My SS conversion

[bmartinezx3]

I decided to do a conversion on my LT. I have been doing research for a while and saving up for everything and saturday i finally went through with it.

I posted a ad on craigslist saying i want TBSS parts and someone called me with a front bumper cover for $150.

Then i got on tbssowners and found a salvage yard in houston with 3 tbss's so i drove down that same day and picked up rear bumper, ss rockers, and ss cluster for $510.
Went online and ordered front bumper spacer on ebay, and ordered both brake duct inserts and fascia braces from rock auto about another $150ish for all that
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everything is gonna be painted and installed for $350 along with painted dash so im really excited to get it done.

Now all i need is foglight assemblies, grille/crossbar, and the lower middle grilles that go by the fogs and in the inserts, if anyone knows where to get them i would really apprecitae the help.

I placed an offer on some used camaro fog lights on ebay which i've read should work. MORE TO COME!!!

 

[Boricua SS]

dang.. youre keeping your costs down pretty good... good find on all those used parts... $150 for a front bumper... thats unheard of for that cheap.. unless its really jacked up lol... subscribed for pix of the completed project...

 

[jrSS]

Subscribed..

 

[Porkins]

Good deals! Looking forward to seeing it finished.

 

[jimmyjam]

that is junkyard heaven. 3 tbss's, and the even put a trashbag under the broken window to keep it clean inside, i'm shocked.

 

[jrSS]

that is junkyard heaven. 3 tbss's, and the even put a trashbag under the broken window to keep it clean inside, i'm shocked.

Agreed....around here its hard as hell to find an ls or lt let alone an ss.

 

[amweaver47]

Cool project. Out of curiosity, what are your wheel plans?

 

[djez015]

Wish i could find those kind of parts

 

[bmartinezx3]

thanks for all the positive feedback guys. yea this is all definitely on a budget, the bumper had a REALLY SMALL crack by where the brake duct clips on but the guy i bought it from has a shop that repairs oem bumpers so he fixed it for me before i bought it.

Actually all 3 of them had decent interior i think they were asking $700 for a set of seats and he would throw in the door panels too sense he had 3 of them.

If i remember correctly i actually read one of jrSS's threads on tbssowners about the cheap brake ducts on rockauto, so thanks for the info man!

As for wheels, I've had SS wheels for a while now but they have that whale jizz cracks in the clear coat so i might strip and polish or just powder coat gloss black not sure yet.

UPDATE: my $25 ebay offer was rejected lol so i got on craigslist and found a guy with camaro fogs for $20 so i made an 1hr drive to pick them up, i already have 880 hid's which should fit into these fine just have to find out how to mount them :wootwoot:
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also my stock SS shocks came in today that i bought off tbssowners for $45 shipped, ill put them on soon
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I'll try to attach at least one picture each time i update. thanks again for the support!

 

[TexazReece]

Keep it going bro I might have to take a trip out there for the door panels. I've been thinking about converting my interior from gray to ebony. Hope they aren't asking for too much $$$

 

[northcreek]

You've done a terrific job hunting parts and it looks to be a fun project and having done this sort of thing I get the challenge thing,the only downside I see(imho) is that you will have an SS with a six,kind of a reverse on the old "sleeper" thing...because it really will be sleeping...interesting ...Mike.

 

[djez015]

ha that same thought crossed my mind as to why i would prob just do a small conversion to mine I would hate to meet a srt8 jeep or worst a rice honda and give the tbss a bad name

 

[amweaver47]

I guess instead of being a TrailBlazer SS it could be a TrailBlazer ZZ.

It will look sick even if it's asleep more than it's a sleeper.

Edit: Plus if you install nitrous it will do a wheelie in 3rd gear on sand. Learned that from Fast and Furious today.

 

[bmartinezx3]

You've done a terrific job hunting parts and it looks to be a fun project and having done this sort of thing I get the challenge thing,the only downside I see(imho) is that you will have an SS with a six,kind of a reverse on the old "sleeper" thing...because it really will be sleeping...interesting ...Mike.

I understand why some might not like conversions but as a 19 y/r full time college student and working for a little more than minimum wage doesn't allow me the privilege of owning a real SS.
Also due to bad experiences i dont race. So instead of getting in over my head with a $20k loan, i'll build my i6. After this i'll have about $6000 total invested in it. Not bad, considering my truck will look better than most on the road.

Plus there is always my corvette in case i really have an itching for speed. IMO
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[Short Bus]

Nice work so far I didn't see badges on your list and IMO that's a good thing, please don't misbadge a non-SS

BTW: Nice Vett

 

[oh05ext]

i saw that same post on the other site and wished i lived near houston.what did they charge for a the cluster or did you have that allready?

 

[SBUBandit]

Don't forget when you send everything to paint, to either sand your mirror covers or get some smooth ones and paint those too.

As for badging, I really like the look of the RS badges some people have come up with

 

[bmartinezx3]

Don't forget when you send everything to paint, to either sand your mirror covers or get some smooth ones and paint those too.

As for badging, I really like the look of the RS badges some people have come up with

I had my covers painted along with inner door handles when i had my bumpers touched up last year(same guy) but i might tell him to retouch them.

Not gonna lie, i already have SS badges on my truck but they are coming off when the bumpers go on and hopefully i'll be replacing them with GMC Texas edition emblems. I saw them on TexazReece's truck and they look nice but that will be later.
BTW SHOUTOUT to TexazReece!! He hooked me up with an SS exhaust for the project, not exaclty sure if they it will work with mine but it is greatly appreciated. THANKS!
Here's some pics:
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UPDATE:
I went to visit my painter today to drop off some money and a took a few pics. yes i know his shop is kinda ghetto but incredibly good prices and good work. Rear bumper is primer'd and yes.... it's shaved
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Front is painted but i saw some imperfections that he still has to address.
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i forgot to mention but when i went to the salvage yard they threw this ss dash plug in for free. soon, along with the rest of the dash, it will be painted to match the outside.
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oh and i paid a package price for the parts at the salvage yard but the original prices were $300 for bumper(everything included) and $150 for the cluster with 42k miles on it. he was asking $80 for each rocker but all i had was $510 exactly so he accepted that. the RPM gauge is acting weird as you can see in the picture but i think it's cause i need to recalibrate it? idk but thats not a big deal to me right now
KEEP POSTED MORE TO COME

 

[mrphoenix80]

the RPM gauge is acting weird as you can see in the picture but i think it's cause i need to recalibrate it?

Is it up there all the time? These clusters are known for bad motors. Replacements are cheap on ebay. Then with a bit of soldering, you will be good to go.

 

[amweaver47]

When you say the dashboard will be painted, do you mean it will be painted red to match the exterior of the truck?

 

[bmartinezx3]

Is it up there all the time? These clusters are known for bad motors. Replacements are cheap on ebay. Then with a bit of soldering, you will be good to go.

when i first bought it was working fine and then the next day it was basically upside down. it still moves and reacts when i drive but the needle is pointing down all the time. i might pull the fuse(#24 i think) to make them reset and hopefully that will fix it

When you say the dashboard will be painted, do you mean it will be painted red to match the exterior of the truck?

Yes i am getting the dash panel where the cluster and radio/ac knobs go painted to match the outside and also painting the passenger airbag cover and shifter trim. My plan is to later get someone to pinstripe my truck's name on the air bag cover. Her name is Ruby btw

 

[amweaver47]

I can't think of a fitting name for mine. I call it lots of names when I work on it but none that I would consider fitting.

Anyway, It should look pretty sweet all said and done. I really like the shaved rear bumper. Great job on keeping the thread updated too.

 

[djez015]

so are new mounting brackets 100% needed for the bumpers

 

[bmartinezx3]

Thanks i came up with the name randomly and it stuck.

so are new mounting brackets 100% needed for the bumpers

No. from what i've read some stock TBSS's came without them, from factory. But without them your bumper and foglights will shake really bad with each bump on the road. they are only like $25 a peice new plus shipping or you can make your own out of a peice of thin sheetmetal, like some of the guys on tbssowners

 

[bmartinezx3]

Update:
Got home from work just now and pleasantly surprised to find my Brake ducts from rockauto have arrived. still waiting on the brackets and then ill be ready for install.
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[elchicano]

I have recently been thinking of doing the SS conversion on my LT. I had the opportunity a couple months ago to buy a used SS front bumper for $200, now I'm regretting not buying it.

 

[CdnGMan]

I don't even want to do the "conversion" per se... I'm just looking for the grill / crossbar so I have more options regarding the headlights, etc... and those things are damn near extinct up here...

 

[bmartinezx3]

I don't even want to do the "conversion" per se... I'm just looking for the grill / crossbar so I have more options regarding the headlights, etc... and those things are damn near extinct up here...

You can use a grille off a earlier TB cause they also had the crossbars on the headlights. I still haven't found a SS grille either so ill be using my Lt grille for a bit until i find one.

 

[Porkins]

You can use a grille off a earlier TB cause they also had the crossbars on the headlights. I still haven't found a SS grille either so ill be using my Lt grille for a bit until i find one.

Then he would have to change out bumpers, or live with a gap/hole between the grille and bumper.

 

[CdnGMan]

Then he would have to change out bumpers, or live with a gap/hole between the grille and bumper.

Correct... with Canyonaro being an '06 LT, it has the same grill lines as the SS - the gap isn't acceptable...

 

[bmartinezx3]

Correct... with Canyonaro being an '06 LT, it has the same grill lines as the SS - the gap isn't acceptable...

Yup, just a suggestion as a cheap temporary mod until an SS grille presents it self. cause we know how hard to find they are.

 

[bmartinezx3]

UPDATE:
Yesterday the bumper spacer came in and today the bumper braces came in. I dropped Ruby off at the paint shop just now, he said it should be ready by monday or tuesday.

still havent found a SS grille though

 

[bmartinezx3]

UPDATE: PICTURES!!

I Really wanted to hold off on pictures until i picked it up and had the chance to wash it but here are a few pictures i took today. just some teasers for now until i pick it up tomorrow

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im taking the billet grille off and putting the regular mesh one on most likely and just deal with the gap for a while
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[CdnGMan]

im taking the billet grille off and putting the regular mesh one on most limey and just deal with the gap for a while

That doesn't look bad at all dude!!

Why don't you look at simply continuing the billet down to fill that gap?? That would look pretty badass I'm thinking...

 

[Joey71]

Looks good

 

[jrSS]

Now just lower that hog and u'd have an awesome stance on your good looking clone..

 

[jrSS]

Now just lower that hog and u'd have an awesome stance on your good looking clone..

Just do this ....I wanna do this sometime in the future. Just not right now. I would need a whole other intake for this setup

 

[bmartinezx3]

Just do this ....I wanna do this sometime in the future. Just not right now. I would need a whole other intake for this setup

where would i find a grille like that? i'm buying new headlights anyways so this would definitely an option

 

[jrSS]

Its just an lt setup. He just tinted his lights.

 

[jimmyjam]

Just do this ....I wanna do this sometime in the future. Just not right now. I would need a whole other intake for this setup

i have a fwi and want to do exactly that except no crossbar just a wide open grill