Wamego: 1949 GMC 150

[joedoh]

hannah is fun to drive but I am bored again. originally I planned on a COE as the next project but I already have all the parts for this one. well donor parts anyway. wamego is a little town in northern kansas and I always liked the way it sounded.

got this 49 GMC from Wayne, 93 years young. same guy the last 1 1/2 projects came from (Hannah and half of Fenix). I caught an ad for a 41 and bought 5 cabs and 6 beds.

IMG_0176 by Joe Doh, on Flickr

it was shredder fodder for certain, but I liked it anyway. wayne thought I was crazy, he had nicer cabs (and I bought those too), but waste not want not.

I got an 03 longbed s10 donor this january, it languished on craigslist till I called, turns out it had a bad case of RLS (runs like sh...) and he tried to convince me it was the cat. which he had already removed, to no effect. I took the drive anyway.

IMG_8266 by Joe Doh, on Flickr

we put a booster pack on it and it started right up and idled perfectly. I thought I was lucky till he revved it and it broke into a coughing cacophony. I took a chance on a cap and rotor and only needed the rotor.

IMG_8264 by Joe Doh, on Flickr

he was happy it was simple, and I drove it home. all my S10 donors have to make the trip home without a trailer, its a good way to shake out any problem areas. this one drove and shifted fine, no overheats or problems.

today I started teardown on the S10, I had already pulled the cab and clip from the 49 when I cleaned off my trailer last year. did the first bit outside, but it was hot so I moved inside after that.

IMG_0154 by Joe Doh, on Flickr
IMG_0155 by Joe Doh, on Flickr

here is a tip for the s10 swappers, if you disconnect the alternator connector and are careful you can unbolt the firewall air box and the compressor and pull the ac in one big chunk, fully charged.

IMG_0157 by Joe Doh, on Flickr
IMG_0158 by Joe Doh, on Flickr
IMG_0160 by Joe Doh, on Flickr


I tried once before to use the s10 AC setup, but its too wide under the hood. I have a method to fix that maybe, so stay tuned!

the 98+ S10s use T47 torx bolts to hold the inner seat bolts on the 60/40 and they were installed on the line by some guy named Moose who used a cheater bar to install them. they are really tight, but sometimes with some oil and some heat and a little luck, it only takes 4 or 5 minutes to break your T47 bit.

IMG_0166 by Joe Doh, on Flickr

so I cut them out, without my usual swearing and angry boogie wrench throwing fanfare. my reward for such patience was this, tucked under the console side of the seat bracket, previously inaccessible even by the very determined.

IMG_0167 by Joe Doh, on Flickr

I got a great deal on the truck and the owner was a real sweetheart even though I replaced the rotor right in his driveway and turned his inert "drag it home" truck into something that made a 40 minute drive without a hiccup, so I called him and he was elated. he thought he had lost it forever.

after that I got everything off the firewall and marked some cuts, I want a bunch of this sheetmetal.

IMG_0168 by Joe Doh, on Flickr

I bought a little yard wagon at a yard sale and it worked great when I needed to rescue my cherry picker that was stuck in the mud under a cab

IMG_0174 by Joe Doh, on Flickr

with my wifes help I had the easiest cab/front clip move ever from the back yard to the front. I bought a forklift recently but its a smooth tire and gets stuck if you even hint that you might driv near the grass. but this little yard wagon sheesh! I would do this again in a heartbeat, which is good!

IMG_0171 by Joe Doh, on Flickr
IMG_0172 by Joe Doh, on Flickr
IMG_0173 by Joe Doh, on Flickr


yes thats daylight, the kicks are GONE but the floor is solid. nice for me, just flat work and a good solid floor. I like the spiderweb crack in the passenger windshield too. I am thinking of keeping it. I have lots of spare GMC front clip parts too, a whole spare clip actually, but lets see if I can bang this metal around a little before I give up. I have a nice bed, I have some nice running boards I got at the same sale I got the yard cart. you can see I got the missing door, I even got the mounts cut already and maybe tomorrow I will weld them up and mock up the cab. everything is coming up joedoh!





so anyway, once more into the breach!

[GreasyLikeaBurger]

Awesome start. Eager for more updates.

[Palf70Step]

Off to the races again.

[Mains52]

Heck Yeah!! I wish I could think of cool names for my truck.

[OutlawDrifter]

Well, in for this one too.

[oldman3]

Looking forward to another build...Jim

[8man]

Like Short Circuit said, "need more input"! Already ahead of me and only 1 day in.

[rusty76]

I’m in. Can’t wait to see the progression.

[Old57]

Following along

[Matt_50]

I'll tag along.

[joedoh]

thanks fellers, good to be back.

but in the cosmic swing of the pendulum, I am afraid some pins got knocked over. yesterday I was cutting out my firewall pieces and got a call from mom-in-law.

IMG_0177 by Joe Doh, on Flickr
55121813997__993428FE-ACDE-4D8A-A3A5-8AFA2D56F0C8-1 by Joe Doh, on Flickr

the balljoint castle nut came off in the middle of traffic. the cotter pin was sheared, I asked if she hit any BIG bumps lately and she said absolutely not! not one bump or jostle or even a pothole. oh except that construction zone yesterday where they had a six inch ditch dug across the road she hit at 40 mph. would that do anything?

after unsuccessfully trying to lift it and get the balljoint back on the arm to get it out of the road I just stood in the heat for about an hour till the tow showed up and took it to her mechanic (me) to be fixed. I got it apart last night and need a ball joint press tool. only $170 with the right attachments at cardboard frieght. sheesh. birthday party this weekend, I see limited progress in my immediate future.

[8man]

And once again, life gets in the way.

[Nut Case]

Up-up, and away!!!!!!!!!

down for the next ride...

Keep on keepin on


Nutter Case

[Curbfeeler26]

It's Great to see another 49 on the road to being saved. I would have liked to meet that 93 yrs young Jayhawk. Keep up the restorations... here is a pic of ours that has come all the way back

[Dan in Pasadena]

^^^ Gorgeous truck^^^

All stock or if not, what's been done to it?

[Curbfeeler26]

Thanks. The Blue Mule is a frame-off restoration, done about 6 yrs ago. It's got a mid 50s 235 16" tires and a 12 volt upgrade, with a new modern wood bed. Other than those she is mostly original with some chrome upgrades...

[joedoh]

beautiful truck Curbfeeler26!


had to clean up the driveway yesterday for the birthday party, and today I got a little more forklift time, so I did get something done after all. using the forklift with all these heavy parts is a game changer, it take literally longer to find the forklift keys than it does to woop woop up to whatever you want to move and move it. I moved the sold cab to the front, organized the rest, and pulled the cab off the s10 all in about 3 minutes. love it.
IMG_0197 by Joe Doh, on Flickr

got my firewall chunks.
IMG_0196 by Joe Doh, on Flickr


pressure washed the frame, cut off the original mounts. my garage is a real wreck again haha.
IMG_0195 by Joe Doh, on Flickr

tomorrow I am scot-free so I will get the mounts built and on the frame, maybe the cab too for a trial fit

[oldman3]

Moving right along, looks good...Jim

[OutlawDrifter]

That frame has an impressive expansion chamber between the cat and the muffler! Really breathes free I bet

[docrock]

I am glad you have a lot of energy. I am tuned in for another episode

[joedoh]

Thanks! I started grinding the mounts today and my newly 5 year old needs a nap from her amazing kid party yesterday. the shop is under her bedroom, so I am pausing till after dinner. thought we were done with gnaps.

Originally Posted by OutlawDrifter

That frame has an impressive expansion chamber between the cat and the muffler! Really breathes free I bet

you should HEAR it. it sounds like every CGI movie monster final fight preamble roar. only constant. WWRRRARAAAAAUUUUUUUUUGGHHHHHHH.

when I looked at the truck he told me the cat was bad so it wouldnt rev. but he had removed the cat. :|

[joedoh]

got the frame cleaned of the rear cab mount/bed mount bumtangle. in dantes version of hell, ted bundy and his ilk are probably down there taking this mount off S10 frames. what a giant pain in the poker.

IMG_0203 by Joe Doh, on Flickr

I cut the mounts a while ago and couldnt find them, they were on the shelf outside. and I didnt cut the front tops. its always surprising how I can let myself down.

IMG_0204 by Joe Doh, on Flickr


but I got them squared up and tacked for a trial fit.

IMG_0206 by Joe Doh, on Flickr
IMG_0205 by Joe Doh, on Flickr

I would put the cab on but it started raining. neither me nor the forklift would melt but my oldest daughter flew in from arizona for my youngest daughters birthday so I feel like I should be less obsessive about truck parts.

[Matt_50]

How many s10 swaps have you done?

[joedoh]

this will be 6!

[4msfam]

ooh! Can't wait to watch this one! I see you have a newer one again with the aluminum pedal holder/ brace. Will you be building another holder out of steel to mount the aluminum pedal block too, or something different?