Mike Copeland's S-10 ZR2 draws a ton of attention, and not just from S-10 guys. It's the kind of truck that people see in action on the sand dunes of Silver Lake, Michigan, and then have to track down the owner like groupies to find out what he's done to the engine to make it blast up dunes with such authority. When Mike pops the hood most people don't even know what engine they're looking at, and because Mike's level of craftsmanship is so high most are convinced that GM offered a V-8 option in ZR2s. When he tells them it's an LS1 Corvette engine (closely related to the 4.8-, 5.3-, and 6.0L Vortec truck engines), they tell him, "That's impossible!"
But Mike's familiar with that because he is one of those guys that doesn't know the meaning of the word "impossible." To him, everything is possible. Tell him something can't be done and he'll prove you wrong every time. Sure, doing the impossible might not be cheap-Mike figures he's got $10,000 into his LS1 swap-but the results speak for themselves. Even at that price the average guy would need a lot of technical help to even come close to duplicating this truck. If you are an S-10 or ZR2 owner and would like to learn more about Mike's truck, visit www.zr2.com and click on "Ask Mike." Mike's ZR2 has changed a lot of minds about the capabilities of an S-10, including ours!
After Mike roasted two 4L60Es (transmission temps recorded by the TCM data logger were listed simply as "burn in hell"), he got serious and installed a 4L80E transmission from a 1-ton truck. Since Chevrolet never offered the NVG233 transfer case behind this transmission, Mike plugged and welded the holes on the 4L80E adapter with 1-inch aluminum slugs and then redrilled it for the NVG233 pattern. By using a 32-spline input gear from a NVG241 in his 233, Mike was able to marry and install the drivetrain on the factory ZR2 crossmember, after he notched it for transmission pan clearance and moved it 211/42 inches back. A GM Performance Parts stand-alone transmission controller mounted in the engine compartment runs the 4L80E transmission.
Mike knew the best horsepower upgrade he could make to his ZR2's 4.3L V-6 was to replace it with a V-8. Out came the V-6 and in went a '99 5.7L LS1 from a Corvette (weighs less than the V-6!) on custom engine mounts. To keep things simple Mike augmented the original V-6 radiator with Flex-a-lite's 210 low-profile fan system. The battery was replaced with a smaller Odyssey unit in a custom mount so the air-intake tube made from the V-6 parts could be fitted with a mass airflow sensor and a K&N air filter. The engine now runs off a Corvette PCM that Mike custom programmed to retain all required emissions hardware and diagnostics capability. He must not have been satisfied with the 291 hp available at the wheels so he added a 100hp shot of nitrous controlled by an NX electronic throttle-position monitor and a MSD RPM window switch to really get those BFGs spinning!