Re: It's my turn, 47 S10 build
 

Any chance in running the ranger rack further away so you dont have to cut into the frame? Or would this destroy the front end alignment characteristics?

Looking to do the same with my S-10...

Re: It's my turn, 47 S10 build
 

better than the wild toe OUT that s10s are known for at the limit.

great job of figuring it all out, thats the hardest part of doing something no one has done.

Re: It's my turn, 47 S10 build
 

Technically, yes. But it will really hurt the handling. Ackerman is the steering angle that's affected by moving the rack forward or back. The inside wheel needs to turn farther than the outside. Usually around 1 to 3 degrees more than the outside is what I have seen on the vehicles I have checked. I still have yet to get a 2wd S10 on the rack and see what stock Ackerman is. When you crank it to the stops in a parking lot and the front tires slide like it's in 4wd, that's because the Ackerman isn't correct. Most of the auto makers just settle for close enough. I'm hoping when it's together it will at least be close enough.

Anyway, sorry about droning on. The short version, moving the rack forward changes the angle that the tie rod pushes on the knuckle. Near center it won't affect much. If it is moved 4 inches forward to clear the crossmember it will toe in severely when turning tight.

Nick

Re: It's my turn, 47 S10 build
 

Yea, it's like they didn't put much effort into the steering. 78-87 G-bodys were unchanged through the years. The S10 is just a 4" narrower version that was also unchanged over the years. I figured I probably couldn't make it worse.

Nick

Re: It's my turn, 47 S10 build
 

I like your modifications. Good to know you are an alignment person. Might have questions down the road

Re: It's my turn, 47 S10 build
 

Ask away, I don't mind. Started doing them about 25 years ago. At the GM dealer I'm working for now I've been averaging about 1,000 a year. That's part of the reason I wasn't too scared of the chassis mods.

Nick

Re: It's my turn, 47 S10 build
 

If all of us are an expert in one thing, than together we can do anything. Keep up the good work.

Re: It's my turn, 47 S10 build
 

God I really hate photobucket right now. There's no way I'm paying them $400 a year. I'm still trying to download my photos so I have them. Question, is it worth continuing this thread or should I just start a new one when I get back to building?

Re: It's my turn, 47 S10 build
 

I say continue! if you use flickr, put everything you lost in one album and link it.

Re: It's my turn, 47 S10 build
 

+1 Continue here please.
If you lost your old pics, I still have them as a back-up file. I download any file I find usefull for future reference before I even begin putting money aside to buy my own project. So, if you lost some/all of your pics, just tell me which post you lost and I'll compress the pictures and e-mail 'em to any e-mail you want me to.

Re: It's my turn, 47 S10 build
 

Ok, talked me into it. First off, if anyone wants pictures from earlier in the thread let me know and I'll upload them.
Took a day for myself today and made some progress. Cut two pieces of 3/8x2 1/2" strap for the rack mounts. For now they are bolted to the bottom of the crossmember with four 3/8"self tapping bolts. It's rigid enough I can steer it around for now. They will get burned in later when the body mounts are fully welded and the crossmember gets plated around the holes. The extra material in front of the rack is for mounting the Skidplate and forward brace. With the rack mount being the lowest point on the front end I want it protected. The county likes to make wind rows with the gravel sometimes and both my accord and Impala bottom out on them. Don't need the rack getting trashed right away.
The steering shaft was next. I managed to get it in only two cuts. My jigsaw was not happy with me but it got the job done. If I was running an inline engine I would be set. I'm almost positive that after I get the engine back in I'm going to need another u-joint to clear the corvette manifolds I picked up. I'll take that when I get there.
Also took some time to pull out the original seat mount. What a PITA. At least it's done. Cut the lower flange loose from the column and rest fit it a little more where it needs to be. Thinking about moving the bottom of the column up and to the left a bit. Should help with exhaust clearance a little.

Nick

Re: It's my turn, 47 S10 build
 

Okay, I need to do something different. This two updates a year thing is getting ridiculous. Still slowly moving forward when I can get time. Just way too much stuff going on lately. After getting the garage cleaned out for graduation this year I was finally able to get some time in on the pickup. One of the best investments a made in a while it is I bought a new welder. The little flux core welder I had was good enough to tack weld stuff together but then I had to take it somewhere else to fully weld it which was a massive pain in the butt. This one, will only being 110v is rated for up to quarter inch but will easily burn together 1/8" steel. Moved vehicles and found a slab of concrete that was actually somewhat flat, got the front end pulled off and the frame up on jack stands. Verified it was level and then started working out a plan for the rear cab mounts. Mine was one of the early ones with the shackle in the middle and just a couple rubber bumpers out on the sides. I ran a piece of 1 by 2 3/16 wall tubing full width under the back of the cab and use that as a place to mount my cab mounts to. I figured that should spread the weight out enough. With the top half figured out the pedestals were next. Rather than build it all from scratch I ended up reusing parts of the original cab mounts. it happened to line up with the outside of the frame. Piece of 1/8" flat on the outside wrapping around the side of the frame and one on the back for now. I will add one on the front side when I pull the cab and do all the Finish welding.

Re: It's my turn, 47 S10 build
 

More pictures from the latest round.

Nick

Re: It's my turn, 47 S10 build
 

Glad to see your still plugging away.

Re: It's my turn, 47 S10 build
 

Taking shape...Jim

Re: It's my turn, 47 S10 build
 

just came across your build. good stuff. nice to see something not many have done or documented. luv the patina. and that driveway setup is on point. amazing how much room a build takes up!

Re: It's my turn, 47 S10 build
 

Me too.

Slowly.


Thank you.I like tying new things. I have a few more ideas I want to add to it before I'm done. My wife isn't real impressed with how much space it takes sometimes lol.

Nick

Re: It's my turn, 47 S10 build
 

looking great, keep plugging at it

Re: It's my turn, 47 S10 build
 

Put some more time in this weekend and made some good progress. After the cab mounts the next big step was the motor mounts. The clamshell style mounts are stronger but they just don't look good. I went with the standard old style Chevy mounts. Rubber for now and if they don't hold up I'll switch to poly later.

I'm too cheap to buy frame mounts if I can make them. Plus I'm kinda picky on premade stuff. I wanted to make sure the motor was back as far as possible for weight distribution and possible fan radiator clearance but still have room behind the distributor. I've seen hundreds of homemade motor mount designs over the years. I guess as long as the motor stays in place there's no wrong way to do it. I started with a piece of 1 1/2" x3/16" angle and a piece of tubing. The plan was to copy the pedestal mount and not have all the weight and engine torque hanging on the engine bolt. With the first pieces in the puzzle made I bolted them up and set the motor in place. After measuring 15 times to make sure the chassis and engine was level I started cutting plates. I started with cardboard and then transferred that to 1/8" plate. With two tacked on each side I unbolted the engine from the mounts and lifted the motor and transmission out making sure not to hit the mounts on the way. From there it was a long afternoon of cutting, trimming, test fitting, more grinding and then finally tack it in place then move to the next one.

Re: It's my turn, 47 S10 build
 

The drivers side worked out easier than I thought it would with the steering shaft running through the cross member. After getting all 8 plates cut and burned in and cleaning up the welds where the mounts sit I threw some primer on it and dropped the motor back in. It was really nice after all that work to be able to drop it in place and run the bolts in without a hammer. In hindsight they are probably overbuilt but this way I don't have to worry about it later if I switch engines.

Re: It's my turn, 47 S10 build
 

The steering shaft fits pretty nice through there.

Re: It's my turn, 47 S10 build
 

Clearances came out pretty good. There's decent clearance between the control arm bushing and the exhaust manifold. I'll probably make a heat shield to go around the rear bushing to keep heat out of it. Lots of time to plan that out.
There's about 1 1/4" between the HEI distributor and the firewall. Should leave plenty of clearance for plug wires. I could have been back father with a smaller distributor but that extra 1 inch isn't worth being stuck on ignition choices.
There's only about 3/4" of power steering pump movement before the pump hits the frame. Belt length will be kinda critical but I can work with it.
I'm pretty sure with the short water pump I can run an engine driven fan. I'm not against electrics. Was just leaning to the classic look under the hood if I can find a shroud that looks good.
The stock S10 dipstick tube also fits really well in the factory firewall cutout.
Transmission tunnel will need a slight hump. Right now it clears with about 1/8". It's still going to be very flat which is what I wanted.
There's also cab mount measurements for those interested.

Re: It's my turn, 47 S10 build
 

More pictures

Re: It's my turn, 47 S10 build
 

I forgot the picture if the fan spacing.

The next step is the steering shaft but before that I need the column mounted. Before I get the column mounted I need the seat location figured out so I get the column in the right place. And before I can figure that out I need to get the drivers door mounted which will probably be a whole adventure by it self. I've got new hinges on the way so I'm kinda on hooks there for a little bit.
Only area with clearance issues is the alternator and left inner fender. That inner fender is a mess as it is so if I screw it up trying to make clearance it's not the end of the world.

Nick

Re: It's my turn, 47 S10 build
 

Strong work. In my never to be humble opinion, "over built, is under rated"

KEEP ON KEEPIN ON

Nut /Case

Re: It's my turn, 47 S10 build
 

Over built means, never have to worry about it again. Nice job.

Re: It's my turn, 47 S10 build
 

The door hinges for my driver side showed up today. The passenger door is still on the original hinges and they work pretty good other than I think the detent spring is broken but that's not a big deal. The upper driver side hinge is rusted solid still mounted to the door and the lower hinge came in a box with the pin busted off and halfway drove through. I figured where the driver side is going to be getting more used Id just put new hinges in.
I noticed both the upper lower hinges have a passageway drilled that goes all the way to the pin. I'm assuming it's a place to spray oil. Can anybody see a reason not to put a grease fitting in there and then use a long needle fitting to grease the door hinges occasionally?

Re: It's my turn, 47 S10 build
 

for how much the dang hood hinges cost, you'd think they would put a zerk fitting in there! that is a good idea. as long as you could get the fitting in there, I don't see why it wouldn't work.

Re: It's my turn, 47 S10 build
 

I can't really see how the rest of its built but if any of the grease will be exposed it will collect dust and dirt. I would think that the clearances wouldn't allow for much grease to be utilized. Could you use a dry graphite?

Re: It's my turn, 47 S10 build
 

No kidding there.

Re: It's my turn, 47 S10 build
 

I'll have to look and see if the hinge is open to the inside of the cab our outside. Even if it gets a little grease in there I would think its better than dry.

Re: It's my turn, 47 S10 build
 

I spent about 45 minutes on it tonight and put the drivers door on. With the drivers side kick panel buckled slightly and the cab corner pushed in I wasn't sure if it would fit. Are you supposed to mount the hinges to the door first or the cab? The door wasn't on the truck when I got it do I had no idea how well things lined up. Good news is it fits. The door gaps are definitely on the tight side and the whole door needs to go up a solid half inch but it's progress at least.

Nick

Re: It's my turn, 47 S10 build
 

Also scored a decent drivers inner fender for $10. The one on the truck has several buckles in it along with a bunch of stress cracks and missing pieces.

Re: It's my turn, 47 S10 build
 

nice score on that inner fender. with doors you have three main variables. the door striker, hinge on door and hinge on pillar. I like to put them on the pillar first and keep em a tad loose. Then put door on and start adjusting. Sometimes I put a small jack under the door to help hold it. Its just a very time consuming process of playing with it. The striker usually doesn't need to move if it is the original door and no major dents occurred. But its not to say it won't need adjusted. Last note and I'll be crossing that bridge again in the next couple days is, the door will fit one way with no or old weather strip, once you put new stuff on, door fits way different.

Re: It's my turn, 47 S10 build
 

when it comes time to get weatherstripping try the softseal stuff. i helped a buddy do a 54 and the doors fit well with no rubber, he got new rubber and installed but then the door was too tight to close and fit properly. some say put a tie down on the door to keep it closed tight and park in the sun for a day, the rubber will soften. he tried the softseal and the door closed and fit like it should right away. there are other manufacturers like softseal as well.
fit the door to the opening minus the rubber, then install the rubber.

Re: It's my turn, 47 S10 build
 

Thanks for the tips guys. Was this the site you were referring to?

https://www.soffseal.com
I looked around but didn't any seal kits for the pickups.
Is there any side adjustment or do I have to bend the hinges? The top of the passenger door is sitting about 3/16" in on top. Gut feeling looking at it is the top hinge got sprung slightly.

Re: It's my turn, 47 S10 build
 

is that the original hinge on the pass side? You could try loosening the top hinge on the pillar, not the door, just a bit, not too much. Jam some foam or weatherstrip in the top of door and shut it, press real hard it might force the door into position and your hinge would still be tight enough to keep in in place so when you open the door you can really tighten it up. Or honestly it might just fit like that and get better there with weather strip. Hard to say, these trucks didn't have the most dead on gaps or door adjustment from the factory. back then they prolly didn't mind your picture at all.

Re: It's my turn, 47 S10 build
 

I am almost certain that the passenger hinges are original. Judging by the lack of rust and the condition when I got it I am pretty sure it sat in a barn or shed for a long time.
Also, did all of them get the same crappy public swimming pool blue paint job? The whole inside had a coat. Over the trim, weather strip, handles and all. I have seen quite a few other trucks online with the same color paint

Re: It's my turn, 47 S10 build
 

"05"

Having been around heavy equipment a goodly portion of my earthly existence, I have found that pins that are greased on a regular basis last lots long than no grease. As far as dirt and grit attracting dirt and such it does stick, but new grease keeps forcing the old grease and dirt out.

Growing up in the 60's and having my best friends dad own a body shop, I have personally watched his dad take a 2X4 and wedge it in the door and bend the door as needed. I saw him put the 2X in the door on top of the wing window and push the top of the back of the door in to get the door to be closer to the cab when closed. Just a way to work a door.

Keep on keepin on....

Nut Case

Re: It's my turn, 47 S10 build
 

+1 on that method. When I majored in "bodyshop" (carrosserie, in french) I was shown that method by one of my teachers who insisted: "ALWAYS lower the door window before prying or you'll break it." Immediately followed by: "Make sure your clients don't see you do that, they won't like you."