51 Farm Truck
 

Preface:
I joined this forum last January to research and gather ideas for my build. For whatever reason I was not able to post, just read and lurk. Several weeks of failed attempts to contact the administrators of this website. I gave up trying and just kept on reading past builds and gathering ideas. Chris (Old Sarge) had his email listed so I was able to have a few correspondences with him. Great guy. ... Yesterday, when I logged in I got a pop-up message saying my que request had been processed! Only took 10 months...

Anyway, I didn't take as many pictures as I would have/should have along the way when I realized I couldn't do a "live" build thread. I need to thank everyone who has posted build threads here. They ALL helped me along the way. Project Bickle is probably the single largest influence on what I ended up with (so far).

I'll do a post-mortem build thread with the limited pictures I do have.

I feel as though I know most of the posters on this forum well, even though this is my first actual post.

Re: 51 Farm Truck
 

Welcome....Now post some pics... Ha Ha.
Looking forward to your project.

Marc

Re: 51 Farm Truck
 

Here is what I started with. My grandpa bought this farm truck new in 1951. I learned to drive in this truck, feeding hay to the cows in our pasture in late fall when I was 10. Load bales in the back, put it in granny low, let the clutch out and steer. Get out to the pasture, get out hop in back and toss bales as the truck idled along. It would take me an hour to travel all of a half-mile round trip.

As I pulled it out of the shed... Parked since the engine seized in 1981 when I was 16.

Re: 51 Farm Truck
 

Okay, I can see I'm going to have to figure out how to turn the pictures...

Re: 51 Farm Truck
 

The 2x8 grandpa put under the spare tire turned out to be a bad idea... Still looking for a good right side long-bed running board... :(

Re: 51 Farm Truck
 

I didn't take any pictures of the donor S10 when I drove it home. Here it is partially diss-assembled. 1989 extended cab, 4.3 700R4. 93K miles, bad tranny.

Re: 51 Farm Truck
 

um ... i think you might have a little something there on the drivers window ...

welcome!

Re: 51 Farm Truck
 

My plan was to do a basic S10 swap, keeping the 4.3 and as much of the existing S10 mechanicals as possible. My dad's birthday was/is Sept 02 and I wanted to present this to him on his birthday so he could take it to town to coffee and cards on his 86th birthday. I have a full-time job and a three-stall shed to work in but, the shed is not heated/cooled, and I live in MN. The pictures in my opening post were taken Easter Sunday, the day after I un-rooted the truck from it's grave in the barn.
Four months of evenings & weekends to do the swap...piece of cake right?

Re: 51 Farm Truck
 

Great truck, and long family history..cool

Re: 51 Farm Truck
 

Most of the pictures are on my wifes phone. When she gets home from work today, I'll start downloading pictures to my laptop. I'm tech-handicapped so this may be a process...

In the meantime, can anyone point me to the directions to edit/rotate my pictures? They are oriented correct in my file. I don't know how to tell if they're straight on this forum until after I post.

Re: 51 Farm Truck
 

Take a look here. Dennis helped me with this so everyone could benefit, https://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/...d.php?t=818026

Re: 51 Farm Truck
 

Just try your best to post them in the correct orientation. If it doesn't work, I can straighten them out.

Re: 51 Farm Truck
 

Hmmm, when I right click, I don't get that option...

Re: 51 Farm Truck
 

when the pic is on your computer it has to be opened fully so you are just looking at that pic, not a bunch of pics on the page. some programs have a little tool bar at the top where you are able to zoom in, zoom out, delete, rotate the pic, etc. do you have that? do you know what program your pics are stored and/or opened with?
if you get the pic brought upon your come computer you can take a screen shot, save it, then post it here so we can see the options you have. hit shift and print screen at the same time for the screen shot. or maybe read through the link to see how to do that and attach it in an email
https://knowledgebase.constantcontac...nts?lang=en_US
Dennis

Re: 51 Farm Truck
 

if you're taking pics on a phone, try to remember which way the phone is oriented when the pic is taken. then when it is downloaded to your computer and you attach it here you will know whether it needs to be rotated or not.
I really suggest to take lots of pics as you take stuff apart. before and after the dissassembly. then assemble the parts loosely with the fasteners before you box the parts back up for storage. we all think we will get the project done quickly. then life sets in and changes that. haha.

Re: 51 Farm Truck
 

Sweet truck! Love the family history it has.

If you post from an iPhone or iPad, I’ve found that if you go in and edit the photo (whether it needs it or not) and rotate it around and back straight, that somehow makes them post correctly. Also, it you click “preview post” you’ll be able to see if it’s sideways before actually posting.

Re: 51 Farm Truck
 

ive found if i have a issue with rotation, i can crop the sides off the pic a little and rotate..and itll stay that way

Re: 51 Farm Truck
 

If I right click the picture I get these options:
Open Image in new tab, Save image as..., Copy image address, Create QR Code for this image, Search Google for image, Inspect

Re: 51 Farm Truck
 

The front end. I planned to keep the fender lights and use them as turn signals, using the factory S10 harness. I'm still looking for matching vintage light fixtures to use as tail lights.

Re: 51 Farm Truck
 

The rear end was locked up tight so I had to raise it up and roll it around on the front wheels.

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I feel like an idiot not being able to figure out the picture orientation...

One more attempt at a screenshot.

Re: 51 Farm Truck
 

Usually happens when you post from your phone

Re: 51 Farm Truck
 

well, that works. nice to have a front end loader and some room.
there is more than enough info on here to guide you through the S10 swap for sure. I bet you have read through them a many times. joedoh has done lots of S10 swaps so if you have a detail to work out I'm sure he would talk you through it. skymangs as well.
it's kinda nice that the truck is a longbox so you can get the front sheet metal installed and then figure out your rear axle centerline on the fenders, then cut the front of the box to fit that space left over. maybe do yourself a favor and grab the dimension between the box and the cab as well as the height of the box in relation to the cab so you can get it looking proper when you build the box mounts. the box running boards/steps shouldn't be too hard to make work either, as long as you have some fab skills and a plan for what it should look like.
at the end of the day remember it's your build so do it how you want it, inside the legal and safety parameters.
a few pointers from a guy who did a stock 54
use a cab lift under the door openings, like several threads show with pics, so you don't bend something that will cause you more work. I use some 2x6's that are longer than the cab is wide and with a stopper on each end so the cab can't slip off one end if it moves. most guys use an engine lift under that but you could also use the front end loader
use something like the cab lift to lift the box off as well. straps from all 4 corners that come together in the middle tend to try and make each corner bend towards the middle so if there is a weak spot the box can fold in

Re: 51 Farm Truck
 

Well, this is a post-completion build thread. The truck is done...sort of. We've got about 500 miles on it so far. Just some bed wood, right side running board and interior soundproofing and carpet left to do. :)

I just couldn't get the mods here to approve me for posting for 10 months...

Lets try some snips...

First task was removing the doors and then de-mousing it. Quite the taj-ma rodent.

Re: 51 Farm Truck
 

do you know what size of tires/wheels you will run? it may make a difference on the ride height and ability to turn the steering without rubbing.
this site has lots of info and you can compare several sizes at the same time. also a comparison by tire diameter and wheel size plus a real tire size for a given diameter and wheel size wanted.
https://tiresize.com/comparison/

another good site for calculating wheel size and offset with fender clearances, wheel well clearances, suspension clearance and scrub radius changes
https://www.wheel-size.com/calc/

Re: 51 Farm Truck
 

ok, disregard those, lol. didn't know you were done and driving, sweet.

Re: 51 Farm Truck
 

got any done pics?

Re: 51 Farm Truck
 

Patience,... all in good time. I'm going to try to post a chronological progress as though it's a build thread. It's just only going to take me a week to get it done this way. :)

Re: 51 Farm Truck
 

I followed the S10 Swap thread pretty much to the T with minor exeptions.

I used my own cab mount design based on a blend of designs from that thread and the design using a 4x4 tubing. I bent mine out of flat plate but they "look" like the 4x4 design sort of. I regret not taking pictures of the metal fabrication components. As an ex-autobody guy, and an old farmer, I used what was laying around and engineered around what I had. I was able to weld everything with my Hobart 140. I cut everything either with a cutoff wheel, jig saw or the sawzall.

I completely disassembled the frame and had it sandblasted. I then primed it with DP90 and painted it chassis black.

Re: 51 Farm Truck
 

The only "real" bodywork I did was the front cowl/cab corners and kick panels. They were all rotted out from mouse nests. 98% of the seat padding had been stuffed into that space between the kick panel and outer sheet metal. Then it got wet over the years and well, you get the idea. The rest of the truck is pretty much rust-free. Bottoms of the fenders are pin-holed but that gives the patina character I guess. As an old autobody guy it's hard not to make a show truck out of everything I touch...

BTW, the outer sheet metal panel from LMC was pretty good but, the kick panel and intermediate brace were junk, and that's being kind. I could have made them from scratch and spent less time on them...

Re: 51 Farm Truck
 

hey dude! nice truck! :D

this is the way! it takes some real thinking on your feet to do one of these and guys who are used to tab a into slot b instructions really struggle! NICE WORK!

Re: 51 Farm Truck
 

Yes, my radiator core support mounts are actually leftover garage door track hardware.

My bed cross braces are Unistruts.

The front bed mount is the original S10 mount, cut off the frame and turned around left side to right side.

Re: 51 Farm Truck
 

A closer look at the front Box Mounts

Lots of holes to weld up

Holes filled & welded. Fusebox passthrough cutout. Fresh paint.

The frame going together, ready for engine/tranny mounts

After the engine & tranny in. I set them back 7" and lowered them a half inch. I flipped the leaf springs around and moved the spring perches back an inch on the frame.

Re: 51 Farm Truck
 

Cab to engine clearance. Time to run wiring harness

Cab mounted for the last time

Front clip re-assembled ready to bolt back on. I sandblasted the insides of all the fenders and DP90-Chassis Black. Next up...dash...what to do?

Re: 51 Farm Truck
 

Location I chose to bring the factory S10 harness through the firewall.

I put the PCM in the center. I also had to repin the DRAC so my spedo would be correct after the rear gear change.

Re: 51 Farm Truck
 

Now for the part that I'm going to get blasted for here... I grafted the S10 instrument panel into the AD dash... Yikes! that was hard to do emotionally. My dad wanted the modern gauges. What a challenge though. Lots of fabricating and bracing involved to support the column and cluster.

You can almost see where I mounted the seatbelt shoulder strap bolt.

Re: 51 Farm Truck
 

looks like a nice clean install of that dash, well done.

You lost me at 'repin the DRAC', but I am enjoying the pics.

Thanks for sharing

Re: 51 Farm Truck
 

The DRAC module is the little box attached to the PCM on the First-Gen S10's. It tells the electric speedometer what to display. There's a circuit board inside. You have to remove existing solder bars and replace them to new locations. There's a formula that is based on gear ratio and tire diameter.

I should have typed it as Re-Pin not repin

Re: 51 Farm Truck
 

I don't know how you guys all know this computer stuff.

I guess I am old school with carbs and distributors, but I enjoy watching you do it.

Thanks, and keep it going

Re: 51 Farm Truck
 

Fitting the Box for the last time.

Started on the first attempt :)

Mom & Dad taking it for the first drive.