47-55.1 Project: Kechi AD S10 4.3 auto

[NorCalGal]

Pitter patter let’s get at er. A fellow Letter Kenny fan

[joedoh]

letterkenny has changed my mind about niche streaming shows. great show.

got my plate in the mail! tag light works perfectly.



those are the parking lights. if you are on the fence about the cost of the panel type LEDs, hop the fence and get them. the brake lights look like a hole in the universe, you would need to be blind and dumb (dumb for sure) to rearend someone with what looked like plasma jet exhausts for taillights.

got the wipers in, it was as much fun as I remember. shortened the right arm 1.5". got all the inside windshield trim in too, and a rear view mirror. still working on the seat. gonna clean the glass and take some fam pictures tomorrow.

[Palf70Step]

Those really glow!

[joedoh]

I love them. I think I will do the 37 lights on every truck here forward, they are expensive and more so considering they arent stainless and the cost of the LED panels, but the look is juuuuuuust right. love em.

nick dropped of his 54.



I will be honest with you, I REALLY like this truck (Kechi), like a really lot, so much that I was actively being headhunted the last week by a firm several states away and have been sandbagging in case it worked out, so I could KEEP IT. sadly, the make-me-move offer was not commensurate, and negotiations have concluded. I am still here, time to finish and list it.

worked on the blower. This worked out so well it almost bolted to the fresh air plate in the AD kick panel, you can bet it will on the next one. I used my hot air gun to shape the square hole to the round PVC, it fits perfect and even the cardboard glovebox fits.




put in the seat bolts



and put the e clips on the wipers. if you havent done this, here is a view looking UP from the firewall, you have to mangle your hand in there and put on a plastic washer and the e clip. not a lot of fun, they even give you an extra because you will lose at least one.




more in a second.

[joedoh]

here is the defrost/face vent air director. normally this part is attached to the s10 dash and the HVAC is attached to the firewall and when you put the dash in it smashes the foam and seals. I cant make it work that way so you can see the screw holes I made to screw it to the HVAC piece. got it trimmed where it JUST FITS and installed some 2" defrost hose to the defrost section.




fits a treat. teh hole still open is the face vent outlet, it points at the radio hole!



here is a better shot of the perfect blower fitment



and an overall. I got the drivers wiring tucked, fuse box installed, headlight switch installed (the s10 switch under the dash), the BCM installed, and a bunch of other stuff. the wiring hanging is the heater controls. you might even spot the auto headlight sensor installed (the black dot far right). so the lights will come on automatically at dusk.



I have to decide what to do with the gauges, they are too thick to install with the cover in the center of the dash, maybe I will leave out the glovebox and put them there for now. I have the OG gauges to pop back in just for looks. I was going to put the s10 gauges in the center but its very hard to fit. I am going to sleep on it.

[edgeleycanuck]

I'm reluctant to ask about your wiper setup incase you've already made the effort to explain it. I look forward to your posts and I cant recall seeing your wiper solution/upgrade. So anything you can share on that is appreciated. Keep up the good work! Thanks.

[OutlawDrifter]

Russ, sorry the offer didn't work out. Nice work as usual, that HVAC is coming together very nicely!

[joedoh]

marc I think defrost is the single most important part for a daily. second only to heat.

Originally Posted by edgeleycanuck

I'm reluctant to ask about your wiper setup incase you've already made the effort to explain it. I look forward to your posts and I cant recall seeing your wiper solution/upgrade. So anything you can share on that is appreciated. Keep up the good work! Thanks.

edge its just the newport setup, I have used it in the past and it works great. juust not a lot of fun to install. dont be reluctant to ask questions, even if I answered it before, or explained it, i dont mind answering it again, only takes a second. The onlt trouble I have with it besides the e clips is that the passenger wiper arm needs shortened slightly, I did a little over an inch on this one and coulda done 1/2 inch honestly, the arm limits on the wipe. they tell you in the instructions to bend the arms, but that doesnt make a lot of sense, a bend loses torque. also, it is a big unit, so it can get in the way. but the brackets fit perfectly.

[joedoh]

Originally Posted by joedoh

did a little over an inch on this one and coulda done 1/2 inch honestly, the arm limits on the wipe.

ahh yes, hello hubris my old friend. so I took a look at it today and decided even though I intended to build this one inexpensively that was no reason to take a shortcut, especially since I already knew what the problem is. so I took a wedge out of the gauge cluster so it would fit better




and squeezed it together to make it nice and narrow. while the glue was setting up, I *sigh* took the e clips off, took the passenger arm back out, found the little hunk in the trash I had taken out, cut it in half, and put half of it back in.

after that I put the old gauges in (for the hole filler), the new gauges in, and the rest of the dash pieces. just need the glovebox and heater controls and door panels and bobs my uncle.





I have it set up so the speaker /ashtray is held in place with velcro so you can take it out when you need to drive but you can actually see it pretty well anyway.



tested the auto headlights, work great. tomorrow glovebox and coolant overflow and the hood can go back on. I did the cowl seal today after getting the mechanism freed up, and routed the cowl drain to the right of the brake booster so any water wouldnt drip on the distributor.

[oldman3]

Russ nice job...Jim

[reaper71]

Came out nice Russ!

[Low Elco]

Great looking stuff!
Posted via Mobile Device

[joedoh]

thanks a million fellers.

I was able to pick up my daughter at school today. aside from a leak when filling gas (i know why) the truck ran and drove like it had never left the road. it was big hit at the gas station and at school.

if anyone needs a cheap overflow bottle for an expansion type system, dorman makes part 603-001 for 10 bucks. even the cheapest universal one is 19! it fits flat to the firewall as you can see, whattadeal.

so next update will be about nicks 54!

[oldman3]

Russ, looks great, nice job as usual...Jim

[Tempest67]

looks great, congrats on another one, and thanks for sharing your work.

[OutlawDrifter]

Killing it as usual! Good work!

[edgeleycanuck]

Great job getting another one to live again! I enjoy reading what everyone on here can share,
I would be lost without examples from yourself and others. It is beyond impressive how you get these assembled and driving so quickly, I would be surprised if many others can beat your efficiency.

[joedoh]

thanks guys, I like having fun with these.

edge, believe it or not I lost about 6 months in the middle messing with that new property. but 2020 is shaping up nicely!

[twinshadows]

Mr. Russ

I just read through your "Kechi AD" build . very 1st thing is ; THANK YOU for your info, Pictures, & time Posting your Build. Very interesting & entertaining for sure.
I really don't have any 'Chev AD's' … but Do Have two 53 IH 1/2 tons ( one of them being my Dads old 'Binder' that I've Had for about 40 years, now) .
So, way back in th' mid - 70's … I did a Frame swap onto a 64 Chev Impala chassis. But, at that time , I worked at "Richardson Paint & Body Shop, Richardson, Texas" . Man, I drove that truck "EVERYWHERE" … and, did things about like you have done on u'r AD. I used A lot of that car (on the cheap); using all of the 64 parts that I could too make work … and, a lot of stuff worked very well. So, I can relate - - - very smart, with your building practice … atta-a-boy . . . well, you know what I mean.
Again, Thank You for your time & Build info. Great Job ……

jim

ps ; I'm thinking that my 'Dads old IH' may just need a "newer S10 frame up-grade" . . . and, get her back on-the-road-again .

[Palf70Step]

Are you planning on converting the S10 gauges to the old style housing on this one?

[joedoh]

wow thanks for the kudos twinshadows. sounds like we both think on our feet. its fun!

Originally Posted by Palf70Step

Are you planning on converting the S10 gauges to the old style housing on this one?

no, if i do gauges I will just buy the dakota digitals and the OBDII interface box. should make the install and wiring take 4 minutes, and gives PRNDL, as well as anything else you can think of on the TFT display. I love the con2r gauges but there is a lot to do to install them, like shortening the right gauge for some reason its 3 inches too deep, and there is just air in there. the con2rs really look like factory style. which is weird to say because the DD LOOK LIKE the factory gauges, I guess its just the big outer ring, always seems like quitting when gauge companies do that to fit the ADs

we got some snow, here is the picture.



yes i know the window is cracked haha.

went salvage hopping and got some wheels, stopped by the good-used-tire seller and got some 215 for the front and 225 for the rear. at the hutch swap meet this year I found the matching pair of impala caps to the two I had, so I have caps for these wheels too.





if you havent sold anything on craigslist, it is every bit the pineapple enema you expect. today a guy called me an arrogant male appendage (not his exact words but the gist is there) because I told him I didnt want a straight up trade for his bone stock 36 ford 4 door. happens more and more, I think people are drinking mercury and going insane before browsing craigslist.

[mongocanfly]

Craigslist has definatly become an adventure in buying and selling...

Twin shadows....check out Jeff potter on YouTube.....
https://m.youtube.com/channel/UC4rY8T6g8gLlgTAWyj5LW8w
He uses Dakota chassis for his IH builds...its not a how to but more like a" I built it and now it's for sale " kinda deal....but may give you some ideas...I'm not big on the Dakota stuff though...

[OutlawDrifter]

Russ, Craigslist seems to be dying off a bit. I've had better luck lately posting on Facebook Marketplace. It truly does amaze me what potential buyers request and say.

Sometimes I like to remind them, they contacted me, not the other way around, and my job is not to lose money/time/etc to suit their needs.

[joedoh]

mongo its an adventure i am getting tired of.

Originally Posted by OutlawDrifter

Russ, Craigslist seems to be dying off a bit. I've had better luck lately posting on Facebook Marketplace. It truly does amaze me what potential buyers request and say.

Sometimes I like to remind them, they contacted me, not the other way around, and my job is not to lose money/time/etc to suit their needs.

marc I said exactly that! that I was not trying to convince him to trade, in fact the opposite was true. he was nice as could be until I said no, then it was disparaging comments and insults. chemical imbalance? maybe projection? I found the video of the auction where he bought the car a year ago, looked like he got caught up in the auctioneer banter and the excitement of the atmosphere, maybe regretted it since?

I really hope me reporting him to CL is the end of it, but if it isnt, he managed to send me a picture with his phone number and house number in the photo.

[mongocanfly]

Yeah...I learned long ago a auction is no place to buy anything.....
I bet hes regretting it now and maybe if you traded with him he'd feel better about himself...
To bad though..
But how dumb in today's world are you to give your phone num and address to a stranger..