93 blazer engine swap.

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93fsblazer

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I have a 93 full size blazer. The transmission is finally gone. I've got the chance to get a 97 4 door Tahoe for $350 that's been rolled, it's all there minus the rear end and some Windows. How hard would it be to just swap over engine and transmission from the 97 to my 93. The wiring harness and all is still in the 97 as well.
 

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Nak

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It's very doable, only you can decide if it's worth the effort. You'll need to study the wiring diagrams for both vehicles to see what needs to be changed, what needs to be combined and what needs to be deleted. It won't be as hard as swapping in an LSx motor, but then again the benefits won't be as great either. It helps that you have the whole donor vehicle. Certainly the Vortec would be a nice upgrade from the TBI.

Mechanically, it should be a pretty simple swap. Cooler lines will bolt up, but will need to be flushed. The '97 ECM will go where your windshield washer reservoir is now, so you'll need parts like that from the '97 as well. I'm pretty sure your current ABS does not talk to the ECM--it doesn't on my '92--so that will be no worries. Don't forget the exhaust off the 97 as I don't think your y-pipe will bolt up to the vortec.

What you want to do--what I would do anyways--is trim both harness's back to what they'll control. your 93 harness will lose any engine connections but retain functions that the 97 won't be controlling. (AC, headlights, 4WD connections, etc.) The '97 harness will control the engine and trans. This is time consuming work that must be done right the first time. Some of the circuits from the 93 harness will be needed to power the 97 harness. Carefully trace each circuit on the wiring diagram so that you know what it does and what to do with it. Save all of your old circuits that are hot in run, start or battery--you'll need them to power the new harness. Don't cut any wires too short till you're positive you won't need them anymore. Verify that your old ECM won't be needed anymore. Mine controls nothing but the engine, but it's possible yours controls more than that. I don't think so, but verify that by studying the wiring diagrams for your vehicle. How is your fuel pump, your AC, etc controlled. How will they be controlled after the swap? You'll have to determine these things.

In a lot of ways it may be easier to swap in a LSx motor, as there are harnesses available for a reasonable price. Still, you could do the 97 cheaper because of your access to it for a cheap price. So it depends on how valuable your time is and how much you can spend. Swaps can get very expensive very fast. The 97 swap is nice because you have all of the parts available right there on the donor vehicle so you won't get nickel and dimed to death as bad as another swap. Then again, you're going to a lot of effort to swap in a nearly 20 year old engine and trans. You might be having to rebuild stuff again pretty soon. Given the effort involved in the swap, I'd rebuild the motor and trans before you swapped them in.

No matter how well you plan it, there is going to be a lot more to do than you realize in any swap.
 
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93fsblazer

93fsblazer

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Wow, thanks for all that. I have time. But at the same time I don't. I may still buy it and just use it as a full time trail beater or sell the parts and see if I can make my money back. My 93 has 230k+ on it. But it still runs great. Well Until the trans died. Sadly my firebird is leaking a little coolant now so I really want the old blazer again.
 

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Nak

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Nice Blazer!

yeah, my tranny died at 225K as well. I wanted to wait on my swap till next year, but I was not given a choice. LOL. The engine ran fine though.

Your easiest option would be to just rebuild your trans. Second would be to swap in a carburated 350 and new trans. Third would be the 97 vortec. Not much harder --but more expensive--than the 97 would be an LSx motor. Such a nice Blazer really deserves something like a 6.2L L92 or L94. :)
 
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93fsblazer

93fsblazer

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Thank you. I picked up a used 4l60e from a 94 last weekend for 250. It seems to be in pretty good shape. No play in the shaft doesn't smell burned and what little fluid was left in it was red. Not burned but not pink. So in just hoping I didn't get burned. But if I did I'll have a buildable core laying around. I really would like to do something different with it. I've never seen one with a 454 swap from the 90's ss trucks. But they aren't all that powerful either.
 

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