Re: 51 Chevy 1/2 ton, My S10 swap
 

Thanks for the compliments guys!!

Spent a little time Monday morning on the truck. I finished modifying the alternator and power steering brackets. I painted the rad support and made the upper and lower mounts for the radiator.

I was having a hard time deciding what to do with the air cleaner cover. I decided the blue color just didn't fit with the rest of the truck, so I two-toned it to match the two-tone on the grill. Came out nice! plan to have a little pin srtiping done to the air cleaner also

Re: 51 Chevy 1/2 ton, My S10 swap
 

looks good

Re: 51 Chevy 1/2 ton, My S10 swap
 

Nice...Jim

Re: 51 Chevy 1/2 ton, My S10 swap
 

Looks real nice. If I went with a v8 I would use one of those air cleaners. the two tone came out real nice looking!

Re: 51 Chevy 1/2 ton, My S10 swap
 

Just got back from getting some exhaust tubing, hangers and a muffler. I think that will be Saturday's project. I found some rad. hoses I was able to use after a little trimming. Hoping to install the heater tomorrow at lunchtime so I can fill the coolant and let the truck run a little.

Re: 51 Chevy 1/2 ton, My S10 swap
 

You sure have come a long way. I hope to see you at some shows yet this year. :)

Re: 51 Chevy 1/2 ton, My S10 swap
 

I built and mostly installed the exhaust today. I didn't want to spend to much on pre bent tubing so I bought only 3 elbows. ($40 for a 10 foot long straight tube, $25 for a 1 foot long 45 degree elbow.)The other "gradual" bends I made by cutting a wedge shape out of the tubing then putting a slight angle in the tube, then welding it up. It's fitting up very well.

I've got some aluminum heat shields out of a BMW that I am planning to use on the bottom of the cab and next to the battery since the muffler runs close to the battery. I'll take and post some pics early this week when I finish the exhaust.

I also got the cooling system all connected. I'm waiting to get the exhaust hooked up before I let the engine run long enough to test the cooling system.

Re: 51 Chevy 1/2 ton, My S10 swap
 

just read through this entire thread. It's an inspiration to the rest of us poor lugs starting out.
I wish I had half your talents. Well done

Re: 51 Chevy 1/2 ton, My S10 swap
 

Lets see if this works this is my 51 project
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Re: 51 Chevy 1/2 ton, My S10 swap
 

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Re: 51 Chevy 1/2 ton, My S10 swap
 

Re: 51 Chevy 1/2 ton, My S10 swap
 

Well, some interesting problems came up. My electric fuel pump I installed in line, quit working. There's power to the pump and the ground is good. I guess I'll need to get another...If that fails, I think I'll notch the frame rail in front and reinstall the mechanical pump on the motor!

Also, my xenon headlights are acting up. When I first hooked everything up, they both worked, later only one worked, but there was power to the connector, now neither headlight works and there is no power to the connecters. I may have fried the headlamp switch. I've got some more digging to do to get this figured out. It's always something!!

Re: 51 Chevy 1/2 ton, My S10 swap
 

:lol: That's the way my day went. upside down:lol:

Re: 51 Chevy 1/2 ton, My S10 swap
 

I haven't had much luck with electric fuel pumps. seems like There is always something jamming the piston.

Re: 51 Chevy 1/2 ton, My S10 swap
 

oh yeah its def 10 things wrong to 1 thing right, just gotta roll through the punches. Those headlight switches should have a 20 amp circuit breaker in them, aftermarket ones atleast. I know I had to run relays in just basic bulbs, I then had to install a relay and now no headlights randomly going off, I also got the brighter bulbs now. Good luck you'll get there. Electric fuel pumps, OMG just more riff raff to deal with, keep it simple and go mechanical, so much easier to change and cheap, your not going to need some high flowing pump, so why add more things that "will" go wrong. Epumps seem to always give people guff.

Re: 51 Chevy 1/2 ton, My S10 swap
 

Well I "figured out" the problem on my head lights. After looking over the switch wiring diagram, I remembered that the power out to the headlights runs through the dimmer switch. Since I converted to xenon lights I don't have any high beams. I apparently had bumped the dimmer lever on my column to "high" therefore the power was going nowhere!! Click back to low beam....now I have headlights! DUH!! I may re wire so that both high and low positions will still send power to the lights, just to avoid confusion later.

When xenon lights first came out for BMW, the low was xenon and high was an addition standard halogen bulb, with the xenon still on. A few years later they switched to a BI-xenon. It basically partially blocks the light on low bean, then on high, a "flapper" door opens and lets the beam shine unobstructed. So if I powered the flapper with the high beam wire, the flapper would move, but the beam would be unpowered.Most headlight switches available now switch power from low to high, not powering the beam not being used. Anyway...probably more info than most of you care to know!!

As far as the fuel pump, I guess I'll just buy another and try my luck!!

Re: 51 Chevy 1/2 ton, My S10 swap
 

Found a brand new 1999 chevy truck bench seat, gray, on craigslist. More $ than I wanted to spend, but it will not need re-upholstering. It really is like new. It was removed and replaced with bucket seats when the truck was new. Stored inside and covered. I've been holding off on choosing an interior color, depending on what seat I found. Gray interior it is!!

Re: 51 Chevy 1/2 ton, My S10 swap
 

that is a really nice lookin seat ya got there !!!!!!!!!! CONGRATS - GREAT FIND

Re: 51 Chevy 1/2 ton, My S10 swap
 

At least one was an easy fix. Interesting about the xenon lights.

Re: 51 Chevy 1/2 ton, My S10 swap
 

Grey is a good color that goes well with pretty much any paint color. That's the color I out started with. Now it's the color of the week.:lol:

Re: 51 Chevy 1/2 ton, My S10 swap
 

I didn't have much truck time this weekend but I got a little done.

Exhaust is done back to the muffler. I added some aluminum heat shields where it ran a little close to the cab floor. Also put a heat shield around the battery near the muffler.

I installed the front wheel spacers.

I was going to replace the electric fuel pump, but I couldn't find the new pump I bought after work on Friday. I stopped at the parts store to make sure I didn't forget it there when I left with some other parts in my hands. Well I came to the conclusion that it was stolen out my suburban while it sat in my driveway. We live in a good neighborhood but once in a while some riff-raff come through looking for something easy to steal. I mostly leave my sub unlocked and leave nothing of value in it. I don't want to replace a broken window if they break in and find nothing worthwhile to steal. I guess I'll be locking it up from now on...lesson learned the hard way!!

Re: 51 Chevy 1/2 ton, My S10 swap
 

ahhh man, should just go with a mechanical $30 pump, you sure it didn't fall off under the seat or something?? can't stand thieves makes me more upset than most anything. exhaust looks good. seat looks good, you could always get a serape blanket to cover it if you aren't wanting the grey.

Re: 51 Chevy 1/2 ton, My S10 swap
 

The Exhaust looks great.
If you don't like the grey seat and if you cant find a nice looking blanket you could always try the fabric spray paint, from what I have seen it look good and comes in a bunch of colors.

Re: 51 Chevy 1/2 ton, My S10 swap
 

I picked up my windshield on Saturday. I found a place not too far away that would cut it for me. I gave them one of the original pieces to use as a template. Turned out really nice. Ordered a windshield gasket today. Hope to install it this weekend. Cost of glass was $110 for both pieces. Seemed reasonable.

Also ordered a "Painless" kit for the cooling fan switch.

Anyone ever see and/or try the little "spring" metal piece that goes over the moving latch piece on the door latch. They say it's supposed to help worn latches stay latched tighter. We'll see. They were only $3 a piece. Thought they were worth a try. I will eventually put in "dead bolt" style locks...

Set the new seat in place, (not bolted yet). Fits perfect! Figured out where I need to put the gas pedal. Wish there was a little more leg room, but at least my gut doesn't rub on the steering wheel!! :lol: Maybe next build will be a panel or sub, then there would be lots of room!!

Re: 51 Chevy 1/2 ton, My S10 swap
 

Yeah, I'm curious about the whole "gut rub" thing myself when I get to that point. I may have to bolt up a picnic table in the bed of her.
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Re: 51 Chevy 1/2 ton, My S10 swap
 

Accomplished a fair amount today. I put the seat in the cab. Fits nice, looks nice. Not bolted down yet. I've got some other things to do before I bolt it down.

I was trying to use the original mechanical gauges with the 327. The 327 was set up with electrical senders for the temp and oil pressure. I got all the necessary senders and fittings to swap them to mechanical senders. However, the copper tube that goes from the temp gauge to the sender is too short. I don't know of anyway to extend it so I bought a set of aftermarket gauges, thinking I'd just use the electric senders with the new gauges. Well, the new gauges are mechanical!! So I swapped the senders back and hooked up the gauges, and mounted them under the dash. I'll put the original gauges in place and I'll use the fuel gauge in that cluster that I've already converted to work with the S10 tank. The sender and wire for the temp gauge is kind of close to the header on the drivers side so I made a little heat shield for it.

I installed a new electric fuel pump and now my truck is running once again!! I topped of the trans fluid and bled the brakes and for the first time in probably 30 or so years, it moved without being pushed!! I still don't have the cooling fan installed so I only ran it for a few minutes at a time. I plan to get the fan going on Monday and take it around the shop for it's first real drive!!!

Re: 51 Chevy 1/2 ton, My S10 swap
 

Seat looks great in there, good color with your truck.

Re: 51 Chevy 1/2 ton, My S10 swap
 

Happy Father's Day to all!! Just thought I would post my 13 and 17 year old daughter's versions of my truck. Nothing's better than homemade cards!!

Re: 51 Chevy 1/2 ton, My S10 swap
 

great cards !!!!!
truck is looking awsome !

Re: 51 Chevy 1/2 ton, My S10 swap
 

Nice truck! I'm just starting on my own '51, enjoyed your build. Will you have your truck ready for Back to 50's next weekend? That is one show I try to get to every year, would like to see your truck if you are there.
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Re: 51 Chevy 1/2 ton, My S10 swap
 

LOW AD,

I don't think I'll be ready for Back to the Fifties this weekend. If everything goes perfectly this week I might get it road ready. But how often does that happen!!??

6 months ago I thought I'll never be ready, 6 weeks ago I thought maybe I can be ready, now with 6 days to go...I don't think so. But maybe!

Re: 51 Chevy 1/2 ton, My S10 swap
 

Hope you make it! The last two builds I did were almost 20 hour days for the last few days to get ready for Back to 50's. The truck I just started I'm hoping to drive to the show next year.

Re: 51 Chevy 1/2 ton, My S10 swap
 

Haha, the cards are awesome!!!
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Re: 51 Chevy 1/2 ton, My S10 swap
 

A little more progress this week. I finished installing the e-fan. I bought a Painless install kit with temp switch, relay, and circuit breaker. Pretty simple install. The fan is from a Mercedes Benz. It's a 19" puller and moves a ton of air! Basically covers the entire radiator. However today when I was running the engine looking for leaks, the fan wouldn't turn on. Time to double check all the connections.

After installing the fan, it was "safe" to install the hood latch panel and latch.
I didn't want to have to remove the panel to access anything behind it. The hood fit up great, with no adjustment from where it was when I took it apart 2 years ago.

As far as I can tell, no oil leaks, no trans leaks, brakes are good. I've got a couple coolant leaks to track down though...

It still runs a little rough on first start up. I think I will pull out the fuel sender and pump assembly and check out the inside of the tank. Could be some gunk in there preventing good fuel flow.

Re: 51 Chevy 1/2 ton, My S10 swap
 

atommik, great news glad it is coming along. 1st if you have coolant leaks, I'd put money on the heater and ranco valve, as both mine leaked, so I just went with an aftermarket heater, which is so so. 2. make sure you have enough fluid in there for your sending unit, I'v heard they don't kick on the fan if it is dry, don't know how true that is. did you power up the fan and make sure it works on its own? running rough? what carb you running? one last note, is the sending unit I'm seeing in that smaller hose going in your intake just for your temp gauge?

Re: 51 Chevy 1/2 ton, My S10 swap
 

99,
Carb is an Edelbrock 1406, it's probably 15 years old. A buddy at work over hauled it but was suspicious of the accelerator pump that came in the kit, he put it in but he said it didn't seem right. It was different than the original. So we're looking into that.

The sender that is mounted on the heater hose is for the fan switch. The engine only has 2 "plugs" for a sender. The driver's side I am using for the temp gauge, the other one I was not able to remove the plug from the block. I had a 1/2 inch drive breaker bar on it and it started to twist the square drive end. So, I thought of putting it in the heater hose. Not sure if it was a good idea or not. Maybe I'll need to buy the "dry" temp sensor that goes thru the rad fins. Or I could switch the gauge and fan senders around and see what happens...

I can power the fan up with a battery charger, so I know it works.

I found out quickly that the valve on the heater leaks, I think the heater core is okay. For now, I've just rerouted the hoses to by-pass the whole thing.

Re: 51 Chevy 1/2 ton, My S10 swap
 

yeah them ranco valves always seem to leak, I think its like $50 bucks for one with a core charge maybe, don't quote me on that. As for the temp gauge. I'd def swap out your temp switches, I feel the fan switch in the head is your best bet cause it will be hotter and kick the fan on, and have constant fluid on it. In the hose, the switch could be dry and not kicking on, even with the stat opening and fluid hitting it, its just hard to say. I'd just swap em and I bet that is your problem. As for the carb, Id bet thats your issue with rough idling or whatnot. Aside from your timing, an old carb could have the tiniest dry gunk in it blocking your idle circuit, I'd spray a ton of carb cleaner through your idle screw ports. I bought my carb used in great condition, tore it apart and it had tons of sediment of rust in it. I also run a fuel filter out of my tank and bf the carb and I have a brand new tank just to be safe.

Re: 51 Chevy 1/2 ton, My S10 swap
 

I found the source of the coolant leak, one of the intake manifold bolts at the front was not tight. Also discovered a trans fluid leak from one of the lines to the cooler. Should be an easy fix.

As far as the fan situation, I'll be trying 2 things tomorrow. The "Tee" I made for the sender probably does have a spot where air will collect below the sender. So I will flip the tee over to make sure coolant is flowing over the sender.
Also, I'm thinking that I may not have power to the fan wire under the hood that goes to the relay. If that's the case I think I know the problem. I'm using an EZ wiring 21 circuit harness. In the cab area are a gray wire marked "fan power" and a gray wire marked "fan". The wiring diagram says nothing about these wires, but the printed instructions mention wires for a cooling fan switch in the dash area. Since my fan is switched thru a temp sensor and relay under the hood, if I connect the 2 wires under the dash (instead of a switch), it should power the fan wire to the relay.
I'll be trying these fixes out tomorrow morning!!

One of the guys at work has a newer Holley carb he said I can try and see if it makes a difference. If it works out I'll buy it from him.

Re: 51 Chevy 1/2 ton, My S10 swap
 

All in all not bad for a complete build. Truck looks great:metal:

Re: 51 Chevy 1/2 ton, My S10 swap
 

Thanks mknittle