Harold's '48 S10 LS1 Build

[Tikal48]

It seems like I just parked this truck yesterday. How time flies. This was my Grandfather's truck that I've had since high school, and the first vehicle that I learned to drive when I was a kid. I drove it for a short while after high school, but I was never satisfied with the straight six. I didn't have the extra money when I was young to rebuild this truck.

But now that I'm older and fatter, and need to get off the couch, my wife thought it was a good idea to suggest that I rebuild it. She didn't know the monster, or money pit, that she was creating. I had a friend that suggested that I use an S10 frame. So I found a extended cab S10, and got to work.

[Tikal48]

Sorry, trying to get the hang of posting the pictures.
https://photos.google.com/photo/AF1Q...Rpxpwc_PgmYVmz

[Tikal48]

Let's try this for the pictures.

[Sim6]

Welcome to the site. Good deal on keeping the truck in the family. Makes for great stories.
Jeff

[Tikal48]

Thanks Sim6! I appreciate the welcome.

Yeah, we used to play on this truck as kids, and climb over the hood and roof to get in the barn loft. Karma's a *****, now I'm having to fix all of the dents!

[Tikal48]

First major find on tearing down the S10 was the driver side upper control arm bolt holes. I had to weld these up and re-drill. I used the new control arm as a drill guide, as this was a perfect fit for the drill needed for the new bolting spline fit. I repaired the holes one at a time, so that I could keep this lined up as true as possible.

[Tikal48]

Ah, that worked.

I've picked up a lot of good ideas on this forum, so I figured that I would try to give a little back. Thanks to all of those, whose posts I have followed!

I'm not bashful to say that I screwed up with which truck frame to look for. But it really was not a big deal with splitting and shortening the S10 extended cab frame. Plus it made it easier to handle to de-rust. I marked lines a known distance apart across the frame joint, and cut the welds loose where the front and rear frame pieces joined.

[Tikal48]

Here are a few shots of the frame. After cutting off the 7" of the rear frame section and welding the frame back together, I painted the frame with epoxy primer and top coated it with the gloss 2K Ceramic Chassis Paint. I still have the brackets for the cab, running boards, and bed to add. But I will go back and touch up the frame prior to the final build.

I figure another 100x on and off with the cab should do it. I went with the Wilwood front brakes, and Scarebird rear brake brackets with the '85 Cadillac rotors and calipers. I went with all polyurethane suspension bushings.

[chuckmc8]

Can you post the details about your rust removal process?

[Sim6]

Wow, nice work on the frame. Looks great.

[Tikal48]

Chuckmc8,

On the rust removal process, I used a couple of different methods, but honestly, if I had to do it over again, I would have sent it to a blaster. This process was slow, but works best when you can submerge the parts completely. With small parts these methods are great. But these methods do little for removing any paint, and beware on fine threaded parts. The threads will be eaten away if they stay in the solution very long. I found this out on my door hinge threads. For all of the methods below, hot days are best. Doing this at temperatures below 70°F is useless.

First method I used was 1:4 mixture of vinegar and water. I had some heavily rusted parts and this took about three days, but came out like new. You need to neutralize the parts after treatment with baking soda and water. You will need to immediately dry. Alcohol works good to displace the water, or blow it off with compressed air. I also saw something on the internet of adding salt, but I did not try that. It is suppose to increase the acidity. I would not use this on cast iron.

Second method I used was phosphoric acid. I found this at Home Depot in the form of concrete "Prep and Etch", by Klean Strip. It runs about $16 per gallon. I also used about the same mix ratio. I was also spraying this on parts that were too big to submerge. Do NOT let this dry on parts overnight. Wash it down at the end of the day with water. It forms a film I would best describe like Pine rosin. It created more work to get rid of that. You can also spray the parts and cover is plastic wrap, to keep it from drying out. Otherwise, I was spraying about every 30 minutes. This works good on cast iron, because unlike vinegar or muriatic acid, this converts the rust into iron phosphate. Muriatic acid and vinegar gets into the pours and can keep eating if it is not properly neutralized. The phosphoric acid will leave a white powdery substance on the surface. You can use a wire brush to remove this before painting.

I've seen on the net about using molasses and water, but I have not tried that. Again, that requires full submergence of the parts. There is also the muriatic acid and water, which is more aggressive, but it rusts immediately after. I did this a little when I was in a hurry. But I neutralized it and washed back over it with the phosphoric acid solution to get rid of the flash surface rust.

I hope this helps!

[Tikal48]

This is the motor that I picked up for this build. It is a 2004 GTO LS1 engine with 4L60E transmission with 128k miles. I didn't realize that this was an front sump oil pan. I had to pick up a rear sump pan for a H3.

[Tikal48]

Rough fitment of the cab and front end

[Tikal48]

I used part of the original radiator support bracket and fabricated an angle iron frame to support a Champion Cooling MC340 radiator. If anyone wants a 3d Solidworks model, go here:
http://www.3dcontentcentral.com/cont...tentType=Model

I liked the look of Bartman's design of his support bracket. I figured that I would design something similar.

[av8tr33337]

Originally Posted by Tikal48

I liked the look of Bartman's design of his support bracket. I figured that I would design something similar.

Hey Im glad something I did was helpful but honestly I must admit I got the Idea from another forum member. Your build looks awesome.

Maybe you already said it and I missed it, but I was wondering what you were soaking your frame in. I know a Molasses and Water bath will remove rust over a week or two. I've done it myself on a few things.

[Tikal48]

I used new polyurethane bushings and some of the original S10 cab mount parts. I mounted the cab about 3" over the frame.

[Sim6]

Looking good!

[Tikal48]

I had to remove both lower cowl panels and rocker panels. I also cut out the cowl vent and firewall. I wanted to save the look of the upper portion of the firewall. I started filling holes and welding in the patch panels.

[HUSSEY]

Looking good, just curious, how long did the truck sit for?

[Tikal48]

I am ashamed to say . . . I parked it in 1980. I thought that I would park it outside until I could finish my shop. Life happens I guess.

I bought my S10 frame donor in April 2013. A big storm damaged our house the next month, so all that I accomplished the first summer was getting the S10 body off of the frame.

[Tikal48]

Here are a couple of shots of the transmission cover that I fabricated. I could have tucked it in a little closer to the transmission, but I was anticipating of having to add a little support on the bottom side. No worries. I have a couple of ideas that I will play with, when I get serious on the inside of the cab.

[Tikal48]

I sealed the cowl vent and fabricated my firewall. I did not like the look of the ones online, that had the wide recess. I wanted to keep the recess tighter to the engine, and give me more foot room in the cab.

[tetfemal]

Originally Posted by Tikal48

I sealed the cowl vent and fabricated my firewall. I did not like the look of the ones online, that had the wide recess. I wanted to keep the recess tighter to the engine, and give me more foot room in the cab.

you wouldn't mind sharing the plans for this firewall would you?

[Tikal48]

Originally Posted by tetfemal

you wouldn't mind sharing the plans for this firewall would you?

Tetfemal

I will try to get you some dimensions this weekend on the firewall. I modeled up a concept design in Solidworks, but I changed it when I started fabricating. I went with an easier design to fabricate. I do know that the recess is 3" deep.

A word of advice, do take the time to brace the door jams. I did not, and when I changed the firewall and cowl panels, I did have the passenger side move on me a bit. It cost me a bit of extra work to get that straightened out.

[Tikal48]

I picked up these new inner fenders. I liked the look of these, but they were a bit expensive. These are built for the original frame. I had to do a little of cutting and fitting to clear the S10 A-frames. I only lost a couple of the louvers. These will really add to the look of the engine compartment. I also found a set of stainless LS S10 conversion headers on Ebay. The price was cheaper that other carbon steel shorty conversion headers that I found, and actually very well built.