder broke. I guess the wire sleeve is trying to come out the nozzle, so i ordered a replacement.

I went to Wal-Mart and Lowe's with the piece i cut out for the fuel door to try and match the blue paint. In the picture, the light blue is what Wal-Mart came up with. If you look just to the right of my thumb, there looks to be a blister in the paint. That's actually the Lowe's paint. I dipped the handle of the brush in the paint and dabbed it on the metal. When it dried, it took me a few seconds to find it.

I scuffed and painted the fuel door. I set it in place for the picture. It's definitely in the realm of "close enough for now". I also painted the wiper cowl because i burned the paint welding the mounting tabs on it.

-Josh

Re: Jeep Trailblazer SS
 

The blue is pretty good match.

Re: Jeep Trailblazer SS
 

I pulled the stock exhaust manifolds and the y-pipe off to fit the shorty headers. I broke two bolts on the driver's side, but none on the passenger side.

Apparently the shorty headers i bought weren't designed for the trailblazer. The front tube on the passenger side header hits the strut tower and is about 3/4" away from lining up with the bolt holes. My dad and i discussed having the front tube altered to clear, but all the planning was scrapped when i tried to fit the driver's side and the flange hit the firewall with an inch between the header and the bolt holes lining up.

Now i either have to buy full length headers and have the exhaust turn 180 degrees toward the front of the Jeep and then turn 90 degrees outward to connect to the side pipes, or Hooker makes a cast shorty header that flows better than stock manifolds.

-Josh

Re: Jeep Trailblazer SS
 

Getting back to patching and filling in the gaps.

-Josh

Re: Jeep Trailblazer SS
 

Well i managed to extract both exhaust bolts today. I had to use a rose bud torch for the second one, but it's better pulling the engine.

I returned the shorty headers today and ordered stainless full length stainless headers.

I cut up the piece left from the new fuel filler door and made a plug for the original fuel filler hole. I made some templates the left rear fender well that I removed 6 inches out of. Then I undercoated the inner fender.

-Josh

Re: Jeep Trailblazer SS
 

I patched the passenger rear fender well.

I got my new stainless headers in from speed engineering. I tried to reuse the stock 02 sensors, but the threads got mangled while trying to remove them from the factory Y-pipe. They don't go back as far as i feared which is good. I need 2 90 degree elbows and a 45 degree pipe per side to connect to the side pipes.

-Josh

Re: Jeep Trailblazer SS
 

Alobg with new 02 sensors, i got Taylor wires to clear the headers (135 degree boots) and Bosch double iridium plugs.

-Josh

Re: Jeep Trailblazer SS
 

I got stainless 3 inch pipe to connect the headers to the side pipes. I bought an exhaust flaring tool, but apparently it's not strong enough to flare stainless. Dad and i even heated the pipe with a rose bud torch, and it didn't help. Looks like I'll be taking them to an exhaust shop to get them flared.

I bought a 10-pack of nut-serts from summit racing. I only needed 4 to mount the side pipe brackets, but i used one on a scrap metal to see how it works and ruined 3 of them trying to install them. I drilled the bottom of the 1"x2" rectangular spacer i welded to the inner rocker panels. I had to spot weld the nut-serts to keep them from spinning while trying to set the flares.

I did get the passenger sidepipe brackets and heat shield mounted, but i mocked in the inlet and outlet pipes for the picture. I need to take it all back apart and paint everything flat black so it's not visible when the exhaust is mounted permanently.

-Josh

Re: Jeep Trailblazer SS
 

Well the passenger side is tighter than the driver's side. I had to clearance a bracket underneath to get as close to the frame as possible. Then i used a long 4x4 and a framing square to figure out the angles of the pipes. If i used the flared ends like I'd planned, the exhaust would hang 7 inches below the frame. So I used 2x4s to secure the route of the pipes so i knew where to cut and weld the 2 90 degree elbows. With those pieces welded together, i scuffed and blacked out the exposed rocker panel I'm using the exhaust to cover up.

-Josh

Re: Jeep Trailblazer SS
 

Here is the passenger side pipe finished.

-Josh

Re: Jeep Trailblazer SS
 

I finished the driver's side exhaust. I had to remove the drivers side header to install the front drive shaft. I replaced all the u-joints and i didn't want to do the exhaust without knowing where the front shaft ran. The problem being i removed the spark plug wires, but not the plugs. I suspended the header to put the shaft in. But the header fell and broke the back spark plug.

I also bought a profile gauge so i can make my patch panels more accurate to the body panels.

-Josh

Re: Jeep Trailblazer SS
 

Coming right along! Exhaust hides the other rocker well, I can't wait to see what this thing looks like with all the sheet metal on it and some different wheels!

Re: Jeep Trailblazer SS
 

Pipes look good.

Re: Jeep Trailblazer SS
 

After a slight detour to work on my wagon, I'm back on the jeep. I made filler panels to close the gaps on the driver's side where i cut away too much for the swap. I've still got the passenger side to do, but then i can start fitting the front clip.

-Josh

Re: Jeep Trailblazer SS
 

I finished all my filler panels, so now i can start plugging in the electronics and firing the front clip.

-Josh