Basic performance for all engines!!!

Face it! There is no magic to performance! There are no toys or baubles that you can add to your engine to make it more powerful!! The only tried and true way to better performance is with the internals. Intake and exhaust come after! Most of the things that we discuss on this forum are add ons. These things only make the engine that you have run just a little better. If you want and crave more power, decide on how much it is worth to you and how much you are willing to spend!

The Items that are listed below will truly give you a better running engine and more performance to boot! Lets start with the cheapest and the ones that take little to no time.

Tune UP!! How are you going to make a engine have more performance if it does't run right from the start? Rotor,Cap,Wires,Sparkplugs,Air Cleaner. Change your oil and filter! Check differentials and transfer casses. Fuel filter.

Check to see if you have any codes. OBD 1, and OBD 2, are basicly the same thing . All late model cars have this that are on US soil, foriegn or domestic, it just goes by a different name. Obd 2 just makes it tougher to remove the codes. EPA and the inspection people use these for inspection purposes, they will fail you for a stored code! We also use these to help us diagnose problems for components that go out of spec. Make sure that your Blazer is not in any Failsafe mode!! When in Failsafe operation of major items like engine and trans, fuel system, do not work at 100%.

Brake Drag!! Use your parking brake!! When you use it ,it adjusts itself, Make sure all of your brakes are not binded or siezed, if your disks are discolored they may be sticking.

Vacumn leakes! Most electronic components measure engine vacumn and adjust thereself accordingly.

Harness and electrical connectors!! Make sure they are clean and properly attached , if not your components will get inaccurate readings and give inaccurate readings, (hold a lightswitch almost to the top but don't let it click). Many people replace whole components when all it was was the connector.

Now with the basics out of the way we are on our way to a more powerful engine.

I found I had a bad rear caliper and my brake was draging. Replaced that an noticed the truck drove much smoother!

After I purchased my car and got the "feel" of it I was sad to find out that I was getting 11mpg. The performance was terrible as well. Turns out that both rear brakes were dragging. I also had a dead cylinder. After getting a tune up my car was running at 15mpg and the performance was great. Just goes to show you that before you start upgrading your engine make sure that it runs right first

Time for the nuts and bolts!

INTAKE! Let your engine breathe! Keep your filter clean! I don't care if it is oil and cotton or paper. Make sure that there are no restrictions! Late model Blazer's have a restriction on the throttle blade! Older models figure out a way to duct fresh cold air to your intake, Not hot air coming from the top of the engine. There are several tbi throttle bodies upgrades that are sold, as well as cpi bodies! They are essentialy ported (made larger and smoothed) with a slight increase in fuel output.

EXHAUST!! Check your exhaust system! Run your hands along the entire length of the exhaust system. Feel for any kinks, If you have ever towed or backed up there is a potential for your exhaust to have kinks or bends in them. Remove one of your oxygen sensors in front of the cat conv and run your engine, if it runs better than before, you have a clogged Cat Conv!!

BELTS!! Belts are designed to run acc. Serpentine belts slip! that is what they do. Replace them at least once a year, along with a new tensioner! V belts have less slippage, but they are very good power robbers! Replace them at least once a year and keep the tension on them just right. Too tight and you will ruin the bearings and rob yourself of horespower!!

UNDERDRIVE PULLEYS!! They are great! Just make sure that you do your research and get the right set that you need. Instant horespower gain!! Less power needed to turn your acc. Which means more power to the wheels!

FLUIDS!! If you can afford it go synthetic!! The man made oils are far more superior to the dyno based oils. I remember a comercial back in the day in which they poured dyno based oil into a frying pan and burnt it, they then did the same with synthetic oil ,BIG DIfference!! Far less residue and better friction modifyers make this a win win situation! Replace the trans fluid, the differential oil, the transfer case oil, the brake fluid, and of corse your engine oil.

Brake resevoir, I've noticed that people complain about a trickle of brake fluid coming out of their bleed screws when opened, Please remove your master cylinder then remove the resevoir, there are two small holes where the resevoir went into the master cylinder, those may be blocked with crud! clean them out with fresh brake fluid and a fine brush. You will be surprised at the dirt that somehow finds its way into your resevoir!! If you want more performance just think of one thing if you are speeding along, when you hit that brake pedal, will it work? DON'T TAKE THEM FOR GRANTED!!!!

FUEL! If you rebuild your engine for performance you will be using a higher grade of gas!! Raise your compression, advance your ignition are all requirments of higher octane ratings. Octane is so misunderstood. Octane ratings of gas shows its resistence to detonation. The higher the number the more resistence it has to detonation. the Lower the less resistance it has! Just imagine your gas on the compression stroke, when you compress things you get heat ,now take a cup of atomized air and crush it to 1/10th of its size, the compression is not critical and you provide a spark it ignites. Now crush it to 1/20th of its size and it becomes critical. (will ignite without a spark) This is the problem that you run into with higher comp pistons. this is why gas has to be resistent to self ignition (octane) until you provide that spark.

Now for another 10HP!!

ROLLER TIP ROCKERS!!!! 10HP doesn't sound like much does it? But add up the horespower we have by now. Missed it didnt you? Underdrive pulleys 10-15 HP, for this listing I always go with the lower number. Roller tips usually add much more than 10 HP, Let the dyno show you the exact numbers. Full synthetic drivetrain 15 HP. Lets add this up 10+10+15=35HP + 180 HP=215 HP!!!! Not bad so far. The roller tips take about an hour and a half to install, but with them in, you will love your Blazer again!! Full rollers involve a little more time and new studs but they can give you even more HP, due to even less friction.

Now its time to start considering a new camshaft.

CAMSHAFT!!

This is more involved. Decide on what type of Blazer you want. Offroad (torque), Onroad (HP), Street (HP)(RPM's). There are too many variables to even think of saying anything. Call Comp Cams, Crane Cams, Edelbrock, trickshift, Lunati, and any one of the many other cam companys and let them Know what you want to do. They can scrunch numbers and let you know what cam will work for you.

Since you will replace your cam there are several things you now have a chance to change.

TIMING CHAIN!! Double roller! Enough said!

LIFTERS! Get a Cam Kit !! Ive seen them as low as $154.00

Don't forget a intake gasket set, sealant, Cam lube, PATIENCE.

THank you for sharing all this information.

EXHAUST!! No exhaust is perfect! No exhaust will completely eliminate backpressure! No exhaust by itself will make your truck faster!! Just an exhaust by itself actually may do more harm toward performance than help it. Fartcans NEVER!! Stainless steele Yes! Eleminate your Cat Conv, [only if you hate the planet]!!!!! There is no reason on this earth that you should eliminate your Cat, there are plenty of high flow aftermarket Cat's on the market that can actually add to your performance. listen to the pro's ,let them know what you are planning to do to your engine, or what you have already done. They can guide you on tube diameter and lengths. I run a 3" with a 4 inch tip. I need the extra width to remove the extra volumn from my supercharger.

HEADERS! Why do you need them? Simple, Headers direct the exhaust as it leaves your heads, and directs it toward your exhaust system. Headers have the most impact on performance! Most factory headers direct the exaust in a very inefficiant way. Carmakers are concerned with making things fit in an engine compartment so almost all factory headers go out about an inch or less then down , to hug the sides of the engine. That's a very great power robber! What happens is that you create backpressure right at the head, and when this occurs the exhaust can not exit completely ,results in incomplete cylander scavenging! With exhaust left in the combustion chamber less incoming charge is available! Robbing you of power.

Drivetrain - This one is simple. I will only deal with the running gear for now.
first check your drive axle, pay close attention to your universal joints, if they need to be replaced replace them with universal joints that have zerk fittings, You can always grease these, if your universal joints are binding they will rob you of HP, after taking a drive hold your hands close but not touching your universal joints, if you feel heat (exccesive heat) replace them. this is a good idea anyway if they have never been changed before, if we add more HP your driveshaft will be under a lot more stress!!

Differentials- MAKE SURE THAT YOU HAVE OIL IN THEM!! Find out what size ring that you have. The lower the number the better your gas mileage will be (engine rpm will be less to cover the same distance) The higher the number the worse your mileage will be (engine will spin faster to cover the same distance). The trade off , a 410 gear will smash a 240 gear off the line if both have the same engine. the 410 will give you more torque and the 240 will actually give you a higher top end speed. Decide on light to light speed or top speed .

I use a 3.73 good for off the line. With good top end.

Wheels and rims. If you want performance stay away from the giant rims, they have a lot of rotational weight, your engine will eat up a lot of HP just to get them to spin! Do not go over 18" and if you do make sure that your rims are forged ( lighter weight and STRONG!). Make sure that you tires are Balanced!!

Wheels and rims. If you want performance stay away from the giant rims, they have a lot of rotational weight, your engine will eat up a lot of HP just to get them to spin! Do not go over 18" and if you do make sure that your rims are forged ( lighter weight and STRONG!). Make sure that you tires are Balanced!!

Excellent point! Don't forget that those "big wheels", (anything larger than OE), are EXTREMELY hard on the ENTIRE driveline due to the added rotational weight and inertia generated by using them. The OE transmission, transfercase, differentials, driveshafts, u joints, wheel bearings, and the brakes, were not designed for them, and they WILL self destruct.

Just as you said. They look pretty but you will never see them on any type of performance vehicle, and if you do, I can promise you that they are forged!!

I run 18" rims but the whole setup is slightly smaller in diameter than stock.

ANY LEAKS? Keep your engines clean! That way you can tell at a glance if anything out of the ordinary arises. You will be able to spot where any oil, antifreeze, brake fluid ,or anything else is coming from in an instant.

If you have a after market air cleaner and you have not cleaned it in in a while do it today!! And clean your MAF while you are at it. Wait about a week if you have an oil based air cleaner and clean your MAF again , by then any oil that is going to make it pass your air filter should have done it by then and it should be pretty dry.