It's my turn, 47 S10 build

[6DoF]

are those the final wheels or can you just get something with 2" less backspacing now?

huge props fabbin the whole knuckle like that.

[Cautrell05]

Originally Posted by Modsqaud69

You do great work! Really sucks, with the frame mods and still have to run spacers. I just bought a 98 zq8 s10 frame, quick ratio steering, large sway bar front, rear sway bar, and factory lowered springs, so I'm just going to run spacers front and back. Rob

Thank you. I try.
Ya, i wasn't excited about running the spacers either. If i would have not built them as drop spindles i think they would have cleared the tie rod. If i upside wheels later i can get rid of them.

[Cautrell05]

Originally Posted by 6DoF

are those the final wheels or can you just get something with 2" less backspacing now?

huge props fabbin the whole knuckle like that.

Yep, keeping the same wheels for now. Down the road I'll probably upsize then. I can get rid of the spacers at that time.

[Cautrell05]

Been really bad about updates but it's slowly moving along. Frame is totally stripped down and mounted on the frame table to keep it square. I blasted the inside of the frame a couple weeks ago and painted everything i could reach with header paint. Where the plan is to powder coat it i wanted something on the inside that's not going to burn off when they bake the powder coat. Next up is boxing the middle of the frame back to the gas tank crossmember. Once that is welded up and solid I'll move on to the back. I have a piece of 1/8" wall rec tubing that will tie the back of the rails together along with being boxed. The stock crossmember with the spare tire hoist is coming out and the hoist is getting relocated. After getting a flat twice on my car that didn't come with a spare in not going through that again. Already measured and a temp spare will fit under there just fine and be out of sight. Plus a little extra rearweight won't hurt.

[dsraven]

nice.
is the round tubing for bracing or is it part of the build? curious if there will be a lower section to that if it is part of the build. something to use as a trans mount/frame stabilizer in the center section. otherwise it is a long run between cross members.
keep posting your progress, get it all done before powder coating or it becomes a mess to do changes, as I am sure you are well aware.

[Cautrell05]

The round tubing is for bracing. When i was building the motor mounts i had the jack under the crossmember and jackstands under the frame just in front of the cab mounts. When I lowered the jack i watched the distributor move almost 1/4” away from the firewall just from flex in the front rails. That wasn't going to work for me. All the tubing is 1.5" .125 wall. With an 8pt x brace under there combined boxing the rest of the frame should make it as rigid as I need. The motor is only in the 450hp range and I'm not running it down the strip.
The transmission mount hangs from the ears in the middle. I got lucky and measured right and was able to just flip the mount around when switching from the 700r4 to the 4l80 during the current rebuild. I had about 3000 miles on it to shake everything down so i would be pretty good to go.

[6DoF]

that'll be WAY stiffer!

i love how the brake mount and trans mount all worked right into the same crossmember like that. clean.

[Cautrell05]

Originally Posted by 6DoF

that'll be WAY stiffer!

i love how the brake mount and trans mount all worked right into the same crossmember like that. clean.

Thanks. The MC and trans mount was planned that way after getting the motor mounts set. What made me really happy was that i measured properly and the 4l80 bolts right in after flipping the horseshoe around. Now i just need to finish boxing the frame and prepping the other parts for powder. Next summer makes 10 years since i brought it home. I want it back on the road by then even if the interior isn't finished yet

[Cautrell05]

The only more frustrating than the fact it's been more than 10 years since I started this thread, is the fact that it's been more than two years the trucks torn down and I haven't been able to drive it. Numerous side quests and "responsible adult projects" have eaten up a ton of my time. Finally getting back to it now. Have been working on it a little bit off and on. The frame is currently hanging from underneath a four post hoist in the back corner of the shop. The cab is sitting on top of the hoist and the box front clip and rear end is down in dry storage. Engine went back over to the machine shop to try and figure out an oil consumption issue and drill the heads for the steam holes. Hopefully that takes care of my heating issue. I've got a little bit of grinding to do left on the frame and areas that absolutely nobody will ever notice but because I'm OCD on that and I know it's there I just wanted it done. Which is also why it's taking this long lol.
I've got a mount made in back of it for a bolt on receiver hitch. Only two things I really see it pulling is a small trailer I have for my motorcycle if we decide to make the 9 hour drive up to the Black hills. We rode up there last time and it wasn't horrible, but after several hours it's not as relaxing as when the trip started. Plus that way if we get up there and there's a day that it's rainy or whatever we can still go cruise. Other idea I had is take the old 50 pickup box that's sitting out behind the shop, put a trailer under it and one of those pull behind out pop-up campers that are normally behind a motorcycle. Thought that'd be a cool rig.

[Cautrell05]

Got the chassis blasted on Monday, dropped off Tuesday morning along with the upper control arms, running board mounts, transmission and torque arm crossmembers for powder coat. Going to pick it up on Friday. Looking forward to actually putting parts back on it.

[Cautrell05]

Got the chassis back from powder coat this morning. Hopefully i can start hanging parts back on it soon.

[Cautrell05]

Slowly getting parts hung back on the chassis. it's annoying how many small parts need cleaned up and painted but it will be worth it. Hopefully by the end of the week it will be a roller and if I'm really lucky i can get the motor and transmission set on it this weekend. The engine has only been ready for 2 years now. It is nice seeing it start to come back together.

[Cautrell05]

Made a Little more progress this morning. Had to rework the fuel line a little bit to clear the tabs for the torque arm mount. Then rework the line for the hydra boost that now didn't clear. Little back and forth with the Bender and all is well. Faster than making new at least.

Also, my OCD hates the fact that the upper ball joints aren't identical. Both were ac Delco, ordered at the same time. It's functional and you can't see both sides at the same time but it bugs me